For me one challenge after a workshop is making the techniques my own. We’ve all been to galleries where the artist’s inspiration is so evident in his or her work that you immediately conjure up the name of the inspiring art. While it’s fun to come home and repeat what one has learned, eventually it’s more important to allow the art to speak through you and not someone else.
That’s what set Laurie Doctor’s workshop at Cheerio apart. Through a series of exercises and readings, she invited us to reach inside and pull out our own thoughts and ideas. She also challenged us to write or draw every day.
From her inspiration, I made the three previously posted small 5×7 coptic bound books and have been making a conscientious effort to use them daily.
The photos here represent a few of the ideas that manifested themselves when I was able to put aside the worries of a “finished product” and just play.