tf collage

Analog collages for days 3-5 of the exercise I’m playing along with. While some follow prompts, I’m just using the practice to create paper collages on index cards as substrate, otherwise following internal directives. My aim: remain focus on word works, creating small scale studies to inform larger finished mixed media artworks for upcoming PDX show. Break apart language, put it back together, puzzle over it, start again …

Any faves? I’m thinking how to upscale the first, and there’s something in the third that captures lightness in a way I’d like explore more 🤔🩵✨

A simple paper collage, abstract and mostly composed geometric-ish scraps from midcentury magazines: “new|skewedhorizon”. In an art journal I’ve been doing warmup/cool down collage exercises. Roughly 8”x4”, with a solitary scrap that’s actually negative space from a photograph of my mother’s: darkness, but leaves impinging + creeping in at edges, nature always counterbalance to the dim mundanity everyday life. Onward, with heart, even when it’s hard; there’s always another vista to peer from, another horizon to reorient your perspective.

Days 1-2 for the Index Card a Day exercise that runs through June-July. As I settle new studio space, seems a good way to create at volume some small studies that could inform bigger work or unlock new ideas for mixed media collage. Keeping it rather informal, few expectations of myself or the collage art it yields, and going monochrome—B&W till the end of time, with some graphic disruptions every now and again. Oneard, friends (and consider playing along if you’ve felt stuck artistically; the only way out is through!).

“she tried to fade quietly”
4x6”
Index card 1 (magazines, wax pastel, ink, glue)

“what’s left after the smoke settles”
4x6”
Index card 2 (magazines, wax pastel, glue)

Welcome to June! Collage-O-Rama’s wrapping up, but one last look at some more mixed media collage work I had in the show—plus a bit of a merry prank. In the first slide, you’ll see pair of sculpted papier mache hands, holding bouquets of mixed media “flowers” using paper, wax, wire, beads, leather thong … this install, “one hand for holding on, one for letting go” is a testament to grief and the passing of time, the things we keep near to us and those we can let fly after a while, when it’s safer and easier. Created while undergoing hand therapy and navigating seasonal sadness at my mother’s loss, the piece incorporates materials from her estate, bits of the past I’m finally able to share or celebrate beyond myself.

But also…those weren’t the only hands I brought 😜 I referred to my art/ideaation as a bit of a chum bucket, and them somehow got dared to enter a piece by that name. I had some Home Depot buckets and a plethora of these smaller sculpted pieces—using paper and Neva’s handiwork from the .er.rip.art project worked on last year—and that was that 🤷🏻‍♀️ For a lark we put some “chumbuckets” on show, filled to bursting with these artsy hands, urged on by the group chat (lovingly known as the Bucket of Chums for a time). I believe some comrades helped themselves to a five-finger discount & these joyful oddities are out living their best new, weird lives while I…continue to try and rehab my joint issues and injuries 😂 lol, swipe on through and give ‘em a hand 😜👍🩵✨

“every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end” — a quick mixed media collage, 7”x10” on mixed media paper using magazine scraps, ink, and glue that I put together yesterday while settling in to my new art studio digs. Ch-ch-changes afoot, and trying to carve out new habits + art rituals that put me a bit more back in the world, a big aim w/ all this. The health is what it is, but time to take some things apart, put them back together new. And grateful to have a space in downtown PDX, the city that’s been backdrop most my life—I suspect this’ll show up in all kinds ways in my collage work, the awkward juxtaposition of past and present, future potential. Some snapshots of city life in all glory if ya swipe on through.

On to the weekend with art & heart, friends…. 🌸💕✨

“to see clearly through a fogged glass”
Mixed media collage, roughly 2”x3”
Dictionary & magazine scraps, graphite, ink, correction fluid, glue

Dealing w/ more fog usual; this unto breach. Life feel bit like this right now; collage work continues but may be quieter a while. Each day as it comes….🖤

A poppy little paper collage spread from one of my journals. Here we go again? Colorful shapes plucked from a scrap drawer (the collage artist’s fav secret stash), a vibrant new visual story…

The long weekend beckons. Some snapshots from this week, featuring anthotype experiments with turmeric & plants from my garden; a few early results/sun prints, in lovely yellows and rusty tones; the peace and quiet of nature, perfect Oregon spring vibes with lots of books keep me company; and hey whaddaya know, I’m so obsessed with paper and glue that I woke up with a dictionary scrap pasted to my cheek. Happy Friday, errbody.