This morning, as I was straightening up my studio, I noticed this stack of painted fabric scraps. I am borrowing an SLR digital camera for a few days from my son, so this seemed like a good opportunity to start trying it out. These scraps are off-cuts from a recent series, and they're all from the same original piece of painted cloth. Aren't the lines and value shifts fantastic?
All materials are acceptable, but collages should contain some fiber (paper, fabric, or other fibrous material). There are no restrictions on content or style.
Collages may be any size and finished in any manner, but they must be either finished or mounted to 8"x10″. The orientation may be either horizontal or vertical.
I have volunteered to take the lead on this year's Collage Mania, so please email me if you plan to participate. I'll also be the one receiving and processing your jpegs this year.
The deadline to send your jpegs to me is April 1, 2009.
Collage Mania will be held May 5 - 7, 2009. All collages will be offered for a minimum donation of $80 to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause on Gold Donor Day, May 5. On May 6-7, all remaining collages will be available for a minimum donation of $40. Since this is a fundraiser, patrons are encouraged to donate more if they are able.
Collage Mania 2008 raised $13,000 for the American Cancer Society in two days. Our goal for Collage Mania 2009 is to raise $20,000 for the American Cancer Society in three days. I hope you will join us!
The older I get, the more I appreciate the little things --- and this morning truly brought a treat. Several cardinals have fledged in our backyard the last few days, and it is so enjoyable to work in the gardens and listen to the youngsters in the ash trees and watch them learning to fly. This morning I spied 3 of the young cardinals at this feeder. Sorry for the quality of the photo, but it was tough to get a good photo without disturbing them.
Our Joseph's Coat rose is covered with blooms right now, and it is a beautiful burst of color in the garden. Above is a photograph of one of the roses, fully open and just before it starts to fade and drop its petals. Watching this rose bloom and seeing the changes every day is a highlight of my mornings in the gardens.
This is my great niece all decked out for her first day of kindergarten. It doesn't seem like she should be this old already. I love her backpack and lunch bag, and the backpack is almost as big as she is! I think she will prove to be a real challenge for her teacher. She's very intelligent, and she says EXACTLY what is on her mind (just like her mom). Should be an interesting year!
Here is the collage with the layers of paper and photographs.
And here is the same collage after adding some details with gold and black paint.
Recently I have had some time to work with natural dyes again. I've been gathering dyestuffs, extracting the dye liquor and dyeing yarns this last week. Above are 4 skeins hanging for the final drying. Left to right: a skein of silk dyed with cosmos, a skein of wool dyed with logwood, a skein of wool dyed with black walnuts, and a skein of wool dyed with coreopsis then over-dyed with cosmos. I have several more skeins dyeing in pots of cosmos, with the plan to over-dye some of them with black walnut and some of them with indigo.
This morning's collage --- influenced by two recent notifications about international exhibition opportunities on little known islands. I sometimes wish I had the resources to travel to all the places that my artwork does. 
