musings on objects

Having tugged back and forth on the concept of my book the past two weeks; I have finally decided to stick with narratives of objects. During this time, I have read two books, The Meaning of Things and Evocative Objects. I found it fascinating how people place meaning, personalities, and memories onto a certain object.

What type of object?
I began making a long list of objects that people "hoard". It became quite extensive...

Boxes
matchbox
Perfume bottles
Kankerchief
Underwear
Scarfs/silk
Belts
Guns
Glasses
Frames
Magazine/newspaper clippings
Comic books
Fountianpens
Watch
Guitar
Buttons
Plates
Silverwear (spoons)
Crystal figurines
Maps
Kinder surprise
Mcdonald’s
Teddy bears
Cars
Hair clips
Brooches
Jade
Bookmarks
Salt & pepper shakers
Postcards
Magnets
Pins
Clothing tags
Posters
sugar packets
Cd’s
Coasters
Coke collection
Earrings
Rulers
Shoes
Jeans
Money
Pearls
Telephone books
Tim horton’s double cups (thanks michelle!)

Manuscript
I have been having difficulty writing my manuscript. Should I make short stories, poetry, descriptions....etc...???
And I haven't liked much of what I have written so far; but I've decided to let my illustrations/montages drive the prose. Perhaps the image making and writing will drive each other. (at least I hope so)

Boxes
I was inspired by the miniature theatres featured in Lauren Child's The Princess and the Pea. I wanted to make backdrops/ a setting for the objects to sit in/ interact with.

Today's work
To get myself going, I got myself acqainted with Lynda Barry's What it is and it really got me rolling with the writing process. Her message (in a nutshell) is that people never created work by "thinking about it". You need to engage yourself in working by using your hands, and keep going, and don't analyze your writing while you are in the process of writing.