Found Keys

This collage is called Found Keys.  Like the others- this has a Gelli print background.  I took a great online class from Carla Sonheim a couple of months ago using the Gelli plate.  http://www.carlasonheim.com/intro-to-gelli-plate-printmaking/  That class was very good and I learned so much.  In undergrad I was a printmaking major so it was like coming home in a way.
The title for this was suggested by a dear friend.  This collage is especially personal and deep with meaning for me.  This is one of my favorites from this ongoing series.

The Series Continues

Well I am back at it.  Guess I had more to do with this imagery. This one is called Epiphany.  Like the others the background is another Gelli print.  Also it's a combination of digital and hand cut and paste like the others.  Over the last couple of days I have been working on three collages at the same time.  Sometimes I love to work that way as the collages seem to feed off each other.  When I get stuck with one I go to another and then back again.  We have been having a major heatwave here in the upper Midwest- so I am thankful for air conditioning!

Moving On

This is the last one for now in this series.  Eddie Knew He Needed to Move On is the title for this one.  Like the other three, this one has a Gelli print for the background. I have really had a great time with this series and look forward to more.  I have found a lot more imagery and have more Gelli plate backgrounds.  It will be a while before I make more as I have house guests right now.  My trusty X-acto knife got a workout in this one.  This one is a story begging to be told- I may have to do just that in my journal.

Late

Here is the third one in the series.  The title is: He Was Late Again.  I have to say I am having a great time with these.  My friend Sharon suggest I package these up to offer as story prompts.  What a fun idea.  I have one more in the series completed and then I got distracted and did a couple of vintage ones- I will be back to this series soon though.  Using such few elements (for me at least) makes for a fun composition challenge.  When I taught Foundations I (intro to 2D) at the university, I used collage to teach composition- it's great for learning balance- focal point- and really the rest of the elements and principles.

It's For You

This is number two in the new series.   The title is: He Said He Would Call. Like the previous one,
the background is a Gelli print.  The rest is a combination of digital and hand cut and paste.  I had great fun doing this one- I remember using a dial telephone like this one when I was little and it was a party line- for those that never experienced that- you shared the line with several others and when you picked up to call if someone was on- you could listen to their conversation!  There is a story to be told with this collage and I hope you come up with your own.

A New Series

I am very happy to say that the muse has decided to hang around for a while!  It's funny how sometimes I make collages that are stand-alones and now I seem to be on a roll with a new series. A friend gave me a box of Life, Look and Post magazines from the early 50s to the early 70s.  I have to say the ones from the 50s are my favorites- Thanks to a good friend I have a great title for this one, Tainted Love.  Thanks Tom. http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasoo/  The background is a mono-print done with a Gelli plate.  Part of this one is digital and part is good old X-acto cutting.

Art Making Pondering

The piece here is a digital collage I made for a book I recently did using a crown binding that my friend John Arbuckle showed me. http://artjuvenation.blogspot.com/ I do love to create these fantasy worlds.  The digital process can help do this but I find myself now feeling that these kinds of things are now leaving me a bit empty sometimes.  I have been feeling the need to go deeper and plan to do that in a journal I have just made.  I think it is good to step back from time to time to think about what I am doing and why am I doing it.  Do any of you take time to do that?  I do plan to continue to make some things like this digital collage as I think it's fun and I like doing it but I need to balance that with making some things more personally authentic and not really to share in the same way.  I realize that both are OK and I need to balance both kinds of art making.

Traveling Journal

This spread was done for my friend Brian. http://apaperbear.wordpress.com/  I found the very horizontal layout to be challenging. The background is citri-solv National Geographic pages.  The altered photograph pieces are from a shot I took at a lighthouse keepers quarters at a museum on the north shore of Lake Superior.  I was thinking how isolated I would feel if I was there by myself and this piece came from those thoughts. If you click on the image you will be able to see it better.