Altered Art

So, in yesterday's post I mentioned that I was so inspired by the work presented in Cloth, Paper, Scissors (Link in yesterday's post). I looked through several books and magazines. This was the only altered art one, and the rest were scrapbooking. What do you think it means that the altered art one inspired me so much more?

One thought might be that they type of scrap layouts published in the mags weren't really my "type". I am very inspired by browsing through 2Peas, so I know I can be inspired by others' scrap creations. But I tend to like work that is kind of messy and haphazard looking and those mags had a lot of very "neat" looking layouts. I think that's the type they go for.

Another thought is that scrapbooking is not the only art form I like. I know some scrapbookers were always into cutting up paper, and other scrappy-related activities. I, however, was always into painting and drawing, since I was little. I only got into scrapbooking after my daughter was born and I had to do something with all those pics. A friend introduced me to scrapbooking, and when I found the 2Peas gallery, I realized that you could really make art with it, while at the same time doing something with all those photos. And after all, there's only so much wall space to hang all your paintings :) But scrap album space is limitless!

I did see others' scrap albums before that, but frankly, they were very underwhelming. Did that sound mean? I'm not sure they could totally be classified as scrap albums even, since it was mostly just plain photos glued down onto colored background with not much going on. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why someone would waste their time on that. That was before I had all those adorable photos of my daughter. That was also before I knew all the adorable scrap supplies I could shop for.

But in any case, the altered art was very inspiring. I have had many interests over the years, including dollhouses/miniatures, sculpting, collage, etc. So I've accumulated many supplies and ideas that I could apply to altered art projects and my scrap pages.

I guess the answer is, I get inspired by true art, no matter what physical form it takes. I love writing just as much as visual art, but I consider that art as well. I think of art as anything where you create something. And you know what, after struggling all these years to achieve something that pays well (my career, which I do actually love), I am finally comfortable enough to say that in addition to that, I am an Artist too. And that makes me happy :)