{Book Arts} The Thread That Weaves

Have you ever considered the various themes that twine themselves throughout your art? Perhaps a favorite motif, a love of nature, words, or the dreams that inspire you. I've spent several lovely hours pondering that question while taking The Thread That Weaves online workshop with Roxanne Evans Stout. The word that keeps coming to my mind during this experience is beautiful. The workshop is filled with beautiful images, techniques, artists, and most of all a wonderful instructor with a beautiful spirit. We're only into the second week of the workshop, so there's still plenty of time to join in and explore it for yourself. All the details can be found here.

Roxanne asked each of her students "What is the thread that weaves throughout your art?" Some of the lovely and inspiring answers can be found in the post "things that hold mystery" on Roxanne's blog River Garden Studio. I wrote about the things that inspire my art, and gathered bits and pieces from my front yard and wrote down some words that come to my mind when I think about winter and the month of January. These ideas were going to be the theme of my book. But...

On Monday, I took an acrylic painting class and painted my first ever seascape! Lovely shades of blue and green flowed from brush to canvas and lingered in my mind as I began working on the collages for my book. So I decided to follow my muse and dedicate this first book to my love of the sea.

This shimmery, silver thread represents the love of water, and especially the love of the ocean, that flows throughout my art and my life. I plan to use it for stitching waves and other motifs all through my book. I love the structure of this book and I already have 3 more just waiting to be painted and embellished, but for now I will surrender myself to the mystery and beauty of the sea.