Out On A Limb: 4

I didn't plan on creating more Out On A Limb collages, but I've learned that when it comes to making art, the word "plan" is fluid. So, as I dove into a slew of 5"x5" collages for this Friday's Mini Madness Open Studio - with guest artist Susan Mahan - I found myself creating another bird collage.

It's markedly different from the first three, because the bird and branch are not constructed from an array of papers. The bird here was snipped from a recycled publisher's catalog cover and the branch was cut from a photo of a glass sample in a glass catalog that I found in a trash can.  

The background's covered with a recycled piece of vellum imprinted with a pale brown flower pattern. The pattern mostly disappeared when the paper was glued down. Even so, it still added subtle color and texture - and made the pieces placed atop it really pop. I've been experimenting this week with translucent papers, so you'll be seeing more of them. 4.75" x 4.75" on archival mat board. (SOLD)

Read all about it!!

Photo: Kevin Wauligman, Source: Oct. 5th issue of CityBeat. 

Well, here's a peek inside my hyper-organized studio - as well as a peek at me - courtesy of the Cincinnati weekly City Beat. There's a profile of me in this week's issue that I thought I'd share. It reveals much more about me than you've read in this blog.

Part of that is my reluctance to talk about my cancer. The main reason for that is my unwillingness to let it define me. I have it but it is not who I am. Writer Kathy Schwartz was sensitive to that and although the story was bookended by mentions of cancer, the bulk of the piece was about my obsession with paper.

I was hesitant to read it but got over it - and was delighted by what other people said about my work. But I'd add one more thing to the piece if I could and it is this: I would not be here now and in such great shape if not for all the support these past two years from friends, family, acquaintances and even people I didn't know before this. To paraphrase: It takes a village to raise an artist.

Help solve the mystery of an electrifying story

Okay, so while rummaging around that Michigan antique shop last week, my husband found seven French cards about electricity. Normally, he wouldn't step foot in an antique shop, let alone look through its contents. But it was my birthday, so he was indulging me. These excited him, because he was sure I didn't have any like them - he was right - and he knows my affinity for mechanical/machine age images.

As you can see by the numbers, they are part of a large set. The thing is - there is no publisher on them and nothing else to identify them. They are bigger than cigarette cards, don't have the advertising of a standard trade card and, well, they have me flummoxed. I've been searching high and low and across the web to find out more about them. Can anyone at there solve the mystery???

The Grand Tour 16: Maude and Henrietta DiscoverThat a Teapot Is a Discreet Decanter for Chianti

Here's the last of the new collages for the Cincinnati Dreams Italy exhibit, which opens 6-8 p.m. Thursday with a progressive potluck reception that will move visitors through the four exhibit sites - and will continue 11 a.m.-5 p.m. during the next three weekends (Oct. 8-9, 15-16, 22-23).

The women are courtesy of Godey's Lady's Book, which featured numerous black-and-white fashion plates in addition to the larger, hand-colored ones. The "rug" beneath their feet might look familiar. It is recycled holiday wrapping paper designed by architect Michael Graves based on drawings he made in Tuscany. It was folded and tucked inside a Christmas card that I received from his office back in my reporting days. I used it before in The Grand Tour: 4 as part of the fabric of a Godey's traveling cloak.

5.5" x 8.5" with ink & watercolor on archival mat board. {SOLD}

The allure of the telegram

I was wandering around an antique shop housed in a former granary in Northwestern Michigan earlier this week and spotted these three unused holiday telegrams from 1950. They were 50 cents each, so I had to have them. They are such a vestige of the world BI (before internet).

I received just one telegram in my life but never forgot it. I was in 3rd grade and my beloved teacher, Mrs. Suplee, had been hospitalized most of the school year. I was beside myself with concern. So, I saved allowance money for months - as well as other money I earned - in order to send flowers to her hospital room.

Her response came via Western Union. First, there was a phone call; that was followed by the delivery of the paper telegram. It was exciting beyond words! To me, telegrams were the stuff of presidents, movie stars and other VIPs. Next time I am home, I am going to see if my dad still has that telegram stashed some place. I am betting he does.