LAW 177: Great Minds, or Synchronicity

 Talk about collage weirdness; minutes after i post images of "Is This Not My Pre-Approved Life?" yesterday one of my contacts from a variety of collage boards commented on my piece. 

That isn't the weird part, the weird part was that she was just finishing a piece in which she had used two of the same images i had. 

The story unfolds something like this.

Untitled, by Diana Curbelo

Diana posted with my permission the two pieces side by side on a FB board that she created. She was interested, as explained below in exploring the emotional ground behind our mutual choices. Below you will find some of the commentary.

....help me elaborate on this synchronization of collagists’s emotional choices on images (?)

PLEASE NOTE THE POSITIONS OF THE PIECES HAVE BEEN REVERSED, DIANE IS L, MINE, R

Two minutes after Gail posted her collage (on the left) in another group, (I had just glued down mine, on the right), I saw it and gasped and wrote in her comments:

“Gail, I have 3 of the images you have used, two of which I actually used today for my Sunday Diary Collage, which I will post shortly!! So uncanny!!! It has to be the emotions we are feeling. What do you think????”

I was flabbergasted!! Lol

I was curious, excited to see what she had done, what images we had used, and how the completed work differed.

Diana went on to say....

I’ve had this happen before, but never at the exact same time. I think how we choose our images is so directly related to how we are feeling, and this weekend, well, those women are looking a bit worried....

I pointed out that there also structural similarities. We had both used an amputated human figure, and the compositional structure was very similar.

Like i said, great minds....

Stay tuned

and if you haven't voted yet, make sure that you do.

more later gail

LAW 176: Construction of a collage

 I was talking with Don today about the construction of this piece. How it came together, how i used the elements to create the composition.

From one of my ongoing collage journals, Eye to Eye,  6.5 x 10" spiral bound hardcover with black cardstock. 

IS THIS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL LIFE

I enjoy working ideas out in my collage journals. I try to not get too invested in them as finished projects, rather more like a handy way to develop new vocubulary.

Not to mention, working in as limited space as i do, it is far simpler to be able to close a notebook, than finding safe, dry storage for larger individual pieces.

Unlike my normal practice of coming to the collage table without preconceptions of what i was going to create, in this case i knew what i wanted to make. Triggered by the outside of a very official looking envelope, which was nothing more than yet another come on for life insurance. I saw that pre-approved bar code, and instantly decided i had to use it.

I just might have either been listening to or had the lyrics of the Talking Heads, "Once in a Lifetime" going through my head. Although i didn't know exactly what image i was going to use, i did know that i wanted a sort of as above, as below sort of thing going on.

This collage turned into a technical challenge when i had to make the decision to use one side of a page instead of the other. 

As an aside, at the very beginning of my collage "career" i decided to not copy nor print images. This was for two basic reasons, i did not want to let the images get too precious; and i felt that copying and printing multiples of images lessened what i saw as a primary thrust of collage, the spontaneity of random juxtaposition in composition.

Of course this means that i am often put into the position of sacrificing one image to use the other. Such a dilemma.

Another technical challenge here: how to use an element that is only half of a recognizable image, in particular the image of the woman's legs. Blessed serendipity came into play when i realized that i could indeed eat my cake and have it too. That the image that i decided to sacrifice was intact enough that i could use it as well.

Structurally i felt that the two background pieces of numbers and computer imagery weren't strong enough, or didn't provide enought contrast to convey my intention. Amazingly the reverse of the off cut from between her legs turned out to fit perfectly in that problematic negative space.

Tying the whole piece together is the photo of a group of young women from circa 1930's Germany. So, two different media sources using the metaphor of swimming in advertising to sell us something other than what we have.

Keep on making

more later,

gail

Law 172?: Here We Go Again

 No, I promised myself, no apologies, just start right in; just as if you never left. So.....

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled...

3.22.2020

I do find other social media platforms useful, if for no other reason than the wide net that is cast with each. I do feel limited with what i can say, what i can explore in greater depth, certainly in the number of images i can post in any on any one of them. So, here i am, full circle, back to 

Life Art Water, where i started.

They Were Told, 3.23.2020

After a couple of years of full on exploration of abstraction in collage, i have come back to figurative, narrative work. 2020 has been such a mind blowing march of unbelievable events that i just couldn't not add to the narrative.

 

Dog Knows Best, 3.25.2020

The pieces of work i am show casing are an offshoot of yet another of my extended book projects, "Long Strange Trip", which also utilises map pages from a 1954 Hammond World Atlas.

He Had Been Warned, 3.31.2020

These pieces are all stand alone pieces that needed to exist in a larger format than the 5 x 7" space provided in "Long Strange Trip".

He Waited to Long to Tell Her

4.26.2020

They are all available for purchase and easily matted and framed. They are all on map pages from a 1954 Hammond World Atlas, and are 10.25 x 14".

Contrary to Appearances, 4.28.2020

Waiting for the Intergalatic Bus, 5.04.202

I have to admit, that really, other than(like it's a little thing) the almost complete lack of social interaction the pandemic hasn't radically changed my daily routine.  

And Then In July, 7.03.2020

This is the only piece in this series that is not on a map page. It is on bookboard and is 10.75 x 12.5".

Shortly after this the images become more topical, more driven by a socio/political influence.

And When You Get Back Son, 10.06.2020

And Then They Started to Ask, 10.10.20

If you look at the dates these works span you might be led to believe that i have only been working sporidically. Not at all true. In reality the few days that i didn't make art we were usually sailing, which rather gets in the way of art making. I switch back and forth from several different collage projects, depending on mood. The days when i just can't bring myself to confront the world as it currently is i will bury myself in the safe calm of stitching on a current embroidery project.

She Remembered When They Could, 10.14.2020

He Never Did Understand, 10.16.2020

Thanks for looking, 

more later

gail

LAW 145: And They Called the Wind.....

Well today's creativity will be limited to the sorts of things that can be done without sharp, pointy, and cutty things. We are experiencing some of the effects stemming from whatever this northeaster is called. The wind has been rocking our boat strongly since about one this morning, and it is supposed to peak about three this afternoon. Oh joy!

I will take the opportunity given to update you all on what's happening in my studio here on Tesla's Revenge.

BUY, BUY,  2.23.18, 5.5 x &.25"

I have several projects i have been working on through out this winter, some of which are close to complete. I've been doing a lot of drawing and an abstract collaged altered book project as well.

DO NOT SPEAK,  2.25.18, 8.5.X 11"

Narrative/surreal collage is a special favorite of mine, and after the Parkland shooting i felt compelled to pick it back up again. These are unrelated(to each other) pieces in a variety of smaller sizes. I am not planning on showcasing them in book format.

YOU,  2.26.18, 8 x 8"

My intention is a daily practice; quick reactions to my emotional/mental state that require fluid i decision making. In other words, yet another attempt on my part to stop my obsessive search through every piece of collage material i have here on the boat for that "just right" element.

ANOTHER DIVIDED MIND, 2.27.18, 5.5 X 8"

I have to learn to trust my design choices, to not drag out the process until even i get tired of it.

So here are the first five; i did back myself into a corner with the 2.28.18 piece, as yet unfinished; i know what type of image i need to complete it, i just don't own it. So it is waiting.

NOT TONIGHT...,  3.1.18, 5.5 x 7.25"

There will be more later.
gail