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

When the Artworks Talks to Me

"Vivid Dream"
24x30"
mixed media collage

So...this is the piece from March 6th where I left the work untitled, having forgotten the title I was originally thinking of.
Now it is titled and the artwork is updated...a bit different from the one you see in the previous post.
I am having a lot of trouble with the framing of these larger pieces.  Because they are on paper and I am using wet adhesives and paint the paper gets rather wrinkly.  Putting the piece behind a mat is just not working out.
So I took this out of the frame and mat and attached it to a larger piece of mat board.  This still left some wrinkles and marks that I didn't like so I added some additional pieces of collage to the edges.
It looks much better although I would have liked more negative space around the whole piece.
But it now float on top of the board under the plexiglass and frame.

Lesson learned!
I always like it when the art work talks to me.
This piece said "I do not want to be trapped under a mat."

To Title or Not To Title

Untitled
mixed media on paper
22 x 30"

I had a title for this piece.  And I liked it.
I didn't write it down!
Now I am racking my brain to remember it.
Until I remember or until I think of a new title it will remain untitled.

As my former students will tell you, I used to encourage them to title their work.
Some of that philosophy comes from the fact that I am an educator and sometimes I think we need to help the viewer along with a title that might let them into one's process.  I know that I often appreciate a title, especially when it comes to abstract work.  Even if the title is also a bit abstract, it still lets me into the mind of the artist.

I know that titling work is a personal choice.
I make a conscious effort to title my work.  Sometimes it is something that enables one to decipher the work.
Sometimes it lends some emotional content or a reference to my personal thought process while working.
Or in this case, it will be after the fact!

Golden Poppy

"Golden Poppy"
14x19"
mixed media collage on paper and canvas

These works based on my Dad's botany journals have been both challenging and rewarding.
I am beginning to include more paint and am letting the artwork speak to me about the size of the piece.
Initially they were all fairly square, but the materials I am selecting for the base surface is now dictating the size.
In this one I have put together canvas (top half) from an old acrylic painting and an old dark mono print on paper (bottom half).  The mono print got totally obliterated and hidden as I worked.
That disappointed me as I really liked the marks and character of the mono print, but it is still there, just part of the history  or soul of the piece.
Framing or presentation of these pieces is the next challenge!

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"!

Trying to Up My Game

"The Botanist's Journal"
14x15"
mixed media collage on canvas

This is the beginning of a new series.
DISCLAIMER:  I do hesitate to say that this is the beginning of new work,  a new series, a new anything that implies more to come, as I have done that in the past only to abandon that direction.  But I am pretty excited about these pieces.  There are 4 of them thus far.  And I am off to my studio to work some more once I finish this post.

I am really trying to be more abstract and loose in my approach to collage.
The inspiration is from some botany journals that my dad kept while in college.  It looks like they were part of his course work at some point.  Although he was a business major and not in the sciences.
  The drawing of the lily in the center of the page is one of the illustrations he did that accompanied some descriptions about the plant.  I did not use the writing in this piece but did include the accompanying written descriptions in the next 2 pieces.
More to come.  At least I know for sure there are 3 more that will be posted!