Out On A Limb: 24

© Out on A Limb: 24 (2012)
mixed-media collage: recycled wallpaper sample & publishers catalog;
vintage John J. Audubon calendar illustration (1990); ink; chalk; acrylic sealer;
acrylic varnish. 6" x 6" on birch panel. $85 (SOLD) 

Hmmm. It may be time to stop numbering these and write real titles. In any case, it looks like the series will go on for some time. I am enjoying making these and coming up with new versions of the black & white/color bird combo.

As usual, this changed a few times - mainly the birds behind the cage. What I really like about it - beyond the striking color combination - are the three layers of birds and how they echo one another.

The Grand Tour: high-wire shenanigans

©The Grand Tour: Marie, Honore and Lily Were Ignored by Their Travelmates
But the Venetians Were Enthralled (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique illustrations (The Delineator, Dec. 1895, Sept. 1903, Oct. 1904)
and engineering engraving; vintage illustration (Picture Sourcebook, Dover, 1978);
recycled greeting card, book endpaper, circus exhibition poster and catalog;
 watercolor; ink. 11.5" x 8.5" on archival mat board.  Framed with conservation glass.
(Sold)

I knew from the outset that one of the new The Grand Tour collages would have at least one woman walking a high wire - just not who or where. Well, Venice's St. Mark's Square seemed a natural. After all, no Grand Tour could be called complete without a stop in Venice.

The original illustration included the sky, the plaza floor and more people. I cut those out, saved the tiny people to cut out and reinsert later, replaced the sky with an engineering engraving and the plaza with end papers fittingly decorated with lions - Venice's mascot.

The hoops - recycled from a pop-up, greeting card I received - came into play after scouring my stash for a sun or something astronomical to place in the sky. I liked that the blue hoops were decorated with stars and that the golden one's measurements complement the engineering engraving. The hoops also draw attention to the trio, who are close in size to the figures in the foreground who are so pointedly ignoring them.

Out On A Limb: 19

© Out On A Limb: 19 (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique and vintage illustrations
(The Chatterbox, 1899; Audubon calendar, 1990); recycled
glass catalog; chalk; watercolor; ink; acrylic sealer, acrylic varnish.
 6" x 6" on claybord/hardwood panel. Price: $75. (SOLD)

I noted earlier that I've begun making slightly larger Out On A Limb collages - 6"x6" vs. 5"x5" - which doesn't sound like much of a change, but it's amazing what difference an inch all around can make.

This is one of eight finished recently for my show, Expecting To Fly, at Cincinnati's 5th Street Gallery. I opted to include them - along with five new 5"x5"s - because there is a sense of anticipation in the series, as though the birds might take wing at any moment.

These are the first owls in the series. The pair in back were accompanied by a poem that began "Laugh not at our grimaces, Nor call us dull and odd, But come and watch us sailing, When the dew is on the sod." The swirling, colorful barn beams they're resting on are from a glass catalog retrieved from a recycling bin in the glass school adjacent to my studio. I was wowed by the variety of glass and its collage potential.

The big bad - really bad - wolf

While hunting for collage images and thumbing through a bound volume of The Chatterbox the other night, I came across this riveting illustration from the March 1879 issue. It's an original work for the magazine by Gustave Dore - the 19th century master of the dramatic, literary illustration - and puts to rest any notion that today's children's books are scarier than ever.

Just look at that wolf - the sharp claws above the covers; the focused, evil gaze - you can almost feel his hot breath. And poor little Red - plump and wide-eyed, you know that if this was a video, she'd be trembling in fear and if it was a color print, she'd be rosy-cheeked.

It's a tribute to Dore's skill that so much can be read into a black & white engraving - and how timeless the image is.

The Grand Tour travels to new heights

© The Grand Tour: The Davenport Sisters Were Perfectly
Capable of Putting Themselves on A Pedestal (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique, hand-painted fashion plate (Godey's Lady's Book);
 vintage map (1957 U.S. Geological Survey);  recycled note card & book proof;
 ink, watercolor, colored pencil.  8.5" x 10.5" on archival mat board.
Framed with conservation glass. Price: $185.

I need to rush off but wanted to post this, because it's probably my favorite collage from the new ones in  the "The Grand Tour" series. And, yes, it will be in the show that opens Friday night (March 9) at 5th Street Gallery - actually, the show's already hung. So, if you happen to be in downtown Cincinnati, pop in. More later ...