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.    

All dolled up

Women of a certain age will recognize the famous singing sisters above and know who is missing from the group. My friend Mary Lynn Tangi dropped by yesterday morning with envelopes full of paper dolls from the 1960s and, yes, their clothes.

There are skating outfits, hats, coats, evening gowns, costumes and even a wardrobe of men's clothes, though no male paper dolls. I'm having fun sorting through it all and thinking about what I'll do with them. One thing I know for sure, she'll be getting a collage out of it.  

Another view of Flora & Fauna

Cincinnati's CityBeat has weighed in with it's review of the Flora & Fauna exhibition now at Bromwell's - and, it's another rave. It also looks at it from a different angle than the previous reviews.

Wish I'd taken a BETTER photo of the shadow box above, Alice Had A Knack for Finding the Most Secluded Hiding Places, but there you are. Hmm. Maybe I'll head down to Bromwell's and try some new shots, the show is up 'til July 14.

Take-off: circle meets the square

Out On a Limb: The Music of the Birds (2012)

mixed-media collage: antique trade card (American Song Bird Series, No. 16, Meadowlark,
Singer Sewing  Machine Co., 1898), sheet music (The Music of the Birds, Oliver Ditson, 1898) 

and endpapers (Dante's Inferno: New Edition, circa 1885), vintage illustration (Audubon 

birds coloring book, circa 1930s), recycled book proofs and exhibition catalogs, ink, watercolor,

fluid chalk, acrylic sealer, and acrylic varnish. 6” x 6” on a hardwood panel. Price: $85.

(SOLD) 

Out On a Limb: Recorded Sound (2012)

mixed-media collage: antique engraving (Chatterbox magazine, 1874), trade card

(American Song Bird Series, No. 13, Brown Thrasher, Singer Sewing Machine Co., 1898), 

and record sleeves (Brunswick Records, Columbia Grafonola); ink, watercolor, 

acrylic sealer, and acrylic varnish. 6” x 6” on hardwood panel.

Price: $85

The bottom collage shows the big departure in how music is being incorporated into the newest collages I'm making for the Fifth Sreet Gallery. In the top one, it's via sheet music, as it was in the collage posted last week. But I wanted to break away from that and also from the vertical compositions I had gotten stuck in.

Well, there was a pile of antique record sleeves, which had been removed from LPs in the basement that we were ditching. After toying with framing one of the birds inside the round hole that showed the record's label, the idea was rejected. How could I cover up those beautiful Singer chromolithographs?! "No. No. No. No. No."

Well, I didn't say "never." The minute this ornate sleeve was put over the Brown Thrasher, I knew I was going for it. It was so visually striking and so different from the other pieces.

I don't say this often, but I love, love, love this one - and the other one that you will see tomorrow. Oh. That doesn't mean I don't like the dueling meadowlarks ... it's just fun to veer in a different direction.

Score at Covington's 4th Sunday Antiques Show

I woke up early this morning - well, 8:30 a.m. is early to me - drank some coffee, then, headed across the river to Covington's historic MainStrasse for its monthly antiques show. I hadn't been to any show in ages and since this one is small, I knew it would be manageable both in terms of my stamina and my pocketbook.

I usually don't find much here, but there's always that off chance. The vendors were fewer than I remember seeing in past years even though there was a decent crowd.

I was striking out until ... hitting a booth with boxes and boxes of paper. None of it organized. So the digging began. At this point, I look for specific things that will be used in collages. I've learned to become focused as my stash, er, archive - has grown. Too much stuff is crippling.

The digging paid off, first with a marvelous batch of 18 Arm & Hammer bird trade cards. Some are in awful shape, and that made them all the more appealing. After snapping up those tiny treasures, I spotted some Victorian flower scraps and oversized trade cards, multiple copies of a baking cookbooklet (not copyrighted!), a few cabinet card photographs of men (for a series I'm about to begin for a November exhibit) and other odds and ends.

So, it was well worth the time and I spent a mere $9. Score!