something small

Welcome. So, this week, I've been working on little playing card collages. It helps me to have something small to work on. Something I can go to when I feel stuck, uninspired, or I'm just tired. Something that lets me be creative even if I only have a few minutes to spare.

I've been making these collages with an old deck of playing cards. It gives me a chance to experiment with ideas I have for other projects and to play around with different materials and it makes me problem solve on a really small canvas.

I think we just have to make the art we are compelled to, you know? I don't really know why I started these little things, but more ideas come when I'm working with my hands. The brain just works differently in that mode. (I've been reading a lot about that lately.)

I also watched a great TED talk by artist/puppeteer/illustrator Wayne White. He talks about how early in his career people discouraged him from making puppets, which he loved doing. He says, "Let me tell you creative people, don't listen to anybody's advice. Do what you love. It will lead to where you want to go." His puppets led him to a job on Peewee's Playhouse which he says was the "biggest goldmine of my career, both financially and creatively." Wow.

He also says, "Never ever discount anything in the studio, no matter how spontaneous or goofy or jokey it is."

These little collages might be goofy and jokey. But maybe they will lead to something else. It reminds me of a quote I've always loved by Steve Jobs:  "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." Who knows where they will lead me next. In the meantime, I'm just having fun with it all.

Thanks for tuning in.