This piece is part of a new anatomy series that I’m working on, and lately I’ve been striving to tackle subject matter that I’m unfamiliar with. I’ve never really worked on anatomy pieces before, and I’m really enjoying this whole process. Actually, this entire month I’ve made more art than I’ve made in quite a while, and this piece is one of my favorite pieces that I’ve made in a while. That just goes to show that challenging yourself can lead to pleasant surprises.
Citrus
Still life is a subject that I generally avoid. Previously I’ve felt uninspired by most compositions I’ve come up with, although with this piece, I had a lot of fun with it. I think I need to continue to challenge myself with still life. After all, I just might find another composition that excites me.
You’ve Got Brains
This piece was inspired by some tragedy that my family was faced with in the beginning of last year – my father passed away from glioblastoma (GBM) which is a rare and very aggressive brain cancer. Most patients diagnosed with it don’t live longer than twelve to eighteen months.
I made this to help communicate GBM awareness and I wanted to call attention to this organ that we don’t really spend much time thinking about on a daily basis. It does its job and we go about our lives, occasionally thinking about its existence. And here’s a reminder to take good care of your brain. It’s doing so much for you that you don’t really realize until something goes wrong. So here’s to celebrating our brains!
Caffeine Fix
It’s been a while since I’ve made a coffee cup collage, so I figured I might as well film the process of making one. I’ve had so much fun making time lapse videos in quarantine, and this piece is number sixteen in the video series. I plan to take a break from making these for a little bit so I can focus on other areas of my art. I’m looking forward to finding new ways to share my art and technique with others.
Go Bananas
Another day, another collage made so I could put together a time lapse. Still life has always been a struggle for me, so I’m trying to challenge myself by working on subjects that I don’t ordinarily work on. This piece was especially difficult to piece together, and perhaps it’s simply because I’m not used to making too many food-related collages. Anyway, I’m not sure if this is entirely finished, but it’s finished for now.
Avocado Time
I’m generally drawn to making animal portraits, but the other day I decided to do a still life collage. I wanted to film the process again to create a time lapse video (you can see the results for this one below). And I thought it would be interesting to tackle a simple shape that could be made to look more abstract.
This was my first time making an avocado collage, and although the finished product turned out a lot rounder than I intended it to be, I’m still pleased with the overall look. The shadows and highlights played nicely this time.
Donut Give Up
I have to admit that it’s difficult for me to focus on subject matter other than animal portraits. What can I say? Animals are my favorite subjects to make art of. So this past week, I ventured off and made another donut collage. And of course, I couldn’t help myself but use a pun in the title.
This was another collage that’s part of my quarantine collage series, where I film my process and create a time lapse video:
Berry Nice
It’s been a while since I’ve tackled still life, so this was my attempt after a long break. I definitely felt rusty. I’m liking how I’m trying out more of a variety these days. I think I might take a couple of weeks off from collage-making so I can experiment with some other mediums. There’s no better time to work on getting creative than the present, especially when we’re all staying indoors these days.
Anyway, this piece was also part of my recent time lapse video series. Here you can see the collage getting pieced together from start to finish:
You Can Have Your Cake
The other day, I worked on filming another time lapse video of my collage-making process. Usually when I’ve completed a time lapse video, the collage is also finished. This was one of the few instances where I felt a need to revisit the piece and rework it a little bit. I especially wanted to reshape the plate and the shadows that were cast on and by the plate.
You can take a look at the video here:
As an artist, I often feel like my process can be disconnected from the finished works of art. Viewers don’t necessarily realize that there’s quite a bit of piecing together involved. Thus, I’d like to create more of these videos as a way to bring viewers into my studio, and give them a better glimpse of the work that goes into each collage.
Summertime Popsicle
A collage of what’s popping when it’s summer. It’s another addition to my dessert series, and even though it’s not summertime any more, I figured I’d make something inspired by the last days of summer that weren’t so long ago.
I also decided to make something a little more abstract, which was a bit of a challenge for me. I have a tendency of getting really focused on the details of my compositions, which makes it hard to take a step back and simplify my artwork. I think I’ll try to tackle more abstract pieces in the future. Sometimes I like to experiment with different subjects and materials, just to see what happens.