The other day I thought of a particular piece I had made and wondering where it was I went on a wild search through stacks and stacks of drawings. That's kind of like looking through old photos. You know, you get drawn in, and forget what you were doing in the first place. Some of these I remember what I was thinking about or wanting to accomplish when I made them. Others seem new to me. Still others have elements in them that I like but there may be an area of the drawing that didn't quite get resolved. Some are completely unfinished.
What do I do with all these pieces I wonder to myself? Why do I keep some of them? Well, they are a record of process over time, for one thing I suppose. A process of sometimes wanting more, or wanting less in a drawing. Of trying out ideas. Sometimes the ideas work and sometimes not. These drawings are my sketchbook. I don't always keep a sketchbook, because I like working on different sizes of paper. And I like for the pieces to be their own entity.
Perhaps I should cover a wall with them. I did that once in grad school. For a studio visit I covered one large wall with drawings, of all sizes and media. They became a whole rather than little bits, but I think people still looked at them, or read them as if they were pages of a story. Hmmm, there might be something there...(Can you tell I thought of that as I typed?) Which causes me to think that maybe getting distracted can show you something new or something interesting to revisit.
So, what would you do with all these? Or what do you do with your saved work?