Create Life. Nothing More.

LIFE, NOTHING MORE. - Collage

Hard to believe the year is drawing to a close. Although a cliché, it does seem like only yesterday that I was hanging up a new calendar and wondering what the year would bring. From the astonishing to the zany, 2015 didn't disappoint.

And this year I was part of an incredibly creative group of women in a Journal exchange round-robin. Each person chose a theme. The interpretation was totally your own. I'd like to share my contribution to the monochromatic "Faces" journal.

While wondering which direction to take, I looked through a few magazines I had on my work table. And that's when my Muse directed me to a headline that seemed perfect: LIFE, NOTHING MORE. Everything fell into place when I found a photo of a group of people celebrating the end of World War II. Their faces held the hope of a new tomorrow. They were celebrating Life. In that moment. They were fully present. Mindful.

We hurry through our days...with Life happening around us. And as I tear each month off the calendar I wonder...where did the time go? Did I have a hand in creating my life? And did I make time for what really matters?

The substrate for the spread is heavy watercolour paper. I rubber stamped the background with a variety of stamps I had at hand.  I tore the vintage War photo into strips, and layered it between an article printed in the Art section of our local newspaper. The headline: "LIFE, NOTHING MORE" is also from a locally published magazine. My face doodle on a scrap of tracing paper and printed tissue paper completed the work.  

As the Holiday Season and the year draws to a close, this is the perfect time to stop. To be mindful. To create your Life. Nothing more.

Sometimes Reaching is Hard...But Reach We Must...

Big Life - Collage

There are times when life is a song. You know all the words, sing along, and even throw in a few improvised moments with wild abandon. And everything falls into place. Like magic. But we have all experienced times that are challenging. We not only forget the words, but at times the tune. And life seems to be getting smaller, restricted, limited. And this is where I am at the moment.

On the way home from a doctor's appointment I stopped at Starbucks for coffee. I reached into a bin of cup sleeves and pulled out one with the following message:

"Your life is big. Keep reaching." - Oprah Winfrey

Encouraging advice continues on the back: take a few moments to pause and reflect. Teavana and Oprah call it your own personal "steep time". Time to Steep Your Soul.

It was just what I needed to read. Synchronicity? I believe so. And it was enough to get me back to hearing a  bit of the tune...if not the words. I rifled through my box of ephemera. I found a vintage romance magazine. The image of the woman from a 1920's ad was just what I needed. Someone happy, effervescent...dare I say Bubbly? Someone clearly reaching and enjoying life.

The substrate for the collage is a canvas panel. The background is a page from the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper Want Ads circa 1972. Hershey Kiss wrappers, fine art images, tea dyed gauze, a dried petal from an iris plant, tea bags, printed and rubber stamped tissue paper, dictionary text. Acrylic paint sponged and pushed through purchased and hand cut stencils finish the collage.

So, although my life is still not filled with lyrics and a tune, I am hopeful. I know the big life is there. I just need to keep on reaching.

What Is Your Recipe For A Delicious Life?

Recipe For Two - ATC

The weather we are having today makes me want to cook some real "stick to your ribs" food. The rain is constant and streams down the gutters. The temperatures are relatively mild compared to what we have been experiencing. But still, there is a distinct chill to the air that makes you want something warm and comforting for dinner.

Looking through a cook book, I found inspiration not only for a meal, but for an Artist Trading Card as well.  Attached to a fragment of a recipe was a photo of two women. Irony, Synchronicity, or Muse...the recipe was "for two"...and begs the question: "What Is Guacamole?"

I couldn't help but think...isn't everything more intense, more joyful when shared? Problems don't seem quite as unconquerable. Our happiness blossoms. Creativity soars by exchanging new ideas.

The substrate for the ATC is illustration board. I copied the photo of the two women on to newsprint paper. I stained craft paper with tea. The recipe is from a newspaper printed in 1970. Washi tape, sewing pattern paper, and metallic gold acrylic paint complete the card.

Isn't the recipe for a happy life one that includes a mixture of generosity, compassion, and creativity?  We all have the basic ingredients within us. May you find that person who encourages you to explore a delicious life.

Oh, and in the end I decided on slow cooker lasagna. 

The Infinite Passion of Life...

"There Is No End." ATC

The closing of Summer is bittersweet. Days infused with an unrelenting heat slowly melt into clear, crisp nights and frost covered mornings that welcome the start of Autumn.

It is on early Autumn nights that my eyes gaze skyward. I always find something magical about the night. There are so many curiosities to discover. Night sets the unconscious free. To quote Vincent van Gogh: "I often think that the night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day." 

The serenity allows my Muse to speak to me unencumbered. I find the inspiration I need, and very often over look during the busy hours of the day.

I recently took part in an Artist Trading Card swap. The theme was "Circles".  Staring at the sky brought back memories of one of my favourite paintings, Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night. Seeing it for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan took my breath away. But it wasn't until I made my pilgrimage to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence that I fully understood the inspiration that motivated Vincent.

The substrate is a standard manila ATC card. I found a print of The Starry Night to use as the base of the work. I am a great lover of Chinese food, and with Chinese food comes fortune cookies. The messages in the cookies are a treasure for collage artists. I pulled one from a bag of saved fortunes. It read:

"There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life."

Perfect. Was it a lucky pick or did my Muse guide me?

I followed Vincent's mystical arcs and rolling curves with the fortune. A print of the astrological view of the skies was a perfect fit. I added handmade paper and stencilled circles from a template using metallic acrylic paint.

The ATC challenge came at the perfect time. The circle moves on. Seasons...Change...but it's the passion we bring to the circle that truly imparts meaning to this thing we call "Life".

Dare To Be Yourself...

Powerful Women - Collage

This is the second image for the Egyptian Moon Dance Company's Powerful Passionate Woman Retreat.

As it is a companion piece, I wanted to keep the over all feel the same. The quote by May Sarton inspired the work:

“We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.”

Dance is a beautiful thing. Egyptian Raqs Sharqi accentuates all that is intrinsically female.  It is wonderful to see the transformation when women dance. The Dance is a door to the soul, giving a glimpse of a woman's heart. Grace and elegance are rediscovered. Confidence soars. Dancers are empowered with a passion for living.

Again, the piece is a conventional collage finished as a digital file. I made handmade papers and scanned them. A few of the Victorian postcards are digital, a few I scanned from cards I have collected. I also scanned postage stamps, postage cancellations from envelopes in my collection, rubber stamped images, drawings, writings, tissue and art paper.

I approach a digital collage in the same way I do a conventional piece of work. I collect my bits and pieces. I clear my mind and let the Muse guide me. I like to work conventionally and digitally. Both methods are tools to get me to where I want to go within piece of work.

I feel in art and dance, as in life, we can only be our authentic selves when we dare ourselves to be ourselves. When we allow our Muse to help us to embrace life fervently, then we are truly powerful and alive.

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?

Collage: All Good Things....

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

   

I am usually a torn paper person. I love nothing more than to experiment with paper. I adore the way paper speaks with a language all its own with a sound and finished look that is unique.

As this collage uses a grid, I decided to step out of the world of organic edges and into the orderly neighbourhood of Squares and Rectangles. I decided to enhance the angular feel by cutting all of my papers. A bit more time consuming and different to my "tear and glue" method of collage, but I enjoyed it all the same. I wondered if my Muse was trying to teach me a lesson in patience.

The collage incorporates art papers, postage stamps, ticket stubs, wallpaper, newspaper, dictionary clippings, art tissue paper, and handmade papers. I enhanced some of the papers with inks and dyes.

For the most part, I used Matte Medium to adhere the papers to the 6" x 6" canvas substrate. I am not a great lover of the colour green. I did find some beautifully textured green paper. I covered it with Iridescent Medium. It then gave me the texture I wanted and toned down the green which I'm really not keen on. 

But now for a title. The first line of my horoscope was "Good Things Come To Those Who Wait". A message from my Muse? Perhaps.

ATC – Gather Ye Rosebuds…

Gather Ye Rosebuds

The concept for this Artist Trading Cards is a poem by Robert Herrick. It deals with the fleeting time we have on this earth and reads:

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.

The painting on the card is one of my favourites by John William Waterhouse. I love the intense colours and the style of composition resurrected by the Pre-Raphaelites. Using this inspiration and influences from the Impressionists, a Waterhouse painting is a joy to behold.

The poem and the painting have inspired me. Not to sound maudlin, but I feel so often we take each day as if we will live forever. Instead a healthier outlook would be to embrace the latin phrase, Carpe diem..seize the day..make each day extraordinary.

The ATC includes the use of art papers, pressed rose petals, glass bead and matte mediums. It is the first in a series.

ATC: “Wherever You Go…”

Wherever You Go

The Artist Trading Card is a great way to work. To quote an art retailer: “The biggest movement in art is very small.”

With Spring in the air at last, my Muse is tempting me with dreams leading me out of doors. With this in mind, my Artist Trading Card (ATC) has wanderlust as the main theme.

I used illustration board as the substrate and built up the layers using found objects: magazine pages, postage stamp, ephemera, and handmade paper. Mediums used were Mat, Iridescent, and Glass Beads.

The quote has always intrigued me. Spring is a great time to explore, to follow your Muse…both physically, mentally, and emotionally!