Seeking a Brain

I finished this piece last night. It's the latest in the "Seeking a Brain" series that has emerged from my studio. Each of the pieces in this series includes an image of Ray Bolger, the actor who played the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. Years ago, I came across a full page of small images of him (needing lots of micro-cutting) in various dance poses in Life magazine. This piece is small format (obviously from the size of my thumb), and I have framed it without a mat (for effect). The piece is entitled, "Finally Arrived at The Emerald City Laser (Seeking a Brain #9)". The title is collage-like itself, as the strike out of "city" is intentional (an allusion to The Emerald City, of course) and the inclusion of a subtitle. It'll take some effort to inform a curator about the intentional nature of the entire title. 

I think it's worth mentioning a couple of technical aspects of the creation of this piece as well. This is the interstellar base image that serves as the background of the piece. As you can see, the "laser" is actually a green line that was part of the original image (I think it indicated the area that was enlarged in a later photograph... not sure).

 

When I used the entire intact image, it resulted in an area in the lower right hand portion that was too "bright" for the composition, in my mind. So I had to carefully cut that portion out and replace it with a darker area of the same interstellar image. But I also thought it was important to maintain the reddish-orange aspect of the image. Here's what it looked like before I "doctored" it to give a darker image in the lower right "window"...

And again, the final piece...

Details are important ;-)

Finished?

 A couple of posts ago, I claimed that I had finished this piece. And I was quite pleased with it. BUT, when I sprayed it with the UV varnish I use on my work, somehow it created two tiny bubbles (I think). I tried to gently fix it, but it just didn't work.

Here's the blemish; just above the green semi-circle on the right...

Was it really that noticeable to the viewer? It was to me. My friend and fellow artist, David Oster, saw it immediately. SOoo... what to do. I knew if I tried "fixing it" by picking at it, I would make matters worse. I was bummed. So I played around with some "cover up" elements that I might add. Here's how I ended-up covering the blemish. It changes the composition quite significantly. I like it though. I'm just a bit concerned now, that the balance isn't quite right. But I have it matted and framed, and will probably leave it the way it is.

Here's a photo of it framed in the "bulky" black frame that I think is good for the piece. I wish the photo of the collage turned out better. Not sure why the glass made the artwork so much out of focus. BTW, the dimensions are 10" x 6.5".

Art and mortality

On December 31, 2014, I posted an entry for this blog about the concept that every artist will create a "last piece" before they pass away. It was prompted by the sudden passing of an artist friend of mine from a massive heart attack on Thanksgiving day while making dinner for his family. I was reminded of that post again this week, because there was an estate sale of an artist acquaintance of mine -- Sandra DeVisser -- who had passed away last year. Her house was absolutely FULL of beautiful artwork -- mostly hers, but others' art as well. Sandra was such a prolific art creator. I had previously bought a piece of hers, and was always impressed with her beautiful mixed media work. She was SO talented and had a beautiful artistic "voice". She touched many lives as a community art teacher at Munson (formerly Munson Williams Proctor Art Museum). Today was the second day of the estate sale, and there were still hundreds of her pieces hanging on the walls and stacked in various rooms. It is sad to think of what will become of all these creations. Here's just a small sample of what was in the house...

In addition to purchasing a number of metal frames, I ended up buying a small piece of hers, and another piece by John Loy, who also recently passed away. John always came to my openings, and he was always encouraging of my artistic efforts. May both Sandra and John rest in peace... knowing that they both had such a positive and beautiful impact on me, and the entire artistic community in central New York.

Sandra DeVisser

John Loy

Heartfelt "thank you"!

 I started this blog in 2010, after learning the "glueless" collage technique from my art mentor and friend, Jonathan Talbot. I have enjoyed posting my works-in-progress, as well as my finished pieces. And I hope that my writing has provided some of the viewers some form of entertainment or instruction. This year, my views have gone from a couple dozen a day, to hundreds (and sometimes thousands) per day. I realize that some of the views may be the result of bot activity; but I also sense that more people are showing genuine interest. Yesterday, the lifetime views of this blog surpassed half a million. I am grateful for the fact that some folks are interested. So I want to express a simply, heartfelt "thank you"!

Finishing and starting

Well... I finished what had been another ongoing project the other night. I was not going to post an image of it until it was in the frame (because the frame is an important part of it). But I am waiting to get a mat cut (I don't do my own matting); so I thought I would post the image now...

Yes, this composition is a bit of a departure from what I typically do. The base image is from a book about steam power from the early 1900s. I love the intricate mechanical detail, and the clarity of the image.

So, since this was the last project that was "in the works"; it was a great time to clean-up my work area a little bit and start playing with other elements that I have been collecting. These are some of the combinations I was having fun with last night...

And I was also playing a little with these elements, and took a photograph. I LOVE the way the shadows are adding to this "composition". It is not literally a collage (and I can't capture anything physical with the shadows), but I love the image...

And this begins, the start of more potential projects in my studio! Who knows if anything I was experimenting with last night, will materialize into a finished product. But I love the exploration! Here a shot of the studio table from last night's activities...

Finished pieces

I had posted this image previously. I had been working on it for a while. I thought that it needed another element on the right side; but was kind of stuck on what it should be. I experimented with a number of elements, but nothing seemed to be working. It was actually weighing heavy on my mind. 

Yesterday, after finishing this piece (as a way to "move forward")...

... I finally found an element that seemed to work. So I finished it! I feel good about the way it worked out. Great color "pop", I think.

The working totle for it, is "Envisioning Beauty" (11" x 14" framed). The other one is entitled, "An Eye for an Eye, for an Eye" (8" x 10" framed).

  

Re-discovery

A coupkle days ago, I was going through a bunch of materials I had put in a map drawer years ago. I ended-up re-discovering this little gem...

It's titled, "The Orphan"... although the clothes that this young girl (or boy) is wearing certainly doesn't look like anything an "orphan" would be wearing (not to mention having a dog). Because I am still struggling with what to do with the main project I am working on right now, I decided to "play" with this image, and some of the scraps that I have laying around my primary work space. I started with this addition...

Then, I added a couple "accents"...

I felt that the semi-circle on the right was a bit too bright, so I tried some other reds. I finally found another piece that came from the same source as the red area on the left. I also shifted the vertical element slightly. I think shifting it has made it more compelling because of the interaction of the eye of the orphan, and because it "opens up" the dog's face a bit more. Not sure if this will be the final composition, but it's getting close to being done.