Things circular

When last in Scotland I purchased four double, dos-a-dos accordion books that I thought maybe I could use for an exchange of sorts. When I received them I realised they were way too big to post back and forth, and would take a very long time to fill, so instead I decided to gift three to my friends and keep one for myself.

When we got together recently we decided we would all simply try to fill the book, and we would check back and see how we went in a year's time.

Far less pressure than a monthly exchange!

But because there are four parts to the book and because I am me, I have been pondering what to do, where to start, how to start, what to focus on and the like. None of that pick up a tool and make a mark and we're off!

Interestingly I came around to the notion of circles. I think I was wandering through Pinterest randomly and a series of circles caught my eye. And then I saw them everywhere. And then I thought I might spend time with circles for a bit.

So I collected images of circles that appealed.

 

 I collected thoughts or quotes about circles, and explored their symbology and what circles mean. I also just sat and thought of things circular.

I settled on circles and the sense that they can portray wholeness, completion or perfection (less on the perfection side) and also that they can be thought of as timeless, and endless with no beginning and no end...

Other options included - circles of protection, circles of friends, running around in circles, circling back  and so on. I must admit it was an interesting concept to dive into - so many ways of thinking about circles!

Once I knew the thinking around circles I was trying to explore, I tried to sort the images a bit. Whilst I love multiples and a grid, these weren't really speaking to me of the wholeness or perpetuity of a circle. Hold them over for another time.

These were differing designs...

 

And these were different techniques...

I ended up selecting ones I thought may play a part in the evolution of this part of the book, and cut them down and stuck them in my journal with a few notes to self alongside.

I will take both the books with me to Scotland and see if I make some progress there...