Fish and Frida

These two collages began with a single moment - coming upon a quote and having an image appear in a news stream.

I laughed out loud when I saw the bumper sticker- 'fish control my brain'.  I assume it is related to the actual act of fishing, as it was on a car in the parking lot by our river walk, but it just stayed with me.  Yes, fish controlled my brain.

Fish Control My Brain collage

I hadn't seen this particular image of Frida Kahlo before and it truly spoke to me. The spacious window felt a perfect expansive backdrop to the concentration of  her while painting, while the aged brick wall, seemed a perfect edgy foil to her things. 

In 2012, Frida's closet was opened after 58 years. Her husband Deigo Rivera had it locked upon her death.  An exhibit was mounted at Frida's home, Casa Asul - the Blue House, and now the Frida Kahlo museum.  Like so many, Frida is an icon of mine and a regular theme and I've used items from 'the closet' in other collages.

Frida Painting Among Her Things collage

 

Till another time.

Birthday Totems and Fond Memories

March is my annual birthday collage time.  I have certain themes and totems that appear in many of these birthday collages, but naturally, it's always a different mix. Totems are evocative and perhaps some of these will speak to and for you as well.

Birthday Totems Collage

My cousin Marianne sent me a 1950's photo of our Uncle Carmen with her, my sister and I and cousin Marguerite. I don't know exactly where or when this was taken. The saturated colors were in the original photos.  I often include incongruous elements in my work, but the train here actually has meaning to me, as Uncle Carmen had a large model train layout in his basement. 

Uncle Carmen was my favorite uncle; I always felt close to him. It was interesting working on this collage, as all the feelings of closeness and tenderness would flow, but very few actual memories of events or places with him. I'll happily embrace the feelings sans memories.

Uncle Carmen and The Girls collage

    Till another time.

Happy Birthday! Happy Spring! White on White!

Our time away was great, but being home is as they say,  it's own kind of wonderful. Many things to attend to to get back in the groove, but happy to be here.

Each year I do my own birthday collage and one of my gifts to myself is that I compile an annual book of my collages and cards.  Both are fun to do and it's always interesting to see what is revealed in hindsight.

e birthday 2022 collage 

Octopi are often an element in my collage and I often use octopi hair on 'avatars' of myself.  This collage was almost finished, when my husband gave me for my birthday an amazing replica of an ancient Minoan pot - famous for their Octopi imagery-  produced by a museum in Greece.  It was the perfect finishing element of the collage.

Crows are another element I often use and I consider the Crow a menaingful totem in my life. But at an earlier time, when I was doing work with Wendy Ashley, an astrologer who anchored her work in mythology, she saw the Hare or Rabbit as a totem.  In some myths, the Hare is seen as the messenger between realms, moving by moonlight between the human world and the Otherworld.  Recently I was moved to add rabbits to some collages.  So I am welcoming Hare into the present.

The idea of this collage came to me in a dream - a Crow-Hare icon.  As she emerged, I felt she was in the fae or fairy realm and her name, Nix,  popped up as I completed the collage.  She anchors Hare, who is the stronger and more wild rabbit and Crow.  Ironically, I completed her on Easter, which I see as linked to the ancient goddess of Spring, Eostre.  

The eggs are Ukranian 'Pysanka' eggs, a tradition going back prior to Christianity.  The eggs are meant as memories or good wishes, prayers. 'Pysanka' means to write upon, and the designs are drawn or painted with wax and then dyed.  I was really drawn to the one on the upper left with the golden symbol. I looked it up and it represented Freedom, so appropos at this time.

Spring - Nix the Crow-Hare Fairy collage

Sometimes themes appear from circumstance.  'White on White' was inspired by the members gallery theme for May at SVAC - the Shenandoah Valley Arts Center.   The background image, the Heritage On Main  restaurant, had apparently recently been painted white and I noticed it just as I was thinking about a white-themed collage.  It's always nice when the Multiverse collaborates with you.  There are some puns on white in this little grouping and some surprise players.  The happy couple are Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter on their wedding day in 1946.

Till next time. 

Mums, Donuts and Fish

I love all things Octo, which I got connected to from my son, who recently reminded me that Cuttlefish are pretty cool too.  

 

Octomum collage

 

My friend Jess, lovely muse, inspires me once again.  I told her I think she has great angles and her selfies really capture them in an 'artsy' way.  She wasn't sure about all that, but is happy to inspire me.

 

Donuts and Bulldog With Jess

Jess has just opened a new venture to inspire creativity in others too.  Check out her new studio/shop Paint It Orange [orangepaints.com]  in, you got it, Orange, Virginia. 

I came across a cache of vintage tattooed ladies. And quite tattooed they are. A world of their own.  All the images were in black and white but a bit of colorizing, amplifying and they are aglow in their true colors. 

Tattooed Ladies Among Fish

The large fish background is actually a photo of a feature wall in a restaurant.  The happy goldfish joined the crowd and they are the final images i got from my friends at Mischief Circus.