August 2nd, 2011
I removed this cover from a sample altered book I’d put together for one of the workshops I taught earlier this year. I don’t normally remove covers from the books I use but I did in this case and decided to hold on to it and use it in something else. I was really hoping to use it in a collage somehow and here it is at last.
This is part of a series of collages I’m creating as a warm up. I’ve taken most of the summer off from making things and it feels good to get back to it.
As mentioned previously, I’m tentatively calling this series, “Put a Bird on it”, as each one will be a whimsical composition containing birds. They all come from the same bird book I found at Value Village and each collage contains upcycled security envelopes, scrap book pages and thread. I’ve decided to use both found wood boxes and book covers as the “canvas” for these.
Even though it’s still months away my efforts in producing new work is in preparation for the Eastside Culture Crawl in November. Stay tuned for more new work.
July 28th, 2011
If you’ve seen the show Portlandia you’ll understand the reference in the title of this blog post. They did a sketch called “Put a bird on it”, where they make fun of the trend of bird motif covered everything. It’s really funny and you can watch it here. I’m thinking it will be the working title of a new series with birds.
As I get back into the flow of creating new work I’ve decided to continue creating small collage using reclaimed materials. I’m focused on sourcing wooden boxes as the base for these collage, and will use scrap book pages, security envelopes, thread, and birds cut from an encyclopedia.
I’m continuing with a style I started working on at the beginning of this year mixing the patterns created by the type on the book pages with the blue prints of the envelopes. Both papers are ones I’ve saved and collected. The wood I’ve used as the canvas for this collage is the cover of a wine box I bought at Value Village. I’ll be using the rest of the box for another piece.
My focus with this series is definitely whimsical scenes with birds. But I also want to create these with reclaimed materials upcycled into art. The most difficult part will be sourcing appropriate pieces of wood, though I’m also considering doing these on book covers.
It feels really good to be making new work.
July 14th, 2011
The Tree of [Un]Common Knowledge has been languishing away in storage since I last displayed it in November. I’ve always wanted to make it a few accessories from paper, like leaves, flowers, and birds. Last week I finally got around to creating the birds.
I picked up an illustrated bird encyclopedia from Value Village a few months ago with the intention of using the bird illustrations in collage work. Some of the birds are fairly close to the life-size, which made them perfect to use on the paper tree.
I cut out twenty-five birds from the encyclopedia. Each one is glued to a thicker cardstock and attached to the tree with a pin. I wanted to be able to move them around and not make them a permanent part of the tree. The birds are a delightful addition, and I wish I had somewhere in my apartment I could leave the whole thing set up for my enjoyment.
The Tree of [Un]Common Knowledge was supposed to be displayed in the lobby of the Sandbar Restaurant for ReVision @ Creekhouse, which is a show of artwork made from recycled materials. Unfortunately I decided to withdraw it at the last minute because the space I was given in the lobby of the restaurant wasn’t suitable and I felt the tree was at risk of getting damaged.
I’m hoping to eventually find somewhere else to show this, so stay tuned…
