Bits of rust and other things...

Some bits and pieces from my studio...

I found this box of old springs and coils when I was helping my family clean out my Grandpa's "stuff."  It was several years ago - long before my itch to collage started.  I am not sure why, but I said, "I'll take that."  I got some funny looks from the family.  I am not sure why he saved them; maybe he had the same collecting gene that I have.

This tray of rusty bits came from my uncle. I KNOW he shares the same collecting gene that I have.  The little pieces of old hardware had been removed from their useful places, they may  have been discarded, perhaps replaced.  My uncle, tossed them all together - On my last visit, I commented on how useful they could be... and they were mine.  I don't think he had a predesignated home for these little bits of rust. 

All these pieces are finding new homes...look here for a good example of how I put this refuse to good use.  I am so glad to have these strange little treasures.

Best

 Summer has settled a bit - into a lazy routine.  I have managed to find a few hours in the studio, here and there.  This 5 x 7 collage is my first completion of the summer.  Using a calendar from an old check register and a bit of blue-print...

I added a little house, a spring, a rusty key hole, and an old button.

The best thing
to hold onto in life
is each other.
-Audrey Hepburn

Collage - Flower

This collage was an experiment - it is one that sat, partially finished, for months.  I liked it, but wasn't sure how to finish it. It is feels so different from some of my other work.

I experimented with paint and color

With materials and technique

With words and composition

In the end, I like the overall effect.  I like the use of words, the overall theme, the brightness and color.  But this one seem more of a struggle for me.  I don't think it's really my "style." 
It was bugging me that it sat unfinished for so long, I couldn't totally abandon it.  So I added the back, used more brightly colored patterned paper on the sides and call it complete.
Now, I can move back to some of my other work.  Stay tuned for more collage...

The process of progress

As I continue to make collages, find inspiration in my materials and my daily life, I often wonder what drives the process.   What pushes me to make progress on one particular piece and not another.  I often find that I start on one and then another inspiration crowds its way into my thinking and won't relent until its end product is finished.  As a result, I may have two or three collages in various states of completion, okay, truth be told I frequently have five or six in the works.  One time, I looked around and counted twelve. Twelve!  That's excessive. 
Today I count six (although three of those are a set of identical collages).

The least complete is this one:


(Grow collage, in progress)

 This one was inspired by the coming of spring.  I gathered a number of papers and ephemera that spoke of springtime.  I laid them all onto a blank, white canvas (you can sort of see the edges.)  Maybe the canvas I chose is too small?  The letters will spell G-R-O-W.  Nothing yet is glued. Nothing yet is set.  Will I include some hardware?  Will I use a quotation?  Should I use paint instead of paper?  Although the ideas continue to germinate, this one is stuck.

The newest one(s) are a set of identical, simple ones that I will use as a gift.  They don't have very many elements, but copy a vintage design.  These will be simple to finish, but have been in the idea book for a few months:


(Three similar canvases, handmade white paper background,
red paper borders, drying on the studio floor.)

 This one is one of the oldest.  It was an experimentation piece as I was doing some exercises out of a collage "instruction" book.  I used pattern paper as a background.  I also tried out gel transfers - see the two ladies on the left.  I have been messing with these elements for months.  It continues to sit on my work table in a state of undress.  I am truly at a loss.  Maybe I should just start gluing things down and move on:


(Collage - waiting and waiting to be completed)

 Finally, this one is a quickie!  I had painted the red square canvas a while ago, and while futzing with the Grow Collage, the girl in this vintage reproduction advertisement jumped out at me.  The elements of this one just seemed to fall together.  It still needs final details, I have  few metal pieces to adhere.  I have to build and paint the wooden box that will go behind.  But this one is most likely the first one finished from the unfinished ones I have laying around.  It is also the one I have started the most recently:


(Fortune collage- just got its topcoat of clear acrylic, drying on the lawn)

 So, as I continue to create, I continue to ask myself questions.... continue to look for inspiration... continue to try new processes and techniques... 
I am excited with my progress.  I can see an evolution in the style of my work.  I can see a forward movement in my process.  It is often as much about the process as it is about the progress.

Collage - Home

Another collage in a series of Home collages.  This one is created from a vintage sewing pattern, paint and papers.  I used some rusty hardware and an old decorative button.  Again, an odd assortment of letters to spell out the simple word, HOME.  The quote is from one of my favorite poets:

Dwell in possibility.

-Emily Dickinson

So, why am I making all of these collages?  I guess I am not really sure.  It might be some sort of compulsive behavior.  I have oodles of materials.  I am lucky enough to have a designated space.  But, I have not been to art school.  I am not an artist.  I do not show in a gallery or sell at a boutique.  And, for most of these collages, the only people who have even seen these are you (and there aren't many of you, dear reader) and my husband.  So, what in the world am I doing with these?!?  It is a question I keep asking myself. 
I find that if I let the materials sit, if I don't go into the studio, I feel antsy.  I get ideas about what to make, I need put them together.  So I do. 
What am I doing, however?  I guess I dwell in possibility.  I dwell in the possibility that I may someday be able to show them somewhere.  Maybe sell on-line.  or at a coffee house.  I consider the possibility that I may give one as a gift to a friend.  I need courage to make these leaps.  I need to consider myself an artist.  I consider the possibility that I will refine my craft and make them better and more interesting....
Until then, I make more.  I wait for courage.  I dwell in possibility.

Artist - Matthew Doubek

Mannequin hands creeping across the tops of the fluorescent lights at Matt Doubek's studio.

My daughter and I took a field trip to visit local artist Matt Doubek at his studio.  The studio, an unassuming, converted garage in the heart of Louisville, is jam packed with art supplies and collage materials and inspiration.  A veritable heaven for a pack-rat like myself and my 9 year-old.  I gave her the camera and she started snapping photos.  (So interesting to see what caught her eye.)
My purpose for going to Matt's studio was two-fold.  First, I wanted some inspiration and advice for my own collage work.  Second, I wanted my daughter to see a working artist in his element.  We were both thrilled with what we found.  It was a bonus that Matt was prepping for his upcoming show at the Pirate Gallery in Denver.
The studio itself is filled with pieces of past work, like this one:

There are sketches, scraps, and bits of inspiration everywhere you look:

He had several works in progress, the painting hanging against the cinder block wall, had some additional embellishments from his daughter, which Matt readily incorporates into his work:

And this sketch was waiting patiently on one of his work tables.  I can't wait to see what he does with it:

Matthew Doubek and Samuel Mobley's show Every Good Cowboy opens at the Pirate Gallery on February 4 and runs until February 20. 

Hope to see you there!

Blank Canvases

It occurred to me that the name of my blog is art + food + friends.  I haven't talked a lot about art lately.  Er, I haven't talked about my art, lately.  Reason #1: my studio is cold.  That little one room, standing in my back yard, can get pretty darn cold in the winter.  Reason #2:  the holidays sucked up all my time and energy.  Ok, those are excuses.  Maybe even good excuses, but excuses nonetheless.

I have been sneaking time in my studio when I can find a glimmer of a warm-ish afternoon and crank up the space heaters. 

5 x 7 canvas, with woman theme - assembled from inchies. 
I want to add the right quote or word or element in the space above the bottom row. 

I have a gazillion ideas but I  have started on 3 or 4  6 or 7 canvases.  They are still "blank" canvases.  I have a background, I may even have some elements, but they are not finished.  They are all in progress.  I am waiting to find the right word or quotation or element or image to make these come together.

5 x 7 a Cheery canvas, background made from paper inchies
Looking for the right kistchy image and quote

Just to give you a peek, so you'll really believe that I do work on my own art, here's what I've got.

8 x 10 assembled from black and white inchies of various papers.

 I will keep you posted as these canvases evolve.  I hope to get some more time in the studio - but the forecast isn't looking good.

New Toy - Art Every Day #23

I have a new toy. 
I am almost giddy about it.
Yesterday I bought myself a 1 inch square punch, like this one.  It's an Inchie Punch!

I am so excited, I can hardly stand it! 
I went to the chilly studio and punched and punched and punched. 

Two different colleges started to form.  A bright patchwork of paper squares in random pattern and color.

And a black and white patchwork of squares.
Two more works in progress. 
Obviously I can't just put down a random assortment of paper squares on a canvas, or can I?  Should I incorporate some of my already completed inchie collages?  Should I use the patchwork as a background for a bigger collage? 
Oh the possibilities are seemingly endless.  I love my new toy! 
To be creative today, I have new possibilities.
(Part of Art Every Day Month sponsored by Creative Everyday.)

10 Things I Learned

Fall is that funny time of year, I look forward to all that it is, cool, colorful, changing, crisp, cozy, but it has its bittersweet bits as well. It is a nostalgic time of year for me. Each fall I find myself thinking about all the things my mom taught me. I never got to thank her for these lessons. With my gratitude for her, I will share them with you:

1. Save everything, you never know when you will need it. I think my studio was meant to be. When we were moving our business into the studio, Kerry and I certainly had a head start getting it set up, with all the wonderful art supplies that my mom had collected over the years. Now it is where I have set up my things: art, sewing, collage, painting.

2. Surround yourself with beautiful things, in the garden, on your walls, in your home. Those things don't have to be expensive, just put care in what you do and how you do them.

3. Never save the good china, silver or crystal for a special day. What is the point of having all those special things if they are hidden away in a cabinet, or in a box?

4. And, if it breaks, that’s okay. After all, they are just things.

5. Always have enough good food and drink in the house to entertain at the drop of a hat.  Anyone who knows me, knows I can throw a party in a minute.

6. Everyone is beautiful, in his own way. This one drove me nuts as a teenager. I actually think it was part of a song lyric from the 70's that my mom tormented me with--does anyone recognize it? Always the optimist, my mom could find beauty in anyone or anything. I appreciate it now.

7. Be inclusive, the more the merrier. Holidays and parties were grand affairs at our house!

8. Never turn away a friend. Whatever a friend or relative needed, my mom was sure to try and accommodate.

9. Laughter is necessary and contagious. My home was always filled with laughter and happiness.

10. Be kind, it’s that simple.

************

I wrote that post three years ago and posted it on the blog I shared with my friend and business partner, Kerry.  I can’t believe that time goes by so quickly.  With just a few minor modifications it still applies today.  The only change is that since then, Kerry and I have closed our jewelry business and no longer run it out of my backyard studio.  The Schoolhouse, as it is known by many, was my mom’s studio dream, and today is where I house all my art supplies and work on collages and such. 

I miss her more than I could express in words.  Sometimes it is too raw and bitter, other times that pain has mellowed.  I hope that I can honor her memory and the lessons she passed on and shared.  Sometimes I need reminders.  Numbers 6 – 10 are so important and so often overlooked in today’s society.  They are a good reminder to me about how I want to live my life and who I want to be.

It has been 12 years since my mom died. It was too soon, so sudden, and we had way too many plans for her to go. But her legacy lives on in so many ways. And I hope that I learned enough of her lessons so that I can continue her vision.

Collage Mistake



Vintage Postcard Collage -
can you find the mistake?

   Yesterday, I posted a collage I made using one of my vintage postcards.  I made this collage a number of months ago, it has hung in the studio for quite a while.  I even had it for sale at our last studio sale.

What is wrong with this picture?

Can you find it?  I attached the quotation in the wrong order.  A simple mistake, surely enough.  What I am embarrassed about is that I never noticed.  I even tried to sell it that way!  Mortified!

What's even more silly is that no one else noticed, or had the nerve to point out my mistake.  I didn't notice until I sat down to write a blog about it.  I have since fixed the collage, and posted a correct photo in yesterday's blogpost. 

Good thing collage is a forgiving medium.  Any mistake can be changed or fixed to suit your every whim.  I used an Exacto knife and cut and scraped the original quote off the collage.  I did cause some damage.  But, the dents and leftover paper bits were easily covered by the new quotation.  A few coats of Mod Podge smoothed everything out.  Good as new!

Treat or Treat!?

I guess I am not the only one who makes mistakes like that.  This is one my daughter noticed as we were putting away Halloween decorations.  It sat in my yard the whole month of October, just like this... none of us noticed.  I have had it for several years... none of us has ever noticed.  It was sold in a store and purchased, and no one noticed.

It's funny how the brain will make those automatic corrections when something is not quite right. 

The lesson I have learned:  Proofread.  I should have known about that one, being and English major and former English teacher.  Proofread.  Proofread. Proofread.  Then have someone else read it, too.  Another pair of eyes never hurts.  I guess I never have thought about needing a proofreader for my art, but it wouldn't hurt.

(And yes, I do proofread my blogs.  But, should you ever find an error, please tell me.  My husband does.)

The Studio, continued

The story unfolds:

As the years passed and the winters came and went, our business had its thriving happy moments. There were times when we could barely keep up with the orders rolling in from our Amazon account and our fingers ached from beading as fast as we could possibly bead.    It was good when we had to borrow chairs from the house to have enough seats and squeeze just one more person to our collage journal class.  Things were thriving when the yard was filled with people for our annual wine and cheese fall party or the annual arts and craft sale where we hosted other artists to sell their craft.  For seven years, two friends ran a tidy little business, making jewelry, teaching art classes, and hosting events.  It was good. 

And the studio has had its sad and lonely lows.  We were disappointed when no one showed up for our holiday sale.   And when we found out that a local mom hijacked one of our classes and taught it at her own home, we were mad.  And as the economy made its downward turn, so did our sales.  Who has money for jewelry, when they are trying to pay the bills?  The message became clear, it was time to move on. 

Through many long, sometimes painful, discussions, Kerry and I decided it was time to close the door on Milagro Jewelry.  It was the right thing to do.  We called the accountant and filed the paperwork.  That was the easy part. 

The hard part came next.  Our very full studio, packed to the rafters with treasures, (papers, beads, blank canvases, ribbon, ephemera, stickers, stamps, embellishments of all kinds) had to be divided.  Like a divorce, but on friendly terms, we have spent many long hours sorting and dividing.  Fortunately, never squabbling over who wants this special paper or that treasured ephemera, we often pass it along to the other.

And now it is done, almost.  And I am reinventing myself and my art in the warm studio that Kerry helped me build.

Kerry continues to create art and craft in her new art and sewing room at her home.  She has her own writing project, too.  You can see what she's up to at Type A Mom Type 1 Kid.

I am excited to see what will happen next.

The Studio

This is where I create:

Here is the back story:
(written by my friend, and former business partner, Kerry)

The historic little blue building has lived many lives.   What was once Lafayette’s kindergarten, a storage facility and even a wash house, is a building with a history and with history comes a story.    This one involves an artist, a mother and daughter, a friendship, dreams and a pair of red cowboy boots.

Helen, a Birch and Douglas Elementary Schools art teacher and artist, started renovations on the little blue building with the dream of turning it into an art studio for herself.  New cherry wood floors, walls and electricity were added but renovations stopped with her sudden death and the little blue building sat.  In the coming years it was used as a storage facility by her daughter Rachel.  It sat untouched for 7 years until Rachel and Kerry were looking for a place to expand their jewelry design business.  The perfect place was right there in front of them in what everyone called “the schoolhouse.”

 In the spring of 2005, renovations started.  It was messy, dusty and sometimes overwhelming.  But with determination and help from friends, everything was hauled out and cleaned and we began to see what a fabulous place we had.  We found many treasures while we cleaned, including a bag of Milagros that we swore kept mysteriously moving around every time we set them down.   Each time we discovered them again we knew this was the right place for us to be.  A friendly mannequin we nicknamed Paco sat in the corner with a bandaged arm.  We still hope he is out there somewhere riding around Lafayette.  Boxes and boxes of art supplies and treasures we named collageables, were waiting for us to transform them into art.    One item we don’t have a story for but we find intriguing are the red cowboy boots that hang from the ceiling rafter.  It is the one item we never moved and probably never will.  They must be important, because everyone notices them and everyone has something nice to say about them.   We like to think of the red boots as the logo for what we now call “The Helen Parker Art Studio.”

In the fall of 2005, we moved in with our jewelry business and found that we wanted to create more than jewelry in our little studio.  We started experimenting with our own art and world’s of ideas came to us.  We always say we are full of ideas and it seems they never stop, so we had to share.  In December we started classes for local women to come and create fine crafts with us.  The classes filled each month and we have a nice group of regulars as well as new people each time.  We love sharing our ideas and love meeting all of the fascinating, creative, bright women who join us.  We hosted coffee hours each Friday for women to just stop by and talk, get ideas or just connect with other women.  The Studio became a second home for us; and we hope it feels the same way for everyone else who joins us there.

written by my good friend Kerry
who you can now find on her blog Type A Mom Type 1 Kid.