Back to Work...Finally!

Divergence 1
8x10"
watercolor, charcoal, ink and stitching on paper

Wow!  This is the longest break I have taken from my blog since I started it  a little over a year ago.
I hope you are still out there!
The holidays were busy and a trip to New York City intervened making time to photograph art and get it to my blog a little challenging.  But I think I am back into a working routine.  At least I hope so.

Susan McClelland and I are showing our "Divergence" collaboration again in February at Lorain County Community College and we wanted to add to the installation by creating some drawings related to the three dimensional pieces that we will be showing. So the next few blogs will be the drawings for the show.

The exhibit entitled "Divergence: Points of Departure" is scheduled for February 24-March 23, 2016 at Stocker Gallery on the campus of Lorain County Community College.  I will include some pictures of the installation as it looked at Kent State Stark Campus in August 2015 in my next post and more details about the upcoming show and reception.
Thanks as always for your interest in my work and my blog.

Foundations of a Visual Vocabulary

Variations on a Theme no. 10
8x10"

Here is the final piece in this mostly white /light series.
It has been both fun and challenging to work with this palette using collage.
You can see more color sneaking in when you notice the image in the lower right hand corner.
As I observe and analyze this piece I also see the use of imagery that I started with earlier in the blog...
the circles, the use of notations via music notes and shorthand papers along with the ladder form.
It seems to me that one's visual vocabulary has a foundation of images, shapes, forms, color, and technique that
become truly one's individual identity and artistic voice.
The circles and notations, the stitching and collage, the plaster and shellac are that foundation for me.

You can find this piece for sale in my Etsy shop.

Dimension and Depth

Variations on a Theme no. 9
8x10"

Series is almost done.  One more to go.
I have always enjoyed working in white and light tones, usually using paint.
Returning to this palette for awhile has been good...both challenging as I looked for a variety of materials to use
as well as exciting to create collages with limited color.
The use of plaster adds dimension with its texture and the shellac adds depth with its amber glaze.

Contradictions

Variations on a Theme no. 8 (detail)

Variations on a Theme no. 8
8x10"

This layered collage incorporates whole pieces of paper and fabric with some found remnants of other collage pieces.
For my purposes, stitching on paper is drawing.
The addition of the coppery metal pieces adds dimension to the flat surface
and contrasts the delicate nature of the thin thread.
This particular bird image is one I often repeat.
It represents soaring, freedom, release although it is slightly
veiled behind the layer of vellum which somewhat contradicts the notion of freedom and release.  

More White on White

Variations on a Theme no. 7
8x10"

More palette cleansing!  White work on paper with stitching.
I love the textural effect of the torn paper edges and the stitching on paper.

8x10" mounted on a board ready to hang.
$110 with free shipping in the US.  Visit my  Etsy shop for details.

Using Stitch as a Drawing Line

Variations on a Theme no. 6
8x10"

So...after a week of teaching and working in the yard, I am back to making art.
Once spring arrives (and it is finally here!) there is so much to do.  It will be interesting to see how I balance art making with all of the yard work and gardening that I normally do.
This piece is number 6 in a series of light / white works.  I feel like I was able to get back to the really light palette that I was trying to achieve.  There are a few more pieces coming in this series.  I am enjoying this but getting eager to use more color. I think the "cleansing" of my palette worked.  I hope I can start reusing color with a new eye.
I really do love stitching on paper and fabric, and this is one of the things I was able to accomplish in this series of light works.  I like to think of stitching as a drawing line, a way to add linear elements but with thread and stitch as opposed to pen and ink.  That is part of what I did in this series.
I am finding that each piece brings a new set of challenges...
how to use mostly white materials,
how to use stitch in a way that references drawing,
how to manipulate materials, both fabric and paper,
how to be abstract and yet appeal to a broad audience of art lovers.

For sale in my Etsy shop for $110 with free shipping to the US.

Letting the Work Speak to Me

Variation on a Theme no. 5
8x10"

Working with this large, curved, white collar was a challenge.  I guess it was the fact that it is so large on this 8x10" piece of paper and that it has such an organic nature.  A lot of my work tends to be more geometric.  So it is good to work against the grain, so to speak.  There was lots of staring...me staring at the big white collar and the big white collar just staring back.  I was waiting for the work to speak to me.  Sometimes it does; sometimes I just have to guess at what the work wants.  I think in the end the big white collar did not want to be so big, so visible.  The addition of the woven belt and the stained tea bags on the left helped the composition as did the pink circles on the right.
Over all, this Variations Series is telling me I need to work with smaller collage pieces when working in this size range.
But I did not learn the lesson soon enough.  I have already started and almost completed Variation no. 6 which also has a pretty large collage element.

Creating Tension

Variations on a Theme no. 4
8x10"

Strong contrasts in white and black emphasize the contrasts in imagery and materials.  The drawing of the spine and suture-like stitches seem to create a sense of tension or disconnect with the flowery embroidery.  So the variation in this piece lies in both the use of limited color and suggestions from the imagery and stitching.

Cheating...Yes or No?

Variations on a Theme no. 3
8x10"

More light colored work, although a little bit of pink crept in, some of it from the staining on the tea bag I used and some from my watercolor brush.   I've had this doily for a long time and love it but could never find a way to use it.
Glad it became the star of this piece.  I do have a few more of them. They were all individual pieces but the raw edges tell me that they must have been part of something else at one time.
So am I cheating by using a bit of color and some black here and there for contrast?
My goal was to make white/light colored pieces without much color.
And to use the materials I have without purchasing new items.
So what do you think?  Am I a cheater?!

Large Zipper Pulls!

Variations on a Theme no. 2
8x10"

More white, this time with fabric and lace that has plaster added to it.
I love the large zipper pulls that I scored at a fabric store that was going out of business.
Returning to white and sewing materials is in my comfort zone along with the rectangular format.  I have to say that working in a square is more of a challenge for me since much of my work is vertical and rectangular. So I am enjoying having a bit more space and working with a rectangle again.

This work is 8x10" mixed media collage on paper mounted on a cradled board.
It is priced at $110 with free shipping in the US.
To purchase, please visit my Etsy shop.

Cleansing My Palette

Variations on a Theme no.1
8x10"

I have heard some artists, painters mostly, say that they often like to "cleanse their palette" by taking away all of the color and working in just black and white.  I think it might be time for me to do that in my collages.  I have long been attracted to collages with lots of white or light shades in them.  There was a show a number of years ago that I saw on line, not in person, where the theme of the show was artworks in white.

So I am going there for awhile...working with white/light fabrics, papers and ephemera.
I have gathered together a pile of materials and want to work from those with our purchasing new materials.
The challenge for me will be to grow in my collage work while working with the light palette.

This work is 8x10" mixed media collage on a board ready to hang without any framing.
It is priced at $110 with free shipping in the US.  To purchase, please visit my Etsy shop.

A Cairn of Stones

Stones    8x10"

Here is the companion piece for "Sticks" which I posted yesterday.
The pile of stones in this crevice is what I was after.
The colors are off a bit from what you see in "Sticks" because I worked on them on two different days.
Also the lighting / time of day when I photographed them was different.
There are so many variables when working and then documenting.
Anything can affect the outcome!

"Stones" is 8x10" on board and is priced at $85 with free shipping in the US.  To purchase or for shipping outside of the US please email me.

A Bundle of Sticks

Sticks
Bundle of sticks on an 8x10" cradled board.

I have used sticks and stones in several artworks over the years, often with a reference to the childhood saying about sticks and stones being hurtful while words are not.  The work on this panel is placed overtop of book pages that allude to the word idea, although the words on the page are not hurtful...just words.
I don't often center imagery or objects right in the middle of the picture plane so this is a bit of a departure for me compositionally.  But I had an idea and ran with it, completing this piece in a rather short time about...2 1/2 hours or so.
I credit some of that short time to becoming more proficient with the plaster and shellacking process I am doing.  I have a better idea of what will happen in each layer and the way I want to order the layers. So all in all I had a good time on this snowy Sunday where I was kind of house bound.  Not complaining...I like the snow and the time to spend in the studio.

This piece is priced at $85 and includes free shipping in the US. To purchase or for shipping outside of the US, email me.