Maquette

ma·quette (m-kt)
n. A usually small model of an intended work, such as a sculpture or piece of architecture. [French, from Italian macchietta, sketch, diminutive of macchia, spot, from Latin macula.]

I've been asked to do a maquette for a potential commission. This sample collage is only 1.5 x 6 inches... the final piece would be 20 x 60 inches. This is one of two concepts that I am submitting.

The finished collage would not look exactly like this... at this point I'm just trying to get across the feeling of movement and the color range I am proposing. If I begin work on a large version, many hundreds of pieces of paper would be combined to try to achieve this sort of design, so the level of detail would be quite different.

Interpretive Beauty

Article about the Character Sketches show in the Loveland Reporter Herald.

Violent and Original

"Be regular and
orderly in your life
so that you may be
violent and original
in your work."

— Gustave Flaubert, novelist (1821-1880)

This quote sums up part of my quest for the new year! So far, I'm making progress purging files, clearing space, and preparing to produce a LOT more work this year. I have a design studio downstairs and a dedicated collage space upstairs so there is much to do.

The collage studio is necessarily somewhat wild, filled with magazines, papers, and scraps. That's OK... as long as I have some surfaces free to work on and a little room to store incoming paper/magazine donations and finds. This photo shows one portion of my industrial shelving and is pretty typical of what the storage areas look like! Somehow just the right next element is found from among the chaos. The studio is truly an assemblage itself... really.

The Path of Chance

"No retracing the path of chance."

A statement by Timothy, a tortoise who observes the human condition very adroitly, from a book I recently finished, titled Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile. The comment struck me as appropriate to both life and collage-making!