The art of Marlee

I have posted similar posts to this one over the years. But I will post again because of my passion for the medium of collage. There's always something interesting to do in the collage studio! When I am not actively creating artwork, I thoroughly enjoy looking at one or another of my sources for collage elements -- vintage books, magazines, catalogues. Other studio tasks can end-up being interesting as well. Last night, I decided to take off the backing and the artwork, and clean the glass that was in an old frame I bought at a garage sale last year. The artwork was apparently created by a child; whose name was presumably "Marlee". I hadn't noticed how interesting the artwork was until I took a closer look last night. I played a little bit with photographing and cropping some of the elements from the overall piece. Very cool, I think. Then I got to wondering when the piece was made; how old Marlee was when she made it; in what context she made the piece; and what ever became of Marlee. I have written about this in the past with regard to some of the yearbook photos I have used in my pieces, or have simply come across in my vintage yearbooks. It's also interesting to me that I have this piece of artwork by Marlee, without knowing any of these details. So strange how things end-up in a collagist's collection of potential materials. Since I don't have much "children's art" from my own life, I have thought about framing this piece as a Basquiat-esque piece for my collection. Not sure yet. I love that my interest in collage has brought me into a world where my imagination is so stimulated -- even when I'm not involved with actual creation of art, per se