A couple years ago, I had a wonderful conversation with author Dr Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu who was writing about my work for a chapter in her new book (Bridge to Wonder). We were discussing the importance of documenting the art making progress. I had never paid serious attention to it until then.  She explained how important it is for those doing research about an artist to have a wealth of documentation into the art making process. After that conversation, I decided to be more proactive at documenting not only the finish work but also my process with photographs, writings and videos. I would like those who will study my work after I am long gone to have an in-depth view of my process.

Although most artists will never have the opportunity to have a professional two-hour documentary of of their life or art process from the History Channel, there are other options available.  Just like self-publishing, there is self-documenting.  Just download a couple apps to your smart phone or iPad and you are good to go.  My favorite iphone apps for  documenting my process are TimeLapse and CameraTimer.

TimeLapse Camera HD takes a photo every few seconds and then automatically makes a video of the whole thing. For example, a one hour session will be one one minute video or less depending on your settings.  Camera Timer takes one or multiple individual photos every few seconds as you decide. Just set it up on a table or a tripod and you are good to go. Both are essential for my studio practice when I feel I need to record the process and don’t have access to a photographer at the moment.

These are a couple examples of how I use these apps…

~THE END~