Dreamer

This collage, Dreamer is done on stretched canvas.   I did a whole series  some time ago on canvas.  I like being able to attach actual objects.  The photograph is an altered one- one from my collection of old family pictures.  The ruler piece is from one of those old rulers that fold all up.  I have a few of these from my partner's father.  We found them when we were going through things after he died. 
One of my favorite artists is Joseph Cornell.  For some reason this collage makes me think of him.  I think it is the color and the map and ruler.

Questions of Faith

This collage is titled:  Questions of Faith.  Even though I did this quite a while back it is a good image for what I have been thinking about of late.  The faith card is being played out in this election in some very hurtful ways.  Here in Minnesota there will be an amendment to the state constitution to vote on- if it passes it will forever ban same sex marriage.  We can't get married now here but "they" want to make sure we never can- The Faith comes into play here- there are many churches that are working hard to pass it and I am happy to say there are many churches that are working with us to defeat the amendment.  Then I can go on and say questions of faith in our humanity- can the hate stop?  I strive to be  "the glass is half full" kind of person but the tone in the country and the world for that matter makes that a real challenge.  I still think goodness and love will win out once again- just want to have faith it will be sooner than later.
All the photographic imagery in the collage is my own that I altered and the rest is ephemera from my collection.

Lost & Found

This collage is titled Lost Direction.  It was done over a year ago and was very cathartic for me.  I had recently retired from teaching and was dealing with a bout of depression.  I have to say there is a big difference between having the blues and depression.  I am pleased to say I am feeling much better and retirement is incredible.  The lost direction feeling is fading as well.  After teaching for 36 years one may think it would be easy to be done but it wasn't easy for me.  I was use to being in that giving environment- I was tired and knew it was time but didn't realize the transition would be as hard as it was.  There is that feeling of guilt- I should be doing something...  I will forever be the teacher and am excited to have a space in our home where I can teach small workshops.
So I have made a new map for my new life that has lots of unknown territories to be explored.

Courage

This digital collage is titled Courage.   I made it after reading the quote.  Just in case you aren't aware of this- you can click on the collage and it will enlarge so you can see it better- that is of course if I saved it right.  I think we all deal with courage issues- it's hard to have courage to speak the truth sometimes- especially to people you love as we don't want to hurt them.  I have learned though that not telling them the truth isn't a good choice.  It takes courage to put your art "out there". It also takes courage to keep on making art after a rejection letter for an exhibit.  Seth Apter on his blog The Altered Page (see my side-bar) asked some artists if they were ever jealous of other artists' work- it sure took courage for sharing their honest replies.

Alice

This is a cut and paste collage.  I like to work with old family photographs and alter them.  All of these elements were cut out and then I put them together in this composition.  This came about because one month my ATC group had Alice in Wonderland as a theme.  So I made this collage and then I reduced it down to ATC size.  The words are from Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit song.  Guess that really dates me but I still love hearing Grace Slick sing that.

Stitched

This is a digital collage that I made after reading this quote from Augustan.  He wrote Running With Scissors. And as is often the case- I feel the book was way better than the movie.  The quote above is really a nice way to look at things.  We all have flaws but most (not all) people have good intentions.  I love collecting quotes and they often are the inspiration for a collage or a journal page.

Friends

This is a digital collage I made a while ago.  I really liked the quote about friends.  I find that the meaning of being and having a friend is so different for some.  When I see people on Facebook with hundreds and hundreds of friends- or have hundreds of followers on Twitter (I don't Tweet) I wonder what that really means to them- it almost seems like it's a competition.  I guess I am old school- to have a friendship means to me- a real commitment and a bond on many levels.  It is a sharing of interests beliefs- being there for one another.  My friends are so important to me.  I am very blessed to have some very special friends.  Why not take some time today and tell your friends what they mean to you!

Worry

This is another older journal page.  Sometimes I can get myself into a place of constant worry- all the big "what- ifs"  What if my art isn't good enough?  What if no one likes my art?  What if my partner's cancer comes back?  I am happy to say making this page felt great and I do still have times of worry but not as intense and I am able to move on.  Big lessons in life- learning to let go. I am way better now at doing and making art for me- for the joy of doing it- for discovery.  I do believe that art can change a person's life.

Masks

This is a collage I did for this quote I love from Oscar Wilde.  The images are ones I have found and altered.  I think this quote is so true.  It works in other ways as well-  There's a movie we recently watched again Dummy- the central character played by Adrian Brody uses a dummy to speak to others through.  I have also experienced this truth thing when I have made puppets with elementary age kids- it was amazing to see these "tough" boys totally act differently while operating their puppets.  I also think we all have different masks we put on- one for family...one for dealing with conflict... maybe one for the work place.   I guess it's a coping thing.  I love my friends- with them I can just be myself-no mask needed.

Imagine

This is a journal page I did some time ago but it really fits for my thoughts of late.  This election race has been so intense and what is missing is people telling the truth.   I think it is interesting to go back an look at past journal pages.  Often after I finish a journal it goes in the cupboard and that's it but I have been looking through some of them again.  I have been looking through these partly because I am going to be teaching an Intro to Visual Journaling Class in November.

Last One of The Transfer Collages

This is the last one in the series for now- I have some others in various states of completion so there may be more later. This one is titled:  Dark Forest Moon. I have enjoyed doing these.  They are smaller than my usual work- they are around 4 1/2" x 5".  I find that my most successful work happens when I get out of the way- I get into trouble when I over think a piece.  I love it when the muse if you will or my art intuition takes over and things just come together.  I feel my work has a narrative feel- these are like little stories left up to the viewer to decide what happens.

Credit Due

Yes- another transfer collage.  This time I want to credit some of my sources for imagery.  The transfer background is a photo of mine- I set up dollhouse furniture in the garden and did a photo shoot.  This dollhouse chair is on a hosta leaf.  Marsha Jorgenson is a wonderful California artist and has collage clip art under her business name TumbleFish Studio.  You can click on her blog link on my blog list (that I finally figured out how to do)  Some of the other imagery is from other artists found on the Deviant Scrap site.  This collage above is titled 98 Cent Life.

Another Collage

This is another collage in the transfer series.  The title is Still Running with Scissors.  The transfer background is a photograph of mine of a dollhouse interior.  I constructed that dollhouse many years ago to use as a set for photographing.  I think I want to do some more of that- I will add that to the already long To Do List! We woke this morning to the trees frosted in white wet snow- beautiful but early October is a bit much!