The Essence of a Flea Market

Pink Velvet Seats
6x6"

There is always so much to look at when one visits a flea market, no matter where it is located.   I get easily distracted by the variety of objects, colors, and arrangements that I see.  It is similar to the way I view an art exhibit.  I want to run through the whole exhibit (or flea market) and see what is there.  Then go back through and see everything again, savoring and dwelling over the things  that really draw me in.
This collage is  an example of that phenomenon.  Chairs, umbrellas over cafe tables, and light posts all call to me in a compact area of the flea market.  There is an atmosphere created by outdoor flea markets that I tried to capture here.  Old yet alive.  Dark yet festive.  Casual and at the same time elegant.

 This is another mixed media collage from my Chairs of Paris series.  It is on a wooden panel with encaustic measuring 6x6" and priced at $75 with free shipping in the US.  To purchase, please visit my Etsy shop.

Revisiting Paris

 The Chairs of Paris: Folding Chairs

A few years ago I was in Paris and took a lot of pictures.  When I got home and looked at the pictures I had taken, I saw that I had many pictures of the chairs and benches in Paris: in their flea markets and their parks.  This collage grew out of that experience.

This artwork incorporates a photocopy of an original collage I made along with other collage elements in fabric and paper.
Encaustic has been added to create a more luminous surface.
6x6" on a cradled board.  As always, I appreciate your comments.

This piece is priced at $75 and ships free to the US.  You can purchase this work through my Etsy shop.

All Over the Place!

Chrysali
on view at Butler Area Artists Exhibit Feb. 22-Mar. 29, 2015
Butler Institute of Art in Youngstown OH

When I started this blog I thought it would be a journal of the new small works I wanted to concentrate on.
But I am finding that my writing, journalling and documenting is like my artwork.  I get distracted by other things...new materials to try out, shows I want to enter, exhibit opportunities I am invited to participate in.
The term "mixed media" extends to all aspects of my life.

Chrysali is a continuation of my work with tea bags.
(Tea bags are small, right, so in that regard I am working small.)
I made a number of pods or cocoons from the tea bags and they developed into this work.  To be honest, the frame structure, wrapped branches and wax were from an older attempt at an artwork that never really went anywhere.  I laid the cocoons on the branches and they seemed to complete each other.  I like the fact that this use of materials and arrangement reflect what goes on in nature but is not totally literal.  Having made a number of cocoons before these 3 found their "home" I am now in search of a home for the rest of the cocoons.  What I am struggling with is how to achieve the same reference to nature and maintain that not quite literal quality.

All in all I guess I had better change the description of my blog to reflect that I am really recording that I am
"all over the place" with my work!
Stay tuned for "All Over the Place" part two.