Studio Notes: Creating in the in-between

Recent art projects and thoughts on creating when time is limited

Oct 31, 2024

My little handmade book with ink studies

It is a busy time for me right now and I feel that to support my art practice it is important to focus on simpler projects that are relatively easy to finish.

You don’t necessarily have to create anything finished of course, a regular art practice can be about exploration and play only, but I learned about myself that I am more consistent when I have a specific “project” in mind. The 100 day project is one example and joining it really helped me to clarify a lot about my current practice and how I want to develop it further. Regularly working in a sketchbook is also a part of my practice and while it is not technically a project, I love the feeling of finishing a sketchbook. I think it’s just how my brain works!

Back to landscapes

Loosening up with my landscapes. Studies on the right were made during Orla’s workshop and I really love them!

Time for making art has been limited in October, but it is very important to find these little pockets of time for your art even in the busiest of times. I managed to finish one of my handmade sketchbooks and will be filming a tour in November. As usual it is a sketchbook with basically everything in it from colour studies and collage to florals and still life compositions.

Also I started experimenting with landscapes again. I made a pause with them after finishing my 100 day project to reevaluate how I want to develop my landscapes further. I am leaning towards more abstracted and loose compositions and I want to start using more unlikely colours. I started experimenting with this idea by trying to capture the sense of a landscape with as little detail as possible. I also got some new ideas I want to explore further after attending a wonderful workshop by

Orla Stevens

devoted to abstracting landscapes. It helped me relax a bit about the colours I use.

More landscapes to come!

I made a book… again!

Some of the initial studies I made before binding the book

My main project this month was a handmade book with patterns, marks and shapes created in inks on thick drawing paper. To make this project doable I deliberately minimised the supplies to just paper and ink. Of course I also needed some supplies for binding the book - two covers from an old book, a piece of fabric, a needle, a thread and matte medium as a glue. I wanted to try working with inks for a long time and most of the other things I already had on hand. I adjusted my process with finding compositions in abstract studies and experimented with a new book binding technique, which I hope to explore in another post.

What I love about these handmade books is that they are always a work in progress and I can still come back to change or add something. I only painted on one side of the paper, so I have a lot of blank pages left and I want to come back with some botanical patterns, collage and colour studies. I also left some space for additional signatures and want to add some toned paper into the mix. The possibilities are truly unlimited!

Some other thoughts

My art practice is happening a lot in my head right now, but I don’t think that it is a bad thing necessarily. I noticed that having some distance from my regular practice gave me more clarity and helped to focus on reflection. I have been quite productive during the summer both with painting and writing and I think that now I am sort of processing it all.

If you are in a similar situation right now and have a busy time, I encourage you to use this time for ideation, reflection and planning!

Thank you for reading and being here! Everyone is greatly valued and appreciated in this space. Feel free to share this post with a creative friend and I’ll be happy to hear from you in the comments!