This week, I’m sort of breaking my weekly thing rule, and showing some work that isn’t entirely personal. Or, I figured out a way to rethink how I approach my art for work. I’m not sure.
A few weeks back, I signed up for a prayer flag swap on Art Forty-Two. I thought it would be fun to play with fabric, and end up with pretty things to hang in my garden. My goal with the swaps I’m hosting or in which I’m participating is that they offer me the opportunity to do something I’ve wanted to try, or wanted to try more of, but haven’t had time to do on my own. Give me a deadline, and I’ll make the time to do it.
Last week, I had to do my usual end of the month scramble to create the projects for The Monthly Muse. I keep a huge spreadsheet of possible topics and projects for this ‘zine, but I’m pretty flexible about what I’m going to do next. The final week of every month, I make a decision, buy supplies, whomp together projects, create copy, layout the issue, and generally make the magic happen that turn a pile of stuff into a ‘zine with some sort of unified theme.
Since fabric has long been a pending topic, and some of the techniques I had in mind were the same ones I wanted to use for my prayer flags, I decided to go ahead and use the flag designs as the basis for this month’s issue. It was sort of a reversal of the way I usually work, where I make things for The Monthly Muse that then get finished out later as personal art pieces. This time, I was thinking about finished work that would look lovely hanging in my garden, and the ‘zine copy came from what happened while I worked.
Regardless of how it came together, I now have flags to send to the swap host, and some to keep, and I’m pretty happy with the results. I think that means I got it right…
