Album Cover Collages: A College Love.

I took a drawing class in college once... the instructor's name was Andrea Moreau and she was fabulous. One of the first things she had us do was keep a sketchbook and turn it in every week. She always said she wouldn't read too closely in case the contents were private, but it was very important to her that we saw the value in keeping one. Ever since that class, I have had an art journal. It has become pretty much a part of me. Like I'm pretty sure if my apartment was burning down, I'd run out with a kitty under each arm and my journal in my teeth. 

Another thing I learned in that class was to embrace mixed media; Andrea let us use pretty much anything we wanted in our work. Well... as a poor college student, I needed an inexpensive idea for my final project. I was in this record store one day and they had some boxes of vintage album covers. The art on some of them was really cool; I think I went through the box like five times. The friend I was with came over, saw me looking, and knowing my love for mixed media said, "You know, I bet you could make some really cool art out of those." Suddenly about 1000 lightbulbs went on and a new love was born. And the best part: they were maybe $0.25 apiece. I probably have 50 or so hanging around my studio waiting to be revived. Each one becomes like its own little world. As a very indecisive and impulsive artist (and person in general) it is amazing to have a jumping off point. I can look at an old album cover and almost instantly feel the shape I want it to take on. 

Now that I think about it, it has been a couple of months since I have whipped one of these up. Perhaps tonight I will pour a glass of wine, revisit an old love, and celebrate the fact that it is almost the weekend.