I'm back out on a limb

Out On a Limb: Wings of Song (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique engraving (Chatterbox, 1879) and trade card
(Singer Sewing Machine Co., American Songbird series, 1898-1922);
vintage sheet music (Harold Flammer Inc., 1938); recycled catalogs and tissue paper;
ink, watercolor, marker, fluid chalk; acrylic sealer and acrylic varnish.
6" x 6" inches. On hardwood panel - ready to hang. Price: $85.
(SOLD)

This is the first of five new Out On a Limb collages created to hang in the 5th Street Gallery during July, when the World Choir Games hit Cincinnati. The five each feature one of the "American Song Bird" trade cards I've used a few times before.

There were 16 cards in the series of color lithographs (chromolithographs, if you want to get technical) issued by the Singer Sewing Machine Company. The original watercolors were painted by J.L. (John Livsey) Ridgway, a scientific illustrator who specialized in ornithological and paleontological art. Of course, since these were trade cards, the backs were used not only to provide more info about the bird on the front but to tout the latest Singer products, too.

These collages continue the pairing of color and black & white images, usually of the same bird. In this case, chats. I combed my music bins and found a remarkable number of  bird songs. I tried to use music in each collage but when it came to the final two, well, you'll have to wait to and see.

The nitty gritty

Yes, I know it appears that life as a collage artist is all glamour. The openings. The Prosecco breaks. The fun & funky studio. But there comes a time when you have to get things in order. No, not the stash. The paperwork!

As you know by now, I write detailed descriptions of my collages in which I try to squeeze in as much as much about the paper and other materials used as will fit on a 4" x 2" label. Viewers like knowing the history. So do I. Even though there are times when I think the label may detract from the art itself, I feel compelled to write on. Well, for now.

So, for the past two days, I've been hunkered down at the computer organizing the labels into one big, alphabetical file. Yeah, it's the librarian in me. But it's also the frustrated artist trying to find a specific label among dozens of files.

I had been organizing them by exhibition and/or by month - the latter for Open Studios. Now, I'm happy to say, they're all in one, easy-to-search document. And, they're uniform in style, to boot. Ah. I feel so much better now!