A Nice Surprise this AM

I check Jane Davies blog Collage Journeys every day and when there is new content it is always a great start to the day!  Today was especially fun as she linked one of my pieces that I did in her 100 Drawings class.  This is definitely another step out of the basement!

100 Drawings Student Work

My piece is the third down from the top.  I posted the first four previously, here is the second set of four for the same lesson:

Some Recent Work

An exercise for Jane Davies' 100 Drawings class unexpectedly turned into finished work.  These are titled Construction Zone and were done in the last couple days.   9" x 12", acrylic and collage.

The basic assignment was to make a busy piece, and then quiet it down.  That's evidently a good way for me to work.  Still loving high bright clear colors (in the midst of a long cold winter!)

New Work

Here are a couple of finished pieces

Children of Light Children of Darkness

Never Forget

While I am not a big fan of explaining, since this is my blog I can talk about the imagery of Never Forget (as it is something that shows up repeatedly in my work). 

This piece is based on a map of Warsaw in the post WWII reconstruction, and especially important to me for its connection to my past.  In 1972 I went to Poland as part of my Junior year abroad.  We went to Auschwitz:  and it was there, standing next to a room piled high with  discarded suitcases, that I learned about Shoah.  It was a lovely autumn day, bright sun, and the low brick buildings of Auschwitz look like a school until you got inside and saw the rooms:  one of suitcases, one of glasses, one of human hair.

I grew up in a totally white bread farming town in rural Ohio, and my right wing mother would probably be considered a Holocaust denier in current terms so I have an excuse for not knowing until then.  It was a transformative experience, as was the next day's trip to Old Town Warsaw.  The most remarkable achievement--despite all the unspeakable destruction, they managed to restore their city to the way it was--every building, every architectural ornament, every street.  As inspiring as the previous day was depressing. 

Tokyo : Prior Work

Although I say that I never finish anything, I do finish some things.  I want to use this blog to inventory my past work, to have a catalogue and also to use it for further work/inspiration.

This piece is acrylic painting and collage on stretched and primed canvas.  It was done in two phases, an underlayer based on a map—done on Ridge so pre-2001—and the second layer the free paint and collage, which I believe was done on Forest so in the  2001-2004.  30” x 30”.  I do enjoy it—it is hanging in a prominent place in my family room.

 

Tokyo

Tokyo:  Detail