What is Sketchbook Revival?

It’s an eleven-day online creative challenge (April 11–21) featuring 30+ hands-on sessions with artists from around the world. Each day, you can dip into lessons on:

• Drawing
• Painting
• Collage
• Mixed media
• Sketchbook play

…and so much more. Some of the workshops that I’m excited about are:

• Jane Davies: Visual Prompts
  • I love Jane’s work and she always offers simple doable prompts.
• Sarah Matthews: Australian Piano Hinge Book
  • Sarah is great and this is one of my favorite books to make. In fact, it’s one I teach people to make and would charge you a lot of money to learn, so it’s super cool that you’re getting to learn it from Sarah for FREE!
• Debbie Mackinnon: Fast & Loose Mixed Media Sketchbook Pages
  • I haven’t heard of Debbie before (another great reason to join the class — you find so many new-to-you awesome artist instructors) but I love anything that involves fast and loose mixed media.
• Este MacLeod: Play with Patterns
  • Este’s work is beautiful and patterns are always a favorite for me!

There are so many more sessions to choose from if these don’t interest you. Each year I find that there’s one or two sessions that simply blow me away! And it’s a good reminder that you don’t have to do everything. You don’t have to keep up. You just have to show up.

Why You Might Need This (Especially Right Now)

If you’ve been feeling:

• Stuck
• Uninspired
• Too busy to “get back to art”
• Overwhelmed by where to start

Sketchbook Revival gives you:

• A structure (so you don’t have to figure it out)
• A community (so you’re not doing it alone)
• A spark (so you actually begin)

What’s in the Lesson I’m Teaching?

My lesson is called, “Your Sketchbook Is Full of Ideas.”

Personally, I don’t tend to use my sketchbook for finished art. Rather, it’s a place where I collect ideas. I write, I draw, I think, I wander, I play, and I collect things. It’s one of the reasons I tend to refer to my sketchbooks as “studio notebooks.” (As a side note, if this is an idea that intrigues you, I have an entire section of My Art Practice dedicated to the studio notebook.)

So, in my session I’ll be showing you how I go from a little sketch to a finished piece of art — all with the help of a simple formula that you can use over and over again! Here’s the piece that I make in the class video:

If you’ve ever struggled with…

• understanding how to use a sketchbook to fuel finished art
• getting started on a work of art
• feeling like you’ve “run out of ideas”

…then you’re going to love this session.

The Best Part? Sketchbook Revival is FREE.

You can join and access all the sessions at no cost HERE. There is a VIP option if you want lifetime access and bonuses, but you absolutely don’t need it to participate.

VIP is for you if:

• You don’t want to feel rushed
• You know your schedule is unpredictable
• You tend to fall off when things feel overwhelming
• You want this to actually stick, not just be a one or two week burst

One thing you should know, there are three opportunities to buy the VIP package, but the price keeps increasing over time.

• When you first register for class, you can upgrade to VIP for $47.
• During the challenge, you can upgrade to VIP, but now it’s $97.
• And then after the challenge is over, you have one week, one last chance, to decide to upgrade to VIP, however the price is now $197!

You don’t need the VIP, but if you think you’re going to get it, do it earlier rather than later!

Join Before It Starts

The event starts this weekend, so SIGN UP and get ready for an art adventure!

Remember: You don’t need more time. You don’t need better supplies. You don’t need to be “ready.” You simply need to begin. And this is a really easy way to do it.

Thanks for stopping by!

The post Sketchbook Revival (FREE Online Workshop) Starts on Saturday! appeared first on Balzer Designs Blog.

         

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A Scary Incident on the Highway

On Thursday, when I was driving home from jury duty (normally a 30-40 minute drive), my car gave out on the highway.  

I was in the middle lane of a three-lane highway and the car suddenly started stuttering, fishtailing, and deaccelerating.  I put on my hazards and did my best to get the car (now going much slower than the flow of traffic) off the road and onto the shoulder.  All I could think to do once I was pulled over was call my husband.  The second he answered I started crying and hyperventilating.  I think the adrenaline just crashed over me.

The long and the short of the story is I called AAA, a state police officer helped me move the car off the highway, my husband came and found me, the car was towed to a service center, and everyone is safe and sound.

Whew.

But that night I was telling my Mom that I felt like a failure for falling to pieces and she stopped me right away.  She told me that from her perspective I had handled myself well.  I didn’t freak out when it happened. I safely navigated the car to the shoulder.  I called for help.  I dealt with the situation.

I thought about how differently she was looking at the situation and it gave me pause.

Do we automatically label ourselves as failures without considering the actual situation?  By being too focused on how we are “supposed to do it?”

Failure in Art: It didn’t Turn Out How it Was “Supposed To”

Here is where this story becomes art related:

How many times have you deemed your artwork a failure because it didn’t turn out “how it was supposed to?”

I know that I do this all the time. There’s a picture in my head and I want it to match that picture. Most of the time, it’s an unreachable goal. Many years I wrote about letting go of expectations (not lowering, but letting go). And I stand by that idea.

I’ll explain in the next section.

Mindset Shift: Change the Question

What if, instead of asking “Did this turn out how it was supposed to?” we asked:

• Did I stay with the process, even when it got uncomfortable?
• Did I make decisions and respond to what was happening in front of me?
• Did I learn something I can carry into the next piece?

Because just like pulling a failing car safely to the shoulder, art isn’t about executing perfectly under ideal conditions. It’s about navigating what’s actually happening.

How to Put This Advice into Practice

Here are a few things you can do to bring this notion into your studio this week:

1. Redefine success.  Success isn’t a perfect outcome, rather it’s staying engaged, solving problems, and seeing things through.
2. Interrupt the “failure” story. When you catch yourself labeling a piece as a failure, pause and ask: What did I actually do well here? There is always something.
3. Practice responding, not controlling. Instead of forcing your work to match a preconceived idea, treat it like a situation you’re navigating in real time.

Your artwork isn’t a pass/fail test. It’s evidence that you showed up, paid attention, and kept going even when things didn’t go as planned. Yay for you! I think that perseverance is a really key quality to develop in yourself — both for art and personal reasons. So, this is me encouraging you to keep going! Keep trying! And have fun doing it!

Thanks for stopping by!

The post Rethinking Failure in Art: A Better Way to Measure Success appeared first on Balzer Designs Blog.

         

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One of the (fun) challenges of working in mixed media is that we often end up with lots of beautiful experimental papers. Painted papers, printed papers, papers covered with marks, patterns, and more!

They’re fun to make, but they add up quickly and can make you feel quite overwhelmed. One of my favorite solutions is turning that pile of papers into a usable mixed media book.

Turning those experimental surfaces into handmade books gives them a purpose and a structure.

That’s exactly what we’ll be exploring in my upcoming 4-day in-person workshop “Making Mixed Media Books” at Dillman’s Art Workshop Retreat in northern Wisconsin.

You can read more about the workshop HERE.

What Is Mixed Media Bookmaking?

Mixed media bookmaking combines surface design techniques with simple book structures. Instead of starting with blank pages, you create your own papers using techniques like:

• painting
• collage
• printing
• drawing and mark-making
• layering transparent materials

Those surfaces are then transformed into colorful handmade books, which can be further worked into, exploring materials, texture, and visual rhythm across a sequence of pages. For artists who love experimenting with materials, bookmaking is a wonderful way to turn those explorations into finished pieces.

Make a Single Sheet Folded Book

If you’ve ever made painted or printed papers, here’s a simple way to turn them into a book. All you need is one sheet of paper.

1. Start with a sheet of paper.
2. Fold it in half lengthwise.
3. Fold it again in the opposite direction.
4. Fold once more so you have eight rectangles.
5. Cut a slit along the center fold between the middle panels.
6. Refold and push the pages together.

Watch the video if you’re more of a visual learner:

You now have an eight-page handmade book.

This structure works beautifully with painted or collaged papers, because the design flows across the folds and pages.

Join Me at Dillman’s Bay in May!

In my upcoming workshop, Making Mixed Media Books, we’ll spend several days exploring both surface design and simple book structures.

We’ll create painted and printed papers, experiment with layering and mark-making, and then transform those surfaces into handmade books, like the one I’m holding in the photo below:

Dillman’s Art Workshop Retreat has been hosting artists for decades on the shores of White Sand Lake in northern Wisconsin. It’s a beautiful setting to step away from daily life, focus on your art, and spend time with other creative people. This is a photo of one of their classrooms:

You can come with your family with a vacation. Lodging options include cabins as well as motel-style accommodations. While you come to class, your partner and/or family can fish, hike, relax, and otherwise explore the area!

If you’d like to join me, you can find all the details HERE.

And if you try making a folded book from one of your own painted papers, I’d love to hear how it goes.

The post Mixed Media Bookmaking: Turning Painted Papers into Handmade Books appeared first on Balzer Designs Blog.

          

Comments

• In reply to Kristina Schaper. Thanks, Kristina! I appreciate ... by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
• Hi Julie, making books out of mixed media papers is one of my ... by Kristina Schaper

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How is Visiting a Museum Part of an Art Practice?

There’s a difference between going somewhere and going somewhere with intention. I think that’s what an artist field trip really is, and I think it’s a part of an art practice that gets overlooked. It’s not just leaving your house. It’s not just consuming something creative. It’s deciding, even quietly, that you are going to pay attention.

And I think that’s part of what we’re actually looking for when we say we need creative inspiration. Not ideas, exactly, more like space to let your brain wander. Because the truth is, your art practice can’t run only on output. It just can’t. If all you’re doing is making and making and making, eventually you start to feel like you’re scraping the bottom of something. That feeling of being stuck, bored, and disconnected from your work is awful. But, I think it’s actually evidence of a lack of input.

Input doesn’t just magically happen. You have to go looking for it a little bit. That’s what an artist field trip is doing. It’s choosing to step outside your usual routine and deliberately seek out something that might spark creative inspiration. It could be a museum. It could be a walk where you decide ahead of time that you’re going to notice color, or texture, or light. It could be sitting in a café and actually looking at people instead of your phone. But the important part is that shift from passive to intentional. It’s the difference between wandering around and actually seeing.

The Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum

The Gardner is a great place for that kind of intention looking because it’s so immersive. The courtyard alone is worth the visit!

Light streaming through the glass ceiling, plants, water, and a generally sense of tranquility and aliveness. It doesn’t feel like a museum so much as a place where your brain can stretch out and relax a little.

Fun Fact: On the tour I took I learned that almost everything in the courtyard is potted so that it can be easily changed out!

And it’s not curated like a typical museum. It’s not arranged by time period or theme or anything else. There are no little cards on the artwork to give you any kind of information. It’s just you looking at beautiful things and thinking about them.

Looking with Intention

I believe that if you focus on something, you notice more. It sounds obvious, but it’s not how we usually move through the world. Most of the time we’re skimming. Even in museums. The average person spends just 15-30 seconds looking at a piece of art in a museum!! But when you slow down and let yourself linger on the thing that catches your eye, something starts to happen. You start asking questions: Why do I like this? What is it doing? How could I use that idea? And even if you don’t answer those questions right away, just asking them changes the way the experience lands.

This is where I think a lot of people miss a step in their art practice. They go, they look, they enjoy, and then they move on. But, I believe that reflection is the part that actually turns inspiration into growth. Not in a formal, “sit down and journal for an hour” way (although it can be that). It can be as simple as letting something sit in your brain a little longer. Turning it over. Noticing what stuck. This is the real reason that I think sketching is so cathartic for so many artists. Sketching forces you to look and pay attention in a way that you don’t normally. If you’re not a sketcher, try writing! Simply writing out your thoughts and impressions creates a similar kind of focus.

Attention is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal.

Socializing is a Part of My Art Practice

The other thing that struck me on this artist field trip was how much I enjoyed being there with other artists. The tour I went on was a member perk for members of the Cambridge Art Association, so there were lots of folks to chat with during the afternoon!

I think there’s something incredibly generative about being around other creative people. When someone else points out something you didn’t see, or asks a question you wouldn’t have thought to ask, it shifts your perspective just enough. It’s like when you go into a library looking for one book and end up finding five others you didn’t even know existed because they were sitting right next to it. That kind of sideways discovery is hard to engineer on your own. It’s a good reminder that even though making art can be solitary, being an artist and building a sustainable art practice doesn’t have to be.

In Conclusion

So I guess this is just a gentle nudge to you. If your work feels a little flat right now, or you’re not sure what to make next, maybe the answer isn’t to push harder in the studio. Maybe it’s to take yourself on an artist field trip! Not to be productive. Not to check a box. Just to look, and notice, and let something catch. And then give yourself a minute or two to reflect on the experience.

Finally, as I mention in my video, going to a museum is one way to fill up your cup. You can go for a walk, visit with friends, dig in your garden, read a book, go swimming — whatever makes you feel satisfied and filled up with energy and ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

The post Artist Field Trips and the Part of Your Art Practice You Might Be Skipping appeared first on Balzer Designs Blog.

         

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Artists often assume that once a piece is finished, it should stay that way. We put it aside, archive it, or stack it on a shelf. Finished is finished.

But the truth is that artwork doesn’t exist outside of time. You change. Your skills change. Your interests evolve. When you revisit an older piece of work, you’re seeing it with completely different eyes than when you made it.

And that’s exactly why reworking old artwork can be so valuable. Watch the video for more:

Your Old Work Is a Record of a Moment

Every piece of art captures who you were when you made it: your interests, your abilities, the questions you were exploring. When you return to it months or years later, you can see things you couldn’t see before.

Sometimes you notice technical things—composition, color balance, awkward spacing. Other times you notice conceptual things: a place where you stopped because you were unsure what to do next.

Revisiting old work reveals the distance you’ve traveled as an artist.

It Gives You a Low-Pressure Starting Point

Beginning a new piece can feel intimidating. The blank page carries a lot of expectation.

An older piece of artwork already has a surface, marks, and structure. Instead of starting from nothing, you’re responding to something that already exists. That can make the process feel more like a conversation than a performance.

Often the question becomes simple: What happens if I keep going?

It Helps You See Your Work Differently

When a piece is fresh, we’re often too close to it. We remember the effort, the decisions, and the frustration of making it. Time creates distance.

That distance allows you to see the work more objectively. You can notice patterns, habits, and opportunities that weren’t visible before.

Sometimes the most interesting discoveries come from asking questions like:

• What if I cut this apart?
• What if I paint over part of it?
• What if this becomes the background for something new?

Reworking old artwork turns the piece into a starting point rather than a finished object.

It Helps You Let Go of Preciousness

Artists can become protective of finished work. We worry about ruining it.

But treating older work as material rather than a precious object can be freeing. When you allow yourself to alter, crop, collage, or layer on top of an existing piece, you begin to see your art practice as fluid rather than fixed.

Nothing in the studio has to be permanent.

It Reinforces the Idea That Art Is a Process

One of the most useful mindsets for an artist is understanding that art isn’t a series of perfect finished objects. It’s an ongoing process of exploration.

Reworking older pieces makes that process visible. It shows that artwork can evolve, transform, and continue to grow over time—just like the artist who made it.

Sometimes the most interesting work doesn’t come from starting something new. It comes from returning to something old and asking a simple question:

What might this become now?

Ways to Rework Old Artwork

If you’re not sure how to begin reworking an older piece, start with small changes. You might crop the artwork to find a stronger composition, add new collage elements, or paint over sections that feel unresolved. I love to cut old work into pieces and use it as material for new projects.

Do you like to rework your old artwork? Let me know in the comments of this post!

The post Why Reworking Old Artwork Is a Good Idea appeared first on Balzer Designs Blog.

         

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But in my experience, the real work of being an artist lives in much quieter places. It lives in how you maintain your space, in who you are and what you’ve experienced, in reflection, and most importantly, it lives in how you see the world.

This week’s vlog may feel like it meanders through my week, but truth be told, that’s very much what my art practice is like. It carries me like a lazy river, not a bullet train. Take a peek:

Organization Isn’t About Tidiness

We readily accept that certain household tasks are ongoing. Dishes are never “done.” Laundry is never permanently completed. Cleaning is cyclical.

My studio is the same way.

Some days I really wish Mary Poppins would come and snap her fingers to clean up my mess. But she hasn’t popped in yet and I feel that it’s an unlikely dream. Instead I create piles and let things sit for far too long. Here’s a moment that happens to me more often than I like to admit: I finally have an open pocket of time. Dinner is finished. My child is in bed. The house is quiet. I walk into my studio ready to begin and realize that I can’t. Not because I have ideas or projects I want to work on. Rather it’s the mess. There’s simply no physical space to start. I recently had one of those evenings. What I had hoped would be a productive stretch of art-making turned into a studio reset. I cleaned surfaces, sorted piles, cleared my painting wall…

…and reorganized materials that had gradually drifted into small, chaotic stacks. By the end, the space felt better. I felt better. But I was also annoyed. I hadn’t intended to spend my creative time cleaning.

The longer I maintain a studio practice, the more I understand that this is part of building an authentic art practice. Studio maintenance is not separate from art-making; it is what allows art-making to happen with any kind of consistency.

Why I Have a Collage “Bucket” (or two)

I don’t believe in perfectly pristine studios, but I do believe in usable ones. If every creative session begins with a 45-minute excavation, you’re spending your energy on friction instead of flow.

Over time, I’ve realized that effective studio organization for me is not about creating a beautiful, magazine-worthy space. It is about creating access. If materials are too neatly stored, too far out of sight, or too difficult to retrieve, I stop using them. That’s why I keep what I think of as an “active” collage bucket on my table.

Having it right there quite literally at my right hand allows me to work intuitively and quickly. When it starts to overflow, I cycle materials back into longer-term storage and refresh what’s immediately available. It’s a simple system, but it supports my actual working habits. Which leads me to: I believe that every artist needs to organize in a way that reflects how their brain works. A system that is perfect for one person may create friction for another. Part of maintaining a creative practice is building structures that support your thinking rather than fighting against it.

And this leads me to the big thought: Whether it’s organization or making art, you need to be self-aware and true to yourself!

Creative Voice and Perspective – aka Be Weird Be You

I’m going to slip into teacher mode for a moment — as I did in the video: Developing your creative voice as an artist is less about inventing something unique and more about recognizing what you are already drawn to, even when it feels idiosyncratic. Especially when it feels idiosyncratic. In other words: Let your freak flag fly!

As an artist, what you’re trying to do is share how you see the world. And if everybody had the same perspective, why would you need to share it? Because we’d all be in the same mind link thinking the same thing, right? But because I think differently than you or you think differently than me, we get to share with each other our art, which is representative of how we see the world.

There’s a time in life in which you’re desperate to fit in, and the idea of standing out is terrifying. But I think the older and older I get, the more I realize that the whole point is to stand out. The whole point is to not be ashamed of your weirdness. Pay attention to:

• The materials you return to.
• The themes you circle back to.
• The visual decisions that feel instinctive rather than strategic.
• The way you hold your brush.
• The marks you keep doodling.
• The color combo you can’t get enough of.
• The artwork of others that you hate and the artwork of others that you love.

These are not accidents. They are indicators of perspective. It’s allowing yourself to be fully, unapologetically yourself and then building habits that support that unique and wonderful person. Technical skills can (and should) be learned. But no one can teach you what you like. You have intrinsic tastes and the key is to lean into them rather than try to fit in with what other people like. I do think that it’s a big part of what makes your art authentic — when you learn to lean into those things that make you quirky and weird and odd. Because that weirdness, that’s the key to your uniqueness. I want to see your weird view of the world.

Final Thoughts

An art practice isn’t built in dramatic leaps forward. It’s built in the small, unremarkable decisions that accumulate over time — clearing a surface so you can begin, keeping a bucket of scraps within reach, noticing the colors you’re always drawn to, allowing yourself to prefer what you prefer without apology. Inspiration may light the spark, but it’s these quieter habits that keep the fire going. Create an art practice that helps you become more willing to trust your own way of seeing and to build a sustainable practice that supports that vision.

Finally, it’s not too late to join us for March of Artist Books!

Thanks for stopping by!

The post The Real Work of Being an Artist Isn’t Always the Art appeared first on Balzer Designs Blog.

          

Comments

• In reply to Jamila. Yasss! Be weird and be you! You are ... by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer
• Thank you for this. I struggle a lot to accept my own weirdness ... by Jamila

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About the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA)

BIMA opened in 2013 on Bainbridge Island, Washington (just a ferry ride from Seattle). The museum grew out of a long-held community vision to create a dedicated space for contemporary art in the region. From the start, BIMA has focused on showcasing contemporary art and craft connected to the Puget Sound region, including the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas. I always appreciate when an institution has a strong sense of place.

BIMA’s mission is to inspire curiosity, wonder, and understanding by connecting people with contemporary art and craft. That word craft is important. The museum actively embraces material-based practices, such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, fiber, glass, photography, and more — placing process and making at the center of the conversation. Yay!

They present rotating exhibitions throughout the year, featuring both established and emerging artists. And notably: admission to the museum is free!

The Cynthia Sears Artists’ Books Collection

The part that especially caught my attention is BIMA’s Cynthia Sears Artists’ Books Collection. This is not a small side collection tucked into a corner. It is a significant and growing international collection dedicated entirely to artist books! The collection includes thousands of one-of-a-kind and limited-edition artist books from around the world.

These works challenge our assumptions about what a book is supposed to be. Some unfold into unexpected shapes. Some require interaction. Some conceal imagery or text. Some blur the boundaries between printmaking, sculpture, design, writing, and craft. In other words, the book becomes an armature for ideas.

BIMA even has a dedicated gallery space for exhibiting artists’ books and rotates selections from the collection several times a year.

That tells you something important: artist books are central to the museum’s identity.

Look Inside the Artist Books

Because artists’ books can be difficult to fully experience behind glass, BIMA has also created an online video series called Artists’ Books Unshelved, where individual books are handled and explored page by page. Being able to see the movement, structure, and sequencing makes all the difference.

I’ve embedded a few videos below so you can get a sense of the range and inventiveness within the collection.

Even through a screen, you can see how thoughtfully these works engage structure, material, and story. (There are lots of photos on instagram too.)

The Bainbridge Island Museum of Art is now on my bucket list for a museum I have to visit!!

Would You Like to Make Artist Books?

If all of this has you thinking differently about what a book can be, I’d love to invite you to join me for March of Artist Books.

It’s a month-long creative deep dive where we explore structure, storytelling, experimentation, and the endless possibilities of the book form. Whether you’re brand new to artist books or already completely obsessed, there’s something in class for you! You can learn more and sign up here: https://www.juliebalzer.com/march-of-artist-books.

I hope you’ll come make books with us!

Thanks for stopping by!

The post Bainbridge Island Museum of Art & Their Artist Books Collection appeared first on Balzer Designs Blog.

         

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I worried that naming what I was doing or wanted to do would somehow eliminate every other possibility. I like to do so many different things and I’m interested in so much! Wouldn’t an artist statement stifle all that?!

I’m going to tell you what it took me years to understand: an artist statement doesn’t have to be permanent to be powerful. It can simply clarify who you are right now! That notion changed everything for me. Maybe it will for you too?

Artist Statement as Mission Statement NOT Marketing Tool

Most artists are introduced to the artist statement as a professional requirement. It’s something you write for a website, a grant application, or a gallery submission. It’s a marketing tool. So, if you’re not a professional artist, you may think you don’t need one. But let me change your mind.

Try thinking of your artist statement as functioning like a mission statement. It’s a practical TOOL every artist should have and use.

In this video, I use a non-profit organization as a metaphor. Watch the video for more:

A Mission Statement Helps You Focus

As I mention in the video, if you look at organizations you admire, their mission statements aren’t decorative. They help them make decisions. They define who they serve and how they serve them. They clarify what belongs and what does not. A strong mission narrows your focus in a helpful way. An artist statement can do the same thing for an art practice! If you know what you want to make art about you can quickly and easily:

• make decisions about what to research, sketch, or pay attention to
• know what you should draw or what skills you should practice
• figure out whether to do X or Y based on what your mission statement is telling you

Without that kind of clarity, everything feels equally viable. Every idea is tempting. Every new material seems worth exploring. At first that openness is exhilarating. Eventually it becomes exhausting. You can spend years circling your interests without ever deepening them.

Go Deeper Than a Label

A lot of people start with a broad label, such as, “I make work about nature.” But that statement isn’t particularly unique, interesting, or revealing. You need to think about YOU. What is your relationship to nature? Your position on how nature should be regarded? You’ve got to bring yourself to it.

In the video I shared above, I give an example from my own work: “I use overgrown nature as a metaphor for motherhood and the beautiful, layered, uncontrollable chaos of that experience.” And I break down how each part of that statement helps me. For instance, “overgrown nature” means that I’m not just looking at trees. Instead, I’m paying attention to wildness. I’m noticing density, tangles, fecundity.

Specificity is not the enemy of freedom. In an art practice, it is often the condition that makes depth possible.

Artist Statement as Guide

In the studio, even that simple sentence can become a quiet guide. When choosing colors, I could ask whether they heightened the sense of layered abundance I was after. When building compositions, I could notice if a piece felt too orderly, too sparse, too polite. If I felt stuck, I could return to my artist statement and ask, “What would make this more honest? More true to the experience I’m trying to translate?”

An artist statement does not tell me what to make. It helps me understand how to evaluate what I have made. It gives me something to push against. Trial and error only becomes meaningful when you know what you are testing. Otherwise, you are just experimenting in a vacuum.

It’s Only for Now

I think many artists avoid writing an artist statement because they fear permanence. But the truth is that our interests shift whether we articulate them or not. An artist statement can evolve as we do. In fact, it should. Revisiting it every six months to a year is not an admission of inconsistency. Rather, it is an acknowledgment of growth!

On the left is one of the first large paintings I ever made. It’s from 2012. On the right is a painting I finished in 2024.

I’m still the same artist in both paintings. But my skills and my interests (and my ability to spell) changed over time. And so too did my artist statement!

Just remember: an artist statement is not a cage. It is a scaffold. It is something you stand on while you build.

Final Thoughts

If your work has been feeling scattered or directionless, it may not be a problem of skill or discipline. It may simply be that you have not yet clarified what you are actually chasing. A thoughtfully written artist statement can bring that clarity. Once you have it, your decisions become less frantic. Your research becomes more focused. Your experiments become more meaningful.

If you want help figuring out that artist statement, we are currently working on that over at My Art Practice. The March of Artist Books class also has a lesson dedicated to helping you to narrow down your focus.

Thanks for stopping by!

Related Links:

• Who Are You? Clarifying Your Creative Identity
• #CarveDecember 2017: Some of my Favorites! (part 3)
• Two Nature Prints
• Art Supply Gift Guide: Under $100
• Video: Let Go of Perfect in Your Artwork

The post Why Your Artist Statement Should Function Like a Mission Statement appeared first on Balzer Designs Blog.

          

A few years ago I decided that I wanted to really use the art books in my collection and I started Book Club, as a way of forcing myself to do that. Watch the video for more on how I use art books for inspiration in my art practice:

In case you don’t have time for the video, I’ll share a few tips!

Step One: Audition Before You Commit

One of the ways I use art books for inspiration is by “auditioning” them.

• I borrow books from the library (such as Papercut Landscapes, above).
• I download book samples onto my Kindle.
• I flip through books in thrift stores, book stores (the photo below is from a recent trip to Barnes & Noble) and museum shops.

Most art books are lovely to look at. But I’m fairly picky about the books that I want to have a permanent home in my studio. I have limited space (and budget), so I want to make sure that they’re books I’ll come back to again and again.

After auditioning a book, the ones I buy are the ones I feel reluctant to return. The ones where I think, “I’m not done with this yet.”

Step Two: Actually Do the Exercises

This is where I always always failed in the past and where Book Club really pushed me to stop reading and start doing.

If you’re at all like me, you probably do something like this:

• Flip through the book.
• Read some bits and pieces.
• Admire the images.
• Think, “that’s interesting,” or “I could do that.”
• Close the book and never think about it again.

But, I have discovered that if I really want to use art books for inspiration, I have to try the thing. It was Gerald Brommer’s excellent book, Collage Techniques, that really taught me that lesson! I had had the book for a long time and didn’t think it was that great. Then I decided to read it cover-to-cover and do all the exercises and, wow! I was blown away by how much I learned. You can read my blog post about it HERE.

Recently, I made paintbrushes out of leaves and flowers because Abstract Textiles by Anne Kelly was the Book Club pick over at My Art Practice.

I love the results! Those marks now exist in my collage stash. They’ve entered my visual vocabulary. That only happens when the idea moves from page to paper.

Step Three: Notice What Sticks (and What Doesn’t)

Knowing what you don’t like is as important as knowing what you do like! Not every book or every exercise will resonate with you and that’s fine. For instance, from the same Anne Kelly book, I tried painting with coffee.

It was fine. I didn’t hate it. I didn’t fall in love either. I’m glad I tried it. I probably won’t do it again. And that’s useful information.

When you use art books for inspiration, you’re not obligated to adopt everything inside them. You’re allowed to test and discard. You’re allowed to say, “That’s not for me.” Discernment is part of practice.

Step Four: Think Beyond Technique

Sometimes inspiration isn’t about the specific exercises in a book. It can be:

• How the author sequences ideas.
• The beautiful images in the book.
• Inspiring or useful text.
• The way a concept unfolds slowly over chapters instead of all at once.
• The tone — whether it feels generous, rigorous, playful, or precise.
• The layout. The margins. The white space.
• Or even the places where I think, “I would approach that differently.”

As an art teacher, I learn a lot from noticing how a book is built. Not just what it says, but how it says it. How it moves you from one idea to the next. For me, sometimes the real inspiration isn’t the project at all. It’s the structure of the book!

Books Are Conversations

I have found that when I really use art books, they stop being static objects on a shelf. They become conversation partners in my art practice.

• I try something or I read something or I see something.
• I respond to it.
• I adjust either myself or the process.
• I marinate on it.
• I am changed in some way.

You don’t have to do everything in a book. But doing one thing — really doing it — might change your work more than reading twenty books would!

If you’ve got art book recommendations, let me know! I’m always looking for my next great read!

Thanks for stopping by! And don’t forget to check out my March of Artist Books class!

Related Links:

• Studio Visit #11: Art Parts Embellishments for Mixed Media Collage
• Your Favorite Craft/Art Books: Part Three
• Book Club: Collage Techniques by Gerald Brommer
• Book Club: Mark Hearld’s Work Book
• Artist Books vs. Handmade Books: What’s the Difference—and Why It Matters

The post How I Use Art Books for Inspiration (Instead of Just Collecting Them) appeared first on Balzer Designs Blog.

         

Related Stories

• Mixed Media Bookmaking: Turning Painted Papers into Handmade Books
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Watch this artist vlog all about it:

Stencils Come and Go from the Rotation

My relationship with most art supplies is cyclical. There are periods where something completely takes over my studio and my brain and then, just as quietly, it fades into the background. Sometimes it comes back. Sometimes it doesn’t. And over the years, I’ve realized that this ebb and flow isn’t a problem to solve. It’s just how my art practice works.

Stencils, however, keep looping back.

I’ve gone through many stencil phases: intense enthusiasm, designing stencils, using them constantly, teaching with them…followed by stretches where I barely touch them. And then one day, almost by accident, I’ll pull a stencil out again and think: oh right… you’re amazing.

What keeps bringing me back to stencils in art isn’t novelty. It’s flexibility.

Stencils are Flexible

A stencil can act as a strong focal image, creating something that feels complete all on its own, as in both this face stencil and the floral design:

It can also disappear into the background, leaving behind texture, pattern, or negative space, as in this example where I used the two stencils you see pictured below:

Sometimes the most interesting result isn’t what prints through the stencil at all, but what’s left behind after it’s removed, as seen here on these tags:

You can also use the same stencil over and over with slight tweaks to get different results:

Which leads me to….

You Are the Boss of Your Tools

One of the most freeing realizations I had with stencils (and honestly, with art in general) was that I didn’t have to use the entire thing. I could isolate a small section.

I could make a smaller pattern bigger.

I could abandon the “finished image” entirely and just take what I needed.

Stencils don’t need to be finished. They don’t need to be used correctly. They don’t need to be used completely.

Stencils Offer Me Easy Contrast

I love contrast. Hard edges against soft marks, manufactured geometry against hand-painted layers…it’s so yummy! This is a recent 16×20 gelatin print using plastic and paper stencils.

Stencils in art do something my hand simply can’t do, and I like that tension. I like when different kinds of marks push up against each other and create visual friction, as in this mixed media collage I recently finished:

Repetition Does Not Mean Cookie Cutter

I think a common misbelief is that stencils dilute your voice as an artist. Playing devil’s advocate for a moment, I’ll say that they can. Especially if you only use commercial stencils and never mix them with any of your own mark making or images. And if you only use them in the exact way they were meant to be used. But, if you use stencils as a tool, that’s just not true.

Stencils don’t erase your voice as an artist.

They don’t make the work less personal.

Stencils are a tool—no different than a brush, a plate, or a favorite color. Your voice lives in the decisions: what you choose to use, what you choose to ignore, and when you decide you’re done.

A Few Stencil Videos

If you’re in a stencil phase right now, here are a few older videos where I go much deeper into the how of working with stencils:

• Stencil Storage Made Easy
• The Fastest Way to Stencil
• Stencil 101: Avoiding Roll Under with Stencils
• How to Get Great Results with a Stencil when Gel Printing

There are more than 100 free stenciling videos on my YouTube channel, so check them out!

Tools Have Seasons

I also think it’s okay if stencils aren’t exciting right now. Tools have seasons. Something that feels flat today might make perfect sense later, when your work is asking different questions.

For me, stencils in art are less about mastery and more about permission to experiment, to repeat, to crop, to change my mind, to walk away, and to come back. That’s probably why they keep finding their way back onto my desk.

If stencils are part of your art practice right now, I hope these resources are useful—and if not, they’ll be here when you come back.

PS: Be sure to check out the stencils I designed for Joggles. It’s a great release with lots of possibilities!

The post Why I Keep Coming Back to Stencils in Art appeared first on Balzer Designs Blog.

         

Related Stories

• Artist Field Trips and the Part of Your Art Practice You Might Be Skipping
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