Here’s something new.  Lately, to spark inspiration, I’ve been buying frames with the intent of trying to fill them immediately with new work.  90% of this was put together last weekend (it was supposed to be a 1-weekend work), but the remaining 10 didn’t come to me until this weekend.  Doing some different than usual things — it’s all “analog” cut n’ paste (no gel medium transfers), it’s all paper on paper (my usual is collage on wood panel), with the final step being lamination rather than an epoxy coating.  I think i’m going to get away from epoxy coating in general.  I love that it gives me a protective layer to safeguard/solidify my work, but more often than not over the years it is yellowing out far too much, and there is no remedy for that (at least that I know of).

So the game here is this: One fashion magazine, cutting out a pile of pieces relying on mostly color/pattern — I gave myself some liberty with a few things like the lips, but then other pieces range from big swatches of color/pattern to smaller pieces–most of the pieces cut were cut out of the paper Once (no trimming after, shapes and cuts made when cut out are what you’re dealt with). Then I used a random way to picking the pieces to place (i went with using my phone number, i.e., “5” in my ph# =’s the fifth random piece out of the pile and so on) –and trying not to move the pieces too much once they’re down, i.e., I can’t move a piece completely to another area, but i can nudge/budge things, and i can change how the parts lay over/under each other. I stop putting pieces down either by chance or choice, but I don’t take pieces out.

It’s all laid down on a marked paper (I made a 10.25″ square), Don’t Glue it -Just take a pic of it, cropping out all the parts of paper beyond that border.  The biggest drawback I have is that I’m a terrible photographer with terrible cameras and lights, besides that since it’s not glued, you have to fashion a way to take pics without disturbing the work.  I’ll work on a better way with this, but that’s not really part of the game -having the pieces unglued is, because when you’re done you tear it apart and do it again.  For practice.  Hopefully, it’s sharpening my compositional skills, get me thinking and on my feet quickly, and showing me the benefits of making “studies” when possible.  These are my results, with minimal photoshop tweaking after their analog creation.

an 8 x 8 out of season (started around November and took this long to mature).  Yes, part of the title has to do with part of the image.  Art has been pretty good to me as of late.  Keeping the lack of sunlight from gettin me, distracting me, sharpening me up, even if it means blunting down first.  Lately been doing Collage Game Challenges.  I’ll post one up.

I have to write, on a sad note, that Zoey the cat has passed away.  The neighborhood cat who I’ve known and loved, as she was, for 13 of her 19 years, has gone to a better place, where they’ll all love her, and she’ll have no reason not to love them.  She can be seen in hovering above in my piece I made called “Zoey’s Journey”.  Rest in God’s Love.

greenpink big5002017

The ol’ black flag

redfire columbus pattern

purpl aura PM test

blue casual ty

it’s the 10th year of the BIG 500, (also known as the BIG 100, 200, 300, and 400, til it got to be good enough to just say 500).

500+ artists of all types,genres,medium,skillset/level,amateur to pro and all those dreamers inbetween get to make art on wood panels (generally) and show them all at once in a large public place, (randomly mixed, no tags, so the art itself shows) with the business being that if you were to have $40, you could take it off the wall and buy it then and there.  Artists get $30, and the house splits the rest to them and the Oregon Food Bank (which is also treated as a food drive, bring a can/donation for the show).

It’s a beautiful thing.

Every year, for me, it’s a stretch –getting the ideas, working the substrate (an 8″x8″ panel) applying the idea in an interesting way, usually experimenting with the medium, taking risks and being OK with process if not the product.  Or, in TL;DR, there’s winners and losers every year, but it’s all good.  Besides, I’m told we’re our own worst critic.

So, anyways, rough math is 500 (more like 600) artists making somewhere’s around 10 pieces each equals probably about 6000 works of art.  complete and total eyeball saturation!  Something for everyone, if not to buy, then to witness at least once in your life, the veritable brain salad of raw, art.

It’s a beautiful thing.

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https://www.facebook.com/events/147065505912706/

“Finished” just in time for 2017’s “I am therefore I think” show at the Goodfoot.  Will be showing this as well as 2 of the others that are in the  series.  The wheels, though they finally roll, they roll so slow –another unrelated piece in the works.  Soon.