Three weeks ago when I attended the book promotion for The Pulse of Mixed Media, it was interesting to hear the collective responses to several of the questions posed in the book...and that my personal experience mirrored many of these responses. Though the art is personal, the approach is often universal. I am not a classically trained artist...I have always have a creative bent and dabbled in some art classes in high school (and even won a city-wide art competition at one time...receiving a set of acrylic paints!) but my scholastic pursuits were of a more serious nature...with the end result to be more "employable".
After 20 years, I returned to art...and though it doesn't pay the mortgage, it does feed the soul. Once again this year I will be participating in the juried art show, Fresh Paint, here in Everett. I started working on a few new collages back in January...and then they sat...laid out on my work table...incomplete...direction unknown...
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| initial start on bird no.3 collage |
During The Pulse of Mixed Media book event, Leslie Avon Miller talked about how she keeps the paintings that she is working on close by so that she sees them on a regular basis and they can "talk" to her...and it is by this process that she understands the direction of the piece. This comment resonated with me...I often leave a piece on my work table...where I will see it everyday and "hear" how it needs to be completed. I also work on several pieces at once...the collages that I started in January are part of a five piece series...and I learned at the book event, that the major of artists profiled in the book, work on several pieces at once...and that they want to work in silence...no background noise/distraction/commotion for me!
After 4+ months of incubation...here is the finished collage of bird no. 3...
I love the graphics from old vintage dictionaries...but this bird is different than the one at the start...he (or is it she?) wasn't facing the right direction so was traded out...kept the brass stencil 3 with the back of the vintage raffle ticket showing thru the opening...
in case you were wondering...the foundation of this piece is a well-loved mini-cutting board...I like the shape...and the fact that its wood so I can attach pieces with nails (the stencil) or drill holes to thread string to tie on items (the feather)...I'm all about using items at hand...I veer away from traditional art supplies...
A perfectly white feather adds a light touch...
and the topic of time always seems to creep into my work...evidenced by the old timepiece gear & spring...
So mark your calendars now...Fresh Paint Art Festival, Everett Marina, August 18-19...hope to see you there...
