Meanwhile

I am almost done with the first 10 pieces in this latest Mohawk Valley series. I have so far to go! At this point, I am ready to begin some work on the animations that will accompany these works. The Movies!! Eventually the animations will make their way to a hidef art film. I have been working on composing the footage piece by piece already and I have 4 DVD's --12 gig-- worth of clips to prove it. The animation projects that I have done before this were very spontaneous and driven by my thirst to learn the technology as I shared my ideas thru a project. This time, because of this past experience, I have a better handle on what I need to set up in the beginning (such as the size and dimensions of hi def imagery!)
I've been reading alot so I start this set of movies off on the right foot. Compression Decompression (Codecs) and bitrates and all kinds of crazy concepts are getting some scrutiny before I take these collage works to the next level. It's all so technical at this level.

Before the animations via computer can even begin, I will need to make some decision on the audio component. Sound! I have to have sound for this movie, especially since in my work style, the characters are strangely flat and unable to speak. I am conjuring up a very interesting collaboration with a musician friend of a friend of mine. More on this if it works out.
Another component --one which is new to me-- is the writing. I am writing poetry, prose, or maybe fairy tale stories that will compose the theme of the animation and also maybe be the lyrics for the songs that will be written. At this crossroad, I am going back and forth between 2 approaches. Words written in the present that represent my feelings and identification with the historical past. OR. Words written in the past, perhaps even in olde english, that redefine the past in our terms. I tend to lean with the first idea and even as I type this I am snarling at the second idea... It's hard to personify and identify with characters of the past --it's too much like history--probably cuz it IS history! (and i hated history in school. I pursue this type of knowledge on my own willingly now.) I know alot about how "I" feel and I was not living back then to truly own that experience.
Although these collage posts lately have been brief, there's been more thought and more effort than ever on my part to rise up to a new level of work. I am still doing watercolors to accompany me in this process. I am working harder than ever on my technical skills and trying to add more of them to each piece where possible.
I know this post is already long and wordy, but these notes are just as much for me as they are for you! Sometimes clarity is gained by working on these posts!
For awhile there, I was starting to feel like my collage work was simply head pasting...after a decade of cutting and pasting, and literally 1000's of collage works, I think I reached a saturation point and a rut in my creative procedure. You saw me drop off this year and for months I avoided collage work and embraced painting with full force. I found within myself the next challenge. For me at the juncture, this means leaning less on ephemera and more on Julie. In depicting these haunting homes and buildings of the valley, I am working to breathe as much life and emotion into the building as possible. NO leaning on people to carry the piece. The building is the focus, it's the soul of what this project is about. It's very hard to go thru boxes of ephemera and turn down practically every single piece. At this point, my collection seems outdated and inappropriate for what I am doing! I need textures and it is with these textures that I will paint my collage. It's the texture. NOT the picture. It's a crucial and drastic change for me, and I don't know where it leads. But I find myself exceedingly challenged at this point!! And I just love that.