Sunday, November 21, 2010

When in Doubt - Tear and Paste

3x5 inch abstract collage on an old postcard

I'm in some sort of artistic limbo lately, not sure of what I want to do, sketch, do figure drawing, paint, or what.  So I've reverted back into something comfortable - collage.  I was at the library this past week thumbing through some withdrawn books for sale in the friends shop, and I found a ratty catalog from a show featuring painter John Marin.  The loose and abstract quality of many of his landscapes spoke to me, and I realized that doing a series of little abstract collages would be a way to get going and use some of the many prepared papers I have filed away.  It would also give me a chance to study Marin more. I use papers collected from old books, magazines and catalogs, maps, painted tissue papers, and pages from National Geographic that I've altered with Citra-Solv cleaner. Note to self - pay more attention to using a variety of values, as well as concentrating on color and texture.  This is a chance work on composition.

I did several of these little pieces last night, and was excited by the results.  It occurs to me that I might also paint over the top of the collage work, simplifying some of the shapes.  Or, I might paint a new abstract and use the little collage as a reference.  I'm not sure where this may go. The reception I've gotten from a couple people who have seen them was cool at best.  Oh well, sometimes you just have to please yourself.

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