Libby Fife Fine Art
  • Home
  • 2025 Collages-New Work
  • Collage Books
  • Past Works
    • 2024 Collages
    • 2023 Collages-At The Intersection
    • Paper Collages 2021/2022
    • Collage Paintings 2020
    • Collage Paintings 2019
    • Abstract Geometry 2018
    • collage paintings 2017
    • collage paintings 2016
  • About The Work/About Libby
  • Contact
  • Shows/Awards
  • Blog

New Work: Fly Away

2/26/2020

 
Picture
Fly Away
16" x 20"
painted acrylic papers on matboard
Several days ago I showed a photo on Instagram/FB of lots of scraps of painted paper on the floor. The above piece came out of those scraps of paper. What I have been doing for these last several pieces is using the remaining negative cutouts that are leftover from the positive shapes that I use in my work. I take those pieces and use them in my monoprints as "masks". They get overprinted with other paints and textures, often with interesting results. Rather than throw them away, I decided that they needed to be put to use. I really like working this way-no grid to follow, no perpendicular lines or right angles, and nothing to straighten up. It suits me well right now.

The title of the piece doesn't really have a specific meaning other than I feel some of the shapes look a little bird like. I am also reading a book about extinction and so I am thinking about the comings and goings of species through time.

OK, let me know. Thanks for reading.
Libby
​[email protected]

New Work: Round and Round

2/18/2020

 
Picture
Round and Round
16" x 20" 
painted paper collage on board
Well, I am super excited about the above piece. The shapes are the leftovers (negative cuttings) from the positive shapes that I use in my collages. I took those cuttings and used them as masks in my monoprinting (done on a gelatin plate aka Gelli plate). In that process, they get paint on them, often in layers. I think this layering of colors is very exciting and when I look at a pile of these pieces I don't know where I the final work will end up. I am guided though by what I think about design: color relationships, contrast, and color saturation. Additionally, I think about line and direction, variability and repetition. It's all governed by proportion for me and I try really hard to make the piece feel balanced. I love very much that I am not working on a "grid" these days but the piece, to me anyway, feels just as organized as if I was using that structure to place my shapes. I feel like I have come a long way here. I am drawing and cutting out my own organic shapes, derived from my own images and drawings. It's very much like acquiring a vocabulary of sorts, rather than just relying on a prescribed set of words in a tiny dictionary, if that makes sense.

Anyway, let me know. Thanks for reading.
Libby
​[email protected]

New Work: Odds and Ends

2/14/2020

 
Picture
Odds and Ends
12" x 16"
​painted paper collage on board
I thought the title was pretty apt. Literally, the piece above is made with the leftover cuttings (negative pieces) from previous works. Additionally, they have been used in my monoprints so they now have served two purposes. Not bad, huh?

This piece came about by accident. I had these leftover pieces sitting on a white board on the floor. They were just there to dry. I looked at them and thought that there was something that looked good. They looked almost like gestural marks. I have always shied away from gesture painting, believing that my tendency to straighten and tidy up wouldn't work with that particular style. I am very deliberate though I strive for work that doesn't look worked over. In any case, I thought why not? This is just line work and shapes and direction, color and value. I can do that right? And so I did. I like the outcome a lot and am working on getting another piece going. We will see.

The whole experience though led me to develop a work flow of sorts. It helps to think actively about how you work. I think there is less stress this way. You at least know how to start right? I tend to begin with these doodle drawings which lead to cut out shapes. The cut out shapes are put together in a collage piece (like what I normally do). Those leftover cuttings (the negative pieces) are then used in my monoprints as masks. They get paint on them. They are then used in a piece such as the one shown above. It's a kind of workflow and I like it.

I'll see what else comes of this idea. In the meantime, thanks for reading. Let me know.
Libby
​[email protected]
    Get new posts by email:
    Powered by follow.it

    Archives

    May 2025
    December 2024
    October 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    October 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    June 2014

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • 2025 Collages-New Work
  • Collage Books
  • Past Works
    • 2024 Collages
    • 2023 Collages-At The Intersection
    • Paper Collages 2021/2022
    • Collage Paintings 2020
    • Collage Paintings 2019
    • Abstract Geometry 2018
    • collage paintings 2017
    • collage paintings 2016
  • About The Work/About Libby
  • Contact
  • Shows/Awards
  • Blog