I produce a series of small business-card-sized collages that I make into luggage ID tags, aptly called Travel Art. It's especially good work to do when I just need to glue something (!) and don't have time in my day to work on a larger project. Here is one I finished yesterday. The background is a pattern from the inside of a safety envelope. As you can see, I recycle all kinds of paper into my artwork!
A closer look at the top portion of the collage. The finished piece is 36" high x 18" wide -- composed of contemporary papers mounted on a wood panel that has a 1" depth so the collage wraps around the edges.
Yesterday I went to an opening at the Loveland Museum Gallery to see how my piece looked in the Character Sketches show -- where about 30 artists were given a poem to inspire their work. The show is really varied and wonderful, with the assigned poems mounted next to each work. Media ranges from installation to film, sculpture, ceramics, and 2D.
I was thrilled to discover that my piece was used on banners hung downtown to promote the show. It's fun to be "famous" every once in a while! There is also a great full color catalog to go along with the show that pairs each work of art with its poem.
The very talented poet is Hilary DePolo. Each of her poems tells a story and outlines a character. My poem was about a saintly woman named Dovie Harris who mourns her husband for decades, to the extent that "tears stained grooves into her coffee cheeks... years later when she finally smiled... dark lines shimmered on her face." I used a silver mylar strip for the vertical line you see in the photos. (It doesn't quite read as metallic in the photos...)
Stop by and see the show if you happen to be in Loveland, Colorado between now and the end of March!
Last night I attended the Open Shelf Book Club at the Museum of Contemporary Art | Denver. Each artist whose work is being exhibited curates a shelf in the library where they place books/media/objects that have inspired or influenced them. Kim Dickey discussed the books and films on her shelf and spoke about the book she had selected for the group to read. It is Six Memos for the Next Millenium by Italo Calvino. I'm looking forward to reading it -- a series of lectures that Calvino was preparing to deliver at Harvard, but never did, due to his untimely death. The memos cover the values of Lightness, Quickness, Exactitude, Visibility, and Multiplicity. The last lecture does not exist, but was to be on Consistency.
The conversation really made me think about what would be on my shelf, were I to have one! What influences do I hold most dear? What items would allow others some insight into my work... an interesting idea to ponder.