Building the Simple

bird fly away

Collage

5" x 7" 

Oddly enough, life is quiet now only two days away from Christmas.  Having some time off, I've been working with simple materials: papers, fabrics, text from an old Italian dictionary, small bits of willow branches found on my morning walks. I'm hoping to take part in the International Collage Exhibition and Exchange run by Dale Copeland. It's been a few years since my last participation, so it's time to bring out the boxes of papers and such. The work above is mainly created from specialty papers from Nepal and India, some bits of marbleized papers, scrap fabrics from the quilt stash and a slender piece of Japanese silk yarn around the perimeter. I then stitched the collage onto Canson pastel paper using another Japanese paper thread.

Leave Taking

Collage
4" x 6"

Leave Taking is built upon a scrap of silk dupioni using papers, a bit of a monoprint I did last year,  Italian text and a willow branch stitched down with copper on Bristol paper.  I love the contrast between the fragile silk and the papers and copper stitching.  I hope to work on some more over the coming weeks.  I think participating in an exchange/exhibit keeps one focused and on track.  I find that I need that type of structure to discipline myself -- otherwise, I fiddle and procrastinate.

Quilting is another form of building with simple materials. This is a glimpse of a smaller work I did years ago, but became impatient to finish it as a full-scale quilt. So I framed it in a wooden embroidery hoop and hung it on the wall by the fireplace. Now when I'm on the couch reading or doing more hand-stitching, I look up at this and feel good about its simple lines and monochromatic colors.

No Rhyme or Reason

36" x 40"

In an all-together different vein, this is a mid-sized wallhanging quilt, mostly done over several summers at Cape Cod, hand-stitched and then machine-stitched into a larger piece when I had finally accumulated enough blocks. There was never any pattern except for the basic log cabin pattern. It is certainly not symmetrical; perhaps a bit wonky here and there -- but it makes me smile when I look at it, thinking of those summer days at the Cape and how the slow stitching and piecing kept me sane while raising teenagers -- need I say more?

Collage and quilting -- a process of building, of piecing, of working with colors and textures, with surface and design. Don't you just love it?

 In the depth of winter I finally learned

that there was in me an invincible summer. 

Albert Camus

Art Preservation Redux

As a follow-up to my last posting, which elicited some great responses, I'd like to continue just a bit longer on this theme of art preservation.

Some fellow bloggers despaired at how altered book artists destroy books in the course of their art-making. I'd like to assure people that, as long as these artists utilize discarded library books, nothing valuable is being destroyed. Once a book has been marked up with spine labeling, pockets, identity stamps and barcodes, its' intrinsic value is totally diminished in a collector's eye.

Many libraries desperately need shelf space as the rate of publication has sky-rocketed with the technological advances in publishing. Thus many libraries are at the stage of "new book in, old book out." So altered book artists are doing libraries a favor by buying up these discarded books and actually giving them a new life in another form.

But another cautionary tale for those who create using older materials. Before you buy that book that would make a wonderful platform for your art, do yourself a favor and smell it.

That's right -- smell it!

If it smells "whiffy," then it would be a good idea not to buy it. Smell is one of the first indicators of mold and mildew, which spread rapidly throughout collections, including yours.

Look closely as the book. Does it appear dusty with a fine white powder? That may not be dust but a spore colony. This is dangerous ground for those who have allergies and/or asthma.

Back about 25 years ago, an archivist who worked for a museum was handling materials that had this white dust. Unfortunately, the archivist had a major asthma attack and died. His family sued the board of trustees and won the case. Many museums and libraries around the country installed hi-tech HVAC systems after that disaster.

Well, I think that about does it on preservation/conservation -- from me anyway. I've added several links to various institutions that can help if you have any questions about working with these types of materials.