collage pilot?

I'm not exactly sure why they call them "flights", but some bars serve a sampling of 5 or 6 small glasses of beer. My favorite bar in the Utica area is called The Green Onion (located near the Uptown Theater in South Utica). It's one of very few bars that does not have a television in it (yay!). Anyway, a couple months ago, I collaged one of their flight holders. On Monday I finished a second one. They certainly are unique and fit in well with the quirkiness of the bar. It was amazing for me to see the similarity of this one with the previous one. I hadn't looked at the first one while I was doing this one. Interesting. So this was my second "flight". Maybe I should now refer to myself as the collage pilot? Enjoy!

ephemera and history

Good morning all! One of the reasons why I love to do collage is that I learn so much (weird stuff) as I search for elements to include in my collages. When I look through old books and magazines, I get warm feelings of nostalgia, mixed with piqued interests in retro science, mixed with an appreciation for historical context, mixed with the excitement of creative potential. Who could ask for anything more in an artistic endeavor? I was recently paging through a 1903 Cosmopolitan magazine which I purchased at an auction a couple years ago. I LOVE looking at the old advertisements especially. I used to teach a course entitled "Drugs & Behavior" when I was at Lebanon Valley College and covered the historical/chronological aspects of drug regulations. Many students are surprised to learn that the opiates and cocaine were not illegal in this country until 1914. So you could get patent medications with cocaine and opiates from mail-order catalogs like Sears & Robuck. Of course, free access meant that many individuals would become addicted to such substances. Anyway, here's two pages of advertisements which include no less than 6 ads for help with opiate addiction (but two ads which are for a syrup which contains cocaine). Notice as well the two ads to help women gain weight. The times, they are a changin' (or they have changed and are changin' still). Enjoy!

Susan and Philip Morgan

Just wanted to express my gratitude to Philip and Susan Morgan for patronizing my creative efforts. Here, Susan is shown with the piece she purchased at the recent charity auction for the Heritage House in Elizabethtown, PA. They now own a watercolor painting I did years ago and this recent collage. The piece is entitled "Perhaps you should think about writing down your good ideas". Thank you for your continued love and support! Enjoy!

old friend

As I wrote in an earlier post, I have not been working on art regularly lately. Mostly the hiatus was self-imposed as I have been working on my sabbatical writing and I felt I was at a natural break point from my major art goals. On Sunday evening, I "returned" to my workspace (studio?). Wow, I didn't even realize how much I had missed being in "art space"! It was great! Last night I returned again and began working on some stuff. I probably shouldn't post until I have a piece finished, but I just can't help sharing something representing "my return". It feels like I'm seeing (and being?) and old friend again after a couple months. I'm looking forward to getting back into the thick of creating art again. The woman over south side NYC is a work-in-progress. Who knows if the finished product will even look anything like this ;-) The trachea/blood vessel image is beautiful enough to show unmanipulated, I think. I'm excited to see what becomes of it. Enjoy!

Collage by Dan

My cousin Dan is a collector of Mexican movie memorabilia (mostly posters and books) and other ephemera. So it's not surprising that when he has been up from Guadalajara to visit, he enjoys working on collages. I taught him the Jonathan Talbot technique and , of course, this has allowed him to exercise his creativity without worrying about other "messier" techniques. Dan has created some really nice collages; but I think this is one of his best. Color composition is exquisite and if you notice, he uses a depth cue which is not too common. The background is printed in a way that makes it look somewhat blurry (especially relative to the crystal clear face). This creates something akin to atmospheric gradient and enhances the depth in the piece. Enjoy!

where have I been?

Argh! I have really been neglecting this blog over the past weeks. The problem is that I am on sabbatical. You might think that this is a good thing, and at some level it is of course. I am working on a book (a textbook perhaps) about research design. It's pretty dry stuff indeed. It has turned out to be much more difficult writing it than I had anticipated. But probably the biggest problem for me in terms of artwork is that my work day (and work week) is very open-ended. There's not much of a defined end to my day or week so that I can say at some point, "Cool, it's time to create some art!" As most of us are aware, creating art and playing music are the first casualties of a busy "work" or family schedule. Fortunately, these "problems" happen to coincide with what I am perceiving as a natural break point in my work. I have had a very satisfying and successful couple of years. But I do have a little something to share in terms of a new image. My mother-in-law went with us to Italy recently and loved it. For her birthday (today), I decided to do a souvenir-type collage. I think she'll like it. Enjoy!

from the sea

On Friday evening after dinner, MC, Dan Sue and I sat down and poured over the sea glass and tumbled stones we brought home from Italy. We each "designed some jewelry pieces" (nothing was fixed) and shared with each other our favorites. It's almost like jewelry collage. What a fun time! Enjoy!