Wednesday, February 25, 2009

I'm Off to Texas

2/24/09

One last collage for a while. Tomorrow morning I leave before dawn for my flights to Denver and Texas. I am heading down to LaGrange, TX to see what two friends have created during their artist residencies and also to catch up with numerous friends in the area. Hopefully when I return I will have tons of inspirational photos to share with you. This is also the location of my artist residency in March 2010, so I will have a chance to check out the accomodations ahead of time.
Zeke

Here is a new photo of Zeke taken this morning in the early sunrise. He is a year and a half old now and continues to entertain us on a daily basis. He has more personality than any dog either of us have ever owned before, but that personality also includes a stubborn streak. He is feeling more and more comfortable here, and along with that, he has gotten more vocal about barking when he wants something. This morning he wanted out to chase the squirrel off our deck. He and the birds seem to ignore each other, but he does not want a squirrel or rabbit in HIS yard. It's always an adventure around here with Zeke in our lives!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

New Art #2

Intimate Conversation 14
Artist: Leslie Avon Miller

This is the second new piece of art that I have acquired recently. When I first saw this series of collages by Leslie Avon Miller, I fell in love with the subtle colors and simple lines. Here is her artist statement about this series: "This series ... is inspired by my value for connecting with people, which for me, is one of the functions of art. Using gestures as symbol, textures, a limited color palette, and creating from a meditative space, these pieces were created as conversations of nuance between the viewer and the maker."

Monday, February 23, 2009

New Art Acquisition

In The Woods #1
Artist: Liz Berg

Recently I have added two new collages to my growing collection of original artwork. The first one is pictured above. This is a fabric collage from a new series that Liz Berg has been working on. It incorporates her own painted and screen-printed cloth, and I love the lines and colors in this piece. Click here to visit Liz's website.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Art

2/21/09

Another collage created almost entirely from an old exhibition postcard. This one started out with too much red and green --- it looked like a Christmas explosion. I added the blues to tone down that feeling. The green and white strip to the left of the collage is a green screen-print of a tree on paper. I cut a narrow strip of it and inserted it into the collage to balance the white strip on the right.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Eavesdropping

2/20/09

I love the expression on her face --- like she is intently listening to a juicy bit of gossip.

This is another collage that was created by cutting up 3 different exhibition postcards. I chose one postcard for the image of the woman and the strong graphic elements, one for the reds to add some punch to the design, and one for the golds to soften some of the areas.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Fair Weather

2/19/09

All of my collages seem to have bits of golden sunshine, and this one also has bits of green sprouting throughout it. I think I have "spring fever"!

This collage was created with more recycled postcards and some found papers.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

More Recycling

2/17/09

I get a ton of exhibition postcards in the mail --- from other artists and galleries. For whatever reason, I keep them all. Now that the bin of postcards is overflowing, I have started recycling them into collages.The collage above was created using the postcards from two different exhibitions. The final layer of text has been stamped with black acrylic paint.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Yellow

2/15/09

Yellow is sunshine and laughter and moonbeam coreopsis. Two days ago we got almost a foot of snow, and today it is warm enough that I was working in the gardens in a denim shirt. What a fabulous day!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Trees and Papers

2/13/09

A photograph of a stack of colored papers, broken up by a streak of yellow. The final layer is a screen-print of a photograph of trees. I love the contrast of the stark print of nature over the colorful print of man-made objects, and the irony that those papers originated as the trees.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Experimentation

2/11/09

Sometimes these daily collages may seem insignificant to a viewer, when in fact they are very significant to me. Maybe not because of their artistic value, but because they are experiments in techniques or new materials. The collage above is one of those experiments.

My Epson printer is horrible about printing on my usual assortment of papers for collaging. Most of the time it either jams or refuses to print at all. However, the mulberry paper in the collage above apparently is an exception. I fed it through as-is without a backing sheet, and it printed like a dream. Definitely a great thing to know for future collages!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Living

2/10/09

Seemed like an appropriate word to go with an image of a crowd. But you know me, I had to add a streak or two of color and a splash of black & white. This is one of those daily collages that came together very quickly once I found the crowd image.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Mary Buek

1-14-09
Artist: Mary Buek

Several months ago I stumbled onto a blog by an abstract painter. I was drawn to her spirit and her use of color. She is not afraid to try new techniques and materials --- and not afraid to post the failures along with the successes. Her blog is an honest insight into the life of an artist. The collage above is one of her collages, and I am thrilled to own it. Click here to see more of her collages for sale.

Monday, February 09, 2009

"Whitewashed" Series

Whitewashed #6

Many of you wrote to tell me how much you liked the daily collage from 1/22/09. It is one of my favorites as well, and it inspired a new series of similar collages. There are 9 new collages featured on my website. Click to here to see the entire series and read about the inspiration for the series.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Junk Mail

2/6/09

Even though we don't sign up for these mailings, I feel guilty about the amount of junk mail that we receive and subsequently toss. Sometimes I use bits and pieces in my collages, as a means of recycling some of it. The majority of yesterday's collage is from a sale flyer that was in the mail, paired with a scrap of a brown paper bag.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Pink Flower

2/3/09

I started this collage with the paper in the upper right. It has an urban decay look to it, and I thought that might be the direction of this collage. Then I added the text in the middle section, followed by the text on the left, and any idea of urban anything was gone. From that point, I struggled with finding a perfect finishing touch. I knew I wanted a splash of color, but what color? Then I found this pink daisy, and the dilemma was solved. The pink lines in the center are painted with acrylic paint.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Yesterday's Collage

2/2/09

No matter how many combinations of colors I use in my work, I am still drawn to my graphic design roots and the use of black & white. I absolutely love stark, bold graphic designs!

This collage was created by painting a mixture of gesso and glazing medium over newspaper as the base layer. Then I added strips of colorful batik fabrics. The final layer is black acrylic paint.

Monday, February 02, 2009

The Tree Project

The 2008-2009 project for the International Fiber Collaborative is "Interdependence". Artists from all over the world are creating a life-size tree by donating leaves that they have made. Each leaf is approximately 7"h x 5"w. When completed, the tree will be displayed at Big Springs International Park in Huntsville, Alabama during the month of April 2009. Organizers are hopeful that the tree will contain 30,000 leaves when completed. Click here for more details on how you can participate.

This is the wire form that I created for my leaf. The outer edges were fashioned from a coat hanger, and the two ends were wrapped with steel wire to form the leaf's stem.

I used most of the off-cuts in the prior post by tying them together into one long strip. Then I used this strip to wrap around my leaf frame until it was completely covered (except for the stem). The final step was to add some free-motion stitching to the leaf to help keep the strips of cloth in place. I was quite pleased with how well it turned out, and especially with how well it matched the vision in my head when I started this project.