How I Work

     Personally, I am a fan of research. I've been working with the same topic for a few years now, and as long as I read literature about it, I never run out of fuel for the flame. I just started reading a new book recently, one which Jo Stealey recommended me, called Women Who Run with the Wolves (I get a lot of "you're a feminist!" teasing at home).
     Anyway, I'm someone who feels the need to pre-plan before attacking the proverbial blank canvas, so I do some compositional sketches, write some things down, play around with iconography and historical contexts. As I mentioned in my previous blog, though, I am trying to let go a little bit of all of the preconceptions I bring to a new image. I think experimentation with new media really helps me to take a new stance when starting a work. For example, the digital image of the woman and the wolf was made with a Bamboo pen, which was brand new to me at the time. Since I was simultaneously playing with the pen and some Photoshop functions, I had more on my mind than then exact placement of every correct piece.
       I'm also, very happily, starting to love the idea of layering and spending time really putting meaning into the process and material that I choose. I feel that in my undergrad years I was very focused on developing my style and my interests, and now that I kind of have that in my grasp, I can focus on depth of the image both conceptually and technically.
     I guess I'm the kind of person, like Sandy Skoglund, who takes many months or years to really think "now it's ready to do!" Many times I start something only to get frustrated with it or totally unimpressed with it and just kind of scoot it under the bed. I'm bad a not finishing things...although I think that I learn a lot from everything I start. But if I have a bad start to it, it's not likely to be finished.