Mandy's collage sheet

As promised, here are the four collages I made from Mandy's collage sheet.

Some of the bits were enlarged before printing, but I exclusively used the images from her sheet, and other than the two black backgrounds, I didn't use any paint.

 

Once again, I really enjoyed working with limited resources.

It helps me think more creatively when there are not endless possibilities.

I confess when I first saw the sheet I thought "what the heck am I going to make with that?"

 I cut out all the separate pictures and kept pushing them around in different ways and I kept coming up empty.  It was only when I started messing with the sizes and cutting apart the images that inspiration struck.

It was a great exercise and I can't wait to do more.

I've already got two more artists lined up for future collage sheet challenges.

Limited resources

I'm having no trouble keeping up with the 365 collage challenge, but I'm behind on posting pictures of them.
Funny how the blog posts I write in my head don't ever get published.
 

This week I got a big fat envelope of paper and ephemera from Switzerland.

Every bit of paper on these three collages came out of that.

I really enjoy the challenge of creating collage from a limited set of supplies.

And here are a few more I did with the papers I got from La Wendula's junk journal paper swap:

 

And speaking of limited resources, there's another collage-sheet challenge going on at Mail Me Some Art.  Mandy supplied this great collage sheet for us to use for postcards.

 

Go there, download the sheet, make some postcards, join the swap.

Tomorrow I'll show you what I've done with it.

Winter white

The assignment for this week's collage class was white.

To challenge us to focus on composition, Catherine asked us to work within this single color family.

 

Here's my finished piece:

(11x14 canvas board)

Wallpaper sample, magazine pages, book images, tape transfer, handmade paper, mesh bag, cookie package, cheesecloth, fibers, bubble print on vellum, acrylic wash, matte medium, oil pastel, acrylic ink splashes.

The choice of color couldn't have been better, since 48 hours later we were struck with a blizzard that dumped more than two feet of snow on the region. Since I still had all my white materials in a bag, I spent some of last night's stormy hours being inspired by the whiteness.

There's been a lot of talk in the news comparing this storm to the locally infamous "blizzard of '78."  
When I stumbled upon an image of a late 70s Cadillac it seemed only appropriate to bury it in a snowbank.

I was 11 years old during that storm, and remember the joy of a whole week off from school, and towering snow drifts full of the tunnels we dug.  Somehow this storm wasn't as much fun for me.

Nonetheless, as the storm raged on I was still in the mood for white. I started tearing strips from the magazine pages I had collected for class.  Funny how I considered these pages to be whitish when I ripped them from Architectural Digest, and how totally UN-white they looked when I laid them down next to each other.  The sky was so gray I ended up washing over it with gesso, though that only served to emphasize the non-whiteness of the other papers. 

 I didn't set out to create something so beachy, but the green/blue horizon and the sand-colored foreground must be my subconscious' way of escaping the blizzard.

We are finally done digging out.
My toes have thawed, and I'm back in the studio, eager for color.  Any color.
I've had enough of this for a while.

I hope my fellow New Englanders are safe and sound!

Humbled

I have this pile of about 50 pieces of unanswered mail.

It lurks in the corner of the studio, whispering insults about my character.

 

In spite of this, (or perhaps because of this) I am perversely drawn to work on anything BUT my mail.  

 

The only good part about not responding to mail is that my incoming has slowed to a trickle, and the pile isn't growing.  The word stagnant comes to mind.

But this morning, I sat down and wrote. 

The deadline for the international postcard swap got me going, and the momentum continued.

In addition to the postcards for the swap, I wrote seven cards to mail art friends, proclaiming that I am finally coming out of my mail slump.  I'm not sure I believed it as I wrote it, but it seemed like putting it in writing would help.

I drove to the post office, dropped them in the box outside, and then went in to check my PO Box.

It was packed.

I assumed it would all be MMSA items, and International PC Swap partners.

 

There was some of that.

But there were also SEVEN pieces of totally unexpected (one might say undeserved) personal mail.

Did you catch that?  In the span of 60 seconds I dropped seven pieces of personal mail in one box, and pulled seven pieces of personal mail out of another.

I am truly humbled.

Thoughts become things.

The slump is over.

What next?

I'm taking a five week collage class with a local artist/friend.

I'm really enjoying it, and each week I come home with a work in progress.

The problem lies in the word "progress."

I struggle with where to go next to make it a finished piece.

This week we worked on a triptych using papers we made in class.

Here's where mine stands right now.

So what next?
A light wash of color to tie it all together?
Pushing back the elements with a wash of white/titan buff?
Focal point?  Some kind of images?
Some interesting found objects?
All of the above?
I'm paralyzed.

Tell me, dear readers, what would you do next?

More mail calls

I've managed to make dozens of postcards in the last week or so, but I've only managed to mail a few.

Here are two I sent in response to some new mail calls you should know about.

Today I sent this one to Jane Davies to help her save her post office.

She needs lots and lots of mail.

Read all about it here and consider sending her something too.

And I already showed you this one, but today I sent it off to Featuring Magazine's call for mail art.

Have you read Featuring?  It's wonderful.  

They're looking for mail art for possible inclusion in issue #4 and it needs to be in the Netherlands by February 25th, so I dropped the snake parfait in the box this morning.

What will you send?

Mail Call and upcoming art swaps

Derrick (of I Still Write) tipped me off to a wonderful mail art opportunity for a good cause.  A California radio station is collecting valentines to send to kids in the hospital.  They need the cards by February 6^th.  ClickHere for all the details.

There are three fabulous new art swaps posted at Mail MeSome Art.

These are the themes for February:

·      Yellow – February 11th

·      Under the Sea – February 18th

·      Heads – February 25th

Visit MMSA for details.

Thank you all for your lovely comments and condolences about Lucy.  It truly helps to know so many people care and understand.