Collages Success!

At last the collages for To The Power Of N have been published on Joel Lambeth's site. What a wonderful collection!  You must visit and see them all. I have two favourites....Allegra Newman (USA), and James Agnes Arlow(USA).  They are totally opposite in construction... one is lush and complex, the other simply sophisticated in design.  I'm honoured to be in such company.

...but there's more.....

 

FRACTURED

GET TREATMENT

The above collages were produced for Joel's individual challenge,  'Carry The One'.  Check the link for information.

The materials I had to work with were:

From these I had to produce a 5" x 7" collage on black mat board.  As always I did two...and still only used a fraction of the images provided. 

Fun, fun, fun!..and it's nearly my time to make collages for the annual International Collage Exchange.  Check out this link and perhaps you'll join in for the coming year.

RUSTIFICATION

On March 1st I posted about the 'rust'  trend in art-making. I featured the work of other artists and my first rust-dyeing efforts.  Now 'Paper Traders' is having a 'rust' challenge.  I LOVE a challenge and have used some rusty, and rust-dyed, bits to produce a mixed media painting.

RUST IS THE NEW BLACK

The painting is 30 x 30 cm on gallery-wrapped, wide edge, canvas.  I'm saving it for an exhibition as it is one of the few works that I'm actually quite satisfied with.  Perhaps that is because it is sooooo out of my usual comfort zone.

To The Power Of N - Collages

Metamorphosis



As you can see, I've been collaging again.  Most of you have heard about the Joel Lambeth annual collage challenge called To The Power of N.  I was chosen among twelve international collagists to participate.  We each received identical pieces of paper, with both text and images, and a piece of A4 black mat board.  Our brief is to produce a collage on the board from only the pieces provided.

The twelve pieces we were given are here, back and front:

Looks easy you say?  Not so....that is until I began. I moved papers around for ages looking for something that sparked an idea. Then I found two faces of similar size and thought...'Haha, these could each be part of the other'.  That made me think of the title "Metamorphosis"  which in turn made me think of caterpillars and butterflies.  Some of the other pieces of paper were then turned into origami butterflies.  Hooray... problem solved.

That wasn't enough for me...now I was having all sorts of ideas...and there were so many bits of paper left!...all I needed was a piece of mat board (my stash provided this). True to form I just HAD to do another (as if one wasn't enough).



I Come In Peace

Fun, fun, fun.....thanks Joel.... and I still have bits left.

He's having another challenge called "Carry The One" in which anyone can participate.  If you want to challenge your imagination, try it.

In The Picture

It's been over a week since I posted but I can truly say I've been spending most of it in the studio.  However it's time to play 'self-portraits' with Urban Muser.

The theme was 'New Perspective'...we were to try something new.  Well, I've taken photos of my hands, feet, reflections, etc....how about if I'm not quite there at all?

A Ghost Of My Former Self

Flattering to say the least.

Perhaps I could be watching myself in the mirror...two for the price of one...AND Photoshopped as well.

I've Got My Eye On ..... ME

The whole thing is a little narcissistic I agree, but also challenging.

Everyone has a different take on this theme.  To see them all go to the Urban Muser linky party.  Talk about creative!!

Photo Scavenger...the Aussie version

Here I am again, unable to resist doing Rinda's photo scavenger hunt  AGAIN.  My previous scavenger post (17th August) was on holidays in Europe and Singapore.  Now I'm determined to show more of Australia. Some of the photos were a little dreary so  just had to do a little 'tweaking' in Photoshop.

In order of Rinda's list, here goes....

1.  A pier:  This extraordinary pier is at Mandorah Island in Darwin.  We spent a lovely few hours lunching at the pub here.

2. A clothesline:  Of course, my very own clothesline, complete with washing, as viewed through a flannelette sheet...it's been winter here.

3. A border:  Will a lace border do?

 

4. A roadside stand selling something:  Well, this is more of a roadside 'sit' (hope it counts).  This guy is turning out spray paintings for sale in Brisbane.

5. A train:  Our friend, Bill, who is driving this train, built it himself in his 'shed' just around the corner from our house. He is part of a model train group that has fun days for children and various charities.

6. A historical Landmark:  The Endeavour River in Cooktown, where Captain James Cook first landed.  It is a great place to spend a few days of R & R, but a long way from anywhere.

7. A person playing a musical instrument:  My clever hubby playing the didgeridoo...or trying to.

8. A person dressed as an angel or a statue of an angel:  I made heaps of these angels, but only kept a few.  They come out each Christmas.

9.  A fountain:  This gorgeous fountain is the centrepiece of the memorial park in my hometown in NSW.

10.  A horse:  There is an abundance of horses in this area, and the local show (or 'fair' for those in the USA) is the place to see them.

11. A shadow:  Me again, in a local park.

12. A maze, labyrith, or trail:  This is the track through our local bush park.  We walk this way almost every morning.

13.  A library:  My front room is called, alternatively, the library or the gallery.  Take your pick.  It is the repository for my paintings on their way to or from exhibitions.

14.  A person playing with a ball:  I took this at a basketball game in my hometown. You can barely see the ball so I just had to show you where it is.

15. Someone dancing:  Friends Di and Jude really getting into 'Nutbush City Limits'.  You rock girls!

16.  A bride:  I just loved this wedding. Vicki and Brenden had a perfect day.

17. A church, chapel, cathedral, or mosque.  Outback churches are just soooo quaint.  That's Richard appearing on the right-hand side.

18.  A movie poster:  The Sapphires is an Aussie film showing everywhere now.  It's about an aboriginal group of girls who sang for the troops in Vietnam.

19. An outdoor stairway:  Does a stairway from the beach fit this one?

20. A swing, or hammock, hanging from a tree: A new neighbour conveniently just put one up.

21. A picture of you standing with something that symbolises your nation:  The flag fits the bill perfectly.

I guess that's a summary of my life.  Well, some of it anyway.

Many thanks to Rinda for the challenge...it's been fun.

When Pears Are Blue

That's is the alternative title for my latest COMA entry.

LEAN ON ME 
30 x 30 cm , acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

The theme was 'food', to celebrate the productivity of the region, and the local Food and Wine Festival.

I have always attributed human traits to pears.  They just have that shape.  A group of pears will often appear to interract with each other, rather like a group of people.  Sometimes they can be quite aggressive…but not these two.

During the pear season I like to place them in little groups, holding imagined conversations.  The only problem with this is that I have to break the groups up when I want to eat one.

I really love their shape and, when I was making pots, most of my work reflected that.

DOES MY BUM LOOK BIG IN THIS?
Raku fired ceramic

...AND I'M LEFT HOLDING THE BABY!
raku fired ceramic

I miss those pots, but I sold every one I made.  Unfortunately, age has caught up with me and, these days, I'm over carrying heavy bags of clay around.  I prefer to dabble in paint and paper. 

To see all the paintings in the COMA show visit Ken Munsie (our organiser and illustrious leader).  I thought mine looked good UNTIL I saw all the others.

LIBERATE YOUR ART !!!

Now that's a phrase that evokes a wild and wonderful winging of work worldwide, (Sorry, I couldn't resist), and so it is.

Kat Sloma has organised her annual exchange of postcards and I have been the fortunate recipent of the following:

Lori Moon - http://lorimoonstudio.blogspot.com.au/

 

Bo Mackison - http://www.seededearth.com/

 

Polly Johnson from Illinois - sorry, no link

 

Lynn Richards - http://alittlebluesky.blogspot.com.au/

 

Justine Gordon - http://justinegordon.blogspot.com.au

The sentiments expresed on the back were all inspiring too, particularly Lynn Richards'...'I just want to make beautiful things - even if no one cares'

I should have one from Kat also, but don't seem to.  Either I've misplaced it, or it hasn't arrived yet.  I'm so muddle-headed lately.  If it turns up I'll add it later.

Kat is a wonderful photographer and so her dedicated fans are mostly photographers too, but there are a few artists working in other media who have joined this project.

To see them visit http://kateyestudio.com/2012/09/lya-2012-blog-hop.html