Assembled for Tea - Assemblage at SVAC - Shenandoah Valley Arts Center

 June is the annual Members show at the Shenandoah Valley Arts Center.  

The show runs from June through July and if you're in the area, do stop by and enjoy.

 

 

 

 Although these days I work mostly in collage, mixed-media assemblage was my first love.  I loved the collecting of the bits and pieces, finding the right 'container's' and discovering the alignments that would emerge.  I was inspired to do an assemblage for this show.

Some of the key pieces here were box assemblages I had made in the past.  It was great fun to pick and choose who would go in this piece.  There was much arranging/rearranging with various selections.  Once the core units settled, I was in search of a base.  I found the large tray and from that, the theme of a tea party emerged.  Shoes, tea cups and saucers are often featured in my collage work, but first appeared in my assemblage work. I had many such miniatures in my assemblage items collection. And dolls in various ways were always part of my 3-D work.  The piece is 19" long x 14"wide and 24" at it's highest point.

Assembled for Tea - Mixed-Media Assemblage

 

Assembled for Tea - Detail - TOP

Assembled for Tea - Detail - LEFT

Assembled for Tea - Detail -RIGHT

Assembled for Tea -BACK

At the Gallery...

Till next time.

 

 

Covid 19 Heroes redux

In my last post  I shared being inspired by the call from Adobe to create images reflecting our Covid 19 Heroes -https://www.adobe.com/heroes.html.  I was drawn to photos of nurses, many of whom bore the 'scars' of their protective masks and created small portraits. 

I was moved to combine them in a single collage and those same faces inspired me to create a mixed-media assemblage.

My Covid 19 Heroes Angel carries the faces of these heroes, only one of whom I know by name- Kious Jordan Kelly,  He was a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, gave the ultimate sacrifice. He died from C19 on March 24, 2020. 

These are small offerings of remembrance,  honoring, sharing heart.

Take care. Stay safe. 

Gifting! Giving and Receiving and working in a small space

Dear friends recently got married.  I wanted to give them something personal, so I made a little wedding box for them.  This project was special in another way too, as it was the first assemblage I did in my new space.

My old studio had tons of space and all my tools and supplies were out on the counters, hung on the wall, on every shelf.  My new space is much smaller and all my tools and supplies are tucked away in cabinets or drawers or in storage boxes in the garage.

Certain assemblage parts, paints, beads etc that I remembered as once having, no longer were evident, even in my well-labeled boxes, so this piece had several trips to the craft store..

The new space asks me to be more thorough in my planning of a piece and more focused in the doing of the piece.  I set up a couple trays on the work surface for the specific bits and pieces and tools I was directly working with. Otherwise, everything else stayed tucked away.  I have an additional work surface where I can place some bits for drying, while I work on my main work table. I have found it an interesting energy to have to work more 'concentratingly' [is that a word?].

I found an inexpensive solution to protecting my work surface - heavy but flexible plastic runners for hardwood floors!  I found it at Lowes in the rug section and at only a couple dollars a foot, it is perfect.  I also use a piece to protect the rug in front of my work space.

The box in this piece is a purchased hardboard & paper book box, 8"wide and 2" deep.  The inside is filled with pearls, crystals, flowers and hearts and the large glass ball.  The couple is an amped image, printed on high gloss photo paper and mounted on styrofoam, the back of which is collaged with hand-made paper

Wedding box for Morris & Liz

Recently I received a great gift that was certainly chosen just for me - shoes for art, a curly haired doll and a lovely book on personal altars and icons by Jean McMann

Thank you cards are a perfect opportunity for a collage.  The background is from the book, a car altar by Harrod Blank, amped a bit, of course.

Mimi Yellow Shoes Thank You collage

I'm a fortunate girl indeed.

Virgo, Lions and Guardians - oh my!

Some recent Virgo birthdays were inspiration for collages that became cards.  While looking for a Virgo theme for my dear friend Helen, I came across an image with a lion.  I've never associated lions with Virgo, but I really liked the image, but not the Virgo within it.  So out she went.  I then created a more, to my mind, kick-ass Virgo goddess who matched the lion energy, which I felt was a 'Guardian' energy.  

Virgo Lion Guardian collage

Lion Guardian inspired me to create just that for Helen - a lion guardian box.  I then went on a lion quest.  I found some plaster lion heads in my studio, which had been cast from a push mold I made years ago.  More interestingly, these were in supplies Helen had passed along to me.  Aha, her energy was coming into the piece.  The gold frame in the lid, gold leaf and other elements all came from supplies she had given me. Stalwart guardian crystals came from my big crystal bowl and our Virgo Lion Guardian came together nicely.  Mz. Helen was pleased as well.

Lion Guardian Box  mixed-media assemblage  5x5x9

The Virgo collage for my friend Michael evolved into one I call The Virgo Mystic and includes symbols of transformation, like the snakes and swords.

The Virgo Mystic collage

I then had another Lion experience.  There is lot of change going on in my life right now as we are downsizing from our house to an apartment nearby and will soon put our house on the market.  This move also will open the door to more travel.  Recently we were driving in town and I looked out the window and saw a black Panther sitting by the road with its paws extended in front.  I turned to my husband and said, 'Well, that can't really be a panther.' and of course, it morphed into the piece of concrete that it was.

A few days later, I was in the dining room at lunch with the Art Girls.  I felt someone come and stand in the doorway behind me.  I thought it was my husband coming up from his office and turned to see what he wanted.  Instead, I saw the black Panther lying in the doorway.  This time I laughed out loud and said, 'Message received.'  

I googled Panther as a totem and saw, like Lion, it is associated with Guardianship, Transformation and Strength.  Last year when I began some physical changes, Mountain Lion came to me in a dream as a totem for those changes.  Mountain Lions and Panthers are in the same family.  

Recently my sister reminded me that I was born on High Noon on a Full Moon.  She said I will always have two elements active in my life and although they may seem opposite, they are always working in tandem.  I decided that Mountain Lion and Panther are my Sun and Moon Lion Totems.  I am walking through this time with two Lions.  Naturally, I had to capture this energy in a collage.  The Henna tattooed hands represent me in transformation, and as they are henna, the design can change and become something else in time.

Sun and Moon Lions collage

Crow Sisters

Traveling is in my future, but Crows have my attention at the moment.  After the first two Tough Girls collages,  I had a dream about Crow Sisters.  And it seems, these ladies are of the Tough Girl ilk as well.

Crow Sisters collage

Off I shall go...

She was moved to travel - mixed media assemblage  9"x8"x4"

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. 

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.

Booked In Paris

This piece came together from a couple of fun finds.  The 'book' box was found at Michael's and offered a perfect medium for collage and assemblage.  On sale too - so naturally I've picked up a couple.  The wood-cut figure and the odd clock-faces came from a favorite online source of mine, Artchixstudio.com, hailing from Victoria, Canada and the inspiration and work of the oh-so-lovely Helga.

Add some of my favorite themes - travel, shoes, hands and an odd bit here and there and it comes together nicely. The 3-dimensional suitcases were created by collaging over wood pieces and the map embellishments were also collaged on wood.. It was said to me that this was a 'sweet' version of my usual work, but hey, I do enjoy a piece of white chocolate on a regular basis, so why not!

Booked for Paris mixed-media assemblage

Inside Detail

Back View

            

Book box

Art Chix Wooden Flappers