LAW 18 THE BATHROOM COLLAGES

represent a very different way of collage making for me. There are at least two significant variations: #1 is of course the vertical nature of the piece and #2 is tied intimately to #1; i cannot work in my normal fashion, which is to lay out the composition pretty much in its entirety  prior to glueing everything down. These differences are at once liberating and disturbing. Liberating in that it is a faster, less deliberate way of working, in which  random coincidence plays a much more important part in the design process; disturbing for much the same reason, the process of building, watching a collage grow under my hands is for me, a very satisfying core element of the process.

As an aside, many years ago i took my first fibers class with Walt Nottingham. Walt's exceptional skill in the classroom and undeniable passion changed my life in a fundamental way. What he said in his introductory notes to that class in 1973 stays with me to this day; 'Some people are only interested in the end product, others, myself included , care far more for the process, the ritual of doing'. I am a process girl myself. Friends, colleagues and students have all remarked that i will find the slowest, most precisely obsessive way of making things. Its true. The repetitive nature of ritual making whether as a tapestry weaver, a papier mache sculptor, a book maker, or a collage artist soothes and satisfies the maker part of me. Collage, as well as satisfying the compulsive urge to make things provides an intellectual connection to history and culture. I, as do most collage artists, have a preference for a particular type of material. I use almost exclusively art books, art and culture paper media from the 50's through the 80's as well as 'how to' media from the same era. These bias' inform the work, referencing as they do the world i grew up in, as well as my passion for art. This is why, when you look at the 'Male and Female Gaze' panels the faces looking out at you may not be familiar, as they do not gaze out at you from contemporary supermarket tabloids or internet sites. Their history, the meaning of their presence, their importance is likely hidden from you, mainly by your own cultural references. If you care to look you may find them opening a window to my mind.

more later
Morgainne

LAW 17: ARTIFICATION

Of course; since the weather has turned cooler(cold according to Mungo) we are perforce, spending a lot more time inside the empire than out. These means among other things outdoors  that my exterior paint work is done until springtime. I had hoped i would have gotten more done but as usual life got in the way.

As if i did not have a sufficient number of 'irons in the fire', i have embarked on another new project. I decide i was going to collage the two walls of the bathroom that flank our composting toilet (which we love). The starboard (right, ya landlubber) side is the "Male Gaze", the port, "The Female Gaze"; complete with 'Dadaist' word game poetry. All of my images are generated  from art and culture magazines, spanning the mid 1950's to the mid 80's. The wall panels are 50"x 16", and as you could surmise, will not be finished any time soon. I envision an ongoing dialogue between the imagery and the headline poetry. If you have any favorite examples of the male or female gaze, or excellent headline poetry please feel free to share it with me.

More later,
Morgainne

** Oh ya: ARTICIFICATION, v. The art of esthetic embellishment of the physical environment by the hand of the artificer.

Kindly check out our other blogs, Floating Empire and Onboard Cooking.  You'll be glad you did.

CHANGING THE WAY YOU WORK

Changing the way you work can have a profound impact on what you make. It is a very cool; Mungo would claim cold! Saturday, following a similar Friday. I have been obsessed with the new drawings, to the point that my collage work haw slowed way down. I started a new collage in the Divided Mind series late Thursday and twiddled most of Friday away putting together a solid, but uninspiring  central image. This morning as i sat down to work i decided that this was not the collage i really wanted to make. I carefully set aside all but four of the original pieces and essentially started started over.

DIVIDED MIND #7, SHATTERED

My normal practice is to assemble the entire collage with out permanently fixing anything down: layering, trimming and marking before glueing. This of course means that i also have to disassemble the entire piece pretty much to put it all back together. Rather ironic huh? It does work well, allowing me to produce beautifully layered work which would be next to impossible to do if you were glueing as you go. I have a tendency to focus on what i perceive to be the central image and fill in the background later. Hmmm...

DIVIDED MIND #8

Today i made a deliberate choice to change the way i work: since i was starting with a brand new folder of unsorted, uncut images i decided to change the process as well. First i built the 'background' out of whatever caught my fancy; glueing down all the pieces where they touched the edge of the picture frame, building an interesting composition out of color and shape with little concern given to the narrative element. Next i laid the four saved pieces down, adjusted the positioning, added some scraps of shape and color and wow! the whole image came together so smoothly it was almost spooky. I should note that i wrote this, well, at least a month ago. We have been having issues with reliable connectivity on the boat, and, well, i forget that i had written this. My apologies. Please enjoy the images.

DIVIDED MIND #9

Later,
Morgainne

LAW 15, SOMETHING I NEVER THOUGHT OF

 SOMETHING I NEVER THOUGHT OF…

is of course the tidal variations we experience here in the Middle River. This was not an issue in Wisconsin on the river that i grew up on. Take today for an example: it is a beautiful, blue sky, blustery cool - okay cold day. It is the first sunny day since last Wednesday. Unfortunately it is one o’clock in the afternoon with low tide not due for another 40 minutes; that wind, is of course out of the north; which combined with low tide makes it impossible for me to get off the boat other than by swimming, which believe me, is not an option. Brrrr. Nope, it is no walkie for Morgaine and Mungo this afternoon. Drat! It would be a great day to be out at Marshy Point Nature Center, wandering the trails enjoying the spectacular beauty of the Chesapeake wetlands. So if i can't be out there on the trails here's a selection of  some recent  images from there.

Here is Mungo at the end of the Iron Point Trail

The view from the observation bridge that crosses the marsh. To the right is Marshy Point Nature Center, on the left about 200 feet from the bridge you enter Gunpowder River State Park.

No, Andy Goldsworthy was not with us, nor did we rake the leaves to create this image. It is hard to beat Mother Nature at the art game.

If you have taken Art Appreciation you should recognize the progenitor of this image.

Enjoy, more later

Morgainne

Wooden Signs

In the midst of preparation for the Labor Day party at the marina we call home, Tom (the owner) said he wanted new fun signs for the bathrooms.  We talked about it and came up with a couple of workable bad puns:  Buoys and Gulls.

After some research, Mungo found a font style we all liked;  he cut and distressed the wood planks, and after staining and sanding I transferred my designs onto the wood.  I painted everything, then added a second layer of painted distressing.  

Viola!  Here they are.  Anyone looking for a great hand made wooden sign?  Let me know. . . .

SLOW DAYS/RAINY DAYS

SLOW DAYS/RAINY DAYS

Rainy days. Slow days. Rainy days are always like snowy days, the sort of day that seems to last forever and is expressly designed to stay curled up in bed or in front of a fire. I’ve always wondered why that is: other than our inherent dislike of being wet and cold. Today is one of those days. It has been raining steadily since about 11 o’clock last night. I got up early this morning after losing the battle of bed vs bladder yet again. I made coffee, crawled back into bed and waited for the world around me to transform with the coming of the light. Except it’s raining and the clouds are low and although dawn comes, it comes with a peculiar yellow green light: the sort of light if  you are living in the Midwest sends you scurrying to the basement. So; in bed, coffee in one hand, a good 18th century historical novel in the other, i came across a description that resonated. It was a passage about sleep when the nights are longer than the days, about how our sleep patterns change when it is dark  longer than we normally sleep . It came to me that this morning seemed to last forever. Rainy days are slow days after all. The only clocks we have here on the Floating Empire are embedded in our cell phones and computer. I don’t look at the clock on the wall; it’s been years since i wore a watch. My awareness of time was distorted because the normal markers of sun position and light were missing. Oh well, whats the rush? It’s raining today.

More later,

Morgainne

Thinking About Art

THINKING ABOUT ART

Yesterday was our second grey, windy day in row. The temperature had cooled to a reasonable high in the mid 70’s, the humidity however, yep, stayed way up there; well you can’t have everything. Altogether a lovely transitional day between summer and autumn. The type of day seemingly designed for thoughtful introspection. After finally finishing my latest collage of the Divided Mind series, #5, “The Education of Piaget”,

i proceeded to do just that. I gathered together the work i have done this summer, tacked it up on all available wall surfaces in my studio (and beyond) with the intent of looking at what i ‘ve done since we moved on to the Floating Empire. I find a periodic art reality check is a good idea. Sometimes you see things you wouldn’t with out looking at everything altogether. Which is of course the whole idea behind portfolio reviews.

Well, so beyond a lot of detail work we’ve done on the boat and decorating the exterior wall of the front deck; a project i have yet to complete, not to mention lots of embroidery, i have continued to make collages, six of them to be exact, started a new drawing series (something i never had time for when i was gainfully employed), and i am playing around with the concept of creating functional sculpture, rather a la Deek of RelaxShacks.com. Yup, i can sure tell that i will be so bored now that i am retired. Right!

More later

Morgainne

PS. So this what the studio looks like after about six weeks of making art.