Where Will Your "World Tour" Take You?

A Nile Journey - Digital Collage

Although February is so cold and blustery here in the Eastern United States, there is a convivial, scarlet heart that beats the rhythm of love in this dead of Winter month.

With this in mind, Lunagirl Moonbeam's next challenge is...RED. Looking through her incredible collection of images my eye kept coming back to a woman pensively looking over her shoulder. What could she be looking for...or thinking about?

I then spotted the beautiful frame in Lunagirl's collection. It was just what I was looking for...gold, crimson, and beautiful.

As I travelled to the world of the "Lady in Red" the collage quickly fell into place. I could imagine her "World Tour", when  voyaging was a real adventure. With her felucca sailing away, there she is, having her photo taken as she disembarked on the banks of the Nile. And the memento of the occasion, safely enclosed in the frame, is her gift to her beloved.

From my own digital ephemera collection I started the piece with a nebula background...a fitting base for the star-crossed lovers. I added the postcard and stamp, because a "World Tour" just isn't the same without correspondence to mark the journey. I finished the piece with a romantic full red rose.

Today - February 5th, fellow Collage Artists, is the anniversary of the birth of Dada. In 1916 the Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich opened to a standing room only crowd. Do you think the Cabaret Voltaire would be our Lady's next port of call?

As we all take our own "World Tour", where will it lead you and who will join you on your voyage?

Love Is A Rebellious Bird!

 Love Is A Rebellious Bird - Collage

February is a month of hearts and flowers, of Cupid and his bow, of love in the air, and when all things Romantic merge on February 14th.

And when I think of Romance, music fills my soul. Opera intrigues me. The stories are timeless. The music inspiring. I wanted to know more. But which Opera? It was then my Muse directed me towards Georges Bizet's "Carmen". It had everything I was looking for to warm our snowy Pennsylvania February.

First performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1875, "Carmen" is a story of love, jealousy, intrigue, and murder. The Habanera certainly intrigued me. In it Carmen sings of love as a rebellious bird. She sings of freedom and being, above all, true to herself. She is fearless and would rather face death than compromise her emotions.

The debate over the representation of Carmen continues. Was she a femme fatale or a strong woman ahead of her time? Should she be considered heroic for being the master of her heart and body at a time when this was a radical notion? But is her intelligence and feminist persona compromised by her blind devotion to fatalism and superstition? When reading her fortune in a spread of cards, Carmen believes her fate is set when she sees "Diamonds and Spades", the cards of death.

One thing is certain, Carmen is a complex character who fascinates us to this day. She is a challenge and a joy to any mezzo-soprano who has the opportunity to play her.

The collage is a diptych using two gallery wrapped canvases. Using this type of canvas enabled me to continue the images on all sides. I set the background with Distress Inks and acrylic paint. The image at the bottom of the canvas, attached using the image transfer method, is from an antique book on the history of War. A vintage opera poster supplied my Carmen. I cut my own diamond stencil to use with metallic acrylic paint. I finished the collage using art papers, metallic paint, and ephemera.

Although Carmen came to a disastrous end, may you find a Valentine who cherishes you for your unique and fearless self.

Don't Be Tamed!

Born To Be Wild - Collage

Colour surrounds us. It defines our world in so many ways. It enhances the environment in which we surround ourselves...from the way we decorate our homes to the clothes we wear...and even the colour of our hair! How often do we, without even thinking about it, use colour in our speech? We could be a true blue friend, or get the green light on a project, or still be caught in a grey area. We react instantaneously. We love or hate certain colours. I like the quote by Murasaki Shikibu: "Beauty without colour seems somehow to belong to another world."  How fortunate we are to live in a world that embraces colour!

The remains of Autumn in Pennsylvania today are quietly covered in snow. It is on days like today that I appreciate colour even more. The deep browns and blacks of the limbs of the trees and the odd yellow or orange leaf peeking out from the snow, the vibrant reds and blues of the cardinals and blue jays as they search for the bird seed I have out for them all remind me of the romance we have with colour.

Which leads me to my collage. I came across a quote by the celebrated dancer Isadora Duncan: "You were wild once, don't let them tame you." Considered a Muse, she inspired those around her to step outside the conventional social mores of the day. You could say she led a colourful life on and off the stage.

The photo of the high kicking women from my vintage photo collection intrigued me. Where were they? I wonder what brought them to such wild abandon! What a perfect way to compliment the quote. Exploring the symbolism of colour the reds, pinks, and golds...the high energy pallet complimented with colour on the wing...called to me.

The substrate is a canvas panel. I stencilled and rubber stamped the background with various shades of acrylic paint and Distress Inks. The high kicking women, type from an old dictionary, and butterflies completed the work.

Colour is a Muse, always there to guide us. We can follow her and live a life filled with all spectrum of colour if we never tame our authentic Dreams.