“Sunbathing Turtles.” Collage on paper. 12″x16″ Order a print
Another collage completed during my Visiting Artist time at the Torpedo Factory. Time is flying by – before long July will be over!
My solo show was installed this morning. I created sixteen pieces for the show, but we were only able to fit fourteen on the wall. Tomorrow’s the big day for the opening reception – I just need to take care of a little prep work tonight to get ready tomorrow. It’s crazy to think that I knew I had a solo show at the Art League Gallery back in 2008. All last year I worked on the body of work for the exhibit. And now, it’s finally up and ready to be viewed! Exciting!!
Here’s the finished piece – and now the next several collages I post won’t include any progress pictures (like I mentioned before). Perhaps I should start taking my camera with me to the studio…
Things have been going pretty well lately. Getting ready to install my solo show “Stories in Paper” tomorrow and then I’ll work on prepping for my artist talk, etc. on Thursday. Then the following week I’m doing a demonstration/talk for a collage group and giving a lecture on blogging. So lots to do – all very exciting, yet it will still be nice once everything is done.
Work in the studio has been interesting. I really enjoy a lot of the visitors that pop in and have met quite a few lovely people. From emerging artists to art enthusiasts, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the conversation I’ve had with others. However, you still get an oddball in the studio every once in a while – I suppose that’s the charm of having the art center studios open to the public.
The other day, I was working away on my latest scapes collage for an upcoming show at NIH. An older woman came in and gradually made her way over to where I was working. She hovered for a while, watching me work. Then she piped in, “You must have done real good in kindergarten.”
I glanced up at her, kind of shocked and mumbled something like, “Yeah, sure.” After the English major within me cringed from her grammar, I was a little surprised by her comment. I do look pretty young but sorry lady, my kindergarten days are long, long gone. I initially felt insulted by this. Once I got over that initial response, I thought her comment was pretty hilarious. I suppose some people consider cutting and pasting paper to be pretty elementary. All I can do is smile and laugh about that. There’s so much more to collage than just that.
“Toucan Samantha.” Collage on paper. 12″x16″ Order a print
There’s already a Toucan Sam, so why not introduce people to his female counterpart, Toucan Samantha? I had fun working on this one – especially with the fragments of images I used for the background.
Anyway, where have I been? It’s been a while since my last post! Well, the past few days I’ve been spending a lot of time moving out of my apartment. I’m going to move to a new place fairly soon, and the move has really consumed the majority of my free time. I’ve still put in a few hours here and there in the studio, and I have a few pieces I’ve completed there that I need to take home to photograph.
I’m also beginning to prep for the opening reception of my solo show “Stories in Paper,” which opens next week, July 8th. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.
“Flamingo Dancers.” Collage on paper. 12″x16″ Order a Print
I was going to stick with the title “Flamingos” but then I thought I should start changing these titles up a bit. Flamingos always remind me of ballerinas for some reason. I think it’s their pink feathers and how they perch on one leg like the flamingo in the center.
Anyway, things are still pretty busy. I just finished putting together a bunch of handmade magnets to sell at the studio (they’ve been pretty popular – especially with tourists). And I’m continuing to work on a series of animal collages. I recently took pictures of several finished collages, which I’ll later post. In July I’m planning on working on landscape pieces for another upcoming exhibition. And hopefully, sometime soon, I can begin work on a short animation. I have so many ideas at the moment, and there are so many possibilities of projects I can work on – sometimes it’s hard to acknowledge the fact I’m not wonder woman and can’t do everything all at once.
This weekend was a lot of fun at the studio. I’ve gotten quite a bit of work done thus far – and I have yet to take those finished collages home to photograph and post. My goal is to complete about a dozen animal collages before moving on to creating about eight landscape pieces for my NIH solo show in September.
Tomorrow I’m uninstalling the Fisher Gallery exhibition. It had a good run – and I can’t believe it’s already over! A lot of planning and work went into that show, and I’m proud that I was able to pull it off. Next up: my solo show at the Art League Gallery. I still have quite a bit of planning to do for that exhibition although it won’t be as intensive as the Fisher show.
Anyway, I hope everyone’s week has gotten off to a good start!
“Polar Bear.” Collage on paper. 9″x12″ Order a Print
I’ve been working away on several more animal collages at the studio. I’ll bring them back home one of these days so I can take pictures and post them.
Yesterday was my first Saturday working at the studio. It was pretty exciting how busy the art center was and I received a lot of business from the visitors. During the week, things are much slower in comparison with the weekend. I’m also in the process of ordering more magnets – I’ll have to work away with making a lot more of them for the upcoming week.
In other news, last night Scene Gallery had an opening for the “Local Scene” exhibit. It was a pleasant gathering and the art looked great in the space.
Anyway, I hope everyone is having a great weekend! I think I’ll go ahead and take care of a few errands before heading off to the studio.
“Dinner for Two.” Collage on paper. 18″x24″ Order a print
And it’s done! I thought about adding more to the background, but when it came down to it, I decided that a simpler background could draw more attention to the couple.
In other news, I’m feeling a great deal better. Slept for a good chunk of time yesterday, and I suppose my body has a tendency of feeling weary and sick as a way to tell me to slow down and take better care of myself.
These next few days are going to be busy ones. I’m pleased to say that all my figurative pieces are complete for my exhibitions scheduled for this year. Next on my list is to finish about ten or more animal collages for a show in August and about eight landscape/cityscape pieces for a show in September. To add to the workload, I also need to get started on planning out my next artist talk for my solo show in July as well as a lecture on blogging for artists that I’ll be giving in mid July.
This is a collaboration I worked on with my brother. I did the concept drawing, he took the sketch and modeled/uv unwrapped it, I collaged the uv flats, and he put it together for the final look. I think the next step is that we’ll start working on a background for this little guy.
Here’s the concept sketch I did
And my brother’s interpretation of the sketch with a 3d model. Next I collaged the uv flats which he took and was able to use to put together the clip that you saw at the top.
Once I get a spare moment, I’d like to work on my own 2d animation piece. Also, that children’s book has been in my backlog of things “to do” for quite a while now. Hopefully I can get started on that as well in the near future.
“King of the Jungle.” Collage on paper. 12″x16″ Order a print
Here’s the completed version of “King of the Jungle.” I’m realizing that as opportunities present themselves, I’m working away trying to make sure I can meet all the deadlines. Looks like I might have a couple more exhibitions to start preparing for. Goodness, apparently I don’t have enough on my plate already.
I’m really enjoying my time as a Visiting Artist and I’ve only just begun. I enjoy interacting with the public and seeing which pieces visitors respond to more. When I’m busy working away in my apartment, I don’t have a live audience and I rely entirely on what I think of a piece. It’s nice getting a feel for what others think.
Every time Ben has walked into my studio, he’s given me more great ideas on what I can do to make it more intriguing for visitors to come inside. I’m in the middle of working on a few adjustments for my set-up. Soon I plan to take a few pictures of the new layout so I can post them for you all to see.
I hope you’re having a great week – time sure does fly when you’re busy and having fun!
“Leisure Day.” Collage on paper. 18″x24″ Order a print
This is the last piece in the figurative series for my upcoming solo show. I’m installing the show on Wednesday morning, so this week will be a busy one of marketing the exhibit and making plans for the reception in a couple of weeks.
I’m also beginning to prepare for my work as a Visiting Artist at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. I’ll have to plan out how to present myself while I’m working in an open studio there. I’m thinking of using Blurb to create a quick book filled with images of my work so I can have a more professional looking portable portfolio. Hopefully I’ll have enough time to get organized for this…goodness, so many upcoming events coming up all at once.
