A Circuitous Route

"Focusing on a series of creations furthers the process of emanation. Images emerge from one another & build upon their predecessors."

Trust the Process by Shaun McNiff pg. 38

This creative process is taking quite a circuitous route! OK what are we looking at?

I love creating houses! This green house is one of the 5 random house images (refresh page to see all 5) on the home page of my website. http://www.margemalwitz.com/ Getting ready to make more houses.

Yesterday painted watercolor paper scraps & the second side of an unfinished accordion fold book with yellow acrylics. Getting ready for collage.

Started working on a series inspired by the drive we took home from the beach in CA -

beach, canyons & home.

The 3 yellow unfinished paintings will stay on the ledge for a while. I'll return to them after I learn some things in this emanation process.

To be continued.......

Fiddling & Diddling

Taped flattened bags back onto masonite supports.

I'm not a painter in the classic way - painting the picture/ design directly onto a surface, but I do love painting acrylics on high quality water color papers to cut up & use to create my pictures.

Decided to throw aside the direct painting approach I started the project with & go with collage. Did a little more work on the 3: glued a square of acrylic painted paper to no. 1.; added texture to no. 2 by printing painted carpet scraps; on no 3. I drew four squares with oil sticks and added texture around the border with carpet scrap printing.

After lunch I returned to play with shapes and colors AKA: fiddling & diddling*. Not there yet-still playing.

To be continued on Monday.

*One of the most essential skills of the artist can be likened to what carpenters call "fiddling & diddling," moving materials around until they find their place. From TRUST THE PROCESS An Artist's Guide to Letting Go by Shaun McNiff pg. 37

Painting A Sunny Day Background?

Definitely not sure where this is going!

Set aside the 4 unfinished paintings from Wednesday. Moving on. Thinking of collaging the green houses into a sunny setting.

Painted 3 gessoed paper bags with acrylics. More painting tomorrow - but with carpet scraps.

Will press these flat overnight between freezer paper.

TRUSTING THE PROCESS

Beginning the creative process by painting grids of blocky houses - gouache & colored pencil on 3 gessoed brown paper bags.

4th painting switched to acrylics and the color green. Hmmmm, I like the green. Having just come back from California and a lot of conversation about living 'green', thinking about painting more grids of green houses. Inspiration coming - ideas beginning to perk.

Will experiment with adding mixed-media collage & rubber stamped images and alphabet letters into grids.

Hanging loose. To be continued......

Education of the imagination...requires sustained encounters with uncertainty.

TRUST THE PROCESS An Artist's Guide to Letting Go by Shaun McNiff pg. 23

Less Is More

Shelves, cabinets, drawers & closet. Minimizing stuff in the studio. Sharing a table full of books with Marth & Pat.

spring '10

1 Great Heron

You must share, teach, sell or exhibit to complete the creative process.

Phyllis Clamage, book artist

@ travel journal class.

1 GREAT HERON

M.Malwitz

m/m collage - Kolo journal

created on Captiva, FL

why the apple? color works, no rules

Telling Stories With Fabric, Ribbons & Buttons

"If that was the only thing I did in Kosovo, it would have been worth it." Melinda Elliot talking about her experience using the story rope with the mostly Albanian team during her 3 wks. in Kosovo. (top photo)

The smiles on the women's faces belie the earlier 1 1/2 hrs. of tearful sharing about their life stories. Although this team has been together for two years, the women were able to openly talk about things that they had never shared with each other. (lower photo)

The story rope, like a personal time line, was a catalyst to sharing. Made with local materials - the buttons & ribbons were thoughtfully chosen & tied to a strip of fabric in an order representing a sequence of events. If willing, participants were invited to tell their story using the rope. Melinda holding her own story rope she made in Kosovo to demonstrate how to do the project. (top photo)

This creative activity released each storyteller from the deep burden she had silently carried alone and brought a new level of openness, understanding, & empathy between team members. So simple yet so powerful!

Earlier post - Sharing with Melinda how to use Story Ropes in Kosovo, Wednesday March 10, 2010

http://margemalwitz.blogspot.com/search/label/Kosovo

Nantucket Moors

Having accepted what has been given...either in the sense of inspiration or in the sense of talent, the artist often feels compelled, feels the desire, to make the work and offer it to an audience.

"Publish or perish" is an internal demand of the creative spirit.

from The Gift by Lewis Hyde pg. 188

Nantucket Moors no. 1, 2 & 3

M. Malwitz c2009

Collaged with painted papers & glossy pictures in blank Kolo journal.

Completing the Creative Process

Through the years I've loved catching glimpses of people looking at my artwork. Sharing a piece of art through an exhibit is one way of completing the creative process. Of course the process is never really completed but influences the next piece & the next & so on. There is a wonderful connectedness in this body of work and experience.

(photo) Friends who live & works in Paris, shared some photos taken of the STATIONS exhibit in Paris. Here's my friend looking at my piece, "Tout" "All".

To see closeups & description of "Tout" "All" click on http://www.margemalwitz.com/book_arts/all_tout.php

STATIONS is the 15 Stations of the Cross, as seen through the eyes of 16 contemporary American artists. To see the exhibit click on http://www.margemalwitz.com/journey/paris.php