Memory art is a term that has been used in recent terms to describe a new wave of creative work being produced by people whose original scrapbooking forays have evolved, now, into works of creative wonder. Three leading women in the field -  Carol Wingert, Helen Bradley and Nic Howard - take time from their busy schedules to discuss the evolution of the form, talk about their own work and share tips on how you can join in the fun.

Two new books on the market, ‘That’s Life, Finding Scrapbooking Inspiration in the Everyday’ by Nic Howard and ‘Lifelines’ by Carol Wingert and Tena Sprenger, capture, perfectly, where memory art is heading. Nic, who lives in New Zealand, works within that country’s scrapbooking industry as a freelancer, while balancing her role as mother of three. She says that memory art can entail so many creative avenues that one should consider “scrapbooking, quilting, cross stitching, altered art pieces and so many other art mediums” as relevant to its creation.

“The main thing all these arts and crafts have in common is the desire of the artist to capture a memory or moment in time in their art,” is how Nic puts its. Like many women who’ve discovered their talents in this area, Nic’s early inspirations came after the birth of her first child. “I think when one enters a new stage in life, such as marriage or motherhood, it’s only natural to want to remember some of those important milestones along the way.

“My newborn baby was the perfect motivation to scrapbook; I didn’t want to forget a thing!  Scrapbooking for me certainly does slot into the definition of memory art - preserving memories, no matter how big or small, is the main focus of my artwork... art is fun, but preserving memories gives art further purpose.  Nothing could be more perfect.”

Helen Bradley’s name would be familiar to many regular ‘get creative’ readers. This Australian-born, Californian-based photographer, writer and artist is our regular overseas contributor. Much of Helen’s work is dominated by glorious images of friends and family, not to mention many envy-inducing travel photographs. She defines memory art as “everything that triggers memories in us, whether they be old or new memories” and says that, while scrapbooking is obviously anchored in this sphere, “we do the term (memory art) a disservice by thinking it is limited to scrapbooking only”.

“Memory art can encompass anything from a kid who covers her bedroom wall with photos to fine art collages created using photos and other mixed media and even the person who sticks a note they received from their lover to their computer monitor,” she says. “At its heart, it’s all about displaying and treasuring the things that are meaningful to us for one reason or another in a way that speaks to us.

“My own work falls squarely into this category,” she explains. “As a photographer I’m driven to capture on ‘film’ an image of what I see when I look at the world and what speaks to me. I work with these images digitally using Photoshop and using paper and glue to create works of art to showcase and celebrate them.”

Carol Wingert, co-author (with Tena Sprenger) of another book, ‘Artful Memories’, is well known for work of distinctive style and artistry. She says a conversation with her husband helped her see her work as more than scrapbooking, stamping or book making.

“The commonality of it all was... the photos, the stories and the memories,” explains Carol.  “As we talked about this, I said, ‘What about memory art?’ since it’s a lot more than paper, stickers and photos. From that point on, I began using the term in my classes and in telling people what I did professionally.  I’m not going to take credit for coining the term since I’m sure that there were others who thought of the same thing, but I was definitely one of the first in the industry to refer to this wonderful artistic crossover as memory art.”

There is no doubt that modern technologies and materials are making it easier and easier to create works on new and creative scales. While innate artistic talents lift industry leaders like Nic, Helen and Carol to professional heights, all three women agree that tricks of the trade abound to help enhance everyone’s work.

“Digital elements are becoming both more popular and more available in scrapbooking at the moment,” says Nic. “The technology is out there to create amazing artwork completely out of digital elements and either store it on your computer, or print it out to put in an album. The option is also there to create digital elements and combine with traditional paper type scrapbooking. This is called hybrid scrapbooking and both forms are taking the memory art world by storm. Theoretically, both digital  and hybrid scrapbooking should take up less room and create less mess; no guarantees when artists are at work, though!”

Helen, a definite techno wiz kid - she has published two books on computer crafting and contributed hundreds of articles to magazines and web sites throughout the world - thinks access to information is the single biggest technology that is making it easier to create works of art. “There are so many cool materials and tools to play with these days, ranging from polymer clay to paint that can rust paper and from die cut machines to Photoshop that let you create so many different fun effects in your art. These allow you to turn your vision into reality much more easily than in the past.”

Carol Wingert, an inveterate blogger as well as teacher, artist and author, finds the whole digital world amazing. “I’m not at all an expert in that area but I do use basic photo scanning and editing software for the old family photos. As far as materials... there is definitely an endless supply of scrapbooking products out there. When it takes three days to walk a trade show and you still haven’t  seen all of the booths... need I say any more?”

Access to information in the digital world, through the internet, seems to be a source of great inspiration for memory art makers in general. Because their work is so personal, so based in relationships, emotions and real-life experiences, constant dialogue with other practitioners in the field seems essential.

Nic says she has a selection of blogs she visits daily and these leave her “bursting with inspiration”. “One of my favourite blogs within the USA is by an artist called Linda Albrecht. I love how she captures the everyday in her photos and presents them in beautiful timeless scrapbook pages. In Australia there is one blog that I can never look past and that is ‘Day to Day’ by Mel Goodsell. The lady is amazing; she knits, sews, bakes and scrapbooks and her blog is always full of tips and tricks and overloaded with inspiration,” she says.

Carol Wingert has sources and artists that influence her in different ways, some providing journalling and writing inspiration, others who educate her in setting scenes to photograph, some whose photography itself is illuminating and others who, simply through their deft use of colours, design and detailing, get her mind ticking over.

“A constant source of inspiration for me comes from the Stampington & Co. line of magazines,” says Carol. “They encompass so many aspects of art: altered art, memory art, creative home décor, wearable art-jewellery and clothing. The lay-out and photography of these magazines is amazing too.”

“I like to surround myself with other artists who are doing work that interests me,” says Helen Bradley. “I find my horizons are always widened by exploring the work of others who use different media or who create different art forms. At the moment I’m hanging out with a lot of beaders and looking at what they do and how they see the world. I’m also very interested in Japanese culture and designs and I find their crafts absolutely wonderful.

“As for artists, I love Michael de Meng’s work - he has a great book called ‘The Secrets of Rusty Things’. I love Rice Freeman Zachary’s fabric artwork and the girls from www.theanticraft.com [theanticraft.com] are not only edgy and irreverent but also so inspirational. Closer to my own style I admire Michelle Ward’s ability to work in a single colour and achieve so much depth and Sarah Lugg from the UK who does some beautifully simple collage work.”

All this talk of inspirational artists and people making a living in the memory art sector, however, can mislead one into thinking this is a professionals- only area. Not so says Nic Howard: “Absolutely anyone can get involved!” she declares. “This is the great thing about memory art - there are no rules. As long as you are motivated to be creative and have an interest in capturing some sort of memory within your art, you are already halfway there.

“I’d advise a visit to a library to take out some beginner type books or perhaps a beginner class at a scrapbooking or craft store.  Go home with your mind full of inspiration and dive right in.  Many people get hung up worrying about the ‘right way’ to do things. There is no right way. Create, enjoy and be proud. Finding a local group of people involved in memory art is also a good idea... sharing your own work and viewing that of others is one of the most inspirational things you can do.”

Helen concurs. “It’s as simple as grabbing a few photos, a magazine or two, a pair of scissors and some glue,” she points out. “Go find things in the magazine that speak to you and combine them with your photos on a sheet of paper and you’re well on the way to getting started. This is really the basis of any memory art project - it’s just that many people prefer to shop for things to add to their art at scrapbook and craft stores where they can buy products ‘designed’ for memory art projects. Of course, you can use practically anything in your art and most of the products you see in stores were championed by indie crafters who first used those items in their projects and which manufacturers then started to make commercially.”

And, as Carol makes the point, most professionals in any field start out as amateurs. “I personally started with simple scrapbook pages,” she says. “I took classes and learned how to use artistic materials I had never even heard of before, then began incorporating these materials into my pages. If someone loves the ‘artsy’ part of scrapbooking, I would suggest they sign up for classes that teach a lot of techniques, that they buy some ‘how to’ books and that they subscribe to magazines that will inspire them to learn and grow.

“Memory artists are finding their style and their creative comfort zone and are making their buying decisions accordingly... by choosing classes and products that fit within that style,” she says in terms of charting where the industry is heading.

Nic sees a noticeable shift towards digital and hybrid scrapbooking and sees smaller “everyday moments” taking prominence in scrapbooking pages, rather than larger milestones.

“The biggest trends at the moment are the increasing influence of Japanese anime and the indie craft movement,” Helen adds. “There is a subculture of people working to find a new twist on old crafts. It’s a very exciting area because it’s a sort of a ‘no rules’ approach to art and involves bringing back some older craft forms and reinventing them in terms of today’s lifestyle. In strictly memory art terms the big trend is away from celebrating the antics of kids and babies and more towards exploring deeper aspects of our lives. There is a lot of unmarried and childless Gen X’ers who are reinventing scrapbooking in a very exciting way.”

If the work being produced by these three individuals alone is any indication then “exciting” is exactly the adjective to use in relation to memory art. Last month three of Nic’s classes were loaded onto the Big Picture Scrapbooking website, meaning thousands of scrapbookers worldwide could learn from her, access message and draw inspiration from accompanying online galleries. Nic is also part of the design team at Tarisota which delivers kits to your door.

Her blog (listed  below) regularly provides readers with projects and things to try. You can also buy Nic’s book from the site.

Helen is currently working on a new “photo crafts book” which is due to be published in 2009. Other projects include a collaborative multi-media book project that involves a number of other artists, her art and photography blogs and creating commercial designs for t-shirts, mugs, greeting cards and more (all available from her cafepress.com [cafepress.com.au] weblink). Plus, of course, we rely on her for more projects here at ‘get creative’.

Meanwhile, Carol has started an online kit business in January of this year where project kits come with all of the materials and instructions, including colour photos, to complete a memory art project. “The projects vary from month to month,” she explains. “Some are books made by hand, others start with a pre-made book or box that is decorated with a certain theme and colour scheme. I do ship internationally (the postage is higher but kit cost is the same) and have had the opportunity to ship kits to Australia, New Zealand, all over Europe, Japan and Hong Kong... so much fun.” Kits are available from her website.

Excitement aside, we always like to know about the reality of using your creative skills to earn your living and Helen has some interesting observations on this topic. “I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble here but, at the end of the day, if you make a living from your creativity it’s still a job. Although it sounds like the ‘ideal’ job it’s much like any other business and it only works if you have a heap of self-discipline,’ she says.

“Typically, you find yourself being creative around 20 per cent of the time, if you’re lucky, and working at marketing and administrative tasks the rest of the time. You also need to find yourself another hobby because turning your hobby into your work means that it isn’t a hobby any longer! That said - this is not a lifestyle that I plan to trade in any time soon!”

Relevant links:

Carol Wingert
www.carolwingert.typepad.com [carolwingert.typepad.com]

Helen Bradley
www.helenbradley.com [helenbradley.com]
www.http-design.com [http-design.com]
www.projectwoman.com [projectwoman.com]
www.cafepress.com/helenbradley [cafepress.com]

Nic Howard
nichoward.typepad.com [nichoward.typepad.com]

General
www.lindaalbrecht.typepad.com [lindaalbrecht.typepad.com]
www.melissagoodsell.typepad.com [melissagoodsell.typepad.com]
www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com [bigpicturescrapbooking.com]
www.tarisota.com.au [tarisota.com.au]

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