Another series is about to launch

For the past few weeks, I've been working on a series of collages that is quite a departure from the narratives. I haven't cooked up a name for it yet, even though I'm already on collage No. 7 and have at least three more in mind.

The photos above are blurry, but they''ll be scanned and posted soon. The idea was inspired by a clever collage by Georgia artist Robin Miller, spotted in Manifest Gallery's Magnitude 7.8 exhibit, which ended a few weeks ago.

Robin punched small circles of letters from a variety of books, then, pasted them in the shape of a circle onto a found book page and titled it "Letter Bomb." I just couldn't get it out of my mind and wanted to make something similar without copying him.

After a few weeks with the idea rolling around my head, I dove into it headlong. The first piece, "F Bomb," did involve letters, but took on a life of its own from there. I don't want to give everything away quite yet but suspect you can figure it out from that title and the images above.

One of the great surprises - as always, I suppose - is the evolution of each collage. Another surprise was that I - finally - am using background papers painted two years ago during a Greater Cincinnati Calligraphy Guild workshop taught by visiting artist Jacqueline Sullivan, as well as a watercolor painting recovered from a dumpster around the same time (hear that Diana Taylor?!).

More as it happens ...      

It's alive!!!

Woo hoo. Finally, a Paper With a Past web site. More later. Okay, finally back. Thought I'd post some pictures of the web site pages to give you an idea of what to expect. The top image is the home page.

This is one of the galleries in the "artwork" section. Just click on any thumbnail and a larger image of it appears - see below - along with information about the piece. If a piece is for sale, you can just click on the price to order it via PayPal.

And here's what the Cards With a Past gallery looks like. I haven't showcased these on the blog or, well, now that I think of it even mentioned them. They all feature images from my archive - no other source. I'm adding more each day until I get the entire inventory posted. When I do, I will make them available for sale via PayPal.  

That's the short tour. There is a lot on the site that has never been shown here, including the full line of prints available now, and I will be adding the Fit To Be Tied tags soon. If you have any questions, give me a holler!

Tea time

Even As A Child, Clara Took Tea Seriously (2012)

mixed-media collage: antique engraving (Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, 1888); 

recycled cookbook, paint sample and greeting card; ink, watercolor,

acrylic sealer. 5” x 5” on acid-free mat board. 

Price: $90 matted and framed (SOLD)

*available as a signed, limited-edition archival print, matted & ready to frame: $25 

Just about every collage in the Food Coloring series is droll. Clara is one of the exceptions. The engraving was too sweet for anything but a homage to girls and their penchant for tea parties with their dolls or, in our house, a menagerie of mice from Walt Disney's Minnie Mouse to Beatrix Potter's Hunca Munca.

I confess that I'm completely smitten by the engraving from Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly. The tiny dishes. The languid doll tucked under her arm. The delicacy with which she is pouring the tea.

The collage sold within a week of hanging it in the studio. But I like it so much that I'm offering it as a signed, limited edition print. Contact me if you're interested. Or drop by the studio. We have Open Studios this Friday (July 13) from 6-9 p.m.  

Happy 4th of July: Strike Up the Band!

I was just about to scan in some antique July 4th postcards to post here when I came across these two  pieces of patriotic sheet music in my archive. The covers are simply gorgeous and marchs are oh-so-Fourth of July. The top image, from 1905, was transformed into a holiday postcard last year. I wasn't quite so ambitious this year, so the bottom music, from 1912, will have to wait for 2013.

Still perched, but now downtown

Out On A Limb: 80 rpm (2012)

mixed-media collage: antique trade card (American Song Birds: No. 12, Mockingbird,

Singer Sewing Machine Co., 1898), record sleeve (Columbia Grafonola) and endpaper;

vintage sheet music (The Etude magazine, 1905) and endpaper (Field Guide to the Birds: 

Eastern Land & Water Birds, 1947); ink, watercolor, acrylic sealer and acrylic varnish.

 6” x 6” on a cradled, hardwood panel - ready to hang.

(SOLD)

Out On a Limb: A Little Bird Told Me (2012)

mixed-media collage: antique engravings (Chatterbox magazine, 1872 and 1905),

trade card (American Song Bird Series, No. 14, Song Sparrow, Singer Sewing Machine Co., 1898),

Columbia Grafonola record sleeve, endpaper (1887 edition of Paradise Lost);

 vintage sheet music (A Little Bird Told Me, Harvey G. Brooks, 1948); acrylic gel image transfer;

ink, watercolor, marker, fluid chalk; acrylic sealer and acrylic varnish.

6” x 6” on a cradled, hardwood panel - ready to hang.

(SOLD)

These are the final two American song bird collages for the 5th Street Gallery. I packed up all the birds ...  Wait! I've gotta come clean, there is one more. It's not posted, because it includes an American music legend whose resemblance to the Umbrella Bird is remarkable. His estate would probably nail me for using his image, but I couldn't resist. The title may give you a hint of who it is: Out On a Limb: Thank you, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, as you can see, every bit of that antique Columbia record sleeve found in the basement is being put to use with pieces of it in both collages.

The top collage was pretty much finished when I hit on the idea of using the sleeve to frame the mockingbird. Unlike the collage posted last week with a Brunswick Record sleeve, this one does not cover the entire surface. It was torn and once it was glued down, more of it was peeled off so that the silhouetted birds were a bit more visible, especially, bird No. 9, which is a mockingbird.

Both are hanging downtown at 5th Street Gallery, which is open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily, now through July 15 while the World Choir Games are in town. Hope you stop on by.