meant to make things

with which we seek union - printed collage papers, gel printed paper, magazine fragments and printed AI image

Dana Jeri Maier

wrote about the distinction between fine art and illustration recently. I’m not an illustrator. I’m not nearly that talented. But I think about these kinds of distinctions often. Between art and craft. Between creativity and discipline. Between ‘genius’, whatever that means, and skill.

the relativity of all perspectives - analog collage on 8.5x11 cardstock

I haven't come to any grand or insightful conclusions. I'm not sure that I have a clear stance on the issue. Or that I've come to a meaningful decision.

But what I can say is that I'm starting to think of myself as an artist less often. I'm finding the designation less helpful. And, I'm less and less interested.

In the name.

In the title.

In all its loaded with, and the weight of carrying it.

bounds toward the indistinct - analog collage on 8.5x11 cardstock

I don't have much use for that kind of high-mindedness. It's ill-fitting. The sleeves too long. The pants too baggy.

Whenever I put it on, the work suffers. It gets in the way of what I'm doing. It doesn't work for me.

there flashes forth - analog collage on B6 sketchbook paper

I step into my studio everyday. I stand at my workbench. A craftsperson. A line cook. I check my mise en place. This "station, and its condition, its state of readiness," Anthony Bourdain says, "is an extension of [my] nervous system". A microcosm of everything that I am, and everything I do.

every image is a portrait - analog collage on cardstock

When I'm satisfied I get to work. I have a job to do. I make pictures. I create images. That's it.

Nothing more.

Nothing less. 

When one is finished I move on to the next.

I don't know who or what I am exactly. I don't know what you call it. Or, if there's a name for the single pointed task I've committed myself to.

The one thing I do know is that I was meant to make things...

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P.S. ICAD - Day 167-170

a seed of fire - analog collage on 4x6 index card

complicated vocabularies - analog collage on 4x6 index card

the absence of challenge - analog collage on 4x6 index card

poetry concealed in everyday language - analog collage on 4x6 index card

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