While visiting the craft villages of Vietnam I was able to experience the creativity, talent, and patience of these artisans. It was very obvious that they pay attention to detail and process. And.... are willing to spend a great deal of time. It made me reflect on my journey to loving process.
When I was younger, an idea would come and I would wan it to be finished right away. It was hurry up and get it done. I was not enjoying the process. It has taken years for that to develop. My new collages shown here demonstrate my current love for the process.
Feisty, the first of my PowerWomen series, started out as a line drawing in 2000. I worked up several drawings with the idea that they would embody the warrior woman that is strong, confident, and exudes joy! All were posed dancing and had awesome headdresses and funky feet and hands. They ended up in a box and were not discovered again until 2014 when I needed an idea for collage. These were perfect. I had a pile of papers I had printed, stamped, and painted waiting to be used for something. I had a line drawing that was just waiting to be turned into something special. I put the two together and came up with a collaged version of my PowerWomen. It took years of bubbling around in my brain for this to happen. I loved the result.
Mz Madras is just a crab, but when you live on an island where crabbing is the highlight of our summers, crabs become special. She is collaged using paper I painted, stamped, printed all over, and then glued some yarn on as well. It was a background...a colorful one. It worked great as collage material.
Actually gluing down the papers does not take all that long but making them, and getting the design just right...does. It is that process I am really enjoying.
