Author: Helen Davis

Every journey has its Bog of Eternal Stench moment. Remember the film Labyrinth? Yes, the one with David Bowie and the tights. Well, if Sarah had given up on saving her baby brother when she got stuck at the Bog of Eternal Stench, he would’ve been lost to the Goblin King and Sarah would never have realised GK’s magic had no power over her.

The point is, we all get stuck or lost, or downright cheesed off. And, the creative process is no different. You might start off with good intentions and big ideas, but the middle can be sticky. Stenchy even.

And, with the Leigh Art Trail deadline looming it’s turned out some of SEVEN are making super slow progress with their art books. Some of us might even be a teensy bit stuck. Eeek!

So what help is there for the frustrated creative stuck on their creative project?

A Creative Unblock Project to Try

Well, Danielle Krysa, aka The Jealous Curator, is the brains behind Creative Block: Advice and Projects from 50 Successful Artists. This book features the thoughts and practices of a variety of artists on dealing with inner and out critics, blank page block, and more.

In her post on the book Maria Popova of Brain Pickings shares some of the books most thoughtful snippets, including this “Creative Unblock Project” used by artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon:

“Choose one thing you love to draw or paint (and feel comfortable drawing or painting) already: an animal, object, a person, whatever. For thirty days, draw or paint that thing thirty different ways, a different way every day. You can use different mediums, expressions, positions, colors, whatever. Each day, push yourself to do something much different than the day before, but keep the subject the same. See how keeping one element constant (in this case, the “thing” you love to draw or paint) can allow you to break out creatively in other ways.”

Will SEVEN get unstuck? Will Amanda’s origami birds be strung in her Turkish map fold? Will Juliet get her concertina stitched in time? And, will all our art books make it to LAT 2019? It’s a cliffhanger alright!

Last year SEVEN took a day trip to Turn the Page – the Norwich-based artists’ book event. No sooner had we stepped into The Forum than we were signing ourselves up for a project, The Library of Reclaimed Books. And, March 2019 was the deadline for submitting our entry:

“The Library of Reclaimed Books is a collection of altered ex-library books that started as a personal endeavour to give new lease of life to books that have lost their original use value. The library has now evolved into a social art project, involving different libraries and the public.”

Below you can read the words which accompanied our collaborative entry, an altered book called Découpage, which you can see on The Library of Reclaimed Books website.

And, if you’re thinking “what the heck is an altered book?” check out this post.

Many Hands Make New Work

“This altered book is the collective reimagining of SEVEN, a small group of artists who come together to experiment with creative techniques and idea-generating prompts in sketchbooks and art books. Exploration is our destination. And reclaiming unwanted books is our favourite.

While some might view this as a sticky end for a lovely little ex-library book, we like to think we’ve breathed new life into its neglected pages, using the photographs, diagrams and words within, plus the work of our fellow SEVEN members, as creative catalysts.

We picked this book on decoupage because its theme spoke to us. Turns out cutting and sticking pictures onto things – usually furniture – was enjoyed by everyone from Marie-Antoinette to mad, bad and dangerous with a pair of scissors Lord Byron. While those arty types Picasso and Matisse dabbled too. Who knew!?

Never ones to be deterred by big shoes, and suitably armed with paint, glue, cutting tools, and a clutch of everyday materials – think sweet wrappers and nail varnish – we set to work, taking turns to add to the book. A year later and this ex-library book has been transformed into something unplanned, unexpected and unique.

Enjoy!”

Want to Create Your Own Altered Book?

Intrigued by the idea of altered books? Starting couldn’t be easier. Charity shops are a great source of unwanted books. Our SEVEN tips:

• Look for books which have been drawn or written in, or which have pages missing – this helps overcome the squeamish feeling some people have when it comes to creating art in ‘proper’ books
• Slimmish books with hardback covers are ideal – Helen’s first altered book was an encyclopaedia (she never finished it)
• Choose books with a mixture of images and text
• Avoid books with glossy pages – matte paper is usually better for this type of work

And you’re away!

Wondering how you get started art journalling or making a creative sketchbook? This year, so were SEVEN. But by February our books are starting to take shape. The one thing they have in common? We all started differently.

Kim Loves Bookbinding

Kim, whose chosen artist is Robert Rauschenberg, has really taken to bookbinding – like a duck to water. So she chose to create her – ultra neat – book first, then work into it.

Jo’s Mini Mock-Up

Jo, who is also a graphic designer, mocked up a teeny tiny version of her book idea, before starting on the pages she planned to make into the full-size version.

Amanda’s Map Fold Technique

Amanda had fallen for the Turkish map fold, discovered in our book-making class with Chris Ruston of Art Book Art. So she has been playing with some special paper and soaking it in paint to get the effects on which to place her planned Matisse-inspired collages.

Helen’s Wardrobe Wonder

Helen’s Surrealist project would start with a wardrobe. And maybe a mermaid. So, she planned to make a wardrobe-style book which would open up to pages going forwards and backwards. Simple. No?

Juliet Returns to Concertina

Juliet’s pacific-inspired designs were starting to flow. Across. Pages. And so, once she got started Juliet had come to the conclusion that the good old concertina format would actually be perfect for her creative explorations.

Over To You…

Inspired to create your own creative journal? Then we’d suggest checking out some of the weird and wonderful book creations on Pinterest. SEVEN collective got quite addicted to scrolling the many Pinterest posts and boards dedicated to bookbinding, but we warn you, the interwebs can be a real rabbit hole. Our top tips:

• Keep your first handmade art books or journals simple
• Use online tutorials to get you started
• Get your bookbinding hand in, then experiment…

Good luck!

“All things must change to something new to something strange”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Back in September we had a bit of a SEVEN makeover. First the lovely Nicola announced she could no longer balance work, life and SEVEN. Then we completely reimagined what we were doing. Big time.

Problem was, by January we were feeling a little lost…

Looking to our art past

For our first two years showing in the Leigh Art Trail we’d shown creative sketchbooks completed using a series of artistic prompts, while using similar materials. In 2017 the theme had been the sea, in 2018 it was ‘estuarine’.

The key had been to see how seven different artists interpreted the same prompts and utilised those similar materials in their work.

But for LAT 2019 we wanted to do something different…

Looking to Leigh Art Trail 2019

So we shook things up. Big time:

• Goodbye trusty concertina sketchbook, hello handmade journal!
• No more unifying theme – instead, each SEVEN member took an artist or art movement for inspiration
• We each sourced our own materials
• And, we threw out the individually-led workshops

Yep, we had pretty much changed everything.

SEVEN become five

Added to which, by Christmas, the accomplished Kerry Doyland was considering her future with the group – Kerry has her fingers in a lot of artistic pies, including a passion for figure painting and a part in Leigh-on-Sea’s Two Tree Gallery – so it was looking like SEVEN was about to be five.

A lesson learned

Change is part of life. And SEVEN collective is no different. But when it came to the self-imposed changes we’d made to the way we worked in our art journals we’d probably made a tad too many.

Without a clear creative compass – a set book, shared materials, or group workshops where we exchanged our favourite techniques – we’d become a bit lost.

Can we pull SEVEN back from the brink of blank sketchbook doom? Or even worse, for those of us who haven’t decided on what shape or size of sketchbook to make, will there simply be a void where a book should be (eeek!)? Let’s wait and see…

So, this December the intrepid Kerry Doyland, from Two Tree Gallery, a small space run by a group of Leigh artists, met a woman who wanted a piece of art reimagined. That’s a task for SEVEN Kerry told her. And, that’s how we got our first commission…

Old for new

Our mission – should we choose to accept it – was to rework a piece of art which had been bought in memory of a relative. A kind of collage-inspired work, with a vintage feel, the image featured lots of delicate heart-shapes in very muted tones.

With that in mind, every SEVEN member was given a section of the original work. Now all we had to do was:

• Respond to the original artwork in our own unique ways, working on small individual canvases.

The unifying threads were:

• The heart detail – which the client was keen to retain
• The colour palette of black, white, grey, yellow and gold

Once completed the small canvases would be framed together to form a complete piece.

Our collaborative creation

And the results were kinda interesting. Amanda told us her figurative take was inspired by the opening credits of her current fave show Vikings – what else!? While Helen looked to some of her enduring themes, like hands and gloves for inspiration:

“It seemed pretty apt to me, evoking ideas of nostalgia and connection,” she said.

SEVEN’s work usually centres around the creative process, so it was a real challenge to get together and create a finished piece. The result was something unique and completely unexpected. Is this the start of something new for SEVEN? Will we be taking more commissions in the future? We’ll see…