More Paint...Less Collage

"The Lesson in the Work"
30x40"
acrylic painting with collage


Circles seem to be a constant in my work of late.
I did a sun series last year around this time and now am working with the circle in a larger format.
My goal is to work abstractly and from the gut, so to speak.
Emotional responses to the paint, the composition and the size of the canvas.

Paint hasn't been the main media in my work in a long time.  It is collage that has taken the front seat.
These new works are larger.  I haven't done paintings of this size since my under graduate days and while there is collage here, it is taking a back seat to the acrylic paint.

I must say that I am having fun but I have a ways to go.

www.claremurrayadams.com

Before and After

On the left is a collage in progress with the completed collage on the right.
Title of the finished piece is "A Confetti of Thought"    24x30"     mixed media collage.

I liked all of the open space on the right but once I started incorporating the 2 halves
together I knew that I had to let some of that go.
This is when the piece speaks to me and I must at least listen to what the artwork and composition is saying.

Some artworks, just fall together so easily.  Others need a lot of coaxing.
This was one of the coaxed pieces.
I can only hope it doesn't look like it was the struggle.

www.claremurrayadams.com

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

Hula Hoops and Hopscotch

"Hula Hoop and Hopscotch Memories"
24 x 30"
mixed media on paper

This piece sat for almost 2 weeks on my work table with the bottom part glued and the top part a mystery to me as to what to do with it.  My creative spirit got all caught up in those spirals on the bottom and couldn't seem to move forward.
Yesterday I just went into the studio with a devil may care attitude and came up with this.
Sometimes I need to let the muse take over.
She said "Don't over think it, Clare!"

www.claremurrayadams.com

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.

Yellow and Red Plums

"Wild Yellow and Red Plum"
14x15"
mixed media collage on canvas

The support or surface of this piece is an old acrylic painting that I sanded in order to reveal some of the underneath layer. I am a fan of distressed and aged surfaces.  The sanding creates marks and areas that I can't achieve when I am painting. There is just something about these unexpected and worn surfaces that I like.
A revelation of the soul of the work.

I think I "chickened out" a bit on the direct drawing that I want to do by keeping it in that rather ambiguous lower right corner, deferring to some machine stitching lines that cut across the picture plane.  But I really liked the drawing of the red plums that was in Dad's original illustration...small yet important.

The Scary Part...Going Too Far

"Three Calla lily Leaves"
from the Botanist's Journal series
15x15"
mixed media collage on a paper and canvas support

The Calla Lily leaves are really layered into this work.  Part of one is clearly  seen on the right side, but the viewer has to really look for the other two.  I was able to add some direct drawing (the black active circles and Xs) over top of the work which was very scary to do as I had put a lot of work into the piece and was worried about ruining it.
Isn't that always our worry...that we will go too far or sometimes not far enough.
Lots of transparent layers has long been one of my goals and something I think I often achieve.
Now the act of adding direct drawing using paint or sewing lines is the next step or challenge for me.

Apple Blossoms from the Botanist's Journal

"Apple Blossoms" from the Botanist's Journal Series
14 x 20"
mixed media collage on canvas

The illustration of the apple blossoms and the writing about it are layered on a painted canvas with papers, fabrics, and threads.  Sewing paper seems to be imbedded in my art practice.  Also incorporated are mono prints on silk organza and some stamping.  There is some dimension to the work from the sections where a vintage quilt was incorporated.  I really want to incorporate more direct drawing into these pieces but am having a hard time making that leap.

The Botanist Makes a Dye Bath

"Black Walnut Dye"
14x15"
mixed media collage on canvas

One of the things that John and I have an abundance of on our farm is black walnuts.
As a child my mother and I would go to her childhood farm in Shelby Ohio and collect black walnuts.  Mom loved the texture and flavor of them in her holiday baked goods.  And she was willing to go to all of the work and mess necessary to get those precious walnut meats.  Removing the husks can stain your hands black and getting the nut out of the inner shell is time-consuming.  Around our farm in Southington, the squirrels are the only ones who go to all of this trouble.

Until this fall!

 In October I decided to use the walnuts to make a dye thanks to a visit and some inspiration from Jessica at Praxis Fiber Workshop.  I dyed both paper and fabric in the walnut dye (see my post from Sunday, Oct. 25) as well as a few strands of linen, cotton and silk threads.
It felt good to use this free resource and I loved the results.  Here is the collage that documents the experience which I think fits in perfectly with my Botanist's Journal series.  

Indian Corn

"Indian Corn and Seedling" from The Botanist's Journal Series
14 x15"
mixed media collage on fabric

Still working with my dad's illustrations and notations from his college botany class notebooks.
This incorporates an old acrylic painting on the left with papers, fabric, painting, a piece of a vintage quilt, some stitching and drawing....Hence the use of the term "mixed media"!

Second Piece from the Botanist's Journal

"Late Season Sweet Potatoes"
13x14"
mixed media collage on paper

This is the second piece in the Botanist's Journal series.
The drawing of the sweet potatoes was done by my dad as part of some college course work he was taking.
The work is heavily layered yet with as much transparency of layers as I could get.
I am happy with the looser quality of the collaging and the lean toward more abstracted work.

Deliberate Indecision

"Deliberate Indecision"
mixed media
11 x 14" framed

When in doubt, I make a collage.

Remnants no. 003

Remnants no. 003
mixed media collage
10.5x14x1"

I am really intrigued with the hydrocal (plaster).
It is enabling me to get some more dimension out of the 2D surface.
As I work I am making each piece a bit larger by extending the wire mesh and the area where the hydrocal will go.
Leaving some of the mesh show is intentional and adds to the aged, found, neglected  aspect of the work.
I hope that the viewer finds plenty of room for individual interpretation of the materials and the objects used.
I have given a lot of thought to titling these with more information, but like the anonymity of the word and title "Remnants".  Upon checking the dictionary I see that a remnant is defined as 'a surviving trace'  or 'a small remaining quantity of something'.  All good reasons to keep the work small and a bit mysterious.

What's in a Title?

"Not Enough of Anything"
9x11" mixed media collage

Is it important to title your art work?
This is an ongoing question in art schools and among artists everywhere.
As an educator I feel that titling one's work gives the viewer some idea of where you are leading them.
Although titles can be rather elusive, as I think this one is.  But it might cause one to think.

When I go to galleries and museums I see titles that are often very obvious and ones that don't help me at all in terms of knowing what the artist intended.  Perhaps, in the latter case, s/he wanted to remain rather private.
I usually give a lot of consideration to the titles of my artworks.
Sometimes a more straightforward title is what the work calls for while other times titles that carry some emotional content fit the work and my thought process throughout.
That might be the case for this work.

Life Maintenance or When Real Life Takes Over

"Botanical Lies" (first side)
Originally posted on July 1

"Botanical Lies" (reverse side)

So, you may have noticed that my posts have been few and far between as well as all over the place...artwork, gardening, canning the produce, old shorts, art fairs, workshops.   That is kind of how the summer has been.  Add in lots of company and cooking and hopefully you can see how real life usurped the idyllic art life.
When this happens I call it "life maintenance", just carrying on with all of the duties that daily life requires.

But I am closing in on finishing this two-sided accordion fold book titled "Botanical Lies" which I wrote about back on July 1 (Yikes!).  The top photo here is the finished side that was previously posted in July.  The lower and larger photo is the reverse side of the book which is almost done.  So close, and with the prediction of rain for this week maybe I can get into the studio because I won't be able to work outside.  The left half of the reverse side needs more work and I want to do some negative painting as well.  My goal is to get this finished this week.  And I don't have much more time to work on it as it has to be delivered to the show it will be in around the middle of September.

Influences

Seamstress' Lunch Break
6x7" on board

I seem to be unable to keep stitching or references about sewing and fiber from my artwork.
The use of the thread and pattern paper in the background with the silverware made me think of the days when women worked in factories making shirts and dresses.
 I could see the short breaks these women were allowed to take for lunch and their metal lunch pails.
I could see their white shirt waisted dresses worn with black stockings and black shoes.
Cutting the patterns.
Sewing at black Singer pedal sewing machines.
Hot rooms with little ventilation.
The fact that I was reading a book about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire that took place in 1911 I am sure influenced the use of the materials and the title.  While this piece has none of the tragic aspects of the devastating circumstances of that event, the materials used, from the vintage silverware to the pattern paper and old zipper, easily references the period and the work that women did at that time.    
It is surprising and yet somehow expected the way various aspects and influences of daily life take form in one's artwork.

More Progress on "Botanical Lies"

More progress on "Botanical Lies"

Slowly I am making progress on this piece.  Some of what I did the other day affected the right side.  Once I got in the groove again I was able to integrate the collage elements and what I had done previously well enough.
I am now considering some way to add some dimensional elements to this piece by having additional sections that project from inside the folded areas.  Hard to explain.  Maybe harder to do!  But I can see it in my head!
Of course, what I see in my head doesn't always make it to the final artwork.

And this is a 2-sided piece,  so I still have the other side to do.
Yikes!  Taking more time than I originally thought it would.

Progress on "Botanical Lies"

Progress on "Botanical Lies"

Thus far, I have begun to work from right to left (?! go figure) using acrylics and colored pencil to expand upon my drawings done with pen and ink as well as stitched line drawing.  When I work in sections as I have done here I always worry about integrating the 2 parts.  Especially if some time has elapsed as it has with this piece.  While I have been doing other artwork, I haven't touched this piece for a week.
We will see what happened when I get back to it today.
Then there will be another time lapse since company arrives tomorrow.
Can't wait to see you guys!!

Starting and Stopping

Adobe
mixed media collage  6x6"

When I made the piece called "Greenhouse" (see May 29th post) I thought I was starting a series of pieces with house shapes in them.  As I worked on this piece it started looking just like "Greenhouse"...similar colors, definitely the same pointed roof shape, and positioned in the same place on the page.  So I really struggled to get what I have here.  I do like this as an end product but feel ambivalent about the house series idea.  I find this disconcerting since much of my early quilt work (we are talking 1980's here!) was based on architecture...doors, windows, arches etc.

I don't want to repeat what I have done in the past but I feel like it is territory that I am familiar with and can reinvent.
Now I am not so sure.

As I think about the problems / struggles I am having in the studio right now I feel I can attribute some of it to being away from the studio on a regular basis.  I was out of town for a few days, and getting the garden in and the flower beds weeded has been time consuming.  Perhaps I am just making excuses for myself.  But I do find that starting and stopping work can be problematic.
I lose the thread and continuity of my intentions.
The flow of ideas and process becomes fractured.
Discontent and insecurity set in.

I think these thoughts are as much a part of the process as the actual making of work.

Promise

Bulb in a Vase
3.5x3.5" floating in a 6x6" box

I came across this image from a collage I made a few years ago just as I was noticing all of the spring bulbs coming up in my garden.   In the past I have often forced bulbs in the dead of winter by putting them in a bowl of stones and water.
Usually February is when I feel the need for something blooming, just to give me encouragement that spring is actually going to happen.  And after this past winter that is truer than ever.
So here is a little bit of that hope in a small  painting on a tea bag.

$50 with free shipping in the US.  To purchase, please visit my Etsy shop.