Try number 2 and 3

Into the deep forest on a solstice night
This second piece was totally my own, with no input from Lithuanian sources. I wanted to come up with something that could be the deep forest on the solstice night. It might be too busy. I am going to simplify a bit and try again. The birds seem corny, but part of the reward of finding the blossom is the knowledge of understanding them.

Searching for the Fern Blossom
The third piece was a product of me attempting this with a different technique. Instead of painting the whole thing and attaching the collage, I wanted to sort of paint and collage at the same time. In doin so, I lost the 2-toned reverse thing that I had going on. Took my time using pen and ink on the ferns. This one lacks the folk look I was trying to achieve, but the loose collage and stencil--it still turns me on.

NYC Gallery

I have been a little remiss in regularly checking the website for the Pavel Zoubok Gallery (www.pavelzoubok.com); but I check it yesterday and it's definitely worth looking at some of the pieces on display currently. This gallery specializes in collage and assemblage work and is located at 533 West 23rd St. in Chelsea. The next time you go to NYC, it's worth a visit. I saw a Ray Johnson collage there last summer among others. Enjoy!

The annoying CAPTCHA

And what is a captcha if you don't already know? It's that annoying little box of hard to read numbers and/or letters that appear at the bottom of the comment box on this blog.
I don't really like the captcha...they are sometimes almost impossible to decipher and I just want to comment and move on. But I keep getting these crazy spam comments lately. Some are porn. Some are Asian business schemes. All are annoying.
Today I turned on the feature that allows for that annoying captcha on comments. It will save me the effort of keeping the clearinghouse clean!

I spent all day yesterday working on another fern blossom interpretation. I have nothing much to say about it here, tho. It's too big for my home scanner, and until you can see it visually there's no point in discussion! Been working with paints more and trying to hone up my pen and ink skills. Maybe some of this diligence is wearing off because I am teaching Design 111 at SUNY Cobleskill this semester. I am teaching/learning of line, value, hue. Rhythm, unity and balance. Seriously, I have to practice what I am preaching. The teaching is making raise the bar and think more studiously about my creative work. I love it when life throws you a bonus like that.

A new beginning

And so let me reveal to you my current project. Welcome to your first glimpse into my attempts to create a collaged folk style. I have begun working on a fairy tale book that I will both illustrate and write. I have been researching the old myths, tales and legends from the Baltics, with particular emphasis on my Grandma's homeland of Lithuania. You have already seen me toying with the key symbol in previous works. That's on the back burner now. My new project is taking me in an entirely new direction.
I would like to create a series of works, including papercuts, stencils and perhaps some artists books that are based on these old tales. The most fascinating part is that I am using motifs that come from vintage stamps and bank notes. I am trying to keep some of this work authentic, by using symbols and designs native to the baltic region. I have this great resource at home, in my Uncle Rays' stamp collection that I inherited. There's a huge amount of Latvian, Estonian, and LIthuanian stamps and Bank Notes and the detail on them is just outstanding and quite inspiring. My goal is to cull ideas for starting points from these sources, and then recycle them in my work. I want to explore these traditional ideas and designs and develop them further in a new context.

For my first attempt here, I am working on the legend of the fern blossom. (I don't know what a fern blossom looks like, and my imagination is fertile with ideas! I love the story line) This piece is an exercise in using new media (gouache isn't exactly new ...well it's new to me! ) and trying to create a folksy look that includes collaged pieces. I am going to re-do this a few times, using various techniques until I hammer down the "look" I am looking for.

The 2-color scheme is my attempt at trying to simulate the idea of a solstice. I really feel my painfully poor painting skills these days. i am a firm believer of the old adage that practice makes perfect. Prepare to see more of this style!

The joy of serendipity

Anyone who is making the creative journey through the landscape of collage and assemblage certainly has some experience with the joy and beauty of serendipity. Of course, being "on the lookout" for "specimens" to include in creative works is necessary for ultimately creating a piece of work. And preparation and planning are also important in various ways. In addition, as Julie and others have pointed-out, being in a fertile mental and physical state always helps too. But... it is wonderful and exhilarating to experience the serendipity so often associated with spending time and manipulating lots of collage materials. So I thought I would share the two images (or perhaps I should say one or "one-and-a-half" images) shown here. Here's what happened. I have been intrigued by images I have come across in a health book from around 1915 and the illustrative photos of various exercises. I cut out the image of this muscle man which I thought I might use in a piece and was playing with the image of the man and the strawberry (I really enjoy the contrast of B&W photos and colorful fruits and vegetables). Anyway, at one point, I turned the image over and "Viola!"... I found that the back of this cut-out muscle man just happened to look quite interesting. I don't think that I would have "seen" that if I was only in a "planning" stage. I have not even completed a piece with inclusion of this image... but I am certainly enjoying it now. I hope you do too.

Story development

Using a rather plain jane watercolor that I did during my recent surgery layover....I made this collage, after 3 weeks of it sitting on the table bugging me. I am beginning to see a story line with these pieces, but I need to spend time percolating on it. I like the way she seems to have fake horns...

I really feel some creative growing pains since I took some time off. I want to work on something entirely different, so finishing up this stuff that was half done on the table was necessary. And therapeutic!

Climate

Greetings friends of creative expression and experience!

First of all, I would like to thank Julie for allowing me to post on Collage Clearinghouse. I have enjoyed her posts and artwork and am hoping I can contribute in ways that will entertain and inspire as well.

Located in an old refurbished factory building right across the river from Manhattan in Queens (Long Island City to be exact) are two small exhibit spaces collectively referred to as "Climate/Gallery" run by artists Whitey Flagg and Herman James. On February 6th, there will be an opening reception of a collage/assemblage/montage exhibit entitled "Putting-It-All-Together". Whitey and Herman curate a different exhibit every month. These exhibits have different themes and have thus far been non-juried (so they provide a great opportunity to show your work!). They do have a "juror" come in to select several artists' works which are then shown as "Selected Artists" works on the website. For the upcoming "Putting-It-All-Together" exhibit, the juror will be our friend Jonathan Talbot.

I have submitted these two pieces. The first is entitled "The Evolution of Greed" and the other "The Convolution of Lust". These are 9.5" in 12" x 12" frames. I am thinking of doing a series of the seven "deadly" sins in a similar style. Perhaps I will see some of you at the reception next Saturday! Make sure you check out the Climate/Gallery website at climategallery.com

Cheers!

Valentine frenzy

It all started with too many idle moments and some lofty ideas.
I wanted to do something unique for my man Chris for upcoming Valentine's Day, something other than the usual chocolate and card. We have these silver urns in our front window that have red dogwood branches in them. They are still left over from Christmas but I stripped off all the ornaments. I thought about making a bunch of hanging valentines and filling up the dogwood branches with them. When Chris comes down on Valentines morning to make the morning java, he can't possible miss my many valentine messages!

This one ended up looking medieval

So I came up with a basic format, and then sat down at the art table and finally got some good creative time happening. It's been tough to get anything done with the pain being first and foremost in my mind all the time. I need to relax, or at least not be thinking about how much it hurts in order to be able to express myself in art.
Once I got going on these, I couldn't stop. It felt so good to just let that other half of my brain relax! I did several of these little hanging treasures. I stuck to non-traditional colors and themes....you know I hate to be boxed in to using red and pink only. I have orange love, green love, all color love. So why not let other colors represent?>?
It's great to feel creative again, but this little exercise did little for me as far as fine art is concerned. I have been staring at the same 2 pieces ever since surgery. They aren't moving, and I can't seem to reconcile and finish them. If nothing occurs by this weekend, I will have to put these aside and start fresh. It's weird how some pieces fly together by themselves, and others sit there and ferment.


Orange luv

This one had an ocean theme

for you my soul doth pine—even a green valentine

(There are more for sale on Etsy, if you are interested.)

I keep getting these great emails from Steven Specht with info about all kinds up collage exhibits and interesting art stuff. I have asked him to join Collage Clearinghouse so we can all benefit and luckily he agreed. At some point, you will see a post by him...so enjoy!

BACK IN THE SADDLE—well sort of!

I am SO Glad to report that the surgery is OVER>>Not happy to report it was twice as painful as I expected. I ended up with a catheter for 2 weeks. That's gone now, and I am starting to come back from the fog.
During my days of being tethered to the rubber hose and bag, I was able to settle down 4 times over the past 2 weeks and I made myself do a few watercolor studies. I couldn't really move much...and sitting straight up to paint was a painful operation! Nonetheless, I need to report on the calming and healing effects that I received from these moments of hindered creativity! My mind couldn't get off of the various pains that I was feeling...and I swear I could feel a difference when I was able to focus all my concentration on painting. The portion of my brain screaming in pain shut the hell up, and allowed the rest of me to flow with the paint over the paper. I was very slow...and if you knew me you would understand how against my nature that is! I am a nervous person, I talk fast, think even faster, and my actions are rarely what we call slow! The surgery and narcotic pain killers brought me to another level of concentration and for an hour at a time, all body pains disappeared. Sweet. However, the paintings sucked. At least, that's my general opinion of them.
At one point, in utter frustration, I ventured upstairs to the studio, on a day that was particularly painful. I couldn't sit without pain, so I stood there and worked on a collage using one of the aforementioned bogus watercolors. Being back in my own element was soothing and immediately all pains were washed away by vintage ephemera and my starry eyed dreams. I ended up laying out one collage work and yesterday afternoon, in celebration of losing the catheter, I glued it down. How can I describe how this was So Satisfying??? I was made to be a collage artist! I can't tell you enough of the peace I felt during these fleeting mixed media moments.
I was stuck on the couch. Stuck looking out this one window. Stuck with this one view. Stuck with using watercolors, since all other art materials are in the studio. Stuck and restrained. I believe that Matthew Barney has spent half his life dealing with the subject of restraint...there's something to be said about it. Moving from a restrained and very controlled creative situation to a very open and free creative situation was like running out in the open air with my arms open thru a meadow and singing "the hills are alive, with the sound of music..." like Julie Andrews.

The collage that I did wasn't so great. It's typical of most of my work...But it will always be a special artwork to me, one that symbolizes the essence of why I do collage. I love the freedom of expression that it allows me. Lets face it! I am just loving life now that I can get back to it!
I guess I am almost back in the saddle again!

A short hiatus

Hello one and all...collage clearinghouse has been quiet this past couple of weeks. I am sad and miss my many quiet moments at the table, but my own health and preservation has been at the top of my pile in this past month. I have some upcoming bogus female surgery on Dec. 28, right after Christmas. I have been going to tests and shoring up things at home for this moment of downtime. There's a lot to do with Christmas alone, without adding all kinds of household and personal duties that are boring but necessary.
I want to pause for a moment and enjoy the silence before the storm. I have several new ideas percolating, and I am certain that new artwork and exciting things will come in due time. Please forgive me while I take a short hiatus, while I take care of my health...in the meantime, enjoy the wondrous holiday, the wind and blowing snow and the peaceful miracles of winter.

It's hard not to do art

As with anyone, my life has it's ups and downs, it's busy moments, and it's dead moments. I have grown accustomed to this natural cycle and accept it. But I don't have to like it!

I was really in the groove artwise the past month. The show left me feeling exhilarated and excited about exploring new territory. I was able to do around 3 good works a week and life was wonderful. But soon enough, my own life gets in my way. I took a small trip to Philly to visit my father and his new wife. Thanksgiving came and required family dinners and extra activities...I love these moments of rejuvenation and love and they light the fire for those more quiet moments when I am at home in the studio. I wish I had the hours in a day to do not only loving family things, but intense creative things. It just doesn't work that way for me. So here I am, kind of depressed and lost because it's been 2 weeks since I have gotten my hands all gluey and sticky! It's natural, I tell myself. I need that ebb and a flow.
This year, with money tight and most people focusing on the more humble aspects of this upcoming yearend holiday, I am trying to keep things on the downlo. It doesn't seem like a holiday of excess. It seems this year like my mind is focused on simplicity and being humble. So gifts from me are going to be handmade, and I am heavy into the crafts at this time. Instead of collage pieces of fine art, I am making glitterhouses. Instead of assemblage, I am sewing. It feels good to get my hands dirty in another way! I love the challenge. Truly, for me, it's all in the doing...in that moment of creativity...when the thing I am working on "becomes"...THAT is why I am an artist.
So bear with me if art posts seem lean for the moment. I am in a good way, doing humble good deeds for fam and friends. Soon enough, I will pour my soul back onto the awaiting canvas...and into this blog.

Review of "Doubling, Cutting, Pasting: Figures Re-Invented"

Portrait of K Polaroid Transfer Print 24" x 18" 2008
Today I offer up for your blogging pleasure a review written by fellow collagist Steven Specht. Thanks Steven!

Review of "Doubling, Cutting, Pasting: Figures Re-Invented", an exhibit of the works of AJ Nadel at the Edith Barrett Art Gallery at Utica College (Nov. 9-Dec. 21)

The Eyes Have It - and So Does Nadel

On the curved surface of the back of the inside of the eye lies the retina - a thin "film" of many layers of neurons including the rod-shaped and cone-shaped photoreceptors. As a physician specializing in retinal surgery AJ Nadel is well-acquainted with this neuroanatomical landscape. But wait a minute, this is a review of an exhibit of artwork, not ocular anatomy. In the case of the collection of impressive artworks created by AJ Nadel and currently on display at the Edith Barrett Gallery at Utica College, art truly imitates life - and transforms life experiences and manipulates photographic images of life. In this case, a career concerned with retinas and surgery and vision informs and inspires exquisitely creative and visually stimulating photomontages, collages and mixed media artworks.

Snapshots 19: Artist and Company Emulsion Transfer, Collage 7" x 21.5" 2009

Through the lens of a camera, light creates a representational image of the world on photographic emulsions. When these images are "surgically" removed from one substrate (i.e., the Polaroid paper backing), manipulated and combined and placed onto the artistic space of the surface of paper, or wood or cloth, the resulting images are at once aesthetically exhilarating and thought-provoking. The viewer views what was once viewed through the viewfinder -- but deliberately not in high fidelity. Rather, the viewer of Nadel's work is exposed to creative manipulations of the images in various ways. Some of the pieces represent single large-scale images of once dynamic, folding, twisting and wrinkling aqueous films of photoemulsion captured on various substrates -- still strong with allusions to actual motion and psychological flow. Other powerful pieces in the exhibit integrate multiple exposures of related images in beautifully composed photomontages and collages, perhaps reminiscent of what the brain does after multiple retinal images are encoded and manipulated by emotions and meaning within our gray matter (ah, the multiple frames of memory). And sometimes Nadel enhances the photographic manipulations with inclusion of gestural marks of paint, ink or charcoal.
Through his work then, Nadel invites the viewer to join him in the interplay of images meant to challenge a representational view of the world and instead acknowledge the transformational intricacies and complexities of true vision.

Madonna-MM
Mixed Polaroid Transfer
22" x 30"
2005

Heritage

The continuing theme for me currently is family history, or my heritage (if you read regularly this blog, you are probably sick of it already). I was working with the key symbol for awhile and altho I have not created any keys in my artwork in a couple of weeks, I do believe the idea has carried over. I seem to be satisfied with making elaborate headdresses for my characters. This piece, called Diana, is an example of this idea transfer. To put a key on this piece would have been redundant, as she is wearing the most elaborate of hats.
I have been working on watercolors lately. I miss pushing and pulling the pigments, so I have challenged myself to paint more backgrounds if at all possible. This watercolor was based on the photo I took (above) on my way home from college a few weeks ago. My painting lacks the depth and breadth of color in the pic, but I liked the pastel sky and decided to use it for another heritage collage.

This watercolor only has 2 layers of paint. I want to try another where I go 13 layers. If only I could concentrate that long! HA! This piece seems a bit empty for my work, but I am working towards a better balance of painting and collage. It's hard to know exactly when I am done.

The second piece for this week was one that went together rather quickly. The elements sat together on the table for a few days and it didn't take too much to solve the composition. It has a vastly different look than the past 10 works.

No keys. No hats.
This piece has a pic of my grandma as a young woman. I cannot explain the effect this has on my work! Having grandma staring back at me as I cut and paste, it's unnerving. It also makes me try harder. Grandma was my Lithuanian relative, and she wrote tidbits of family history on notebooks and scraps all over her house. She married a norwegian man, my Grandpa Frank. The embroidery is Lithuanian along with the little building in the left. THe middle building, however, is a Norwegian church. She holds it in her hand. This artwork symbolizes her accepting Grandpa's Norwegian heritage as her own. This piece is probably the most serious work in this series.


If that last piece went together quickly, this final piece of the weekend--was crazy. I swear it went together by itself. The pieces rose up off the floor and out of the boxes and landed on the table. It felt that correct. I felt guided, as tho someone else was doing the work. This woman is not a relative of mine. She was a friend of my Grandma from the old country. She is in a few pics, so they must have been close friends. I named her Zemyna, which stands for the Lithuanian earth goddess. I think the bird, the snowy forest, it all reminded me of an earth mother.


This project will probably now take a back seat to holiday fodder. I am broke this year, with my car taking most of my money for a myriad of annoying maintenance type repairs. I plan to make gifts this year, to try to help my wallet out.

A Book About Death — Halloween Distribution System

I went out on Halloween weekend as promised and created mini exhibitions throughout the Mohawk Valley using my duplicate A Book About Death Postcards. I am sorry I couldn't take the time to credit these individuals in these captions. I may go back and fill them in when time permits.
The project lives on.
Ironic right? After all, it's a book about death.



There aren't a lot of places to post anything in Fort Plain, NY.
Here I sabotaged the For Rent bulletin board with 6 cards.

I liked tucking this card in this little shelf out in front of an antique store on main st. It matched the antique bottle and old toolbox so nicely.


There were these pots on the sidewalk with dead plants. What a good place for A Book About Death cards.

Old Stuff This Way! A Perfect prop!


These little plant arrangements were begging for some action. I was hoping this display would tempt passersby to take a card and look closer.

I tried to attach them to this iron post. It didn't work that well, but 2 cards were placed here.

Another plant arrangement with A Book About Death offerings.

This empty store window (also for rent!) had some old DVDs and VCR tapes in the window. The cards I stuck on the window blended in so nicely.


I liked the white backdrop. Looked like a little white gallery wall.


This telephone pole was on the side street by the laundromat. I used it as an outdoor gallery zone, and posted 5 cards here.

This brick ledge was close to where a lot of people enter the laundromat. Perfect slot for some cards.

Inside the laundromat, I stuck some cards on the magazine rack.

And then used every available tack to place as many cards as I could on the bulletin board. Unphased, laundering customers didn't even notice me.

Another white wall begging for some posts!

I wanted some in the country. There's a barn on a 4 corners out in the country that is quite abandoned. I picked out cards for this particular setting that had a lot of green in them, since the background behind was red. They really stood out.


And finally, my favorite pic of all. She seems to be glaring at the man with no face.
Last time I checked, these 2 cards still were hanging on the barn, withstanding winds and rains over the past week.

Emilie

Emilie
Originally uploaded by misphit

Okay, so now I got it! A winner. I love Emilie and the way she came out.

This piece has 2 stories.
First, the watercolor. I am recycling these older watercolor studies and making collages with them. This one really had some color punch and was a joy to revive. It was a half done study that I did in 1997. The right hand side mountains and the whole lake were still white and incomplete. I guess it wasn't looking right at the time and I shelved it.


Emilie...is another of my grandmothers' sisters. I think Emilie was a younger sister. I made her a little huntress. I liked the juxtaposition of little girl with weapon. I may use this idea again.

As I started working on this piece, I was staring at the scenery in it. The lines were familiar. I looked again and guessed that I did this watercolor at Mud Pond, a favorite bog of mine on the Powley-Piseco Road in Stratford. I was just there a couple of months ago and did another watercolor study recently and it looked familiar.
Sure enough. There in pencil were my notes from the original watercolor in 1997. I guess it wasn't a successful watercolor, but amazingly enough, I recognized the place!

Bronislava

Bronislava
Originally uploaded by misphit

Aunt Bernice...she was my grandmother's sister.
Bronislava was her Lithuanian name.

The building in the background is from a vintage Sveksna postcard.
I was looking for some color magic on this one. Working towards a folk art look. The orange is supposed to vibrate with the purple. (complimentary colors). Not sure that's working on this piece...
I like it better than Julija, however.

Julija

Julija
Originally uploaded by misphit

I don't have much to say about this piece.
Except
It started out in my head as a very light colored work, pastel even, like a candy confection. I ruined it with the acrylic. And later on at night, I wanted to draw swirls which REALLY ruined the lines in this piece. (note to self: save swirlies for doodling!)
Not all works --work out.

Laima

Laima
Originally uploaded by misphit

The woman in this piece is not LIthuanian. She is from an old brown toned English newspaper. I am not sure what country she hails from.
I liked her European attitude, however, and she became a visitor in my little Lithuanian key world.
I am almost done practicing on these key portraits. I will be ready to use my family portraits as soon as I work thru this key thing a bit more. I need to now start adding the Lithuanian iron cross influence to the keys and then I will be ready. I am eager to infuse these with actual family people, instead of random LIthuanian folk from my picture stash. I am also going to experiment with some Norwegian themes. I have pictures on that side of the family to use too....And so the project continues.

Rasa

Rasa
Originally uploaded by misphit

I am cleaning out my loft and finding old treasures of my own. This was an old watercolor that never got finished. I guess it didn't look like I expected it to and I abandoned it. For 10 years it has sat in the envelope. I decided to recycle some of these backgrounds and use them in some collage work.

Keys again? yup.

Memory Song

Memory Song
Originally uploaded by misphit

This place is but a memory in a wooden box of the past. They were my Grandmas' treasures. They were her memories and now they are but an ancient song in my mind. An unknown melody of mysterious memory.

Working on small pieces to problem solve this key thing going on in my head. I am looking for a folksy, airy, fantasy, elaborate kind of feel in these pieces. The elaborate keys are the hardest part to achieve. I'm still not certain that these even look like keys!