Daily Measures XII

We've had a beautiful last day of 2016 in Florence, and the studio was full of sunshine this afternoon. I thought I would share an image I posted to Instagram today since it shows where my "Daily Measures" project has ended up.

As the year progressed, I realized that (as simple as my daily practice was) the monthly making/setting up of the booklet had become an impediment; if I began the month without preparing the pages, the strips would accumulate with nowhere to go. By the time summer arrived, with family visiting & traveling, I had gotten off-track. Saving papers to use for each daily "story line" had become second nature, though, so I came up with the idea of weaving them. First in the orderly fashion of some of my past paper weavings, but once the busy summer was over the concept started to reflect the pre-launch period for Studio Milledisegni (which was insanely crazy for me), the weavings became looser/less orderly...

Then, as I was completing my series of paper designs for Studio Milledisegni, I got the idea to use a month's-worth of strips to create a small-scale paper chain for our little lemon balm "tree" (shown in the image above). At the beginning of December it was still covered with fresh leaves, but they began to fall part way through the month, slowly making way for the ever-growing chain.

I love the shadows (and the "chaos" they create on the wall), though this does make it somewhat hard to differentiate between the branches/twigs and the shadows they cast. On the note of chaos, this is probably the word that best defines 2016 for me. Likely for that reason, a sense of "calm" has been my quest as I take a break over the holidays. And this is what inspired our Christmas tree this year. After removing the copper leaves with the words my daughter & I had chosen last Christmas (described partway through this post, and which we will hang on the olive tree at the rose garden), we decorated the LED-lit branches with clear glass balls + crystal chandelier bits & pieces. Its mingling of simplicity & exuberance brings me joy every time I look at it. And I love how the sunshine mixes with the crystals, scattering "rainbows" everywhere during the hours of light...

I wish you a lovely last day of 2016 

...and may your 2017 begin in joy!

Daily measures II

 
And the "Daily measures" practice continues... Above are January's (left-hand pages) & February's (center section) completed, with the first half of March's lines weaving their little stories through the third accordion booklet on the right.

The February "chapter" is entitled Settling——not in the negative sense of having to settle for less than one deserves, but rather in the way that all of January's "possibility" finally began to settle...to find some kind of shape & rhythm. Or at least as much rhythm as one experiences in the constantly evolving creative space that a studio typically is...

As were January's, the strips of paper for February came from a variety of sources: trimmings from projects, packaging, mail, extra prints, bits & pieces that turn up around the studio, etc. The choice of orange for the title & footers was inspired by its presence in all shapes & forms... I had never realized how apt it is as a color for February, but with the kilos of oranges that were welcomed into our kitchen & my February tradition of orange freesias brightening up the studio (not to mention daily tea in an orange pot & mug!), I enjoyed an extra dose of my favorite color. And I found that it's an ideal choice for keeping spirits lifted through February's gray days...

I mentioned last month that I would try indenting the "Mondays," in order to help distinguish the weeks from one another, but I forgot as I was cutting the slits. March's Mondays, however, are indented (as you will see when I post them once the month is over).

A couple of things have surprised me about this daily practice so far. One is how much time, between the preparation & conclusion phases, the whole process actually takes; and it's easy to get distracted by all the papers each day! While some of the strips are quickly chosen & trimmed to size, sometimes I use multiple layers of paper or otherwise "customize" them. It has also highlighted for me how easily my mind skips ahead with new ideas; already I am plotting ways to adapt & build upon the daily strip/line concept. But it feels more important to stay with my original plan, and fortunately I am finding great satisfaction in what is beginning to seem like a fairly substantial accumulation of "story lines."

 



 

I hope that life is good in everyone's studios, kitchens, gardens, reading chairs, & other favorite places...

Daily Measures I

 
In January I began a small daily practice: "Daily Measures." The roots of the idea came from my "Story Strips/Lines," which you may remember encountering here once in a while. For this new practice, I am choosing a "line" of paper (1x10cm) that reflects some part of the day...a moment, an event, a theme, an emotion, the weather, a project I'm working on——it can be anything, really. Most of the strips have been found in the basket of paper trimmings that I've been using for paper-weaving, many of which are left over from past projects; others are taken from test prints, or packaging I love/save.

The lines of paper are each woven into an accordion book that I have prepared at the beginning of the month. These accordions are made of lovely Fabriano Artistico, a paper with a hint of warmth, a touch of texture & deckles along the edges. I create slits through which I weave the strips; as the pages fill up, the lines create visual text blocks. The images shown here are for January, which is titled "Possibility." I began the month with mainly white strips, which symbolized the fresh start to the year...the blank page, a blank canvas, new lists. 

Ultimately, nine centimeters of each line remain visible, and the "tails" can be seen from behind. At some point I might affix them with a stitch or adhesive. And I may also bind the accordions——to each other, as well linking the pages within each one, so that the effect is more like a traditional binding. The main reason I chose the accordion structure is so that I could conceal the woven ends of the strips, but I'm not sure that I want such an unwieldy accordion at the end of the year...

There are also slits for a "footer" at the bottom of each page. For January's I typed the small Roman numeral "i" but I'm hoping to come up with an alternative (one benefit to their not being permanently fixed yet); it's too much like page numbering, which of course would actually be consecutive numbers. I may also end up indenting/shortening the lines I use for Mondays, to distinguish the weeks from one another——creating paragraphs of sorts. In any case, I'm enjoying the process of experimenting; for a handful of days I have typed words on to the strips, and a couple of times I have tried layering multiple strips. Who know where I will end up by the end of the year!




 

So, February's accordion is starting to fill up nicely now...I will take a few photos to post here once the month has ended. (How is it possible that 2016 is already moving along so quickly?) Happy new moon + Year of the Monkey to all of you!