lately in the studio

 Once again, I must say, I am grateful to be back in the studio after months of dormancy. And I am thoroughly enjoying my time in my creative space. As evidenced by some of the recent posts, I have been "stretching my voice" a bit with some of the compositions with which I am experimenting, and which I am creating. It feels great -- liberating in a way. I have done some minimalist, Stezaker-inspired pieces in the past (i.e., the British collagist, John Stezaker). And although this sketch is similar, it emerged from somewhere else in my creative cavern, it seems. I am intrigued by some of the details in this piece, so far. Firstly, the way the stairway seems to morph into the guy's hand, gives it a strong "sleeve" feeling and connects the middle and lower panel. This detail was a serendipitous emergence. Secondly, somewhat in response to that detail and connection, I thought it would be useful to continue the pillar from the middle panel into the upper panel (see below). Now all three panels appear more "integrated" and interesting. This evening, I will experiment with cutting, so that the little girls arm goes over into the lower panel. I will need to be careful to pay attention to the balance of the overall composition (i.e., I don't want it to become bottom-panel-heavy). Thirdly, I am REALLY liking the color scheme of this piece -- tri"chromatic" in a way, with white, gray and sepia). Fourthly, I love the dimensions and the frame color for the piece too. I think this piece is close to being finished... and I think it is a "keeper".

sketches and stretches

 I have been feeling really good in the studio these days! That is in stark contrast to what I was feeling over the summer and into the fall, when I felt like I didn't even want to spend time in the studio. I was dormant/stagnant for MONTHS. It didn't feel at all like "incubation"; but I suppose that's a possibility. Not only have I really enjoyed being in the studio lately, but I feel like I am creating some good works (and, perhaps, some works that have been atypical for me). I don't know what will become of these sketches (the one with the fish "might" be finished; the others, definitely not), but I enjoyed stretching my style a bit with these sketches. 

analog and depth

Just want to remind folks that me collages are all analog (all the time). Sometimes people have erroneously thought that my work is digital (partially because I use Talbot's glueless technique -- which results in very sharp, clean lines in my compositions). Here's one that I finished this evening; although I have been fussing with the details for several days (weeks?)...

Everything and Nothing

 My finished piece for a show at Voya Collage Gallery in Rochester, NY. The exhibit is part of a celebration of World Collage Week and has the theme "Everything and Nothing". This piece is entitled "What I am offering" (required size, 3.5" x 2.5"). Images from 52 entries will be chosen by jurors to be made into a deck of cards. I think this would be a cool back to a playing card. I loved doing the side painting on this piece (which I think is ESSENTIAL for any unframed work... it makes the piece look integrated and complete).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GOODY!

I made this birthday card for my buddy Goody last night. It started with a Georgia O'Keeffe card ("Blue Line" 1919):

To which I added a couple elements (and cropped)...

Then I added a few select phrases from a leftover scrap (the color was PERFECT for the underlying patina of the paper).

A couple more "highlight" elements were added. And here's the finished card (and a detail):

 

 Check out this year's Small Format Exhibit (one of my favorites!). My friend and collage colleague ANthiny Morgan, was one of the prize winners! Congrats Toeny!

https://www.summitartspace.org/national-collage-society-25th-annual-small-format-exhibition/?fbclid=IwAR3S69G2wPVqHRqt2Jrstvses2sTfR_blqm9-Lo0oFXNdVGZ4mobgi6g2tY

"Precious" elements

By virtue of the fact that I am an analog collage artist (i.e., I use nothing digital; nor do I do any photocopying of materials), my elements are unique, unless I have multiple copies of a magazine (or there are multiple advertisements that might use an image repeatedly). I also have a weird, self-imposed limitation on how I acquire materials, in that I will not seek out materials via the interenet. I get all my materials at garage/estate sales or live auctions (or from trash piles). What this kind of approach to procurement creates, is a situation where I sometimes have elements that are more "precious" to me than other elements. I sometimes find myself thinking, "Should I use this element now or 'save' it"?, or "Is this composition 'good enough' to us this particular element"? It kind of reminds me of the old Seinfeld episode in which Elaine is judging whether a boyfriend is "sponge-worthy". Such was the case when I decided to use, not one, but two "precious", detailed anatomical elements for this composition. Of course, the vintage water element is fairly "precious" too. For some reason, however, I am VERY pleased with how this composition emerged from my studio explorations and experimentation. I like the tension that was created from combining two related (from the same book), but not-matching anatomical elements. The patina and colors worked well in combination with the water element, I think. And the suggested wave that the hair makes, along with the echo of that form in the clouds, seems to really integrate the elements of the composition. The patina of the page paper also is suggestive of sand on a beach. Yes, I decided that this composition was "sponge-worthy", in terms of my using these "precious" elements. And for god sake, I have enough material in my studio right now, to create collages for the next 10 years. No real reasons to save elements for another day! BUT, I think it is worth being so discriminating as an artist, so that I create what I consider the best compositions. This piece is entitled "I spent most of the week down by the water" (11" x 5.5"). I think the frame works well with the piece too. Seems like you could hang this at a house in Cape Cod and really freak some people out ;-)