What's Your Bag, Man?

"Hey man, what’s your bag?" Couldn’t help but think of this relic of the Sixties when I discovered the theme of a French Mail Art Call was to recycle paper bags. As it happened, I was on my way home from one of my favourite restaurants, Neato Burrito, with my mission style burrito safely tucked away in a brown paper bag.

As you can gather by the name, Neato Burrito has a definite retro vibe. Now with several locations...and I’ve visited them all...you create your burrito by choosing from a delicious assortment of tortillas, rice, beans, meats, salsas and vegetables.  Their jalapeno feta salsa is to die for and was just the inspiration I needed! I also wanted to have fun and there’s no better way for me than to dive into conventional collage work. I love being a recycler of images from a past age. Guess that’s my bag.

I started the project by deconstructing the paper bag at the seams. I liked the printed messages and did my best to keep them as part of my finished envelope. The brown paper was the perfect background for Artistcellar Halftone Dots Series. Stenciling with the largest dots first I changed colours as I progressed through the series. The Artistcellar Traditional Japanese Series is wonderful when you are looking for a pop of colour to accent your work. I picked the Cherry Blossom stencil to do just that.

As many collage artists know, the most wonderful ephemera are gifted to us through the US Postal Service. A gem recently dropped in my mailbox courtesy of a local gas station chain. The image of the woman on the front of the brochure was crying out for a new home...and I had just the place for her! The pinup style illustration fit perfectly with the layout I had in mind. And I liked the feeling of continuity...mail that came to me is now part of a recycled piece to be sent abroad.

When you visit the restaurant it’s great to see the selected vintage advertising that deftly crosses several decades. Motivated by the Neato Burrito experience I rummaged through the classified sections of magazines of the era. Happy with what I found, I surrounded the woman with a plethora of choices. Isn’t that what advertising is all about?

And here you have the final product, just waiting to be addressed, stamped and sent off to France. As they say, everything old is new again...so, I put the question to you: What’s your bag?

MATERIALS USED

• ARTISTCELLAR Halftone Dots Series, Traditional Japanese Series
• DECOART Sea Glass, Dazzling Champagne Gold
• CRAFTSMART Sea Mist Pearl
• PLAID Sunflower, Pure Orange, Metallic Bright Red, Rose, & Amethyst
• NATURAL SPONGE
• VINTAGE & CONTEMPORARY EPHEMERA, STANDARD MAIL, PAPER BAG, VINTAGE MAGAZINES

No Words...

My thoughts and prayer go out to the people of Paris.

What Is The Best Part Of Your Voyage?

The Adventures of Madeline

"In an old house in Paris
That was covered in vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines."

Do these opening lines hold as much affection for you as they do for me? Whenever I hear author and artist Ludwig Bemelmans' rhymes, I gladly enter his evocative world of Madeline.

I recently took part in a Tag Swap. "Share Your Favourite Book" was the theme.  I am a Bibliophile...with a capital B...and I'm not afraid to admit it! So this should have been a pretty easy decision. But which book to choose??!! Each title on my list was filled with special memories and meanings.

As my list of possible contenders grew, my eye kept coming back to one title...Madeline.

Madeline, the little girl who Bemelmans lovingly crafted his stories around, was self-sufficient, ingenious, and was fearless enough to travel into a part of the world I hoped I would someday discover on my own.

But more than the enchanting story lines, the exotic locations, and the character of Madeline herself, the series is a reminder of a cherished childhood. My Mom and I would make our daily trip to the Brooklyn Public Library and rush home to read the books together. And as we turned each page it was her constant reassurance that, with a little hard work, I could accomplish anything I wanted to in life. Like Madeline, I too could be self-sufficient, ingenious, and most of all, fearless.

The substrate for my Tag is illustration board. The background is a combination of various coloured Distress Inks. I scratched into the board to give it texture and applied rubber stamped swirls. Over the background is a selection of vintage images, Washi tape, handmade paper, a Bonne Maman label, and of course Ludwig Bemelmans' lovely illustration and text. I finished the Tag with stencilled acrylic paint.

But wherever my childhood dreams encouraged me to wander, Ludwig Bemelmans' words still ring true for me...

"The best part of a voyage

By plane,

By ship,

Or train

Is when the trip is over and you are

Home Again."

What is the best part of your Life Voyage? May you always find that delicious place you call Home.

Virtuous, Corrupt, or Something In-Between...

Marie Antoinette - Digital Collage

Is anything ever entirely virtuous or corrupt?

I viewed the Lunagirl Moonbeam Upcoming Challenge List with  a bit of apprehension. We were to take inspiration from Marie Antoinette. Oh no...Marie Antoinette! As I am anything but a Royalist, I feared this would truly be a "challenge" for me.

I knew of the clichés attached to her legacy: she was the teen-age Queen with a penchant for extravagant fashion and entertainment; of her flippant "Let them eat cake!" comment which according to sources she never did say; and the belief that she single-handedly caused the French Revolution culminating in her execution by her own subjects at the guillotine. Although she represented everything I found loathsome, I wanted to keep an open mind and began my investigation.

As I research her life, the caricature fell away and slowly I saw her as a flawed ruler cloistered in her world of wealth and privilege.  She saw her subjects simply as fictional characters in a performance.

The digital collage began with Lunagirl's portrait of Marie. My heart was inspired by the October 1789 Women's March on Versailles, and I knew I had to give them equal prominence in my work. The balance of the collage drew from digital ephemera in my collection.

As I completed the work I gained a new understanding of Marie. Looking at her life allowed me to view my own with a measure of objectively. How often do clichés replace facts making it easy to view a person or situation as wholly one thing or the other? As artists isn't it our duty to search for the truth? And more often than not, isn't the truth shades of both sides?

What Does Your Work Say About You?

The Can Can - ATC

I love France. I love the French. The country and their people intrigued me from the time I was a child. I guess you could say I was born a Francophile.

Before I learned to read, my Mom and I would walk to the Brooklyn Public Library six days a week. And there in the children's section, was my treasure trove. I would run to the books with the opening lines that set my imagination free... "In an old house in Paris, that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines... the smallest one was Madeline." How I adored Ludwig Bemelmans' Madeline series!

And that was just the beginning. I dreamed of France...of seeing for myself the beautiful streets described in Bemelmans' books. I wanted to experience the art, the culture, the sights, the smells, the food of that wonderful country.

All those feeling came rushing back to me when looking through my collection of ATCs. I found my homage to the dance I performed  at our "Christmas Around the World" school play. Ah...The Can-Can! At last! The play that year was my chance to experience Art Nouveau Paris and The Moulin Rouge. Visions of Lautrec danced in my mind!

It was years later when living in England that I made my pilgrimage France. With that first trip my feet were finally planted in the country of my childhood dreams. And everything was even better than I had hoped. The French could be "difficult", I was warned, especially in Paris. I had also heard that about my home city, New York. I knew it wasn't true about New York...could it be the same for the City of Light?

With my extremely basic hold on their lyrical language, I ventured into the streets of Paris. I found a small bistro off the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and did my best to order an omelette without the sausage. The waiter was patient and wonderfully helpful. And he responded to me in his equally basic English. What arrived at my table, honestly, was the greatest meal of my life. Imagine my surprise when the waiter said if I didn't like it the chef could make me something else!

This exchange set the tone of my first trip and for all the ones after. Regardless of national origin, we are all the same...sharing the same hopes, dreams, and desires. The French say it perfectly...joie de vivre...a philosophy of life.

I used a standard manila ATC card for the substrate. Text from travel brochures, and dictionary pages were added.  I found a vintage image of the dancers and finished the card with rubber stamped images and acrylic paint.

As artists we have the unique opportunity to bridge the gap we sometimes feel when taking a journey to somewhere new. Everyone, everywhere, wants to be treated with respect. We all want to feel that we do matter. Our work says more about us than words can ever convey. What does your work say about you?

Are You Resigned To A Life Of Quiet Desperation?

The Journey Within & Forever - Collage

I noticed for the first time today how much longer the days are becoming. The icy grip of Winter is moving behind us. Spring is teasing us...a little sunshine here, a little hint of a warm breeze there.  And I am grabbing all of it with both hands delighted with the change.

And change and the Seasons shape who we are and the life we live. A quote I often reflect upon is from Henry David Thoreau's Walden. It reads in part: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." I firmly believe it is true. Being a "grown-up", accepting responsibilities and the life it brings has a seductive way of siphoning any spontaneity and creativity we may have dragged kicking and screaming into our present. 

But there is an escape. Every time we remind ourselves to constantly look at things differently we rekindle the flame of creativity that dwells within us all. As Artists, it is our stock in trade. 

Travel is the genesis of my creativity. It allows me to break free and fulfill the dreams I dream. It is physical travel, or seeing another point of view through a film, or reading about an adventure. Travel opens the door to my bliss. It has, and will continue, to make me who I am. It is the nourishment my Art craves.

The substrate for the collage is a canvas panel. Art paper, magazine paper, handmade paper are woven together and finished with a French stamp.

Are you resigned to a life of quiet desperation? Are you willing to challenge your conventional way of thinking to live a life of great success and great failure? Are you willing to follow your soul, your Muse, to the place that reaffirms your unique and flawless self? I wish you a life fully lived.

What Would Julia Do?

Travelling through France by car, I will never forget the incredible, intoxicating scent surrounding me as I neared the South. I had heard and read about garrigue...the heady signature aroma of Provence, but to experience it was more than I ever imagined it could be.

When thinking about "food" as inspiration for art, my first thought was to the warm and delectable food and drink from my travels. And I can't help but connect these flavours to years of watching Julia Child effortlessly whip up her creations on her television programme.

In the collage, I used vintage papers and images. The map was one I collected when travelling in the South of France. The recipe was from an old copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The  substrate is canvas. It’s been a long time since I have worked on canvas. I forgot how pleasant an experience it can be!

The sights, the smells of Provence...what would Julia do?