Planning is and has always been a HUGE part of my art practice. For me, planning is about 50% of my process. This includes the initial brainstorming that sparks the idea, research, sketching, experimenting with materials, mock-ups, and a lot of writing. It may seem strange, but my ‘sketchbooks’ are more writing than sketches. It is just the way I think and process things. I want every piece that I create to have careful consideration behind each and every decision. I am not a fan of making things and then trying to figure out what they mean later…at least not as final pieces. I believe that the greatest artists spend time carefully planning and researching so they can manipulate their media into exactly what they intend to. That is what I strive for, and that is why I plan…excessively.

I started the planning process for this year’s Paper Fashion show about a year and a half ago, and yesterday I picked out the swatch-book of paper that I will be using. So, now it is crunch time for planning. I need to come up with a final sketch of my design and select the colors of paper so I can get my order placed and can get started on my design.