In the Studio - February

​In February, I started and finished four more Monday sketchbook collages in a concertina format. Each panel takes me longer than the sketchbook collage pages I was making over the past few years. For the concertina, I still work on one collage at a time but as I do I'm also thinking about the previous panels and the panels to come so I can keep it cohesive. A little more concentration is required but I'm embracing the challenge.
​

After I finished the last collage of the month in January I used up many of the leftover scraps by making some speed collages. That was such a fun way to finish up that I did it again in February. I started with a big collage (7" sq.) while I still had larger scraps to work with and then gradually made the collages smaller (3" sq. & 1.5" sq.) as the scraps got fewer and smaller. 

---

​Completing the handmade books that I started and had sitting around my work area for too long was a goal for last month. I did get these three finished and two more are three-quarters of the way done.

One of the things I like best about creating handmade books is that it gives me a place to use all those papers I've rusted, eco-printed, painted, or collaged. Learning all the fancy binding stitches with the Handmade Bookclub is pretty satisfying too.
​