On the road

Soon we will be off on a grand adventure...the Southern Man and I...
taking a step (or rather many steps!) to decide what's going to happen next...

We're taking a trip down south...as in southern US...to check out a few potential locations for moving, 
visit with family, see some sites, get a feel for a place or two...

Since I will be on the road, I'll be away from my computer...so blogging will be on a little hiatus...

But I'll be posting on Instagram (my new favorite spot to hang out...follow me - user name fourcornersdesign) 
and on my four corners design FB page...

I'll be back in early July...

the temporaries

I've been working on a new series of collages...a series that I am calling "the temporaries"...

why that name you ask?  because the collage combinations that I am creating are made from ephemera...those inconsequential bits and pieces of paper that usually are forgotten...tossed...destroyed...and are mostly folded...mutilated...faded...deteriorated...

not prime material for fine art...but art nonetheless...

I decided to focus on the less than stellar qualities of these papers...and expose them...let you see the torn and tattered edges...the back sides...the uneven layers. These collages are put together with minimal glue...instead using my sewing machine to add a stitch here and there...and then mounted on office clip boards...it just didn't seem right that they should be framed...under glass...hidden from scrutiny...

Each collage tells its own story...and is a combination of vintage detritus, current junk papers, interesting odds & ends and recycled remnants of my own notecards with their cropped digital images...



























I've been hoarding so many of these remnants for too long...not wanting to give them up...
but its time to purge...to let go...

And here's why its been easier to let it all go...I've been making digital scans of each completed collage...and then creating a new composition...layering additional images and textures...continuing the story started with the original paper creation...

Entire image of collage seen at the start of this blog post...

and here - the enhanced version...

And the beauty is...if I don't like something in the enhanced version, it can be changed...and a new vision created...

another example...the original...

the enhanced...

Want to see more of the temporaries?  Come visit me at the Fresh Paint Art Festival in Everett on August 16-17...all the event details here...the complete set of the original temporaries and digital reproductions of the enhanced compositions will be on display...mark it on your calendar...

Joining  kim klassen's Friday Finds...where my "find" is discovering a way to both let it go...and create anew...

Nature knows best

Recently I read a discussion about where artists find their inspiration...
some could readily respond...others were frankly stumped...

I thought about it for a moment...and nature immediately came to mind

the variations of color in an autumn leaf...
     the patterns of drifting snow...
          the lines of a graceful tree bough...
               the layout of a spider's web...

as one designer put it, nature always gets it right

and though I may be fascinated with things metal and mechanical, I know that the clock spring mimics the nautilus shell...and that rusty patina is water & air working in tandem on destroying metal...and that paper was originally made from plant fibers...nature always in the first degree...

That's probably why I keep an abundance of crumpled leaves, dried poppy pods, striped feathers, bare branches, forgotten nests, patterned stones and parched wishbones in my studio...to keep inspiration nearby...at the ready...

edited with kk texture dollard soft & gentle, soft light 60%

Joining up with the others over at kim klassen's texture tuesday...
where the theme is nature...plenty of inspiration there too...