ideas

A common question that I am asked by people who see my collages is this: "Where do you come up with your ideas?" (BTW, it is a great question for collagists, and I never tire of the question). So while we're waiting for the next couple of pieces to be finished with images to be posted, I thought I might take a minute and provide a couple of simple examples of some of the ways in which I am "inspired". Recently I purchased an OVER-sized book (it's probably 3ft. x 2ft!) with images of birds. I was looking in this book for a large-area of water to use as a background for a piece. As I was paging through the book I stopped at the peacock page. Such a beautiful creature and a great potential collage element. As some of you know, I am intrigued by older illustrations in medical texts. So I thought I would juxtapose these two elements and viola... an interesting "germ" perhaps for some future piece. Perhaps I'll use it in this way... or maybe I won't. But it is the spontaneity of these kinds of merging images that is one of the reasons I love collage. The other image that I've posted here is simply an image from an old medical/health text (circa 1915). This image will be used as an element one day. I will probably use it as a transfer within other elements of a collage. I just love the image in terms of its outer symmetry and the interesting human form "inside". It can also be used (sans text) upside down or right-side up. Hope you enjoy!
Two of my pieces are being shipped to France today... I'm excited!