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Book Review: The Art of Personal Imagery

by Corey Moortgat
Corey makes a strong request of her readers: please keep an open mind about using imagery that you’ll probably consider too personal and intimate. This request echoes what I read each month in the mixed media journals…"please, no more dunce hats and cute children with wings." Although I’m not ready to give up wings, since that’s a particularly meaningful image to me, I share her dismay that so much artwork is churned out with a similar look. I’ve been guilty of it myself.

Instead, Corey wants us to dig into our stash of MODERN photos, and to dig even deeper into our own lives to come up with symbols and images that actually mean something beyond being cute. My favorite chapter in her book gives half a dozen ways that you can make a modern photo work in your mixed media piece rather than always reaching for vintage images. Nothing wrong with vintage images, but Corey wants us to move beyond them.

No one says, least of all the author, that no one should ever put a crown or a dunce hat on an image again, but her goal is to help us express our lives through our work. That won’t suit everyone, but for those who have longed to move in the direction of more personal, purposeful art work, I think you’ll enjoy her book.
Check out The Library for more mixed media art recommendations.


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Comments

Jean Bowler said…
That's so interesting.

We do tend to fall into clichés as artists and even follow fads (egads!). The book sounds like a good reminder to dig a bit deeper.

On the other hand, if an artist doesn't want to be of the starving sort ...

It seems a conundrum.
Cyndi L said…
True! Sometimes our own preferences are commercially viable and sometimes not. If not, then we've got a choice to make... :-/
Katelyn said…
Oooh, I have a $5 Amazon gift card just burning a hole in my hard drive. Now I know what I'm buying. This sounds like a great book to add to my collection. I tend to draw an awful lot of chubby little birds and once I combined two of these sins - a bird with a dunce cap!
Cyndi L said…
LOL!! Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a sin, Katelyn ;-)