Sparkleface

There is a link to the blog site "Notpaper" above. This site features various collage artists and includes a short "interview" with each artist. I really enjoy the variety of techniques and the creative expressions shown on this site (it's updated very frequently too). Today I was absolutely blown-away by the collage work of "Sparkleface". I encourage everyone interested in collage to check out the work of this artist. The flickr site for more work is linked as well (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sparkleface/). Really nice work. The darker one I show here is one of my favorites! Enjoy!

The karma continues

I was notified this morning that one of my pieces (now on exhibit at MVCA in Little Falls) was accepted for inclusion in the 26th Annual Juried Exhibit of the National Collage Society. These are the two pieces that I submitted. The jurors were:
Matthew Kolodjiej, Artist and Associate Professor of Art at the Myers School of Art,
University of Akron, Akron, Ohio
Ellen Rudolph, MA Art History, Case Western Reserve University, Curator of Exhibitions,
Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio
Laura Bidwell, Graphic Designer, Collage Artist, Photographer and Arts Patron, Peninsula, Ohio

Can you guess which one was accepted?

SOLD! CHAIRity auction at Sculpture Space

Very happy that my collage sold for $270 at the auction last night (especially because the bidding was a bit sluggish throughout the evening). My painted table sold for $310. And the BIG news is that we won the big raffle -- accommodations for 4 in Calabria, Italy (Gioia Tauro)!!!

Nymphs and nipples

My facebook entry yesterday was "Creativity... you elusive nymph". I have been feeling vaguely creative these past several days; and yet, it seems to not translate into something artistic. Of course, the responsibilities of the semester are in full swing and my studio has not exactly been inviting (it has been a MESS after having to get everything together for my solo exhibit). Over the weekend I spent a good deal of time cleaning up my space and culling materials. With some of what I had left, I started "exploring" possible combinations of elements and images. Here's one of the pieces that came out of my efforts. I had identified and cut the four women element and it had been "hanging around" my studio for quite a while. The shells were from a beautiful book of shells I had picked-up at a used book store in Ithaca this summer. I thought these two elements looked pretty good together. After working on placement of these elements, I knew I wanted text for the background; and I wanted the text to be something from one of my vintage medical books which related to women. I found this interesting passage about how you go about "choosing" the gender of your child (see the lower portion of the text and you should be able to make out the semi-obscured information about what to do to "make" a female child). As a bonus, the placement of the text in the background allowed me to also make visible the words "nipples begins" (see between the two shells at the top). Not only are these words "titillating" (sorry, I couldn't resist), they also seem to be grammatically problematic. So I liked the entire layout for a couple of different reasons. Enjoy!

Sculpture Space CHAIRity Auction

Next Saturday (Sept. 25th) is the date for this year's Annual Sculpture Space CHAIRity Auction. As far as I am concerned, this is the arts event of the year in the greater Utica area. Lots of great art and an exciting auction! More details can be found at "www.sculpturespace.org" Hope to see some of you there!

Bunnies

Watched again the DVD "How to Draw a Bunny" - a documentary about collagist Ray Johnson. It's a great movie! A "must see" for anyone interested in collage art. I would even be willing to loan it to anyone who might be interested. Let me know. Enjoy!

Talbot book

Someone at the reception asked about the specifics of the technique that I learned from Jonathan Talbot. His book is entitled COLLAGE: A NEW APPROACH
COLLAGE WITHOUT LIQUID ADHESIVES / 5TH EDITION
by Jonathan Talbot
It can be ordered through Jonathan's website at www.talbot1.com

Reception THANK YOU!

Wow! I REALLY had a great time at the opening reception for my show at the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts in Little Falls. I am blessed to have such supportive family members, old and new friends, artists, colleagues and new acquaintances. I really appreciate everyone's effort in making the event a success and that so many came out to the reception yesterday. Thank you all!!!

RGB

This is not the greatest photo of this latest piece of mine. I decided to try my hand at assemblage again after finding this lovely shadow box at a garage sale. This is the "last entry" into my show at MVCA in Little Falls. Opening reception is THIS SUNDAY from 2-4:00. Hope to see you there! Enjoy (now or on Sunday ;-)

The work of Coco Larrain

I am so excited to be posting more work by my friend Coco Larrain! Coco lives on Cape Cod and is a painter (and pet portrait artist) and a collagist. Recently while working on her collages, she was using small cut-outs of "creepy" figures. She decided that rather than adhering the paper versions of the creepy people, she would use them as "models" and paint each of the tiny figures on the self-portrait she painted on canvas. The results are shown here. I think the work is inspired and AWESOME!!! Here's what Coco has written about this work (printed with her permission, of course). “These women (the men too) represent suppressed issues/addictions/creepy people, who we deal with,
they're being drawn into the "therapist/higher self/good conscience”. Issues hopefully get resolved (pencil drawn woman).

[The] woman in back is in pencil...emerging or disappearing, she's the first one [from] the bottom [group] to meet with the 'therapist/higher self/good conscience, fellow. Hence, resolving an issue.

My beloved dog, who died this past June. He'll be in all my work. He represents for me unconditional love, he's sitting on a strap = support.”

ENJOY!!!

More art from Amsterdam

We visited some interesting small galleries whilst walking around the beautiful streets in Amsterdam. Here are several works that I found interesting created by Sunil Padwal. Enjoy!

Art in Amsterdam

We saw lots of cool artwork on our trip to Amsterdam, Maastricht and Dresden; including in the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. But there was also lots of interesting artwork "on the streets" as well. We bought a piece from Hanneke Taneja at a large flea market one afternoon in Amsterdam. He and his wife integrate photography with ornately decorated matchboxes to create beautiful pieces as shown here. More work and contact information can be found at "www.haveli.nl"

New York State Fair

I was very happy last night to see that collage/mixed media was well-represented in the Fine Arts exhibit at the State Fair. The Second Place prize in the Professional category went to Kathie Beale for her work entitled "Yosemite Collage" and yours truly won First Place in the Amateur category. There was a piece in the Embroidery category of the Arts & Crafts exhibit that won First Place and was collage-like as well. My good friend Tom Nettle received an Honorable Mention in the Amateur Photography exhibit. I hate to say it, but it was my first experience with the Fine Arts Exhibit at the Fair and I must say, I was very impressed with all of the entries!