Having Fun Experimenting with Book Making and Paper Cutting

Having Fun Experimenting With Different Art Techniques

I'm a painter first and foremost, but when I can, I take the opportunity to go on a workshop by an artist working in a different medium. Not necessarily because I want to work in that way, but to open my eyes to new possibilities in my own work, a sort of cross pollination of ideas and techniques.

Whether I incorporate what I have learnt into my own practice or not, I always enjoy the sharing with others in the creative process. Normally I'm tucked away in my own studio painting away. That is not to say that I don't enjoy the solitude. I love it. I get so immersed in what I'm doing that I'm not aware of working alone.

But what I love about discovering new ways of making art in a group is that each one of us produces a different piece of art even though we are learning the same technique. I love that. Creativity is definitely personal!

Recently, I went on two workshops. One was a book making workshop run by artist Patricia Clifford. It sparked an idea off in me that I will make my own sketch books in future, which makes the book itself part of my art ideas and practice journals. The whole book will be my art and not just the pages within.

The other was a collage master class with artist Melanie Ezra using three copies of the same photo cut out in different ways and layered one over the other creating intricate patterns while maintaining a hint of the original. It has given me ideas that I have banked away in my mind for those moments when I want to create a specific visual effect that paint alone may not be able to achieve.

I'm on a journey of study now in transforming my discoveries under the microscope into art forms, and these workshops may just play a part in some way.