LAW 147: Taking a Turn to the Abstract

Hey hey hey! Happy Vernal Equinox. So far today it has rained, snowed, sleeted, rained, snowed.....
our boat, Tesla's Revenge is rocking back and forth in her slip in concert with a charming North Wind.

MODERN ARCHITECTURE

 Have i mentioned that i am throughly done with this winter? Magellan our first mate/cat is definitely as dis-amused as i am with the weather. The ice/snow build up on the docks gets in the way of his important off the boat cat stuff. SIGH.







3.16.18, 8 x 8.5" on book board




Okay enough about the weather and on to talking about art.

CIRCULAR REASON

Several of my latest collages have gone in a decidedly non-figurative direction; which i have been enjoying immensely. There seems to me that working in an abstract style gives a greater degree of freedom; primarily for play. Abstraction Expressionism allows me the opportunity for experimentation within the context of the constraint of design and composition decision making.






3.17.18, 11 x 7" on book board




Collage presents the same challenges compositionally as any of the fluid media; there is always the necessity to balance color, shape, line, style of mark making: along with all of these comes the challenge of how to successfully merge different types of imagery.  By this i mean the basic differences you find texturally between the reproductions of various media; the surface texture of a fashion photograph or advertisement is significantly different than that of a hard edged, or impressionist painting.

LIGHTING THE URBAN NIGHT

I could go on; it should be apparent that each medium has its own particular look and one of the many challenges faced by a collage artist is how to make these disparate elements work together.










3.18.18, 8.5 x 11", on tag board



I was paid a huge compliment the other day; a fellow art maker on one of the many Facebook art groups i am part of praised the way i had successfully merged collage and paint work. Since the piece was 100% hand cut collage i was understandably flattered.

INTERSECTION
3.19.18, 8.5" 11"

I think that these new collages are successful. I try to always use more than one element from any image that i cut and use. This ensures that i am using the same "palette", which provides continuity and a sense of wholeness that i find is sometimes lacking in some collage work.

LOOKING FOR THE CENTER
3.20.18, 13.5" dia.

What do yo think?

As always, more later
gail