Trying It Out

Last night, I came home in a rattled mood. Lately, my life has been at FULL TILT with very little breathing room and being the SENSITIVE ARTY TYPE that I am, I was bound to SNAP at some point. No matter how BAD I feel, it's always good for met to sit at the desk and play a little and experiment.

As some of you know I do a series of one page stories that I started last August, as a way to try to do something arty every day. I don't do them every day nowadays, although I still do make them. I've been trying to collect them into a book of sorts--they are meant to stand well on their own, but as a group I have discovered that they tell a larger story. I recently tried to get them published as a book--no luck as of yet--oh sad me, and it was intimated that my work gets to be, shall we say, TOO MUCH visually. Since these little stories--or fliers, as I call them--are one drafts only--they are written in a rush and can tend to be CRAMMED around the drawing and inside the frame. So I GET IT how they can seem too much, and I had already been thinking of ways to improve them, without somehow losing "the tone" they create.

When I'm feeling discouraged or unsure of myself, the best answer is always more art--especially "risky" art, like trying on new ways of doing something. So last night I decided to try the new idea around the fliers out, by separating the drawing from the words. I cut up a bunch of copies that I have, and pasted them up in my journal. I added more to the pictures and re-wrote the story in a clear, clean way. I'm not sure about it yet, but I think I like it. It's not necessarily "better"--but it's got its own tone to it. Either way, I felt so much better by the time I went to bed, which was all I needed. I needed some hope before I went to sleep, and I got it.