Staying Rooted to Somewhere

"Staying Rooted to Somewhere"
acrylic and collage on drywall
24 x 46"

This is the fourth piece in the series of larger paintings that I have been doing incorporating geometric and architectural elements with circle and ladder forms.   I often work with vertical surfaces but not one as narrow as this so that was part of the challenge for me.
The title comes from a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye.
I happened upon her work and love how she writes and explores contemporary situations.
While I am currently trying to work abstractly, something literal almost always sneaks into the work as it did here
with the flower.
I guess that is just part of my thought process.  And I need to acknowledge that and just go with it.
The flower and ladder part of the painting was already there when I came across Nye's poem
and I knew that her words were what I was painting toward.

Larger!

"Resisting Today's Reality"
30x40x1.25"
mixed media painting on canvas

I haven't done what I would call a painting in quite awhile and especially not something this big.
My collage pieces start with layers of paper and fabric, often some stitching.  The painting that I do on them is usually in addition to the collaging.
I found the 30x40" white canvas a bit intimidating and couldn't complete the work without adding collage elements.
But I guess collage is who  am.

The background is acrylic paint with paper and fabric collage on parts of the top layer.
I'd like to see the background have more layers and depth, like the kind of surface I get with encaustic.
But it is a start in a new direction.  At least for now.

www.claremurrayadams.com

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.

Very Mixed Media

Window Curtain
From the Upcycle Series

This is the last piece in the Upcycle Series that will reference back alleys and doorways.
There are no other pieces of the old acrylic painting that I am recycling with  shapes on them that ft this theme.
I could have called this "Duplex" or Awning" but I like the white shape on the right that looks like a curtain blowing out of an open window.  It has been fun to play with the shapes that were already established and to find a way to work with them.

The original painting in this piece was mostly black.
I wanted to distinguish the door shape on the right from the rest of the piece, using red over the black to do that.  Along with the acrylic painting that I started with I also use craypas, water color, shellac, and closed pencil.
So very mixed media, which is what I do.
It works for me to be able to combine lots of media to work though an artistic challenge.

This piece is 6x6" priced at $75 including shipping to the US.  For purchase information, email me.

Upcycling my Old Art!

Ladder

Definition of upcycle:
-to reuse (discarded objects or material) in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original.

I have been making art for over 30 years and therefore have a lot of art...some of it good, some of it, not so much.  I have these acrylic paintings that I did in college which were okay, not great, but have some interesting areas.  About a year ago I decided to cut one of them up and stitch on the pieces, add some collage elements and some drawing.  I tried to find a way to display them as a group but the pieces no longer worked together.

While looking for something else in my studio, I came upon them and decided that I might be able to do something with them in this 6x6" format, so I cut the pieces down some more!  This one, titled "Ladder", incorporates the acrylic painting on canvas with collage elements, machine and hand stitching, plaster, shellac and encaustic paint.  "Ladder" seems to me to fit the definition of upcycle, reusing something discarded in order to elevate it to a better standing than the original.
At least I find it to be upcycled for the better.
Not sure what my art professor's opinion would be!

This piece is 6x6" and priced at $75 including shipping.  To purchase please email me.