 The Not So Peaceful Garden Painted Paper Collage 16" x 20" Original post appeared 6/23/19 on The Quilted Craftsman The title of the above piece comes yet again from something that I read in my book on evolution (Carl Zimmer). In the book, the author references a quote made by Darwin to the effect that while we love to hear the birds singing happily in the garden and their music signifies the presence of life, we must also remember that the very life we hear is also bringing death to the worms and the insects being eaten by those birds. I thought those two ideas held together simultaneously merited some real thinking on my part. That's an important idea not to be missed. I admit that though that while I am making these pieces, I have nothing much in mind to start with. For example, I didn't set out to make a piece of art about life and death occurring simultaneously. It is just what I happened to think about as I was working away. What actually got me going was another idea from awhile back and that can be attributed to a Stephen King short story called Chattery Teeth. Based on that reading, I had made a little paper sketch of a pair of orange "chattery teeth" and I liked that so much that I really wanted to use the imagery at some point. Well, this piece became that point! I knew too that I wanted to use some flower images. Earlier in the week I had seen some wallflowers while on a hike. I loved their four petal formation and bright orange color. (Plus, who doesn't love a wallflower?) So, on to the piece they went. The two blue shapes that sort of resemble a bird and fish were "accidental" in that I had cut several shapes earlier in the month and these two shapes evolved from those other shapes. Nothing was planned, in other words. It just evolved! (How fitting, no?) Admittedly, at some point, I felt that a kind of "garden" theme was emerging. Not a peaceful, relaxing garden but a garden with a somewhat sinister subtext. I like that idea a lot (too much time with Stephen King) but if I had set out to do that at the beginning this piece would never have been made. I mean to say that I am not sure if I could make a second or third piece and make this a series. I couldn't be deliberate. It's likely though that in the future this idea will crop up again. I don't think ideas or creative impulses really ever go anywhere. We always circle back to them eventually in one way or another. Alright, I really hope everyone has had a productive week, creatively or otherwise. Thanks for reading and commenting. Or emailing. Emailing works just fine:) Thanks, Libby  Sometimes change is good. The Blogger platform has served me well now for nearly 10 years. That's a long time. I am ready though to transition to something new. I have decided to switch things over to my website with Weebly. Any posts that I make regarding my work or process will now appear here rather than on my other blog, The Quilted Craftsman. My reasoning for the change is that all of my artwork, my artist statement and history of the shows I have done as well as the small awards I have won are actually all right here on my artist website. Instead of being at my old blog and looking for links to find my work or searching for other info., it can now be found right here in one fell swoop. Additionally, Weebly, my site host, does offer commerce functions should I ever decide to do that. At some point I may try and transfer some of the content from Blogger over to Weebly, posts that I think are important such as the ones pertaining to my finished pieces. Those posts that talk about the "why" and "how" of my art have been some of the most popular and are posts that I think are worth saving here. So, look for those in the upcoming weeks and months ahead.
Do I know if this will work well for me? I don't. Am I going to try it anyway? Yes, I am. In the meantime, I have been busy working away this week. The above shot shows me in the studio (there's the proof!) gessoing a new board in preparation for making new work. A few months ago I decided to try making my collages on matboard rather than watercolor paper. The watercolor paper ripped while drying one too many times and I had had it with that nonsense. Sometimes being frustrated can yield good results! I gessoed and painted some matboard and with a little trial and error, it has proven to be a good substrate for what I do. And inexpensive too! And in addition to the above, I have been painting more papers for use in my collages. As I run out I make a stack of the leftover pieces and paint new colors from those remnants. I honestly never paint the same color twice though. There is always a slight variation! Alright, I hope you will follow along with me in this new place. And I hope it will work! Commenting is turned off so if you would like to contact me please send me an email: libbyfife@ymail.com Thanks, Libby |
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