Thanks Martin! I was really uncertain of this one at the time. Was experimenting with structures to try and shake things up a bit. It’s a form I’d still like to go back and explore a further in more work.
So beautiful, that first image had me doing a double take! If you enjoy the ICAD and don’t have to work yourself up to creating one every day, I’d say go for it as long as it brings you joy ☺️
Only what YOU the artist wants matters Duane. What other people want doesn't really matter. Do it for yourself and share with others. I have self published about 40+ books and catalogs using LULU.com mostly for my own documentary purposes but they are available to buy in the public via Amazon etc. and now and then people buy them. Once published it is just endless passive income albeit, in small amounts. More ways to have fun. Another tool for expressing yourself.
Thanks Cecil! I'll be sure to look for some of your books! I love your work!
It's always difficult for me to think about what to do with finished work. When a piece is finished, I'm finished with it. Everything I needed from it I received while making it and after it's made I'm usually only interested in moving on.
Eunice Parsons described it like butterfly collecting. You are enthralled by this thing of beauty, this seemingly transcendent being, full of life and fluttering. But when you capture it, and you pin it to a board, it's not alive anymore. You're only left with a corpse. When I look at my finished work, all I see are dead things.
I think that's why I've never been able to hang my work in my own space. Seeing it makes me feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Like being haunted by the ghost of something that was once beautiful dissected and put on display.
It's probably unhelpful perspective that perhaps I should try to change.
I've never tried cataloging it, perhaps that wpuod be a different feeling. Thanks again Cecil! I really appreciate you!
Yes, like I write in some of my articles, think of yourself as an archive - a single lifetime long artwork. By recording and documenting it you record a map of your trail and thought process and show all of the beauty and pitfalls of that trail. That is what I do. I used to think more like what you are talking about. Yes, I make things everyday, they just go in the drawers. I might not look at them again for a year or longer. But they are organized and recorded and the digital record is my trail that I can look back over when I need to reorient myself or remember where I have been or am looking for spots I can fill in or explore more deeply. That is when I might pull out the originals and look them over to remember what I did and how I did it. They often surprise me later. I have found that the self discipline developed over time through this kind of perpetual vigilance and organization helps to keep me calm and peaceful and confident. Like you have mentioned, routine creates a protective fortress inside in which you may be at peace. Yes everything is dead with each passing moment, gone forever but what an artist can keep is the record of one's trail. That is of great value if you ask me.
Thank you for such a rich and insightful reply! You offer a beautiful perspective here. I find something highly resonant within this archivist mentality, a keeper of sacred moments. At the heart of every ritual is a kind of remembrance, a kind of reenactment, not to be redundant or repetitive for its own sake, not to dwell only on the past, or to try to relive it but, as a means of recommitment, of re-choosing, choosing again to choose what you chose before...
Congratulations and thank you for sharing The Way of Flowers. It gives me new pleasure to see it again! Great art has that way of re-delighting a person. For your ICAD practice: 2 questions. Do you think there’s something about faithfulness to the daily practice that invites you to move into new skills and ways of thinking? And, if so, are you *excited* to see where that might go???
Great questions! I think the ritual and discipline of daily practice, the faithfulness, is catalytic. It’s key to building momentum, or it has been for me. The index cards have been and continue to be low friction studies. Opportunities to explore new ideas or material or approaches with ultra low stakes. For me, collages of any scale are always exciting, because for it’s always about exploration and discovery. I never know what’s going to happen or where it’s going to lead, so I’m always excited to see.
I feel that your ICAD work is ever-changing - it has been wonderful to see where this journey has taken you. Like Pilgrim, I would say that the continuation of this project is entirely up to you, and no matter which direction, which path you choose to follow, we will be with you! What I do know, is whatever comes next will be worth it! Good luck!
Thank you! It has been an absolute pleasure! the ICAD practice has super-charged my entire creative practice in a really unexpected way. I’m definitely thinking about keeping it going indefinitely. But, I suppose that might take away some the excitement of participating in teh ICAD challenge next year, especially if I never stopped doing it, lol.
Congratulations on yet another achievement Duane! I find it hard to decide what you should do with the challenge so I won't say whether to extend or not. (I know not sharing opinion is unheard of right?) It's your choice! Whether you do it or not, I know we'll be seeing more work from you either way. I found that the collage with the stitch work slotted in a surprise. We don't see that kind of work in homes so it was a pleasant surprise to see it in your piece!
Much appreciated! It’s been unbelievably fun and insightful doing this challenge. in way it doesn’t feel like I was participating in a change at all, but cultivating a creative habit. In that way I think it’s become an integral part of my practice, it’s kind of hard to image my creative time without it.
Keeping going...
Thanks LeeAnn! I think I will!
"limiting notions of potential" absolutely wins for me. It hits just right.
Thanks Martin! I was really uncertain of this one at the time. Was experimenting with structures to try and shake things up a bit. It’s a form I’d still like to go back and explore a further in more work.
Congrats on the accepted image! These acceptances are always worth celebrating.
Thanks so much! I try not to get too caught up in it, but it’s always a nice surprise when it happens.
So beautiful, that first image had me doing a double take! If you enjoy the ICAD and don’t have to work yourself up to creating one every day, I’d say go for it as long as it brings you joy ☺️
Much appreciated! I think it’s going to continue to be a part of m daily practice for the foreseeable future.
I am glad, because I like to see them!
That really means so much to me!
Make a thousand.
Sounds like a good plan to me!
I love the index collages and would be happy to keep seeing them. Is there a way you can put all 100 together into one image?
I would not put them all together. Make them into a catalog.
Thanks Cecil! Love the idea!I've been toying with the thought of doing something like this. Just wasn't sure anyone would actually want it.
Only what YOU the artist wants matters Duane. What other people want doesn't really matter. Do it for yourself and share with others. I have self published about 40+ books and catalogs using LULU.com mostly for my own documentary purposes but they are available to buy in the public via Amazon etc. and now and then people buy them. Once published it is just endless passive income albeit, in small amounts. More ways to have fun. Another tool for expressing yourself.
Thanks Cecil! I'll be sure to look for some of your books! I love your work!
It's always difficult for me to think about what to do with finished work. When a piece is finished, I'm finished with it. Everything I needed from it I received while making it and after it's made I'm usually only interested in moving on.
Eunice Parsons described it like butterfly collecting. You are enthralled by this thing of beauty, this seemingly transcendent being, full of life and fluttering. But when you capture it, and you pin it to a board, it's not alive anymore. You're only left with a corpse. When I look at my finished work, all I see are dead things.
I think that's why I've never been able to hang my work in my own space. Seeing it makes me feel uncomfortable and uneasy. Like being haunted by the ghost of something that was once beautiful dissected and put on display.
It's probably unhelpful perspective that perhaps I should try to change.
I've never tried cataloging it, perhaps that wpuod be a different feeling. Thanks again Cecil! I really appreciate you!
Yes, like I write in some of my articles, think of yourself as an archive - a single lifetime long artwork. By recording and documenting it you record a map of your trail and thought process and show all of the beauty and pitfalls of that trail. That is what I do. I used to think more like what you are talking about. Yes, I make things everyday, they just go in the drawers. I might not look at them again for a year or longer. But they are organized and recorded and the digital record is my trail that I can look back over when I need to reorient myself or remember where I have been or am looking for spots I can fill in or explore more deeply. That is when I might pull out the originals and look them over to remember what I did and how I did it. They often surprise me later. I have found that the self discipline developed over time through this kind of perpetual vigilance and organization helps to keep me calm and peaceful and confident. Like you have mentioned, routine creates a protective fortress inside in which you may be at peace. Yes everything is dead with each passing moment, gone forever but what an artist can keep is the record of one's trail. That is of great value if you ask me.
Thank you for such a rich and insightful reply! You offer a beautiful perspective here. I find something highly resonant within this archivist mentality, a keeper of sacred moments. At the heart of every ritual is a kind of remembrance, a kind of reenactment, not to be redundant or repetitive for its own sake, not to dwell only on the past, or to try to relive it but, as a means of recommitment, of re-choosing, choosing again to choose what you chose before...
Thanks Mitchell! That’s a good idea! I’ll have to look into that and see what I can do.
Congratulations :) and I say keep going if you're enjoying the index challenge.
Much appreciated! i think it’s become such a part of my daily creative practice I’m not even sure I really could stop, lol.
Congratulations and thank you for sharing The Way of Flowers. It gives me new pleasure to see it again! Great art has that way of re-delighting a person. For your ICAD practice: 2 questions. Do you think there’s something about faithfulness to the daily practice that invites you to move into new skills and ways of thinking? And, if so, are you *excited* to see where that might go???
Great questions! I think the ritual and discipline of daily practice, the faithfulness, is catalytic. It’s key to building momentum, or it has been for me. The index cards have been and continue to be low friction studies. Opportunities to explore new ideas or material or approaches with ultra low stakes. For me, collages of any scale are always exciting, because for it’s always about exploration and discovery. I never know what’s going to happen or where it’s going to lead, so I’m always excited to see.
I feel that your ICAD work is ever-changing - it has been wonderful to see where this journey has taken you. Like Pilgrim, I would say that the continuation of this project is entirely up to you, and no matter which direction, which path you choose to follow, we will be with you! What I do know, is whatever comes next will be worth it! Good luck!
Thank you! It has been an absolute pleasure! the ICAD practice has super-charged my entire creative practice in a really unexpected way. I’m definitely thinking about keeping it going indefinitely. But, I suppose that might take away some the excitement of participating in teh ICAD challenge next year, especially if I never stopped doing it, lol.
Congratulations on yet another achievement Duane! I find it hard to decide what you should do with the challenge so I won't say whether to extend or not. (I know not sharing opinion is unheard of right?) It's your choice! Whether you do it or not, I know we'll be seeing more work from you either way. I found that the collage with the stitch work slotted in a surprise. We don't see that kind of work in homes so it was a pleasant surprise to see it in your piece!
Much appreciated! It’s been unbelievably fun and insightful doing this challenge. in way it doesn’t feel like I was participating in a change at all, but cultivating a creative habit. In that way I think it’s become an integral part of my practice, it’s kind of hard to image my creative time without it.
So there’s your answer then…?