Thursday, 31 July 2014

ART Poster

One from the late 90's or maybe even earlier. Oh, now I see the date 1989 -99. Took me a while to finish for some reason!

friendship


As I mentioned before, my husband and I will soon be picking up a brother-sister pair of oriental shorthair kittens from our breeder. This collage will be a gift for the woman who breeds these lively, social, charming cats.

Oriental shorthairs are close relatives of Siamese, and are sometimes described as the "greyhounds of the cat breeds": they are long and tall and skinny with long faces and big ears. As for the spiral tails, well, spirals can mean many things, but in the nature religion I practice they stand for regeneration and renewal. I decided on green and blue for the colors because one of my favorite images of summertime is green conifers over a beautiful blue lake.

Night Sea

Just back from a road trip to the sea (and the river and the volcano...), and here is what we saw:


New Theme: FREE FOR ALL!

It is the last day of the month and the last theme pick (for me).  Having returned, earlier this week, from a vacation to The Sun Valley area of Idaho my brain is awash with beautiful mountains, cloudless big blue skies, and the color of baked potatoes thanks to the foothills in the valley we were staying in.  I can't think of anything else--which includes a creative theme!  So...have fun making a collage about anything or posting one from the archives.

Wednesday, 30 July 2014

Tuesday, 29 July 2014

Crocodile Cathedral

Why are crocodiles kinda cute?  At any rate the black and white photograph is the famous Cathedral in Agde France.

SPACE - Collage

Sorry this has taken so long but it's been a bit hot here and also we've have been distracted by the Tatton Flower Show which I helped with despite the heat! Thankfully cooler today so managed this quick one. I promise to do better soon. Any takers for the job of "theme chooser" for August?

Thursday, 24 July 2014

THEME: Two of My Favorite Words

I think this can be fun.

For instance if you love the words "toast" and "aardvark," think of the possibilities!

Monday, 21 July 2014

In The Future The Past ...


This one is a bit different as a collage... I made poetry pictures look-a-likes of a few drawings I made of some old family photos. These are three of my sisters when they were young.
A different look of the body image.


Sunday, 20 July 2014

Proof That Since the Dawn of Time Women Wanted to Have a Barbie Doll Figure

Okay so I put my face on the Barbie*.  I cannot remember where I found the carved piece which has been cut out for some time, but it certainly is an antiquity.  The background is a desert landscape from a Time Life book about The Earth.

* I was anorexic in my 20s.  I totally understand distorted body image.

closed up in a box, yet failing to hide


This one is definitely personal. I had what one might call a difficult childhood. The first thing I thought of with regard to body image is the need for protection. Hence a frame: a hand-crafted Mexican frame in honor of my growing up in Texas. The spiky points are also fitting.

Next I thought of a box, wanting a box I could crawl into and hide.  I almost made a collage of just a closed metal box inside of that frame.

But the problem was, I couldn't hide, no matter how hard I tried.

Saturday, 19 July 2014

Thursday, 17 July 2014

Amber Could Not Cope With the Thousands of Conflicting Body Image Messages She Received from Various Sources Across America

Background of USA map made of fabric squares from an issue of Art Direction magazine, circa 1969.  Lovely 'Amber' from "Two Models" 1930, oil on canvas by William M. Paxton (1869-1941).  I used a piece from my book entitled "Swatches" to modestly cover the poor confused girl!

NEW THEME of THE WEEK: Body Image

Body image is how you see yourself when you look in the mirror or when you picture yourself in your mind.

Have fun with this one!

Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Into the Woods


Been out of town, it's a pleasure to check back in and find all these wonderful pieces for this excellent theme! The week's almost over, so I'm sneaking in one from my archives...

Ariel's Song in The Deep Woods

I've been waiting to use an image I picked up at a flea market -- namely Ariel from "The Tempest" swooping down on a bat.

Ariel's Song

Where the bee sucks, there suck I;
In a cowslip's bell I lie;
There I crouch when owl's do cry.
On the bat's back I do fly
After summer merrlly.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

Along with Ariel is a butterfly from a children's book, a fancy fellow from ?, a mushroom from the stash of a deceased illustrator (her niece was kind enough to give me a good amount of vintage images the artist used for reference) and some lovely "Four O'Clocks" (the colorful flowers in the foreground) cut from an old garden catalog.  All pasted down on an end paper from American Heritage New Illustrated History of the United States, Volume 2: Colonial America.

Don't Go Down In The Woods Today...

This was a bit too large for the scanner so had to take a dodgy photo - hence the strange colour and refections!

Thursday, 10 July 2014

THEME: "The Enchanted Forest"

Looking out my window this morning, I was taken by the green space around my home that has become quite jungle-like thanks to all the rainfall we've received this year.  I settled in with morning coffee and a favorite book to pick up for garden inspiration and my eyes lighted on the words "the enchanted forest"--voila!

(By the way the book is entitled "Rhapsody in Green: The Garden Wit and Wisdom of Beverley Nichols.")

Dora the Explorer and Her Eagle Named Edgar

All grown up and rid of her monkey pal Boots, Dora and Edgar pose for a photo and miss seeing the Loch Ness Monster.

That real photo of "Dora" was purchased in a lot of antique images of actresses.  I have no idea who the beauty was!   Also starring in the role of The Loch Ness monster is a "Lufengosaurus" one of the oldest Chinese dinosaurs.

Birds of all Plumage


I've been looking after my granddaughters this week, so didn't have much time to create something new.
This is one from my archives, some very strange birds ;))

Sunday, 6 July 2014

"Look At The Birdie"

Collage made for a postcard competition 2009.  Real photos affixed to a photographic print (plate from an antique book).  I couldn't scan the image as I affixed the girl and baby to the plate with 1/4" foam tape to give the piece dimension.  This is an iPhone photo of the piece.

Saturday, 5 July 2014

Exotic Bird


Greetings from vacation.

Friday, 4 July 2014

Madonna Of The Birds

The "Madonna" is from a Seventeen Magazine advertisement circa 1960s.  Birds from children's books.  Background "Canal En Champagne" from a vintage picture book about France.

gevleugeld (winged)



i am so busy so here's one from my archives

ovoids with kookaburra


I'm about to go out of town (and off the net) for a short vacation from the huge house-decluttering project. So I'm posting a couple from the archives. (The trick, for me, is to find collages in my archives that haven't already been posted here.)

Background is blue acrylic paint. Spotted mammal is a malagasy fanaloka—a sort of raccoon-like carnivore native to the evolutionarily isolated island of Madagascar. Bird is an Australian laughing kookaburra, a type of kingfisher.

beethoven was a sunday painter


With apologies to Andy Warhol, from whom I lifted both Beethoven & the little dog. The beauty is British actress Jean Simmons (Guys and Dolls, Elmer Gantry, Spartacus). I don't know what kind of bird that's supposed to be a statue of, but it looks kinda like a crow.

NEW THEME! "Watch the Birdie"

This week your collage must include at least one of our "feathered friends."

Have FUN!

Wednesday, 2 July 2014

Trout Fishing In America

An altered postcard of Richard Brautigan (1935-1984).  I have always been a #1 fan of Mr. Brautigan's work.  Learn more about him:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/richard-brautigan

Note:  our scanner is currently not hooked up and I had to photograph the postcard with my iPhone.  Background is the cherry wood mantel in our dining room.

Postcard Duo

Collaged postcards from the archive.

Tuesday, 1 July 2014