Out On a Limb: 10

I often sets rules for myself when making pieces, well, let's call them parameters - sounds less dictatorial! In any case, when I began this new series within the Out A Limb series, the idea was to combine color and black-and-white images of birds. Then, I found this image in my stash.

The two birds are actually connected to one another, and try as I might to add another, full-color, bird, it didn't work. I could've separated the birds for more flexibility in positioning them, but liked them as they were. So, I tossed out my parameters.

The background looks hand painted, doesn't it? It's not. The "finger-painted" section on the bottom is from a recycled children's book proof, as is the feathered cloud sky at the top. 5 "x 5" on claybord/hardwood panel. [SOLD]

Out on A Limb: 6

Another of those Victorian scraps paired with a black & white image, which is from one of the Dover image books from the early 1970s. The piece at the bottom is hand-made paper that was used as wrapping paper and was a last-minute add - thanks to a suggestion from my daughter. It did need something to ground it. And, yes, it will be in the Redtree exhibit that opens Friday. 5" x 5" on claybord & hardwood base, ready to hang. [SOLD]

Out On A Limb: 9

In the last post about the new pieces in this series, I mentioned that it started with the idea to combine antique black-and-white images of birds with color ones. Well, that impulse came from the vibrant Victorian scrap shown here. It's part of the trove of Victoriana that my friend Shirley Tenhover keeps surprising me with. Just received a new box of goodies from her, but more about that another time. I left the number tag on the scrap, because it reminded me of the tagging of animals by scientists. Like the earlier piece, this will be in the Redtree show that opens Friday. 5" x 5" on claybord/hardwood panel, ready to hang [SOLD]

Hope you stop by, because bidding ends tonight at 8:30

Out on A Limb: 5

Way back, that is in March, I posted the first of the Out On A Limb series. I mentioned - well, maybe whined a bit - that I didn't particularly like making the pieces. At that time, as you will see here, I was creating the birds and limbs from various bits of paper. I used vintage bird images to make stencils, then, cut the parts. Once the initial construction was finished, I did enjoy adding to it but getting there was tedious. To me, it's like cooking - I once was a chef and went to chef's school in Philly - in that the prep work isn't necessarily the fun part. I feel the same way about sewing, hate cutting out the pattern but love embellishing the final product!

Well, as time has passed, I've returned to the series. But it has evolved into something I now enjoy making much more. I just completed six pieces in which I decided to combine color images of birds with black-and-white ones. For this one, I used a vintage page from a 1930s Audubon bird coloring book - the same book from which I had made the stencils - as the background, pairing it with a color image of a cardinal from one of the beautiful American Singer song bird trade cards published in the early 20th century.

Each piece is on a 5" x 5" x 3/4" Ampersand claybord panel. Normally, I don't hawk products, but I just bought a slew of these in a variety of sizes and love working with them. Unlike the boxy, wrapped stretched canvas, there is no give-and-take on the surface, so the papers glue down flat, flat, flat! I varnished the sides, which are made of hardwood, and attached sawtooth hangers to the backs so that the pieces can be hung without framing. I just learned that the entire series will be on view in Redtree Gallery's "A Small Glimpse" show, which opens Nov. 11. {The cardinal is SOLD}

Mind Games: a new series accepted for Redtree exhibit

I just finished a series of six collages, Mind Games, that began life as a book. Let's back up. I attended a book workshop last summer and came prepared with scads of brain and phrenology images. My intention was to create a book titled Mind Games. I am obsessed with phrenology and hope to create more works around the science - pseudo-science? - of categorizing the brain.

Well, as generally happens when I take a workshop, everyone else finished while I was still mulling over designs. I did manage to cover the book boards, paste some medical text down as backgrounds, and clip images to the pages I intended to use them on.

After that, the book languished. Well, I pulled it out a few weeks ago and decided to turn it into a series of freestanding collages - each 4" x 8" - for entry in the exhibit Mind & Matter at Redtree Art Gallery here in Cincinnati. I learned today that all six were accepted for the show, which opens Friday (June 10). Woo hoo.