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Time for a post.  I have been gone for a week.  I was down in Minneapolis for a long overdue visit to friends- saw art - ate great food and did major damage at an art supply store!  The visit was bittersweet for me.  I realized how much I miss these friends and yes the city too- the energy the art the diversity.  I had not been there for 3 years so I need to go more often.
This collage is one of the last ones- I think I have two left I have yet to share.  Like the others in the series, this is both digital and actual cut and paste.  William Was at a Crossroads is the title for this one.  Like the others, this one has great personal meaning for me and yet I think others can imagine their own storyline here.

Back to The Series

Yes another in this series that seems to be about longing and yearning and wistfulness.  I do seem to have these feelings a lot as the season changes to autumn.  As odd as this may sound I do love this time of year- we get beautiful color up here in the woods- some leaves are already changing.  This autumn is extra emotional as my partner and I will legally marry in October.  I didn't think I would be able to do this in my lifetime.
This collage like the others has a gelli print background.  The house is an altered photograph of mine from a ruin in North Dakota.  For some reason this has a feel of Christina's World- that iconic painting by Andrew Wyeth.  The title is: Justin Knew He Could Never Go Back.

Collage Class

I am taking an online collage class.  Randel Plowman is teaching this class- he has a fun blog: http://acollageaday.blogspot.com/  He also has a great book out: The Collage Workbook.
These are for my 2nd assignment.  we were to pick out images from magazines with a glossy surface.  The images are then coated on both sides with gloss medium- one side at a time and then when they are dry- the collage is composed on a water color paper substrate.  Then the surface is protected with wax paper- I used some old dry mount release paper I had- you then iron the protected surface and the heat fuses everything together.  The collage keeps the gloss surface- I tend to prefer a mat surface but this was fun and I think I may well do some more of these.
I thought I needed a break from posting the series I have been working on!

Free Fall

When I came across the image of this guy in one of the old Post magazines from the early 50s I think- I knew I had to do something with it.  Yes another Gelli print background and yes I did go crazy with my Gelli plate! The tower and the window are altered photographs of my own.  My Minnesota friends may recognize the tower from Duluth- it's the Enger Tower.  The title Free Fall seems to fit this.  Sometimes I feel like that.  That I am in a free fall when things seem to stack up.  So I either surrender to the fall or fight it- surrender can be really healing- I only do that when I know I have a safety net of support in place.  I am so very fortunate to have that.

Thank You Joni

The title of this collage is Facing The Dream's Malfunction. I knew I had heard that somewhere and sure enough- it's from a Joni Mitchell song-Song For Sharon. That came out in 1976 on the Hejira album and it was a real album then! Having the internet is amazing as I was able to find out what song of hers that was on in seconds!  So thank you Joni as I feel that line from that song really fits this. So many story possibilities in this one.  I think we all have had to face a dream's malfunction at some point in our lives.

Double Dare

I had fun playing off the background in this one.  A friend thought I had manipulated the Gelli print background in the computer but I didn't.  When I was doing the print I just over printed one on top of the other.  I do scan some of these as the original print was done on 12" x 18" paper so I had to scan it down to get a better size to work with. The title: Do I Dare came from a friend. The guy in the day-dreaming state seems to be thinking about what to do.  I do really like creating these stories.  So many possibilities- It reminds me when I was pondering retiring from teaching, wondering what it would be like.  Well having been retired for two years now- it's terrific.  I still teach workshops but these are of my own choosing.

Yearning

The title of this collage is Yearning.  The Gelli print background is one of my favorites.  I have to say I just love doing those prints.  It forces me to be open to not having control.  The element of surprise in this process makes it almost addictive.
We are heading into autumn here in Northern Minnesota.  This is my favorite season.  It's a complex feeling I have- the colors can be so beautiful and I have learned what the term heartbreakingly beautiful means.  Many emotions surface during this time of year for me at least- I reflect on what the summer was like- the beautiful colors make me appreciate the natural world and yet...there is that  feeling of loss as the leaves eventually begin to fall leaving the branches bare.
I find that the feeling of yearning rises during this time of year.  I use to mistake it for sadness but it is not that at all.

Not Going Back

This one is titled: Jared Knew He Could Never Move Back to the City.  For those that know me- this is very much about me.  My life changed  forever when we moved up north to a small community.  My partner and I lived in Minneapolis for 25 years- right in the city.  We are both from small Iowa towns so moving to the city was huge, exciting and so right for us at that time.  Now we live in the woods nine miles from town.  We gave up a lot coming here- a wonderful support system of friends- diversity- but there have been incredible experiences here.  Hiking for hours in the Chippewa National Forest and seeing not another person and hearing ravens talk back and forth.  Looking at the night sky without city light pollution- seeing the northern lights-amazing.  This early summer seeing thousands of lightening bugs flashing all over deep into the forest.  There are times when I am wistful about the move but for now I am very happy to be here.