The " H U N T "

If you are an artist or a crafter, I think you know what I mean by the HUNT. It's the collecting of things...sometimes tiny, almost minuscule things. But I KNOW it will be **perfect** and so I buy it. Or pick it up off of the ground, or tear it out of an old book.  It gets added to the collection.

It may end up on my wall-mounted type trays or in a drawer or a box...but eventually I will use it. It may be large and take up a fair amount of space. But not usually. I find IT at garage sales, flea markets, the big-box craft stores, antique shops, eBay...anywhere and everywhere. Friends and Family give me things they think I might like. Old broken costume jewelry, their grandmother's old spools of sewing thread, one leather glove without it's mate, discarded old school library books.

What ever "IT" is...it is part of the process...hunting and gathering...putting together pieces to make a whole.

So much of my art is about that- putting pieces together. I love the process. I love beginning a new project. I think about it...what colors will I use? Is there a theme? What is the main focus? I marinate the idea in my head turning it over making sure the idea is completely coated. Or sometimes there is no planning and an idea is suddenly and urgently poking at me and I have no choice but to create.

Some might refer to my collection as flotsam and jetsam...junk. Not me...it's my treasure. The found rusted bolt with the very cool numbers on the side, the broken metal medallion, watch parts from the watch my husband donated to the cause, because he 'gets' me, old crystal chandelier parts, a cabinet card image of a child, long since grown and gone, an old seam binding bow with an ancient pressed rose and rusted pin. The stuff of life. Someones memories. Someones past. It's all part of The Story. All these separate pieces brought together to tell The Story.

Usually I am working on more than one project at a time. I have small trays that I use to compartmentalize each project. It's easy to add a tiny treasure to the tray, to see what's there, to move one away and pull one in closer. It's a system that works for me. It's part of the hunting and gathering. I may or may not use all of the items I put in a project tray.

Once a project is finished, I set about carefully putting back that which didn't get used...this time. So IT goes back on the wall,back into the drawer, the box. But I know some day I will use IT.

It's all part of the HUNT and I love it...