New Collage: Leaf Lady

6x6 inches, found and created papers, thread, leaf skeleton

I finally got upstairs to the studio this afternoon to do some cutting and pasting.  I've been preoccupied with getting ready for a couple upcoming family reunions by updating my family history information, organizing photos and so on.  Then there is the deck, which has needed scrubbing, scraping and re-staining (in between rain storms).  We won't even think about the figure painting class, which is fun but leaves me wondering what to do with the paintings, or the books I'm trying to get read before scheduled discussions.  How did I ever have time to work?

I need to go back upstairs and organize my papers and paints, since this next week I have a workshop on combining watercolor and collage at the Peninsula Art School in Fish Creek.  I adore collage, but I struggle with ways to keep the paraphernalia organized and usable.  Yesterday I made a glorious mess by soaking old pages of a National Geographic magazine with Citra Solv, an orange scented cleaner that somehow dissolves the ink on the pages.  It was great fun, and I used part of one of the resulting papers in this collage (across the top behind the lady).  I hope I can incorporate some of the new papers in the workshop.

Speaking of Door County, I was thrilled to have a painting accepted into the juried show at the Hardy Gallery in Ephraim.  That means it gets to stay until mid July, and I can go north once more later this summer.  A little plein air painting I have in a show at the Beloit Fine Arts Incubator sold, so more good news.