Monday, February 9, 2015

Word-Crunch Sound Bite: Letter from the Editor.

Rewind to 12/12/10 post titled Is A Picture Worth A Thousand Words... Well, I think so...and that's why I plan to word-crunch this blog over the next few days. Getting to the essence. And for that thought there is no picture, so here we have a paradox.   Originally, the blog which is now Art Fashion Creation was Toile La La - so there is where you will find the oldest posts, but - captain of my own ship - I truly did word-crunch.  Chomping post after post, I left much less than half the original posts at both blogs.  So, if you're returning here and have ever wondered "where is this-or-that article"... they aren't really gone, just hidden for the future.  Art Fashion Creation and Toile La La together presented (from 2010 to present) more than 450 entries.  There are also many many entries at my Better Shell Fitness, dressesandhats, and wornwrittendrawn blogs (which can be found with enough online diligence).

My recent Art Fashion Creation interview with Collage Artist Kathleen Sawyer - sparked a desire to return to pictures - versus words.  I like the untold story presented in so many of her fascinating collage artworks.  

During involvement with Etsy - primarily touting (well yes... to be honest that is the appropriate word) my book, and sometimes mail art, my blog-posting was infrequent.  However, it's something I missed.  I love the journal aspect of blogging.  

Etsy though has offered the opportunity to enjoy interacting with other artists, treasure-hunters, trend-spotters, writers, and historians.  I especially love creating lists and curating Treasuries, which are respectively so much like keeping scrapbooks/inspiration files - or presenting exhibits.

Having traveled quite a bit lately, my New Year's Resolution is a bit delayed - but I plan to apply it to blogging.  More interviews (I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know creative guests Patricia Gaye Tapp, Karen Winslow, and Kathleen Sawyer!), another installment peek into my 80s scrapbook, and - returning to the pictures versus words thought which introduced this post - you will be seeing collage diary entries here at Toile La La.  

The ouroboros or "in my end is my beginning" theme seems frequently symbolic for me... and once again, seems fitting.  When I first began to creatively flourish, tearsheet images proved to be both inspiration and component in scrapbooks and collages I made - depicting fashion and pop cultural trends of the 80s.

For a few months here at Toile La La, you will see collage journal entries - accompanied only by a short caption.  Some entries may be mail art content, ready to be mailed to my friends and family.  Others entries may be artwork I've created as a way to remember museums I've seen and books I've read.  

Congruent with fitness training, I've found to achieve integral creativity - it works best to cross-train.  While I am completing a time-intensive art assemblage project, you'll see my collage journal entries here at Toile La La.