Artist-Listing

I just posted the whole series of collages from a commission I did a couple of years ago for the Denver Seminary's library to a new (to me) artists' registry, Artist-Listing. There were 10 pieces, 20 x 20", that responded to the elements of creation: Sky/Air, Earth, Light, Water, and Animate Creation. I did two abstract pieces that related to each concept in a non-denominational way. "Sky 1," pictured here, is the first piece in the series that I finished. Anyway, if you click on the link above, you can see all of them.

Improvisation

I have had a couple of unfinished pieces hanging around the studio, 24 x 18", that were begun several years ago. Most of the background is composed of joss paper with metallic silver leaf or a gold ink/leaf combination. I have been adding elements to this one and it is now finished and titled, "Improvisation." This photo was taken with uneven lighting so that you could see some of the metallic quality of the joss paper -- it does show a bit in upper right. The metallic has a nice quality that changes the composition quite a bit as light moves across the piece and the metallic becomes more or less prominent. (The gray rectangles at the bottom of the piece are the same metallic pieces without benefit of reflection.) This one is going to be hard to photograph for my portfolio/website!

Rip vs Cut

In the ongoing studio overhaul, I am looking through older collage pieces and realizing that in the beginning of this exploration I often cut out the pieces of paper I used, as seen at left in one of my color studies. These days I almost always just rip papers to get the pieces I want. I think I am attracted to the more random rough edges. Once they are glued down, the papers seem to meld together more too. Maybe I have relaxed into this medium a bit? (Although I've always liked the very graphic nature of this piece...)

National Collage Society

I am a signature member of the National Collage Society, meaning that I have been juried into their Annual Show for at least three years. They also sponsors an open Small Works show of postcard-sized collages. Deadline to submit collages is April 18th. I plan to work on some ideas for that in the next few weeks. I have participated in this show for many years and was fortunate to see the show during the years it was on display at Lincoln Center in New York City. My piece, "Flirt," won an award in 2001. "Frame of Mind" (pictured here, 6 x 4") won an award in 2003 and "Perspective" won an award in 2004.