2/28/20

Mess

Take a look at any of my scrapbook layouts and tell me whether I'm a person who likes things messy and free, or neat and constrained. Got your answer?

Now that we've established that I like things to be clean, organized, lined up, and placed just so, you can better understand how much I resisted, yet how much I NEEDED, this book:

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I received Mess, by Keri Smith, as a gift six or seven years ago. I loved the concept - it's a place to break the rules, explore textures and colors, let loose, and banish perfectionism, and thus grow as an artist. But the idea of trashing a book was so difficult for me that it literally took all this time for me to finally use it as intended. I FINALLY gave myself permission to do things I'd never dreamed of doing... like crumpling book pages and adding color to the creases with chalk-covered fingers. 


Or dribbling paint into a book, then swiping the paint with a scrap of cardboard to smear the colors. 


Or coloring in a book... and dripping water onto the page.  


Or shaving crayons into a book and ironing the pages. 


I'm about 1/3 of the way through Mess. I've torn, folded, smeared, dribbled, and scribbled. I've traced, splattered, doodled, glued, and sprinkled. 


I have not created any masterpieces along the way. Far from it. But I've experimented and stretched and had a ton of fun doing so! Mess is the gift that the creative people in your life need, particularly the ones who need to let loose once in a while. Better yet, get them the boxed set of Keri Smith's most popular books. I can't wait to try them all. 

5 comments:

  1. You know I couldn't do it! HA!!!! I love what you made in the pages, so fun! Anytime I have to make something messy, a little part of me withers away! LOL!!

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    1. Hahaha! I thought I'd be the same way, but I really am enjoying making the messes (within the strict confines of a book telling me which specific messes to make, of course).

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  2. This looks fun and you tackled it well!

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  3. Well, I'm glad you are having fun in your Mess book. You need to loosen up and get messy on your layouts too! Challenge accepted??? *winks*

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