Appropriation and Richard Prince

Work by Richard Prince—in the Canal Zone exhibit

Who is Richard Prince:
from wiki:
Richard Prince (born 1949 in the Panama Canal Zone) is an American painter and photographer. Prince began appropriation photographs in 1975...
Re-photography uses appropriation as its own focus: artists pull from the works of others and the worlds they depict to create their own work.


He's been in the news lately....he got sued for his appropriation of photographs, specifically, images from Patrick Cariou, a photographer who is author of  the book “Yes Rasta". I always watch with keen interest when I see collagists brought to court. If you have followed this blog, you have heard of my exploits with copyright issues, and how recently I purged more than 50% of my ephemera collection in order to push myself to create more of my own pieces for collage work.
Sadly, Richard lost the case. I am not aware of the specific details of this case, so I cannot comment on this outcome. It is interesting to note, however, that the judge not only found Richard Prince guilty, he also found the gallery that represents him (Gagosian!) guilty too! This is a HUGE blow to collage art and appropriation in general.
Step lightly, my friends!
I suppose, if your work isn't selling in the 6 figure range, most likely no one will be suing or bothering you. Once you reach that threshold....and it becomes more about the money....it appears as though the courts do not easily rule in your favor. How many times have you taken a photo from any other source but your own and embellished it?
Again, since I don't know of the nitty gritty details of this case, I can't make much of a judgement. But as a full time collagist, I still find this all so very disturbing. 


To flip the coin:
Really. How hard would it have been for Mr. Prince to go and get his own Rasta photos?  He has the money to do so. Or he could even search (Flickr) Creative Commons for other pix to use. I feel this man could have avoided the whole problem by taking his own pix.  Go figure!


Article in the New York Times about the case is here.
More about Richard Prince can be found on wiki here.
And finally, a link about the very exhibition causing the problems for Mr. Prince is here.

Work by Richard Prince—in the Canal Zone exhibit

Finished! Back to my own stuff!

The wedding projects are finished. I ended up creating 12 different heart collages which when printed became the table cards. The originals I bound in the book for her and honestly, it's the best binding work I have ever done. Indeed this is appropriate, since it's for my daughter! I can't wait to see the look on her face this weekend at the shower. A trip to North Carolina is in order and I will be out of town for a week enjoying southern spring weather while snow continues to pile up in my yard!
This past week I finished up a piece for Steven (which i will be telling more about in a future post), in addition to doing a piece for Melissa McCobb Hubbell and 6 pages in an altered book round robin for Laura Lein-Svencner. It's been a crazy busy week!!

My stuff on the wall in downtown Canajoharie

So when I got the go ahead to hang my artwork downtown at the Elephant Bistro, it pushed me over the top! The elephant bistro is a new place to eat in Canajoharie. It's got really great food and a super nice ambience I just adore. The ladies that run it are very personable and from the first time I went there I felt I was with friends. I have more pieces to hang for them, but this will have to wait until I get back home. Time for some R & R!

Invasion series

Steve Specht here...
This one is entitled "No, I haven't heard about any invasion" (8" x 10"). I am having fun with the "Invasion series" so far. The title of my upcoming solo exhibit at Arkell Museum in Canajoharie (June 3-July 29) I think will be entitled "Invasions and other fantasies". I'm really looking forward to seeing the piece hanging together. BTW, it wasn't intentional that my last two pieces have had a similar color scheme, but I certainly like the scheme. Enjoy!

"Elegant Finestra" (8" x 8")

Not much to say about this one at this point. Just thought I'd share. I'm hoping to finish a couple this week. Enjoy!

Opportunities?

Steven Specht here...
I hate to bump Fred's work (SEE BELOW!), but thought some of you might be interested in the following:
A couple of things for folks to consider.
The Rochester Contemporary Arts Center is conducting one of their interesting fund-raisers again this year in June. It's called the 6x6x2011. Artists can submit a 6" x 6" piece of artwork (any medium) which becomes part of a 5000 piece exhibit (yes, 5 thousand!). Each of the pieces is priced at $20 to benefit the Center. It's interesting to see the diversity of artwork. The down-side is that your name does not get posted with your piece. It is only revealed to the buyer (so the name exposure is virtually non-existent). BUT, I think it's a worthwhile cause. I think I am going to do it again this year and attend the opening reception on June 4th. Should be fun. Check out the website at: www.rochestercontemporary.org/ You can see a cool video from last year's 6 x 6 event at this site too. Deadline for submission is May 1, 2011.
The Old Forge Arts Center is sponsoring an exhibition with the theme "H2O". They are accepting artwork and written work for this show. The show runs from March 26-May 7th with opening reception on March 26th. The deadline for submissions is March 7th. Check out this site for more details: www.artscenteroldforge.org/exhibitions.cfm?newsitem_id=23&action=view
Enjoy!

p.s. Also, way further on down the road. Jonathan Talbot will be conducting one of his wonderful workshops at Utica College during the weekend of April 21-22, 2012 in conjunction with a collage exhibit at Utica College of which Julie will be a part! More details to follow (you'll be able to enroll through Jonathan's website soon).

Fred Tomaselli

Discovery of the day:
Fred Tomaselli
I found these beautiful works through Look into my Owl. What fascinating and in depth pieces this man creates! To quote wiki:
"Tomaselli's paintings include medicinal herbs, prescription pills and hallucinogenic plants alongside images cut from books and magazines: flowers, birds, butterflies, arms, legs and noses, which are combined into dazzling patterns that spread over the surface of the painting like a beautiful virus or growth."
Fantasic pieces that feed my imagination, works that take awhile to absorb!  He coats the finished product with resin, and I can't think of anything more glorious visually than looking thru the depth of resin at these primordial images.

Fred Tomaselli (American, b. 1956). Big Raven, 2008. Acrylic, photocollage, and resin on wood panel, 84 x 72 in. (213.4 x 182.9 cm). Private collection, courtesy of the artist, White Cube, London, and James Cohan Gallery, New York

Fred Tomaselli (American, b. 1956). Desert Bloom, 2000. Photocollage, acrylic, and resin on wood panel, 60 x 60 in. (152.4 x 152.4 cm). Collection of Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg

My love of anything organic prompts me to look further. I go to the Brooklyn Museum site and find this wondrous piece that puts me in a swoon and inspires my sad and lonely collage muse. What a celestial masterpiece. I am an instant fan. Can't believe I haven't seen his work before.
More on him here:
Brooklyn Museum
James Cohan Gallery
wiki

"I was thinking of something different"

Steve Specht here...
Here's a piece I did a couple years ago, before I learned Jonathan Talbot's technique. I "refurbished" it and re-matted and framed it (mat and frame not shown here). It's 8" x 10". Enjoy!

Lapel pins

Steve Specht here...
During one of my evening travels through collage-land, I happened to do a little mini-collage with some scraps. After some exploration and experimentation, I thought these might make nice collage lapel pins. Still need to work on some of the details, but I kinda like these. I gave one to MC for Valenine's Day. Enjoy!

Primordial collage

Steve Specht here...
This exhibit looks like a great opportunity to see some of the earliest collages of Picasso and probably some of the initial collages that gave "fine art" credibility to the medium. Check out the story at the New York Times site.
"Picasso: Guitars 1912-1914" is on view from Sunday to June 6 at the Museum of Modern Art
I can't wait to see it!!!

i am a collage assembly line

I am working on a project for my daughter. She is getting married in May and her shower is in March down in Wilmington, NC. I volunteered to make centerpieces for the shower and this has had me collaging my brains out.
The theme for the wedding decor is black and white. She has used music motifs in her invitations (which I also designed for her...) and I wanted to include these ideas in my project.

saturday

I made 12 collages so far, 8 x 7 in size. They will be scanned and printed. Then I will create table cards out of the prints.
The originals? I plan to bind them in a book that i will present to her at the shower.

It's meant a whole lot of crazy collaging and with this theme, I can relax and not worry so much about composition. It's been fun. But I feel like an assembly line!

to you

1-1
Originally uploaded by misphit

Sending you love on wings.

Anthony? Johnny? or no name?

Steve Specht here...
It's been a while since I posted a new piece. Here's one that I finished this weekend. I need to mount it and frame it though. But I'm having a bit of a problem with a 'name'. The title of the piece will be either "One Day Johnny... One Day" or "One Day Anthony... One Day" or "One Day Son... One Day". Does it make a difference if I assign a name to the individual in the vintage photo used in this piece? Hmmm... Any thoughts? And... should I care what others think? In general? Interesting questions methinks. Regardless... Enjoy!

A message from Alexis Anne

Dear Friends,

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying the new year. 

This Saturday at Swarm Gallery in Oakland is the opening reception for Bloom & Gloom, a duo exhibition with my friend Katy Horan and myself. The works I’ve created for this show are all non-figurative, a side of my work that I have always loved personally, but have not exhibited much. 

Other news: studio visits from just last weekend have been posted on Juxtapoz and The Flop Box... Follow those links to check them out. And, on January 30th, keep your eyes peeled for an illustration I made for the New York Times Sunday Magazine On Language column, utilizing football players, of all things. 

Below is the press release for Bloom & Gloom, and a couple images of my new work for the show; hope to see you Saturday!

Best,

Alexis

“Milk Grass”, collage on vintage paper, 14 ½ x 12 in.

alexisanne.com

Sachem

Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row got promoted to collage today. I really was thinking about ways to float his face on top of script. I came up with all these various techniques, but each of them had faults. I ended up printing my own ink drawing on the paper and then working the collage. His face is so busy already with the tattoo, I didn't really feel the need to add too much embellishment.

Sachem

Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row

The next thing I need is 2 fine Mohawk Indians. I need them to be somewhat true to what a native American actually looked like. I researched and found information about this fine warrior and Iroquois Sachem. They had fantastic face tattoos and I think I will use these patterns in my upcoming work on this particular vid.

Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row

Here is his companion, Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow, the grandfather of Joseph Brant who is quite a figure in our local history. These 2 prototypes will now go from drawings to collage.

Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow

Music to my ears

Anthony has completed the music for my first hidef video project. I am so excited about this and I will try to express it! It's a bizarre thing to have a vision that you make visual by creating an artwork. It's another bizarre thing to have a concept, and have someone else complete your concept in another medium. There is such an inner exhilaration that I feel as I listen to the music that was composed for me for my situation on this occasion.

It's like magic. When the things that spawn in our minds become real. The power of it!!! It's like a rush, like a drug, like endorphin execution overload.

It's like a game of toss. I had the ball and passed it to him. He took it for the play, and sent it back at me.

Go listen here and share this excitement with me!

The next part is the video. Finally the moment i have been waiting for! It's this actual moment in a project that I love the most. It's when something has already taken hold, and you are already into it deep enough that you can't turn back. It's when you can't think about anything else but finishing it, or going back there, into the magical part of your own brain where these things live...even in your sleep. It's when the tingling excitement of your accomplishment is felt in your pores and in your organs and you feel it leaving you in it's own birthing. It's when it is happening that I love creation the most.

Gotta go. You know where. Back there....
I'll be back soon.

The clearinghouse dilemma and Jeff Koons

clearing out the house
A couple of posts ago I brainstormed here on the various aspects of distributing my work.
I still am hammering this in my mind, and I have yet to come to any kind of reasonable conclusion.

I posted about 14 items on etsy last weekend. I found that less than satisfactory! Somehow, just listing stuff up there and hoping someone finds it among thousands of other craftwerks seems silly. I am not into posting favorites, and tooling around in forums, or buying online real estate so my things can be seen. I just hate this mode. It's like art pimping. And besides, I would rather be making that talking about what I have already made.
It's such a battle to find the time to devote to marketing. I am thinking about setting up some kind of loose schedule for myself and trying to follow it. Maybe this will help me achieve those pesky marketing-type goals I hate to deal with. I don't have the time to ponder this too long, I would much rather be creating, as as evidenced by my recent posts showing i am back to work on the table again.

I started a facebook page for myself. Now that was a leap! I always think of these pages as pretentious and arrogant. However, I am hoping to populate the page with scans of art that I am disseminating, upcoming shows, etc. Maybe this way I can steer folks to these artworks I want to distribute.
???
It's such a crap shoot!

of course, the clearinghouse needs to sport a pic of the infamous dog balloon

Copyright remains a hot topic in art news and I always read articles pertaining to this subject. Meanwhile, speaking of copyright....we have the Jeff Koons debacle. Apparently he seems all balloon dogs and images of such belong to him. Read about it here or here or here....

Nitefall

Looking across the snow drifted fields I saw nitefall. 

A star studded vaulted sky slowly came into focus while sapphire stars fell to the ground.

This began as a quick super loose watercolor. I really didn't like how it turned out painting-wise, since I did it in a rush, without waiting for layers to dry. It sat overnight.

The next day, I spend time painting the tree branches. These are tedious little devils and to make them at all believable, I really have to be in the zone. It sat overnight.

The next day, much to my chagrin, I paste a huge gold foil star in the upper left corner. Horrors! I ruined all the goodness of this piece in one motion. The glue sticks to watercolor, unlike acrylics, and actually will remove paint and alter the colors so removing the star after I cursed at it for an hour left a huge scar in the prominent sky. It sat overnight, but it bothered me all night.

The next day, I find the perfect piece of swirling cardboard (it escaped the recent big destash even tho I have had it for years) which becomes my descending sky. Problem solved! It sits finished. And it no longer bothers me.

great site about Joseph Cornell

Roaming the web this morning, I found a super nice site about that artist we all know and love, Joseph Cornell. There's such a soft spot for him in my heart. I went to a surrealism show at the Met a few years ago and got to see some of his work up close and personal. It's fab stuff!
This site has some really cool videos that show Cornell's work in motion. I loved this, since at exhibits, you sure can't touch anything.

Cassiopeia 1 - Joseph Cornell

the halfway point

looking towards home
Originally uploaded by misphit

This was the halfway point, prior to all the collage stuff.

She pulled the wind from the sky and birthed a forest

The sky was pale and ominous and the sun tried to penetrate. She pulled the wind from the sky and began to birth a forest.

I told myself I could do whatever I wanted on this canvas, since I just did 2 really tedious pieces. The watercolor was done from memory of a scene behind where I work. I have in mind to build up off the paper and try to make the objects appear to come out at you. In this case it's quite literal, as the netting reaches up off the paper and closer to the viewer.

Highly recommended!

Steven Specht here...
I forward here a message that I received from Jonathan Talbot regarding his up-coming workshops. I attended two of these workshops and they were AWESOME! These will be held in his studio in Warwick, NY (in the Catskill region of New York State):

"Four workshop opportunities have just been posted on my website at www.talbot1.com/workshop. Two are collage-focused, one is about image transfer, and one allows each participant to select the medium of his or her choice.

At www.talbot1.com/workshop you will find additional information, links to comments of and works by past workshop participants, and links to both online and mail-in registration forms. You can also call me at 845-258-4620 for answers to your questions or to register by phone.

I hope one of these workshops will fit your schedule.

Cordially,

Jonathan Talbot"

The wings this all that is

It's difficult to see in this scan, but the buildings protrude from the paper. Such a strange color combination in this one. The pink is purposeful, due to the subject nature of the upcoming video work.

Building UP!!

Obsessively I finished up this piece.
For today it's finished, anyhow. I have some doubts about a section of it which I may change, but I figured I would share my thoughts. I need to rest on it and then make decisions.

She hitched a silver sled to the sky

This was a difficult piece for me since I can't find anything in my studio! I was forcing myself to keep it as much "mine" as possible so even my regular ephemera pathways are closed. After sticking that vintage ribbon in the tree, I wanted the girl to appear even closer to you. And the idea of building up off the paper took root.

First the background trees were embroidered with silver thread. The was an excellent effect. I will use it again...It's a bit tedious! Since I felt like I was painting texture in with thread, I kept having to go back over and over to perfect it. 

The girl and sled were next. I really struggled with her. I did about 6 heads on a separate piece of paper with watercolor and then chose the best of the crowd. I have an aversion to doing faces, so even getting one I could use felt like an achievement. I tried blowing her up on a couple of laser prints because I wanted a glossy texture on her, to contrast nicely with the matte watercolor paper in the background. But it looked weird and I ended up going with the original. Scary! I had to touch her up on the white cut edges so she actually stood out from the background more, and I held my breath like I did when I played the flute in school. Damn, it was not the time for an ink blob!

Struggling all the way, like a beginner-clutzy and yet somewhat liberated. I built her body with vintage lace scrap and greeting card foils. I have a love for garter belts and I have wanted to use these little groovy pieces of hardware again. It sure looked like sled hardware to me.

Next, the tree in the background grew some irridescent sequins hanging like large winter ice globes and shining just the right kind of color scheme I was looking for. Karmic collage.  Cool.

I attached a piece of corrugated cardboard to the back of her upper body/head.. This makes her appear to stand out from the paper. The scan is lame for showing this strange effect and the shadow that occurs as you look at this piece from an angle. Sweet.

The part I am not too sure about are the 4 wires that lead from the garter to the tree....I am not sure if you get the idea that she is harnessing energy upwards....It almost looks like she hitched some balloons. I can remove these wires. I thought about having her sled driven by a rusty fox. ...I am trying to force myself to stick to my original mental idea rather than changing my idea for the sake of the art. But that part disturbs me. I may have to ....????
This piece was challenging as hell since I am out of my comfort zone. And rusty to boot!

This piece also feels critical for me. When constrained with less to work with, I chose to build up off the paper. I am loving the idea. I am infatuated with it. The natural progression is for me to do some of my Mohawk valley pieces in this 3d fashion. It seems ideal for buildings to build UP out of the paper, like a popup.
Pressing on in my silver sled....

Jimmy Descant: Severe Re-Constructivist

Vato and Jimm, Denver

I have been looking around the web this morning at some collagists work that I  have not reviewed in awhile. Currently, I am enthralled with the fantastic Tony Fitzpatrick's blog. He has such a lively color palette! His work is so graphic. I love it. The stories he spins on his blog has got me thinking and exploring. I took a look at his link list and found some new artists that I have not heard of. Such as Jimmy Descant. What fab stuff!!!

This work of Jimmy Descant >>...who now lives and creates in Colorado but hes "ALWAYS a New Orleanian.">>is just outstanding. He uses such a crazy myriad of objects and I am so inspired by that. It's collage on steroids!!!
Such Superb work. Extremely detailed and eccentric. Rural. Raw. Beautiful. Inspiring.

Jah, Hepmysef, Hepmemuch (Sioux)

 

The idea of an Indian headress made of irons just kicks me. I love this piece. I love it. Very Much. It's a good inspiration for my Mohawk Valley project which has some (mohawk) indian attitude to it.
I just adore his masculine handling of metals. So industrial.
I was loving his artwork and then I read his bio. Now I LOVE his work.
His philosophy speaks to me:
"My work contains nor depicts any form of guns, bullets, or bombs. They are for the peaceful exploration of time, space, ideas, and cultures."
 What a terrific mantra. Imagine the beautiful world that would result should we all follow it.

Deluxe Rocketship: the color usage in this piece is just plain enviable. And it lights up!!! swoon.

In progress....

watercolor: plain

first round of collage: added stencil and vintage ribbon, branches

This work is in S L O W progress. I did the watercolor last week. I am slowly doing a collage. In this piece, I am building up off of the paper and trying to take a more 3d sculptural approach. Take a look at the tree, where I put the ribbon down, and then added pieces of cut branches on top of it, attempting to add bulk to the tree's crown by building upwards.
The silver stencil is simulating wind.

more of an explanation! or confusion!

Wow. I am posting some crazy stuff lately to this blog! And I apologize. 
I need to elaborate on what I am attempting to achieve with a clearing out of works, since yesterdays post was kinda crazy and all over the place.
 I am actually baring my soul and taking you through the thought process. Geez remember, for now, it's all about the process!! I know I could have waited until I hammered all this stuff out in my head, but I think I am trying to explain the thoughts to you and let it unravel publicly. Most blogs, you know, they show their work, maybe tell a little personal ditty about it....and then they move on. It's all been done!! It's starting to feel shallow. I am attempting to raise my own bar, by writing naked posts.

I want to share how an artist feels as they compile a huge quantity of work that they just don't have the time or inclination to market. I am giving you my honest brain stream. Straight up....unedited. Scary.

Steven wrote a comment yesterday on how this all seems quite sad. We artists tend to value our own artistic skill by how many pieces we sell and how much money we make. Or how many solo shows we had. Or what bienelle we participated in. I can understand why he would feel sadness about me taking such little profit.  (I didn't ask him, but he has collected some of my work. Perhaps the sadness is over a loss of value of that work he purchased--it's something I mentioned yesterday in all that crazy banter--but knowing Steven, I doubt that this is his reason) But I personally am not sad about it, in fact I really am excited. I am very excited about sharing. WHY? Because I am a rebel. I hate our commercial culture. I hate the fact that artists seem stuck in the gallery system, and without it we flounder around like lost puppies. I want to break new trail. I have so much to give, it just seems appropriate.
I WANT to give art away! It seems liberating.
But it poses some serious problems, and these are the things I discussed yesterday.

I really want to remove money from the equation.
I want the price to be so low, that money is not the reason why you cannot have this work.
I don't think people should have to be rich to own fine works of art!
I want to give my art to people that will appreciate it and grow/learn/get inspired from it.
These objects do NO ONE any good sitting in a folder in my room for years on end. I want this art to go out into the world and inspire! Money? Is not the object. Sharing? Is. The way to go.
It does seem silly to think that we could just give our art to others and share. Certainly, this is not the way to make a living off of art! (Which, btw, I am not. I work 2 jobs already to support myself)  I am not doing this for money. If it was all about the money, I would have chosen to do something else with my personal time 12 years ago! I do it for Love. I do art because i can't help myself.


I changed my idea on the commentary.
After discussing this at length with an artist friend, I see so many pitfalls on the commentary idea. I don't want an ego-stroking party. I was hoping for helpful commentary, but if I go this route, you as a user and possible customer now have to turn into an expert, in order to supply a useful comment. That seems bogus. We aren't all experts. We all have feelings, that's different than everyone having art commentary!
I was thinking about putting a $25 price tag on the work....and if you want to buy it, you would need to make a comment as to WHY you want this work. Maybe this would weed out the whole expert/ego thing, and leave the ball strictly in the customers' court. Only their feelings would matter, and that's kind of interesting to me. I could send you my work, knowing that you purposefully picked it out
...because it matched your kitchen color scheme
...because the girl in the artwork looks like your sister
...because you understand my message
...because you simply like it
...because ???

I thought about setting up a scenario whereby through your comment,  the most deserved, or the most enthusiastic person would get to own the work. You would have to earn it.

This does seem contest-like. It's almost as tho you would have to convince me you were the one who deserved it the most. I don't like this aspect really, and I am still puzzling over this competitiveness...

This idea is the one I am still ruminating on. 

Other things bothering me?
What if....no one wants the work? (that will be public, and I will look like a failure, or like my work isn't worth anything)
What if...3 people want the work, and I pick someone on the merit of their comment, and the other 2 folks get pissed off?
What if...this idea seriously flops. I will be sad, and stuck figuring out still how to distribute this art.

I want the distribution of this art to be a performance art project in itself. 
Aaah. That's the root of my problem! I want the distribution of the art to also be creative. No wonder I am having such a tough time!!!

Please bear with me.

Turning the Clearinghouse into a Real Clearinghouse

This blog's original goals were:
link sharing
The first reason I started this blog was because I kept finding fascinating webpages about collage and I wanted to keep track of them. I know that we all like surfing, and sharing the things I found seemed like the considerate thing to do. And so Collage Clearinghouse was born. 5 years/682 posts ago.

criticism
I am an inquisitive person, and I love conversation. I love learning. I was hoping to start some online dialogue about the Fine Art of Collage, about these artists and pieces that I profiled. I was interested in conversing with others. So we could grow. We all could grow into something even better. Something the world has never seen. Yet.

art sharing
I do a lot of work. I admit that I was also interested in promoting myself. I figured by starting a community of intellectual, like-minded collage artists, I could learn from others and also share my work. It seemed like a great formula!

I considered these original goals as I recently pondered how to disperse 100's of personal collage works.

How can I get this artwork into the hands of others? 
Without making money the objective. Because truly, money ain't everything. Honest.

My first idea was to just give art away. You like it? You can have it. Why not?
This idea has some pitfalls. If I give my art away, this will affect the value of ALL of my work, not just these pieces. I am still an active collagist...and I am still selling work, both online and offline. I don't want to wreak havoc with my own market. Imagine how my friend Janet will feel when she finds out I am giving away pieces almost equal in size and quality to the piece she paid $175 for? It could cause hard feelings. It could also de-value everything I do. Why pay for my work now, when you can wait 10 years till I am sick of storing it and giving it away! My antique dealer fiancé tells me that you set the bar, and then you have to live with it. I don't want people to think my artwork, creativity and time is worth a big zero. Giving it away seems to have inherent issues.
And then there's the shipping! Certainly I can't pay for shipping to give away art. Now that's a serious losing formula.

How about I give away the art? But You pay the shipping?
Well, this does help me a bit! I won't lose cash by being generous.
But it still leaves me with value problems like I mentioned above. My personal market could be seriously affected.

How about Raffles? Contests? 
Nope. I am not into using my time to hold contests or raffles. It's too gimmicky. I usually lose on lottery tickets and raffles.

What if I reduce prices so much that just about anyone could afford my art? 
(Like a half price deal or something?) And you pay the shipping?
Now I feel I am getting somewhere. I would at least be getting some meager compensation for the work, and not losing money to ship it to you. I like this idea. It's like the fashion designers that are signing up with Target and providing the common man with couture design. I would be selling quality art to the common man, affordably.

How about making this process a bit more interesting? Just putting things up for sale is freaking boring. I would like to get more than just money. I am interested in feedback, remember? Dialogue. Sharing.
And not the "it's beautiful, i love it!" kind of dialogue.
Real dialogue. Real Criticism. Honesty. Feelings.
It's more like "Why did you do this piece in duotone colors? I think a complimentary scheme would lend more feeling." or "I just don't get this piece. wtf were you thinking?" or "I loved this from the first time I saw it. But I don't get it."
How can I reap some other benefits from dispersing this artwork...besides just plain old boring cash?


How about I put a super cheap price on the art? AND I put it up for sale to one and all thru this very blog? And you comment about it. Write me a paragraph or two of your personal truth. Tell me WHY you want this piece. Tell me the feelings it invokes. Does it remind you of something, someone? Tell me something I don't already know. Earn it. Earn it by participating in dialogue.
In this case, I would get some money for the art, and therefore I am not just giving it away. It might be more like we are trading art for commentary about the art. I wouldn't lose money for shipping. We all would get the conversation, the criticism, the dialogue. It's like a bonus. We all would benefit, especially if even those that didn't want to purchase the piece participated in the dialogue.

Would this work?
I just don't know. I could spend hours posting pieces and get zero response. Or I might be pleasantly surprised. It's a crap shoot.

Am I dreaming?
Probably. But I really have this goal to disperse 100+ works of art. Cheaply. And Soon.

Am I going to do something like this?
Yes. I really am.

It sure would turn Collage Clearinghouse into a literal Clearinghouse!
Things may change just a bit on this blog. I just have to figure out a way to implement this plan.

Ya got any ideas?
We can start this conversation Right Now.

Now What?

Now what?

As you know, I just went thru a huge cleanout of my ephemera and studio. It was a clean sweep! At first I was gingerly picking up each piece of paper and making that decision...keep or throw away. This was insanely tiresome and if I performed this action for every single piece of paper in my vast collection, I would still be sorting the first box. Well, I had about 10 boxes, and 4 bookshelves...so this process might have ended when I was like maybe 90?

This desk has been moved out. but some of the stuff on it remains...

After the first 2 boxes, I got quicker about it. It began to feel like flipping thru magazines. I tore out/kept a few pages, and the rest of the box got dumped. By the time I got to the 6th box, it got ruthless. A quick glance thru the stuff and in the trash it went. I am certain little precious pieces of paper that I have hoarded for maybe a dozen years went in the trash. If we had the time or notion to look thru what I threw away, we would probably have decided to save 1/3 of it and cried over losing the rest of it! What's done is done! I had to get thru it and by the end I was tired of caring about what to keep. Moving on...

After the huge purge, I found myself left with only 2 boxes of stuff to use for future work. In addition to the meager portions I left myself, there's this finished PILE O' WORK that I have done over the last 12 years. And man, it's a HUGE pile! I have been prolific! I have done a lot of growing and experimenting over these years and it's all there in piles of art, in folders, in portfolios, in books and sketchbooks, it's freakin' everywhere! And I am choking on it.

I tend to be a serious freak about saving my art stuff too which doesn't help the situation. I have sketches I did in my 20's. I have watercolors I did in my 30s. I have collages up the wazoo from my 40's. I used to think I was a really talented person, gifted even, but undiscovered. I imagined the days after my death, collectors wanting all my stuff, the good the bad the ugly. I thought about my kids looking thru these folders and  filing cabinets and having to decide the value, Or what to do with it all...Crazy? Probably. I am my own art hoarder! It probably isn't healthy and I am a dreamer, tee hee...but my new concern is that my art should be shared, viewed, loved. These pieces are living in the land of misphit toys/art, like in the Rudolph story. It's not fair to them. It's not fair to the world!

I don't have the room for all this art. It may be difficult for you to understand. Imagine 40+ framed works of art in various sizes and shapes, some larger than 30 x 20 inches..... Some are from my first solo show. Some are from the second solo show....or from the craft type fairs I tried earlier in my career. There's a bunch of them. I never felt it made sense to UN-frame them. And so, they are in piles...HUGE piles, protected with old sheets and bubble wrap. It's really quite an ugly pile at this point, since the beautiful imagery is completely covered up with packaging materials and hidden from public view. These things take up a large area, and seriously, it's a dead area. I don't go looking thru this stuff, I don't have another show till this spring...and besides, when I do, I want to show newer work, not stuff I did 10 years ago. What a waste of art! To have these things sitting there collecting woodstove dust.

Then there's the pile of work that never got framed!!! Holy shit! Talk about art....there's an AMAZING amount of work that I hold onto that really I need to deal with. It's out of control. And kinda sad really. Sad that they are sitting unloved. Some pieces are not my favorites, or my best work, and may better be described as experiments. Others are treasures that I seriously loved making and even now when I look at them I swoon, however they just escaped framing. Some are just plain old BIG and never made it to be framed. There's a bit of everything. And it's all bothering me....and taking up space. AND not serving any purpose....like changing someone's opinion, or inspiring someone, or simply pleasing someone by hanging on their wall.

a former mess.....I have these "before" pix. I need an "after" pic!

A lot of it is money. $$$. People are broke! We live in America! It's hard to justify spending money on pretty art to hang on a wall when you have a car payment due, a mortgage, out of control credit cards etc...... I personally don't believe MONEY should ever be a reason that we do without beauty, creativity and inspiration. Honest. Money shouldn't matter. But of course, it seems to drive the bus.

What to do. What to do???
I would love to get these little art pieces, my little children, my creative spawn, out into the world and in the hands of those who may appreciate it, or be inspired by it. It's a problem! I have been thinking of creative ways to do this and I have an idea..... and that's for the next post!

Japanese influence

Steven Specht here...
My good friends Anthony Morgan and Lindsay Bretz came up from Pennsylvania to visit for New Year's. One of their goals was to create a couple of collages from some of the materials they collected while on vacation in Japan last year. In fact, Anthony proposed to Lindsay while they were there!!! They will be using collages to create invitations for their wedding in May (cool idea!). Here are the products of Tony and Lindsay's efforts yesterday. I think they did a GREAT job! Enjoy!

Locust hedgerow-Canajoharie, NY

Locust hedgerow-Canajoharie, NY
Originally uploaded by misphit

I hate all this text lately on this blog!
We are artists and this text just makes me want to scream. I don't have any collage work yet finished, altho I am in the process of working on a new piece, as I have mentioned previously. Certainly, this mode of operation has slowed down production!!! At least for now, until I figure out where I am headed next.
Meanwhile, until I get something concrete to share visually, feast your eyes on my latest watercolor....which will be the basis of some new collage work, as time permits.
This is the view to the west, from my studio window.

A new Year, A new Attitude

The studio cleanout is over. 
FINALLY!!!
It took forever to go thru boxes and bookshelves of cut up paper! But it is done and at last I sit in a studio with some breathing room. The desktops are even visible.....Okay I lie. 2 of the desktops are visible. I think everything from both of those desks landed on the third one! C'mon! At least I have some surface to work with...
It's a lot like cleaning the kitchen. As soon as I get the dishes done, the counters clean, the floor swept I sit back and look at this gleaming area like a predator. Almost immediately I will want to bake bread, make cookies, or make a crazy intense spaghetti sauce or anything messy! I think my internal sense just can't stand empty areas. (right Steven? remember the encaustic class, with all that bark and stuff all over my table and surrounding tables and floor?)
In the studio it's the same deal! Whhooppee!! Beautiful empty Table tops  just begging to be messed up.
Here comes larger pieces of paper and all the watercolor gear! I can tell you the table is NOT clear this morning....
It's all good. It's a catalyst for big new work. I am excited again about my craft.

I am also dumbfounded.
After the watercolor gear came out, I attempted a collage work that has been wallowing in my brain for 2 weeks. I was surprised to find myself quite paralyzed! Where IS everything? My normal mode has been discontinued, disrupted and it's extinct.
I decided to do collage on top of the previously mentioned watercolor. I picked up some of the remaining ephemera I did keep and found a ladies face...I imagined her riding a glorious ice sled across the frozen creek in my watercolor. Cool, lets collage this.  I cut out the lady and placed her on the watercolor.
Snarl.
Time for change. I said to myself. I really want to raise the bar. I don't want to just cut out heads to paste. This is work.

Search Fearlessly: collage graffiti from the Dusty Loft, my former studio

I grabbed the watercolors again and began painting 4 little faces, modeling them on the ephemera lady I just found. One of them came out decent. I will cut and paste her and use her instead.
I have a problem with this tho. The texture of the watercolor paper for the background is the exact same texture as the lady face I just painted. When I cut her out and put her into the picture, well...she....just looks weird to me. I am a texture head!! I need to see a contrast. I think the answer is to laser copy and/or inkjet print these things of mine and use the duplicates. The laser will give me a sheen, and paper with no grain. The inkjet will allow me to fade it , or bleed it. Texture! I need texture!

This is one of the new problems I face as I try to generate more of my ephemera on my own and work to a new level. I really am a master of texture. With all this painting, it just seems lacking.

For now at least. In time, I may find new work flows, new techniques! How about monoprints? or silk screen patterns? or transfers.....?
Search Fearlessly.


I am ready to put 2010 and it's workflow to rest. What are you going to do this year?
Happy New Year, dear reader! I wish you a year of creativity. A year of new ideas, new techniques, new inspiration!
Let us ALL take our art to a new level and give the future some history to crow about!

Pietmond

ME/Stefanija....looking like I want to sit down on this couch in front of my work.
I just had to figure out how to do it first....

There's a lot of info here and I shall share as best as I can!

Ya wanna check it out? First place to stop?
Mark's blog! He has a couple of posts that explain the gallery.
Post 1 and Post 2

The gallery wall!

Crazy right? My art all framed and huge on the walls!


Mark has also sent me this info about the gallery and his philosophy:


The Pietmond Art Crawl galleries — Norum, SoSo West, SoSo East, Something To CHRO About, and the Tower of TILE — are small, closely packed exhibit spaces within the Second Life mainland village of Pietmond, a burg of my own creation. Featured art focuses on collage media, but also includes photography and non-collage abstraction. The village itself is a type of collage of various buildings and objects I’ve accumulated and then fiddled around with over my 3 years of existence within that virtual reality. Most are also freebie objects/structure.
I do not charge artists for exhibit space, and all of Pietmond’s current exhibitors, myself excluded, are not that familiar with Second Life. So I set up the space, create the virtually physical artwork, and do some limited inworld promotion through various, established art groups such as Art and Artist’s Network and SL Art Collectors.
Good website on how to set up your own SL art gallery is here:
http://www.squidoo.com/SecondLifeArtists
Each of the art pieces found in the Pietmond Art Crawl galleries can be purchased inworld for approx. 200-300 Linden dollars, which may sound like a lot but is really the equivalent of 1 or 2 “Real Life” US dollars. The artwork is created by, first, uploading earmarked picture textures to SL for the cost of a few cents apiece (and, of course, with permission from the creating artists), then mounting them on building blocks known as prims, short for primitives. In my own galleries a picture is usually made up of a single prim, but Second Life artworks can be composed of several and perhaps many such building blocks, sometimes imbedded with complex programming scripts as well. A great blog archive on the enormous potential of virtual art, geared specifically toward Second Life, is here:
Not Possible in Real Life:

http://npirl.blogspot.com/


He writes:: "I’m not a newbie in SL, but neither am I that old either, virtually speaking, in comparison to some. Second Life has been around since 2003, with perhaps a peak interest in it, from an outside world perspective, coming in 2007."

Thanks thanx txxxx Mark for all this cool stuff!! Happy holidays!

My second trip into Second Life

How can I even begin to explain my latest news? It's like a puzzle, these thoughts of mine. These events.

Awhile back, I did a post about a swarthy Second Life collagist named Mark Brittain. He was doing collage in the virtual world and I was fascinated by the concept. I was also far removed from the idea, as I stuck to my studio table like glue (no pun intended!). Over this busy last month and even longer, Mark has silently been behind the scenes working on a Second Life gallery. He saw my work here on the blog and liked it, and wanted to feature me in his virtual gallery. And recently he sent me screen shots of what was to be my first gallery opening>> online. In Second Life.
How exciting! He sent me links to the gallery as he worked on it and I am really quite tickled. It is an overwhelming experience to see your work on the walls of a gallery, pasted there larger than life (literally!), even digitally.

Have you ever read The Secret? or seen the movie, or perhaps saw the Oprah show that featured it? I watched the movie and it brings forth the concept that our mental thoughts are the catalyst for real things to occur. I have always believed strongly in the strength of our thoughts, and if you  need more proof that our thoughts rule the world, just read up on quantum physics for awhile! In seeing these images on a virtual wall, my mind is capable of experiencing in a microcosm the feeling of what it would be like in the macrocosm of reality. I see my work on the wall, I beam with pride. It doesn't seem to affect my inner excitement much whether these images are on my computer screen and shown on a gallery wall within it, or on a real wall. Since lately I am moving towards some digital work, this all seem so appropriate. It's like a sort of digital initiation. It's so full of karma. Experiencing things in ones mind is the first step to experiencing in reality. I believe this is true.

I enter the world of Pietmond, the village that the virtual gallery is located in on Second Life. My clutziness within the SL environment was really hysterical. Upon finding my way to the gallery, I was unable to negotiate the different floors, and I used all sorts of key commands that had me quite literally falling on the digital floor! I was compelled to see the work that Mark did, live within Second Life. I am still seriously unfamiliar with the program's environment and the nuances of having a character. But yet, I found myself standing there in the gallery, attempting to purchase my own work!! I need Lindens...which it seems you must pay for. It's cheap to buy these lindens, and my art is uber cheap so I will be going back in the game to attempt this again. It's really quite upside down!!

To Marks' credit, he has worked very hard on several of these galleries and I am really amazed at the dedication and the creativity required to do this. He has written me many times and sent me progress reports, info on how to play Second Life, links, blog posts, pictures...he's been really enthusiastic, and I thrive on that. I am not certain what is ahead for me as far as Second Life is concerned. I am certain that for me it's another road sign on the path that I am taking my collage work.

In my next post, I will share some of this cool stuff with you!

Happy Cleaned Out Holiday!

I've been quiet the past two weeks here on the clearinghouse. It's holiday time, and I am not exempt from the heapload of elf work that must be done. Buying gifts, wrapping gifts, sending gifts....it's a CHORE that cuts into my creative time. My SUNY class just ended and I have a month off from the second job, along with some days off from the day job. This will help me find time for those creative moments.

Although I have not been at the studio table, there's been a lot of really cool things going on. I'm STILL going thru the grueling process of going thru the ephemera in my studio. UGH and double ugh. how long will this process last!!!???  I finally went thru my laser copies (which I have been hoarding for at least 7 years). Most of this stuff is imagery that I culled before I met Chris and fell in love with an antique dealer who supplies me with endless vintage stuff. I don't use copies anymore, and there was an entire trunkfuI had to go through. Any copies of my own photos I kept, which came to probably 15 pieces of paper. The rest? Woodstove fodder!! I moved the huge 1950's graphic table out and it's off for sale at the antique store. I emptied 2 bookcases and they are just waiting to be filled with new stuff! My piano keyboard is set up, synthesizer program loaded on the laptop, and I have a nice clean desk to use for my computer exploits.
I was explaining to Chris how my work HAS to change. I have thrown away a good portion of material. This will force me to find new things to use...and therefore my work will change. It's logic. The new space also affords me a place to paint, something which I am trying to engage more in my new work. I  don't know where it all leads, but this cleanout seemed appropriate and most timely.  I am ready for the New Mode.
And I am happy about it. I am glad I chose this time of year to do this massive cleanout, since i am already busy doing Christmas stuff, and personal time is hard to find anyhow.

Wherever you may find yourself this holiday, whether it be in the middle of your own personal art studio mess, or in the living room with only a pad and pencil, may you find a creative moment this season!
Happy Holidays everyone!

 

old stencil on barn door: it's gone now, but my happy memory remains!

"Nothing left to do"

Steve Specht here...
This is my latest piece. I have a bit to say about it; but not right now. I want to post this and will "discuss" it in an upcoming post soon. Enjoy!

Limestone Art Gallery (Fayetteville, NY)

Steve Specht here...
The opening of the exhibit at the Limestone Gallery in Fayetteville was really nice last night. We went to see the assemblage/box works of Jim Ridlon specifically, but were very pleased to be introduced to the intriguing works of Darryl Furtkamp from New Hampshire. And both artists are really nice to converse with too! So here are some nice examples of the works that can be seen there. Enjoy!

the upheaval

I can't explain what is happening. you know, I am just documenting it. I have been busy with all that holiday prep crap that has to go down this time of year, but in the background there is a huge upheaval going on that I thought I should share with you.

I started throwing everything away.
Well, actually first it started with a new computer. I replaced my desktop computer with a laptop. I have not copied my usual 200+ GB of files to it. Instead, I started purging and emptying trash. Made some CDs and DVDs. Archived.
I began with computer scans of art. Art that literally already sits in boxes and folders on the perimeter of my studio. I have the art. Do I need the scans? no. Empty trash.
Then came my boxes of ephemera. I was judicious. I was relentless. I managed to turn 7 boxes of pre-cut, already sampled imagery into 2. Hello garbage bags.
Then it was the bookshelf. Out of 5 shelves of resource books that I used for collage, only 1 remains....and it's full of empty journals. The rest, off to the recycling trailer at my day job. I was ruthless. It felt good.

It's all symbolic you know. In order to do NEW Work, I need to start fresh. I have to. I never did understand artists that destroyed their work, but I need to change the habitual way I do art and maybe they had a point. It spills over into my "other" life> as I clean thru closets and drawers of memories and sentiment. Clothes, jewelry....it's like a disease.


I still have pockets of art hoarding that I am removing....like the email box!! And the bookshelf packed with umpteen The Conservationist past issues. And the trunk that is completely stuffed with laser prints of images that I HAD to have over the past 12 years, images that now sit forgotten in that very trunk for 4 years without being touched. They are like a boat anchor. They need to go.
Also, The filing cabinet, with all kinds of previous correspondence and such>> that project I save for after the holidays. And all that art. This finished art is another project for the coming year. Distribution. I need to get this art into art lovers' hands....and clear the way for this BIG THING that seems to be brewing inside of me.
I have thrown away no tools. No paints, no pencils. This is where shall I begin. again.

brain fabric art

Wow... if you're interested in fabric art, be sure to check out this site: http://harbaugh.uoregon.edu/Brain/index.htm

inadvertent high tech "find"

Steve Specht here...
I went to an opening reception of a great exhibit at Utica College of Dick Morrill's artwork. The gallery is experimenting with some high-tech system using bar-code technology as information portals to the web. By each piece of artwork is a two-dimensional bar code like the one show here. You "aim" your iPhone or Droid at the barcode (with the relevant free app of course) and viola, it takes you to a website with more information about the painting. So I spoke with one of our computer science faculty who had been involved with the project and he set me up with my own barcode. If you have a high-tech phone, point at this bar code and see what comes up ;-) Are you interested in one Julie?