Every artist has a style that often evolves. Well, currently I love creating backgrounds with one inch squares--sometimes larger. Some may think this is a little restrictive, but cutting and applying the little pieces is meditative. I choose to use decorative artist papers, but my favorite paper is one I create by using National Geographic Magazines (dated after the 1970s) and Citrasolv, an ecological orange concentrate degreaser. It more or less melts the clay inks, creating the most unpredictable colors and shapes. I love, love, love the Citrasolv paper. The process is a little messy but worth it.
I don't know how other artists work, but I don't usually have a plan. I don't draw my layout...I just start and eventually I feel that I have finished the piece. I become an alternate self. It's not a good idea to interrupt me during the process. Crazy as it seems, I enjoy watching old westerns while I am working--Gunsmoke is my favorite. Hopefully, this gives you an insight into my process. As I continue this "blog" you will get to know me a little better. Come back and visit and enjoy the journey.
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Until about eight years ago photography was my art form. I had taken every photography class available at the nearby community college including Color, Advanced and Experimental. I found the darkroom magical--floating the papers in the developer and seeing an image form was a miracle to me. I was totally awestruck, and I could spend hours and hours in the darkroom. Then the college decided to limit the number of times a student could take each class. That was the end of my long sessions in the darkroom. And using our spare bathroom was just too difficult--and the ventilation was horrible.
As I am technically challenged, digital photography is not magical in the least!!! So, finding another art form was inevitable. After I took a class in collage at the Palo Alto Art Center I was hooked. The other students in the class were kind, talented, supportive, and FUN. We lived each others lives--divorces, breast cancer, deaths of spouses, grandchildren, and tragically we shared grieving for two of our beloved "sisters." When I moved to Cloverdale, CA, I missed my collage group, but I visit every once in a while, and it's as if I never left. Collage is limitless, meditative, and incredibly expressive for me. |