New Work: August 2021

What If? #1
​16" x 20" painted paper collage

What If? #2
​16" x 20" painted paper collage

I'd like to start with the photographs. It's literally been years since I had such ease in obtaining mostly clear images of my artwork. For a long time I used a small Cannon pocket camera that I really liked. The results were good too. Then my husband, who was trying to help, bought me a larger and fancier camera. Suffice to say that it was just a little too much for me. From what I can understand, many of my photos were just "noisy" or they basically let in too much light for the camera, creating fuzzy images. I never really got a handle on all of the variables. I started taking images with my i phone with mixed results. I just never had the right location or time of day it seems for the photos to come out well. They were better though than the fancy camera. Finally, I determined that the light from the windows was an issue. I found a spot in my home where the blind is closed but the ambient light in the room is still good and not direct. The photos above took me all of ten minutes to take, process, and post. This is some kind of miracle for me. Let us pray.

​Now, the artwork. I wrote last month about using larger "blocks" of colored shapes right at the very beginning and really, throughout most of the piece. It's very easy to start out with too small of a piece or pieces and before you know it, you are trying to cover the board with a bunch of little fiddley pieces. This results, in my opinion, in a very confusing and busy kind of collage. (I know this to be true because I have done it lots of times!) I liken this to selecting an outfit. More is not better and less can sometimes not be enough. If you have a stunningly simple cocktail dress for example, don't pile on the jewelry or confuse things with a loud scarf or muddy the waters with complicated shoes and stockings. Just let that dress shine! Art making is the same way. I learn this every time, by the way, and first learned the idea from my Elements of Style book. (Thank you Strunk and White!)

The upshot here is that I am pleased with these pieces. I like the idea of them. They are structures to me; puzzles I would say. I was a little stuck with the first piece though and was kind of flailing around with different solutions. nothing was working. (I call that process being in The Land of Bad Decisions.) I saw that polka dot paper out of the corner of my eye and thought, "Why not?" I have shied away from using preprinted paper in my work. It never seems to fit somehow. This time though I think it works.

I am pleased that I have two finished pieces this month. I had the second board all prepared so that when I finished the first piece, I could start right away on the second one. (This is sort of what I think chain smoking must be like.) Though I haven't really connected with any big "internal" ideas, I did some work this month and that feels good. So, on to next month I guess.

Alright, thanks for reading along, if you got this far. Let me know what you think!
Libby
​[email protected]
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