New Work: September 2021

Rendition
16" x 20" painted and found papers collage

The above piece was finished this last week and I am kind of excited. Well, as excited as I can possibly get I suppose. I decided to start using some different materials in addition to the painted papers that I normally use. In the past I have shied away from this idea, not knowing how to mix different papers that have different looks. But sometimes you want to do something and you just have to give it a try.

Spray paints have always interested me because they deliver consistent color. If you run out of one color you simply buy another can. Since I was a traditional landscape painter to begin with I have always mixed my own color as I painted. I never had premixed colors. That's great and all but makes it difficult to touch things up or to make many papers of the same color. Lots of advance planning which can really muddle me up. With the spray paints I have also started making my own stencils. You can buy stencils but I like the quirkiness of something home made. Plus, buying stencils can get expensive I suppose. I am also re looking at my Gelli plate as a possible tool to use during the winter when it is too cold to use the spray paint. And lastly, I am bringing in some purchased/found papers to see how those can be blended.

It's all a big conundrum for me. I don't want my work to look like a scrapbook (not that there is anything wrong with scrapbooking or stamping, I have done that too). Honestly I would like for the pieces to look polished and put together. It's a high mark I know. I have a friend online who is a professional artist and I am betting that he would tell me that it isn't the materials that matter but how you use them and put them together. It's your own sensibilities in other words that can make something the way it is, be that sophisticated or quirky or downright sloppy!

For the above piece I used the following materials: hand painted paper, pages from an old Cub Scouts manual, pre printed paper, a bit of a granola bar box, a Trader Joe's bag, an ACE Hardware bag, and my own spray painted papers. It's very interesting to me to have a pile of what looks like a bunch of crap and then to sift through that and make something that maybe isn't crap. You know? Gratifying.

Anyway. That's it. I hope to make some more pieces soon!
Libby
​libbyfife@ymail.com