Jackson details

I hope Julie doesn't mind me posting some more information (I'm hoping it may inspire of at least suggest some ideas for others).

I thought I should elaborate on my recent post of the three new pieces. I am showing here some detail of the Jackson piece. Each of the pieces shown on the previous post were done on small masonite panels (6" x 6" x 3/8"). This allows me to do some "wrap-around" of the elements from the front surface of the pieces to create additional areas of interest (I hope). I hope these photos will give you a better idea of what the pieces look like. In this particular piece, I really like the way the cut-out portion of the dark green element creates what looks like a little golden cube (BTW, the Golden's iridescent gold paint was purchased for very cheaply at a garage sale!). The dark green element was a serendipitous addition to this piece. I had been doing some "punching out" of that paper to get those oblong little pieces. When I saw what the "negative space" looked like, I envisioned it working with the rest of this piece. Serendipity is one of my favorite parts of collage work. Enjoy!

FYE

Thought you might want to see some of the new works from monkeybrain:

a couple of sites

Just thought I'd pass along a couple of sites for folks interested in looking at more collage sites. I particularly like "www.notpaper.net" which features many images from multiple artists as well as short interviews with some. Through that site I found a couple of sites of individual artists whose work I particularly really like. Marty Gordon's page is sub-titled "What would Jesus glue" and is at "martworks.blogspot.com". I also really like Brandon Mclean's work, which can be found at "www.elus1v.com". Enjoy!

After the long dry spell...

untitled
Originally uploaded by misphit

...A small bit of water

It's been a long time since I posted any collage work. Finally, something to share. I feel rusty...and out of place in my studio seat. Used some recent watercolors in this work.

"Intriguing"

Wow! The 60/60 Event at the Everson Museum in Syracuse was awesome! It turned out to be a beautiful evening in Central New York -- sunny skies and warm. When we arrived at the event the excitement was palpable. We set-up quickly under the tent and had time to amble about looking at other artists' areas and watch the artists prep and begin working. There were so many good artists there and the variety of media was impressive as well (although I was the only collagist). I met some really nice people including artist Jeff Allen (he did the lacrosse player piece shown here). It was so nice having family and friends there for support too, including my wife Mary Carol, Tom's wife Debbie and daughter Leah; my sister Michele and her husband Steve and friends and colleagues Arlene, Linnea and Wayne. Thanks to all of you for your support!!! So the time that Tom and I had spent working out compositional aspects of the piece REALLY paid off (although we were still "sticking" a little bit on the final touches of the bottom left quadrant). It took us just about the full 60 minutes to get things in-place and put-down. It seems like lots of people were "intrigued" by someone doing collage (and the major element of the old photograph I think was powerful and drew people to the piece). We spent some time talking with passers-by and the finished product was especially well-received by many folks. I was VERY pleased when they announced the "People's Choice" awards to find out the Tom and I had won the prize for "Most Intriguing". Cool! Another good bit of news is that my sister Michele won the finished piece in the raffle drawing. I'm happy that I'll get to see the piece once in a while! Then we were invited to Linnea and Wayne's house for a VERY lovely evening of good wine and GREAT food! The evening was a GREAT success! I hope to take part next year as well. Enjoy!

More locally -- The 60/60 Event at the Everson Museum

One week from tonight, the Everson Museum in Syracuse is hosting the 60/60 Event outdoors in the museum courtyard. This event will feature 60 artists who will be each be completing a work of art in 60 minutes! Yours truly will be one of the featured artists (together with my creative associate Tom Nettle). Not sure if anyone has done collage at this event in the past. Should be interesting. Here's a photo of Tom as we were working on composition ideas for this upcoming event. Enjoy.

National Collage Society postcard exhibit

Greetings collage comrades!
Just thought I would encourage all of you who haven't already done so to become members of the National Collage Society. The NCS offers two opportunities to exhibit your work. The annual "Wish You Were Here" postcard exhibit is non-juried and open to all members. Each submission is limited to a 4" x 6" format (like a postcard). Here is the piece I've submitted for this year's exhibit (entitled "I'll send you a wire"). The NCS also sponsors an annual juried exhibit. The deadline for submissions to this show is August 27th. From what I've seen of previous exhibits, assemblage pieces are very common. For more information, check out the NCS website at www.nationalcollage.com. Enjoy!

TAXCUT - Extraordinary work by Chad Person

Cobra AH, 9 x 12, US Currency on Canvas, 2007
WOW!
I found something seriously important to share with you today, the work of Chad Person. Reading this morning in my dailydose Flavorpill, I saw something about his latest work Taxcut and had to read on.
Taxcut is a really cool idea, accented with extraordinary detailed collage work.
You see, Chad is a professor teaching digital photography near an Air Force Base. He had one student named Harold that really pushed his buttons. I guess Harold was a mediocre student and failed Chad's class. Since he failed, he was going to have to pay the tuition, approx. $400, back to the Air Force...so the Air Force could re-allocate the monies to another deserving individual. So Mr. Person, decided to pass Harold...in fact pass him with an A+! Why?
Because he felt that it was a way to keep our government from spending even more of our hard earned tax dollars thru defense spending. This small sacrifice is an example of what needs to happen on a global basis. Imagine the sweeping change... if each and every one of us started to seriously consider the effect of our actions. Small sacrifices lead to bigger ones and eventually the wheels of life turn....
How does this relate to taxcut? Or collage even? Read this from the project info on his site:
" I have been destroying currency for my work for the past two years. As a professional artist, I deduct my material expenditures as a write off. If I slice up a hundred dollars to make an image, or a thousand, or just five, I am taking it out of the IRS coffers. Imaging the weaponry that I’m not buying with those dollars is a reminder for me that a little creativity can be quite empowering."
CRAZY idea right? Being able to use the money for work and then being able to use it for a political statement. Using creativity for the better of society. Terrific stuff!! I love the premise! And his work? Outstanding.

There will be a show on the West Coast of some of Chad's other work on a project called "Surviving The End of Your World". This is also a creative look at our political and environmental climate. The Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica will present this show in July. It opens July 10.