So far, going through The Crafter’s Devotional has been a lot of fun. I’m on day 19 (I did a few days all at once in the beginning to get caught up), and it’s been quite an enlightening experience. Today’s task was to think about imagery that pops up in your work over and over, and then to brainstorm about possible interpretations. What I learned about myself and my artwork was quite surprising! They are things I knew, but didn’t realize I was expressing when I paint.

Overall, I’ve really loved going through the book. It’s making me explore crafts I’d never tried, and helping me loosen up and try new techniques. A lot of collage is involved, so one of the big things for me has been stepping outside my comfort zone and cutting up “cherished” magazine clippings I’ve been hoarding for ages. I’m finally doing something with them rather than just sifting through them occasionally for inspiration.

This horribly-captured phone picture is an example of a combination of a few of the collage assignments. I glued the images to a photo box top, and painted over it with varnish. The paper came out all wrinkly, which is regrettable, so I need to learn a better way to decoupage. I’d saved these clippings forever: the woman because of the amazing colors and textures in her clothes, the eggs (which came with the bird) because of the colors and because the eggs reminded me of some of my dripped grid paintings, and the pumpkins, birdhouse, and money jar because I loved the imagery. But without encouragement, I most likely would have still been staring at those clippings when I’m sixty.