Collage as respite

So I've been caught up a bit in the holidays.  Creating cards, making some gifts and so on.  Can't share them here yet, as someone might be watching. But when my head is ready to blow up, I take another kind of rest and immerse myself in collage just 'because'.  

Images catch my eye and I'm off and running.  In a recent wonderful email communication with Mili from DailyOasis, a collage sharing newsletter, she said that my collages seemed to move from emotional work to fun.  I hadn't thought of the less personally-driven pieces as 'fun', but it does seem to fit the bill.  I am very attracted to the stuff of pop culture - vintage, retro, present.  The images speak to me in ways I really don't bother to analyze.  And I imagine that it's in that 'don't bother to analyze' energy that I my spirit is refreshed with those collages.

The main image in this collage is photograph by Mark Selinger which was featured in a recent Rolling Stone magazine article on Eminem.  I'm a fan of Eminem and really like his film 8 miles.  Anyway, the image took me for a spin,  I amped the color, extracted the main figure so I could enhance the size and popped in some multiple Eminem.  I do like multiple images.  This and that and there we go.  

More trivia, the brass cage with the man inside in the lower right, comes from the opening photo sequence for Elementary, the new tv series featuring a contemporary Sherlock Holmes played most excellently by Jonny Lee Miller with Lucy Liu as Watson.  The opening credit sequence delights me each time I see it and I captured some of the interesting images. 

Eminem digital collage - inspired by Mark Selinger photo

While looking for who-knows-what, I found a neat image of the great actor Robert Mitchum. Something about the image reminded me of my father and I decided to make a collage with them in it.  As I thought about it, I recalled that people always used to say that Victor Mature reminded them of my father, so in he went as well.  The 'amped' Victor Mature is by Mark T and you can see more of his work at Stars Portraits.

Anthony, Robert & Victor digital collage

You can see the cool Rube Goldberg opening sequence to Elementary right here!

Collaging, and Bits and Pieces

I've been doing a lot of digital collage lately, for myself and gifts and cards.  Since the Fall Foliage Art Show I haven't done any multi-media assemblage work, except to complete a couple pieces.  Hmmm - maybe packing, repacking and moving the abundance of work I had on hand, dampened the energy for such work for a bit.  Of course, as soon as I write that, I confess that I just ordered online a wonderful torso that I am planning to alter.

This pieces are bits of whimsy and it makes me laugh.

Monopolized mixed-media

Route 66 mixed-media

This piece is made from a jewelry hanger. These 'torso' jewelry hangers are pretty available now and I've used them as bases for other pieces.  I was going to embellish her further by hanging items from her curly 'hangers', when I realized she would be quite nice to actually use as a jewelry hanger, so she is a practical girl.  She's on offer at the gift shop of the Shenandoah Valley Art Center now.

Blue Jewelrygirl

 I've been very intrigued by Mountain Lions as of late and she has inspired some collage work.

Mountain Lion Crow Mother

The wonderful crow woman on the right in this collage is a 'Mother Crow with Tree of Crows' gourd art doll by Jeanne Fry and you can purchase it at ArtFire.

More collage - free form and color themed

Once a month, three friends and I get together for 'Art Day'.  Everyone works on their own project and we hang out, have lunch and have the fun of working with other people's energies in the surround.  

This month I really didn't find any focus, so I decided to do what I call free-form, yet, controlled collages, using the old-school cut and paste method.  The artistic device is to use only found images that are already in my scrap image baskets or in magazines and further, to paste each image as I find it.  Typically with my digital collages, I am usually following a theme or inspiration and collect a lot of images, which I then alter, extract etc and spend a lot of time playing with placement. 

The free-form collages feel like they use a different part of the brain, a different energy.  And the theme always emerges after the first couple images, never before.  When you're at loose ends for inspiration, try it and see where you go. 

Untitled1 Free-Form collage

Untitled2 - Free Form collage

Also in free-form found image mode.  I was in the studio and noticed this little set-up that emerged on a shelf.  I had arranged two items near each other and the yellow wall behind them created a single image. Cool! Camera please.  I then simply filled in the yellow of the wall as a background in the photo and a 'collage' was born.

Tiny Town Theatre - collage with assemblage

You never know what will inspire you.  I recently got some new shoes in a wonderful acid green.  I wore them with some bright socks, looked down while on my morning walk and said, I need to do a New Shoe collage!  I love the color so much, I was drawn to once again, [as in PINK!] do the collage in a color-theme. I get a kick out of being driven by the color.  My friend Perry at Folly Productions once said that he would have liked to work for Sesame Street, because he thought working in a specific theme, like the number 8, could actually be a very creative endeavor.  I get sense of that when working in a color-focused mode. I even just googled 'green things' and that captured the bowler hat with the bright green apple - a homage to the famous Magritte painting, The Son of Man. The title comes from husband Dennis' response to the idea of a new shoe collage.

New Shoe Gai Pan digital collage

Collages. Steve Martin's Shoes and PINK

All the artwork from the recent art show is still sitting in my studio mostly unpacked  And assemblage was far from my mind.  No art for me this week, I thought.  Then the redoubtable Jerry Boyd -see his own great stuff @ thatjerryboyd.com - posted a wonderful picture of green shoes purportedly belonging to Steve Martin and that sent me on my way.  

Steve Martin's Shoes

The woman in the picture is Lorde, a 16 year New Zealand singer.   I love her energy and the image in the collage captures a feisty, centeredness I appreciate.  The image is amped up with various effects. 

I was thinking about colors I don't use too much and PINK came to mind.  And from that, surely a whole piece of pink would be fitting.  Finding pink things was fun.  I even just googled 'pink things', which turned up the pink gun.  I tried many pink combo backgrounds but my favorite acid green popped up and won the day.  Pink with an acid green side. Fits me fine.

PINK!

Fall Foliage Update - alas, rain

Alas, 2 days of rain really did put a damper [pun intended] on the Art Show, but I'm still glad I did it and I sold a bit and had some really nice experiences. Two of my own favorite artists bought pieces of mine, which delighted me. An old friend who was in town for the weekend, surprised me by stopping by the booth.  She found out about it on Facebook.  All the pieces went to people who really appreciate them. 

One guy was really attracted to the altered shoes and said he had to have one but none of them were really speaking to him.  Turns out he has a shoe repair business.  A thought came to me and I took a chance and said, "I have a really weird shoe. Would you like to see it?' and he did and yes, it was perfect for him.  Love that stuff.

The Noir & Blanc etagere got a lot of attention, including a woman who owned one as a jewelry box.  I noticed the kid reactions.  Girls seemed to like the art and boys said 'it was a little bit creepy'.  Maybe girls zoned in on the doll parts and boys zoned in on that they were, indeed, parts.

Mz Underwood also garnered a lot of comment.  Nora and I observed that people were drawn to the pieces that had more literal parts - like a typewriter or a radio for a head.  

Also, cards of my collages sold well, so that was nice feedback. The director of my gallery told me she wanted me to put work in the gift shop and a shop owner in nearby Staunton would like some pieces on consignment, so that was fun too. Several people told me that my stuff really needed to be in an urban environment, which I know, but again, fun to hear it from others. 

As ever, many many thanks to Nora and Deb for their support and encouragement.

These are some of the characters who have new homes -

Wyrd Sisters Shoe - off to the shoe repair shop!

Mz Underwood

  

Window of Fate

Edgar 3

Earlier in the day, I bought this from the guy who bought Edgar.  I can see this he would totally appreciate Edgar. 

Thanks to Piper Groves at the Shenandoah Valley Art Center for coordinating the event so well and for offering us Emerging and Local Artists the opportunity to easily participate.

Waynesboro Fall Foliage Art show coming up! Free admission. Free parking.

The Emerging Artists Booth will be at Main & Arch Streets, in the parking lot.
Hope to see you there

 Come on by!!  Art, Music and food.  Fun in the Shenandoah Valley.

Main Street, downtown Waynesboro, VA

Check this out...

All About the Fall Foliage Art Show - video

At the beach - collage!

Am winding up a wonderful stay at my favorite home away from home, Ocean Beach in San Diego.  Fun with Photoshop Elements on the go.  The backgrounds are my own travel photos, amped up at Befunky.com.

OB Mural in Progress

Big Ass Caddy

Shoes & Found Shoes

We Two

Waynesboro's Fabulous Fall Foliage Art Show - October 12 & 13 and I'll be there!

I've been so fortunate to be featured in the Emerging Artists booth at the upcoming Fall Foliage Art Show right here in Waynesboro, VA..   

Bestie Gal-Pal Deb Booth mentored me once again and was the engine behind my applying to be part of the Emerging Artists booth and other lovers of whimsy and oddness at the Shenandoah Valley Art Center agreed and here I am.  Special shout-outs to Piper Groves the dynamic director of SVAC and to Pamela Martin, Exhibits Director.

Deb will have her own booth too, showcasing her wonderful photography and digital images

And a most special thank you to dear Nora, who has volunteered spend two days in a booth at the show with me. Wow!

Saturday October 12 10am to 5 pm   & Sunday October 13 Noon to 5 pm.
Downtown Waynesboro, Virginia.

Free admission and free parking.   150 vendors of all kinds of art, craft, jewelry and more, including music and great food.  Check it out: Fall Foliage/SVAC

I found it interesting to work 'to a show'.  I wanted to make sure that I didn't get into the 'head' of making pieces just for the show, but I did find that knowing there was an upcoming show added an extra energy.

Then there was all the prep for the actual doing of a show.  Although I may not sell one piece, I have to be ready to sell all of them. lol.    New business cards. Thank you & info cards to go with the art. At Deb's suggestion we printed note cards of my collages and some pieces that are not for sale.  Packaging! Pricing! Art pins! And I was able to have printed a fun 6' long banner to hang in the booth. Dennis did his organizational magic, created stands for the display and the first booth set up and on and on.  All this and as it turns out, I'll be traveling in September, so everything had to be done well in advance.   Which I am so happy to report, is the case.  Of course, I have already muttered that I don't want to do it again, but as Deb reminded me, now that I've done all this, the next time would be easier.

Some pix of the 'doing'.

Sample 'set up'.  The Noir & Blanc etagere will be a special feature.

I just love that acid green

Fun Pin Art  for whimsy

Some of the collages printed as blank note cards

The 6' Banner  - ordered from WalMart online Photo Center, of all places! 

Art packaged to go!  I used this method to ship art.
 Place the art in large cellophane 'basket' bags and tie the top.  The captured air in the bag nicely protects all the glued-on embellishments.  Looks cute too.

And now I can relax and wait for the big event.  If you're in the area October 12th or 13th, you'll know where to find me.

Marilyn's smile

Bert Stern, ca 1962

Marilyn Monroe - icon and in so many ways, a sad story.  But today I came across this image of Marilyn taken by the famed photographer Bert Stern, in 1962 in a photo-shoot that made him famous and I was so struck by her smile that I just had to do a collage.  Fun on a cloudy Saturday - putting off all those other things I 'really' had to do. 

Marilyn '62 Smile digital collage

PS - the saddle shoes are actually hers.

More current stuff

Here we go...

Nora's Tango - altered shoe

Madeline - altered wooden torso 13" tall

Dot Box assemblage 13" wide

Dot Box box

Pink Birdcaged- stuffed fabric torso - 16" high

Masquerade Booked - box assemblage 7" wide

New Stuff

Well, I did say I was working away and I have been.  I've also had a great week in Asheville, NC with the gracious hosts Morris & Liz, a quick and fun visit from the fabulous Mimi and Mike and an over-night pop-in from pal Barbara.  Lucky girl, I am.

Asheville is a city of art - lots of street murals that caught my eye and even artfully painted police cars. Great food everywhere too.

Chicken Alley Mural

This Art Car is beaded, not painted

 



















Stuff...

Window of Fate, assemblage 19x12"

Edgar 3  assemblage 5x5x10

Land of Sand assemblage 

Land of Sand - back view

 More pix another time.