A By Product of the Process

"A Calculated Risk"
22x 30"
mixed media on paper

This is the second in a series of new abstract collages where I am trying to work larger.
Another goal is to avoid using collage images of recognizable things such as people, faces, clothing, trees, etc.
Although I did include a drawing of a rock in the first piece of this series.
I just liked that drawing which was done with craypas.  The use of that media allowed or led to using more crayons in the rest of the work...something I like and haven't done in a number of years.

I realize that the geometry of the pieces tends to suggest concrete realities, but that is totally accidental.  For example, this piece seems to reference, at least for me, buildings or architecture, which is fine.  But I did not set out to make a cityscape or  a piece with houses or buildings.  That is a by product of my intuitive process.

In titling the piece I also refrained from referencing the architectural nature of the work.
The title is about my process.

You can see this work on my new website in the Mixed Media on Paper and Canvas gallery.
www.claremurrayadams.com

The Installation

Susan McClelland and I installed our show at Lorain County Community College on Tuesday.
We made a little video of the install.  Bear with us.  It is our first video which we made on my iPad then edited with iMovie.  Making and editing it was kind of fun.  Figuring how to upload it to various places was a bit more challenging.

The reception for the show is tonight, (Friday Feb 26) from 4:30-7:30.
Stocker Art Center  Lorain Community College  1005 N. Abbe Road  Elyria OH
The show runs through March 23, 2016.

To see the full effect of all of the pieces I guess you will have to stop by!

Trying to work Larger

"The Sum of the Parts"
20 1/2 x 30"
mixed media collage

Still mixed media collage but larger than my usual 11x14" pieces.
Trying to work my way up to a 30x40" canvas.
It was a struggle at first, because of the size but got fun once I started to really play
with the composition and the mark making.

Materials include a monoprint, a drawing of a rock done with craypas, fabric, found papers,
acrylic paint, siminay (that's the cheese-clothy type fabric), stitching, pen and ink

The Twitter Art Exhibit project

Autumn Offering
4.7 x 6.3"
mixed media collage

I finally succumbed and joined Twitter.  I guess I just didn't have enough to do with Facebook, Etsy, blogging, and oh yeah, making art.  But people (young people) and the guy from the marketing workshop I took all said that social media is the way to go and Twitter is an important part of that. So now I tweet.  What next?  Instagram?  Probably.

So as I was going through the Twitter site trying to see how this whole thing works I came upon the Twitter Art Exhibit.  The project asks artists to donate a handmade postcard of a specific size that will be sold with the money going to Foster's Pride, an organization that helps young women in foster care create and market a line of unique goods.
This is right up my alley.. artwork, postcard size, donation to a good cause, with the added bonus of connecting with new people from all over the world.

Check it out.  Deadline for entries is in the middle of March.  www.twitterartexhibit.org
Now I got go...I need to tweet this blog!!

When in Doubt...Collage

Mixed Media Collage on Board
11 x 14"

The underlying basis of this collage is a mono print.
The large pink area reveals what can still be seen of the mono print.
The rest of it is pretty buried in the layers of paint, fabric, shellac and sanded plaster.
Working abstractly, without any reference to an object or some real subject is difficult for me.
I don't mind if the final artwork references something to me or the viewer, but I really wanted here to just work with shape and composition, color and texture, without relying on a collaged image.
I wasn't able to do this successfully in the mono print alone.
But I feel I had more success once I started collaging, using the mono print as one of the contributing papers for the collage.

Order / Disorder Mono Print

Order / Disorder
Mono Print on Paper
11 x 17" 

Order / Disorder
Ghost print on Paper

Mono printing with paper stencils, textures and ink applied with a brayer.
There is a freedom and sense of play when working with mono prints.
While there is this accidental quality to the process, one also has to think about the rearrangement of the pieces on the paper.  Think ahead and anticipate but be prepared for the unexpected that can be either rewarding or a bit of a disappointment.

Another Iteration

Mono Print Dress 3

Those of you who know me and my work know that I often work in a series.  I do several pieces in the same vein, really trying to mine the idea or the materials.  Mono printing easily lends itself to this kind of process.

Above is the third printing of the plate with the dress image on it.
I added some collage elements..can't help myself.  And a little bit of colored pencil.
I think its done, but not sure.
The middle print from the same plate is still being considered.

Generally as the plate gets reworked I like the results better.
The nuances that happen are things one can't plan for initially.

Mono printing!!

Untitled
14x22"

I took a mono printing workshop last Saturday.  Part 2 of the workshop is this Saturday.

I forgot how much I love this process.

I had so much fun. 

The class was taught by Lisa Schonberg at Zygote Press in Cleveland. http://zygotepress.com

She is a great instructor and the facility is wonderful to work in.

I made three prints all from the same plate.  This is the first iteration.

I was so excited that I came home and unearthed my press and spent this week making a space in which to do more mono printing.

Got to go...I have lots of ideas.

Harmony in Differences

Clare Murray Adams' Drawing

Susan McClelland's Drawing

Here is another set of drawings from our upcoming show, "Divergence: Points of Departure".
My drawings are more contained just as the sculptures in the show are...individual entities that are suspended from curled wires cover with twine and yarn.  We hesitate to call the sculptures and the wires anything specific as we want the viewer to interpret the installation for themselves.

Some of Susan's drawings seem to reference the wires that the sculptures are hanging from.  Or the inner workings of the pieces.  I love the shadows that are created in her drawing above.  There is an energy and gesture to her pieces while mine appear to be at rest.
Our Divergence exhibit demonstrates the generation of several possible solutions to a problem, each unique and harmonious.  I find this to be true of both the sculptures and the new drawings that will accompany the exhibit.

"Divergence: Points of Departure" by Susan McClelland and Clare Murray Adams
Lorain County Community College  Stocker Art Gallery
1005 North Abbe Road  Elyria OH 
February 24 through March 23, 2016
Reception is Friday February 26 from 4:30-7:30PM