Looking Forward, Looking Back (1/7/2008)

This is an older post from my jamuse.com blog. I have decided to relocate my blog to blogger. Happy New Year! As many people do, I tend to assess my recent accomplishments and new goals this time of year, but I tend to do so more intensely around my birthday. In any case, these are some of my thoughts about my art in 2007 and what I hope to do in 2008. For most of 2007 I put a lot of energy into sketching out a graphic novel idea. (Starring Adele, my Parisian character) Being new to the medium I was easily frustrated or confused about how to develop the flow of the story and communicate my ideas. From this time I have learned that I need to experiment more in a shorter format, so that is on my list for 2008. After I decided to take a break from Adele's story, I went back to some drawings of butterflies I had in my sketch book. Originally I created the drawings to be transfered to fabric so I could embroider them, but I decided to stick with the drawings to make a series of greeting cards. Each butterfly is arranged with a photo of a plant from its native region and a recreated textile design based on the craftwork of people from the same region. One is finished and I'll post it in my jamuse portfolio soon, and I'll begin working on the others again this month.