Collage

Working in the studio heaps.  Time to take some new pix as things emerge.  But today am sharing this collage and this moving moment with Lady Gaga celebrating the freedom of choice for all our friends.

To Thine Own Self Be True Emerging

Lipstick Pens! In the Studio and Fall Foilage Arts Festival

Sometimes the internet is just too cool.  So awhile back I bought a lipstick pen at Michael's.  A great shiny plastic pen that looks like, you got it, a lipstick without it's cap.  I found it a great element in a piece I having going.  So great, that I decided I would like to use these pens as one of my 'feature' items, like shoes and doll hands, etc.  So hello ebay.  In less than a week, I had a whole supply direct from China for very little money.  I am a happy artist.

Lipstick Pens!  I ordered red only but these pink ones arrived as well.

Here is my first lipstick pen and apparently, a self-portrait in the mirror as well

I've been busy in the studio, with several pieces going at once.  Thought I'd capture some 'set ups' shots.  'Set ups' is the term I use when I begin to layout out the possible arrangement of a piece.  I have some sticky tack that I use to temporarily hold pieces in place.

A pink lipstick may have found her place.

One of the giant baby heads finds his box.  The bottles is full of tiny doll arms.

These heads are so wacky!  And they definitely belong in a polka-dot box.

And very exciting for me, I just learned that I have been accepted to participate in the Waynesboro, Fall Foliage Art Festival, as an Emerging Artist.  This is such a great opportunity.  I'll share a booth with other artists and get to share my art for two days.  So the studio lights will be burning.  A special shout-out to Mz Piper Groves, director of SVAC - the Shenandoah Valley Arts Center.

The Fall Festival is an annual event, the 2nd week of October, filling the streets of downtown Waynesboro with fine art.   This year the dates are October 12th & 13th.  For many years now, we have helped my dear pal Deb Booth, of DifferentLightStudio set up her booth.  We'll be double busy this year!  Come see us.

Collage! Cards and stuff

My recent visit to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond also brought another discovery.  I was quite taken by a portrait of Marian Anderson by Beauford Delaney, which I first saw on the cover of the VMFA magazine.  Here's a link to the VMFA blog with a nice piece on the portrait.

Marian entered my scan collection and this is the collage that emerged. I don't recall what sent me in the 'retro' direction, but once there, I just followed that retro vibe.

Marian Goes Retro collage - with attribution to Beauford Delaney

Birthdays are always fun because I like to make collage cards with my friends in mind.  Here's a couple recent ones.

Future Portents for Leslie

Book Man collage  for Perry

Mimi's Dance

At this point, most of my collages are digital, using found images, some of which are enhanced or altered. Occasionally, I still create traditional cut and paste collages.

Shoe Art @ Shoe-fiend, Galleries and more

Recently I received a lovely email from Paula McClelland in the UK.  She has a blog called 'shoe-fiend' and created a post about searching around for art shoes.  She found my Violet Shard shoe [one of my personal favorites!] and included in her it blog.  I loved to travel even if it's in cyberspace.  And I love that she included a link to Altered-e-art.com and took the time to send me an email as well.  Check out Paula's blog -  shoe-fiend.blogspot.com.uk

Had a great day in Richmond yesterday. Saw a terrific show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

Tom Wesselmann - Pop Art and Beyond. Zing!

You can tell this is fun, but it is really gigantic -10'x16' - which quadruples the effect. It was quite a new thing to use advertising and product images in fine art.

Still Life #35

I had an image, as a card and poster, of this Wesselmann painting for years and years. It was great fun to turn a corner in the current show and there it was. Pop!

Bedroom Painting #7