Deconstructed Reconstituted 3-Layer Buddha (With a Cherry on Top)

Ingredients: image transfer, vintage book pages, metallic paper, map fragment, magazine cut-outs, acrylic ink, watercolor pencils, Koh-i-noor pens.  6" x 4"

This was another of the pieces I was working on for the postcard show.  I feel like I should explain the long and somewhat bizarre title of this piece, in case you're wondering.  (And who wouldn't, right?)  So, here's the story:

1. I started by gluing down a bunch of old book pages and stuff, then did the image transfer of the Buddha grid,  using acrylic gel medium.  It worked quite well.

2. I proceeded to paint it and color it and glue more stuff on around it. 

3. After a while, it got all muddy and floopy-looking, so I covered it with more book pages and did the transfer again.  Again, the transfer came out perfectly.

4. I then commenced to mess it up once more, chiefly by way of adding some metallic crayon stuff that I didn't like.  (You never know until you try it, right?)

5. I had one more copy of the Buddha grid, so I thought: why not?  Yep, you guessed it; I covered it with some more vintage book pages, and did the transfer ONE MORE TIME- hence, the "3-layer" part of the title.  This time, the transfer didn't go as well, mostly due to the crappy metallic crayon, which the transfer didn't want to stick to.  So, I thought:

6. It looks like doo-doo, so what's to lose?  I started pulling the layers apart, just to see what happened.  Of course, most of it came apart in pieces.  This is where the "deconstructed" part of the title comes in.

7. But, I had most of the top layer, and a few other pieces that were interesting, so I tried putting them back together to form a semi-complete image, fitting them together like a puzzle.  I felt almost like an archeologist (which I have always wanted to be), piecing together fragments of some broken, long-buried artifact.  Okay, you can see how pathetic my life really is, but I was having fun!  I'm sure "reconstituted" isn't what they actually call it, either; I think that's orange juice, or powdered milk.  Whatever.

8. At this point, I started to like it more, and not just because I got to pretend to be an archeologist.  I now had a sort of pieced-together Buddha made from acrylic gel, kind of a very bumpy and stretchy decal. 

9.  I put some more stuff on the background, and then glued it down, glued on some more stuff, and- Voila!

I'm pretty sure the "cherry on top" is self-explanatory.

But Still... (too late)

But Still (1891)
ingredients: map fragment, vintage ledger pages, vintage book pages, papyrus, metallic joss paper, decorative paper, ink, watercolor, found objects, brass wire


Well, long story short, I was working on some 4 x 6 collages with the intent to enter one of them in the National Collage Society's Postcard Show.  However, I misread the prospectus, and thinking that the arrival deadline was a postmark deadline, I missed it!  (Aaaarrrrgh....)  Let this be a warning to you, people- read the prospectus carefully!

So anyway, here's the first one I made; let me know what you think.  (Sorry, the photo is kind of wonky- the angel's body is metallic, but you can't tell here.)

p.s.  I'm still waiting for that full time secretary to show up; any takers yet?

A Little Color

It could be said that I'm addicted to color, and I would freely admit it.  I don't know about where you live, but here, it's been, as George would say, (little darlin') "a long, cold lonely winter".  I'm ready for Spring, I'm tired of gray and brown, so I say here comes the color!

Marketing researchers have spent considerable amounts of money trying to figure out the psychological effects of colors.  Of course, it's not an exact science, because each person has his/her own unique associations with colors, resulting from personal experience.  But there are some associations that tend to hold true for most people.  See if you agree.


WHITE

• purity
• innocence
• cleanliness
• sense of space
• neutrality
• mourning (in some cultures/societies)

GRAY

• neutral
• timeless
• practical

 BLACK

• authority
• power
• strength
• evil
• intelligence
• thinning / slimming
• death or mourning

RED

• love
• romance
• gentle
• warmth
• comfort
• energy
• excitement
• intensity
• life
• blood

ORANGE

• happy
• energetic
• excitement
• enthusiasm
• warmth
• wealth prosperity
• sophistication
• change
• stimulation

YELLOW

• happiness
• laughter
• cheery
• warmth
• optimism
• hunger
• intensity
• frustration
• anger
• attention-getting

GREEN

• natural
• cool
• growth
• money
• health
• envy
• tranquility
• harmony
• calmness
• fertility

BLUE

• calmness
• serenity
• cold
• uncaring
• wisdom
• loyalty
• truth
• focused
• un-appetizing

PURPLE

• royalty
• wealth
• sophistication
• wisdom
• exotic
• spiritual
• prosperity
• respect
• mystery

PINK

• romance
• love
• gentle
• calming
• agitation

BROWN

• reliability
• stability
• friendship
• sadness
• warmth
• comfort
• security
• natural
• organic
• mourning (in some cultures/societies)

Some of the associations seem a little odd, but for the most part, they make sense to me.  I got the color association information from a cool art therapy website; you can read more about it here.

Now that we've considered each color separately, lets mix them all together, shall we? 

These incredible large-scale installations by Mexican fiber artist Gabriel Dawe certainly encompass the entire color spectrum. 

Plexus 3 by Gabriel Dawe

Plexus 3

Plexus 2 by Gabriel Dawe

Plexus 4 by Gabriel Dawe

To see more of Gabriel's work, visit his website, here.

And now, for the final color overdose; check out this video of artist Holton Rower at work!  (Turn up the sound, too; the music is great.)

I find this video mesmerizing!  Okay, maybe I am easily amused, but I hope you enjoy it as well.  I also hope you enjoyed my little color tour!  Thanks to my son, Colin Reusch, for sending me the links to these two artists.

Silly Questions

Some things to ponder...

 

 If the supermoon was so super, why couldn't I get a super photo of it?

 

1. If we can't walk on water, what are the chances we can sit on it?

2. Is it a park, a pool, or a river?

How come no one says, "What, what, goose butt..."?  

Do these numbers seem upside-down to you?  Shouldn't 45 be higher than 15?

If my daughter is engaged, does that make me older than God, or just older than dirt?

Raven and Crane- part 2

As Raven spread his inky wings to fly, darkness spilled out from beneath them, filling the emptiness with all the pieces of the mysterious Night.  The beautiful Moon sailed through the sky, and the darkness was dotted with countless swirling stars.  The Moon's glowing face spun slowly out of hiding until her full roundness was revealed, and then back again.

See part 1 here.

- This story is my own, and does not intentionally draw from any existing story or myth. The style and inspiration come from the traditional creation myths of many cultures, including Celtic and Native American.

Re-Vision

I don't usually do collages that don't contain some of my own drawing or monotype work, but I thought I'd give it a try.  Why I thought that, I don't really know, since I'm generally quite terrible at this type of work.  In my last post, I included a collage I had made by combining different papers.  In keeping with the theme of clouds and rain, my intention was for the piece to express that mood, so I wanted to do something a bit simpler, softer, and more monochromatic than my usual riot of intense color and contrast.  (Okay, stop laughing; it is too possible!) The result was less than satisfactory; in fact, it was boring.

As I sat looking at this piece and pondering what might be done to improve its awfulness, I though perhaps I had been over-confident; maybe I should have started small.  "Go big or go home" is not always a sound philosophy.  So, I began cutting it into smaller pieces, which seemed at once to be an obvious improvement.  I worked on each one individually, while still keeping them similar enough to work as a series.

Symphony of the Rain (Overture)  4.75" x 5.75"

Symphony of the Rain (First Movement)  6.25" x 6"

Symphony of the Rain (Second Movement)  5" x 5"

Symphony of the Rain (Third Movement)  6" x 4.75"

Ingredients (all 4 pieces):  vintage ephemera, decorative papers, magazine cut-outs.

What do you think?  Better, or not?  Any and all advice would be helpful!

The Time of Gray

It's the time when all you see is gray...

It weighs down the sky...

wrapping hills and trees in delicate layers of gray tissue.

And then it begins....

Symphony of the Rain

ingredients: vintage type paper, vintage piano book page, magazine cut-outs, various decorative papers