"Shopping Priest Confessions"

Earlier this summer, I picked up a book in Barnes & Noble called Obsessive Consumption by Kate Bingaman-Burt. It seemed simple and fun, but I was quickly intrigued after several pages by the story behind the work. Kate is a Portland-based designer who began a long project of drawing everyday items that she had purchased in order to tell a story about the life of a consumer. The drawings began on February 5, 2006 and ended three years later. It documents a time when she was struggling with debt during grad school as an art student. She would draw her credit card statements and any kind of purchase she made, and it kind of motivated her to get out of debt.

In Debbie Millman's recent interview (Design Matters), she asked "Do you have a particular time everyday when you do your drawing?"

"I usually do it either really really early in the morning or really really late at night I kind of encourage anyone to have a repeatable project because i love this way of working in that it's a great kickstarter for me to approach other projects that are maybe a bit more nebulous. Because, I mean, looking at a blank page of paper is pretty scary, but if you've got this repeatable project set out, you know what you're supposed to do. And i feel like, "Okay, I'm starting my daily drawing, I can do that." That's one thing that's off on my to-do list and now I can move onto something else that's not quite as cut and dry. But it's a nice gateway into my workday, i'm really thankful for that. That's another level of this project that has really helped me in making other work too."