Collagitation blog

2012 will be a Great Year!

2012-01-24T20:14:00.001-05:00

Christmas is well past, no denying it.

Though I do have a relative who keeps her christmas decor up until Valentine's Day, "to get the full effect."

The last piece of art I made was my annual xmas card,

so here it is.

Bushels of blessings to you in 2012!

Reprise: July 8, 2010: The Birdwatcher

2011-07-08T11:26:00.001-04:00

Today I got email from a friend who visited my blog for the first time, and generously complimented my artwork. This made my day and prompted me to go back and take a look myself. I clicked on a tag at random, and was taken to this collage, which I made on July 8, 2010. Coincidence? Of course…

I have often wondered why, given how much I love my garden, I don’t do art inspired by it. I guess because I don’t need to. I have the real garden, and that is sufficient. Gardening moves me into another place, another state of mind, as does making art, but the two don’t intersect. Very little of my art has ever come from my day-to-day life, rather it comes from a place inside myself--where I would much rather spend my day-to-day life, if only I could discover how to merge the two. For me, that place contains mystery, humor, beauty, longing, and a magic lantern of images lovely, nostalgic, and sometimes bizarre. They flit across my mind, often so quickly I wonder if I’ll ever capture them on paper. In an instant the whole totality of the work, its flavor, colors, mood, vividly appears. The challenge of all art making is to fashion a piece that catches the viewer in a similar way and compels them to share the artist’s internal experience.

One evening last week while trolling through iTunes, I played some music (Manu Chao) that I listened to a lot when I was making collages for 3SIXTY5 last year, and I was amazed at how much the music awakened echoes of that most creative 7 months of my life. I had to turn it off and won’t listen again until I’m ready to make the time to work. But it’s tantalizing to know that this trigger exists to help me recreate that magical state of mind where creativity rules.

For now, back to the garden...

My love/hate relationship with Kniphofia

2011-06-29T13:38:00.001-04:00

Kniphofia, aka Red Hot Pokers or torch lilies, have pretty much taken over a wide swath of my front garden.

This is a plant that looks better in the catalog than the garden (at least, my garden.) I grew them originally because one of my favorite personages, Vita Sackville-West, liked them and grew them at Sissinghurst. I’ve decided to remove them, in large part because they are over-sized for the area they are in, they keep spreading, and the foliage is quite expansive. Being natives of South Africa, they demand plenty of space. The first batch I dug out was encroaching on a boxwood (to the left in photo above) and removing them was quite a chore. I was digging under the box before I got all the kniphofia roots. I was fearful that kniphofia might be like yucca, which regenerates if even the smallest sliver of root is left in the ground. After about 2 weeks, I have seen no signs of new plants emerging. So far, so good. Kniphofia does make quite a statement--maybe I should try some in a large pot? Or give them their own bed at the end of the lawn? They would look stunning growing with purple and gold bearded irises...

The Art of the Garden

2011-06-10T12:57:00.006-04:00

Iris siberica and peonies welcome springtime visitors to our yard

I recently lamented to my daughter that I have not done any artwork lately,

or posted to this blog since March!

She said that gardening it art, too. There's truth in that.

Oriental poppies in languid profusion

Gardening is not for those seeking instant gratification, however.

Like creating a painting or collage,

the Process is the engine that drives the beauty,

and this takes time and effort.

Morning glories visiting sunflowers

Last year during 3SIXTY5, my aborted (after 7 grueling months)

collage-a-day-for-a-year project, I tried to force my creative Process

and ended up relinquishing too much of the rest of my life.

Including tending my gardens during the 2010 season.

Hollyhocks, liatris and others in a cottage garden border

So this year I'm catching up. In addition to shovels, spades and sweat,

I've broken out the books, and I'm re-educating myself on

those principles of soil chemistry and plant care

without which no garden can look its best.

English daisies and pansies display perky personality

The beauty of the gardens will reward and refresh me.

I'll be ready, come the cold weather, to let my own creative juices flow again.

"The one art that everyone chooses, or feels in some degree qualified to practice, is paradoxically the most complex of all...it combines aesthetic judgments with science and craftsmanship in a kaleidoscope of variables...no two gardens are the same. No two days are the same in one garden. And yet on this flapping canvas [the gardener] tries to daub his vision of a better world..."

Hugh Johnson, The Principles of Gardening

If only I could get it to work...

2011-03-18T21:14:00.003-04:00

I've wanted for a long time to design my own blog background, so I found instructions on the web, and went to work. After spending many hours in Photoshop (probably way more than would've been necessary, if I really knew PS) I created the above background design, based mostly on my own artwork, uploaded it to Flickr, followed the instructions and voila!...nothing. I end up with a plain white background. I'm sure the design will require much tweaking, but I can't tweak what I can't see. After many attempts at fiddling with the html per the instructions, I have given up for now. Maybe I saved the image incorrectly, or something. Any pointers from anyone who knows what they're doing in these matters, would be appreciated. For now, it's back to one of blogger's own backgrounds.

The small logo at center bottom is one I designed for myself years ago, pre-Collagitation. But I do like it, so I incorporated it into the background. In case I never do get the blasted thing working, here's the logo itself, based on my initials:

Another way to help

2011-03-15T10:55:00.001-04:00

Today I found a link which advertised 100% of sales to go to Japanese aid. It turned out to be a totally delightful site, Lil Blue Boo, where a very talented lady, Ashley, designs and sells children's clothing, sewing patterns, and other treats! The site is a visual delight too, you can take a look, and make a purchase to help Japan, via her badge (to the right of my page and down), or go directly to her Japan aid page via this link (please cut & paste it, I can't get blogger's link function to work):

http://lilblueboo.blogspot.com/2011/03/100-to-help-japan-shop-for-cause.html

Thank you, Ashley and Boo!

Tears for Japan

2011-03-13T17:27:00.001-04:00

We are so grateful that the family of my son-in-law, who is Japanese, are safe. But so many others in Japan are not, and all of us grieve and prayer for them. If you can, please donate generously to aid this stricken country. Even a wealthy country needs the help of the world community after a disaster of this magnitude. Here are some trustworthy and reliable sites where you can donate:

www.redcross.org
www.oxfamamerica.org
http://crs.org (Catholic Relief Services)

Thank you.

Is it too early for the beach?

2011-03-06T19:35:00.000-05:00

This piece is called Water Wings, and it's all about anticipation! Truth to tell, I haven't been to a beach--in summer, in a bathing suit--in quite awhile. Which does not mean I don't eagerly anticipate the weather when these things would be possible. Living close to the Allegheny River, I see broad, wavey water every time I drive just about anywhere, and it's easy to imagine being on it's shores (not that they are amenable to swimming; boating and fishing are the draws here.) When the sky is blue and the sun is shining, even if it's still cold out, the sight of the water sparkling in the sun and reflecting the blue sky instantly puts my mind into summer mode. Spring is just around the corner (never mind the snow outside.) Can summer be far behind?

Sheer Opulence

2011-02-27T21:25:00.002-05:00

"Less Is Not More," a painting I made in 1999 as a gift for an interior designer friend (whose initials are NLM.)

I think every artist loves “doing” their interiors. We may not be interior decorators but the urge is always there to use our surroundings as yet another creative outlet. My taste in interiors, like the art I make, tends to be of the “Less is Not More” school, and looks to the past rather than to current trends for aesthetic nourishment. I love looking at interior design (usually on the printed page) and there are many practitioners whose work I admire, ranging from icons like Nancy Lancaster and Sister Parrish, to current masters like Bunny Williams and John Saladino, and on to the wild frontiers of Diamond and Baratta. Now I have a new addition to my A-list: I recently acquired a copy of Nicholas Haslam’s Sheer Opulence, subtitled Haslam Style: Glamour in Contemporary Interiors.

Opulence and glamour are, alas, not very evident in my present home, but I add touches where I can, and slake my thirst for those qualities by acquiring books such as this. Haslam originally trained as an artist, and the Introduction contains several of his interior watercolors. Haslam’s opulent aesthetic--why just one layer when more can be contrived to richer effect?--is achieved by obsessive attention to detail. Floral print draperies in a bedroom are given a “fuzzy, funky” edging made of 3 layers of heavily gathered, scallop-edged chintz, looking like rows of flower petals attached to the curtains. He can also do sparer, more restrained interiors that nevertheless exude style and that ineffable quality, “taste”, via that same attention to detail. A dignified, monochromatic London drawing room is saved from stodginess by a gorgeous chandelier, cascading drapery swags and deep fringe on an ottoman. Dee-lightful!

After perusing these beautiful photos for days, I began reading the text. As a young man Haslam was introduced to some well-known personages among his parent’s contemporaries, including Lady Diana Cooper, Cecil Beaton, and Oliver Messel. Geoffrey Scott, author of The Architecture of Humanism, was his father’s cousin (and one of Vita Sackville-West’s lovers) and had a hand in decorating his parent's home. Haslam says these people “taught me the point of the past,” something so very lacking, it seems to me, in the education of today’s younger generations. Or am I showing my age?

“Every room should have a touch of pink in it, because it makes all the other colors sing.”

-Nicholas Haslam

Along with this lovely book, I am currently reading Serious Pleasures, a biography of Stephen Tennant by Phillip Hoare, which contains photos (by Beaton) of rooms in his family home, Wilsford. Stephen was assisted in decorating Wilsford by Syrie Maugham, another iconic decorator. Pink was his favorite color. These books, one about a legendary aesthete and one by a contemporary artist/designer, make delightfully complementary reading. I recommend them both.

My Wake-up Call

2011-02-24T15:08:00.004-05:00

Today on Facebook, I followed a link in a post from Randel Plowman (one of the inspirations for my aborted collage-a-day project) and ended up in a wonderland of incredible artwork. Here is the link: http://observersroom.designobserver.com/oblog/entry.html?entry=25118

Via the links on the Oblog page, I entered the amazing worlds of Angelica Paez, Javier Rodriguez and Rodrigo de Fillipis. I urge you to do the same.

I can barely tell of the emotions that stirred in me by seeing their work. Surprise, appreciation, the joy of seeing talent put to such effective use, and also, ENVY. Having strayed so far of course from the purpose of starting this blog—to post a daily (or at least steady) stream of new artwork—I felt like I'd been turned to stone in the roadway while others dashed past leaving a shower of glorious artworks in their wake. *sigh*

Clearly, it is time for me to break out of this drift, and get back to my heart's core. Just to make myself feel better, I have re-posted a dozen favorite pieces of my own, to remind myself that, yes, I can actually make art when I choose to. (Click on the date to go to the original post.)

Nectar. Posted 5/22/10

Best Friends Forever. Posted 2/23/10

Descension. Posted 6/11/10

Star Charts. Posted 5/11/10

A Bridefor Max Ernst. Posted 4/16/10

Buddha Eggs. Posted 5/18/10

Le Chapeau fait l'Homme. Posted 6/9/10

St. Theresa in Excelsis. Posted 4/11/10

The Walls of Jericho. Posted 7/13/10

Pleasure Dome. Posted 7/1/10

Egg Hunt. Posted 6/12/10

Clever Parrot. Posted 5/7/10

Happy Birthday, Edward Gorey!

2011-02-22T13:15:00.002-05:00

Today would’ve been Edward Gorey’s 86th birthday. Alas, he is no longer with us but I don’t doubt he can “hear” our birthday wishes. As my own homage to the Master of macabre wit, I offer photos of a recipe box I made several years ago (for one of the people I love most in the world, who is also a dedicated Gorey fan.) The box is decoupaged with scenes based on EG’s drawings, combined with illustrations of vintage utensils and comestibles. I think Edward would’ve enjoyed it, and I hope you do, too.

The lid of the recipe box. Arsenical buns for all!

Front of the recipe box. Mr. Earbrass is perhaps having a nightmare?

Rear of box. Beware of attacking kitchen utensils.

Side of box. Green Gages and Crumply Bumplies for breakfast!

Other side of box. Welcome to Edward's kitchen.

The box open

Another view of open box

The interior features Victorian kitchen scenes. Don't they look cozy?

The War on Women

2011-02-20T21:01:00.000-05:00

Not worried yet? Read this email from MoveOn.org:

Dear MoveOn member,

It might seem hyperbolic to say that Republicans have declared a war on women.

Sadly, it's not.

Just take a look at the top 10 shocking, crazy things Republicans have proposed in recent weeks. If you think this constitutes a war on women, please share this email far and wide—forward it, and post it on Facebook and Twitter.

I wish I could say these were the only examples of the Republican war on women. But it's just a sampling, and more is sure to come—unless we raise a ruckus and call them out. So please, share this email today.

Thanks,

Kat

Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP War on Women

1) Republicans not only want to reduce women's access to abortion care, they're actually trying to redefine rape. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven't.

2) A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to "accuser." But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain "victims."

3) In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (Yep, for real.)

4) Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids.

5) In Congress, Republicans have proposed a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.

6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids' preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working.

7) And at the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool.

8) Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.

9) Congress voted yesterday on a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.

10) And if that wasn't enough, Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. (For humans. But Republican Dan Burton has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses. You can't make this stuff up).

Please share this email today. Just click the links to post on Facebook and Twitter.

Sources:

1. "'Forcible Rape' Language Remains In Bill To Restrict Abortion Funding," The Huffington Post, February 9, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206084&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=6

"Extreme Abortion Coverage Ban Introduced," Center for American Progress, January 20, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205961&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=7

2. "Georgia State Lawmaker Seeks To Redefine Rape Victims As 'Accusers,'" The Huffington Post, February 4, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206007&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=8

3. "South Dakota bill would legalize killing abortion doctors," Salon, February 15, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206102&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=9

4. "House GOP Proposes Cuts to Scores of Sacred Cows," National Journal, February 9, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206103&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=10

5. "New GOP Bill Would Allow Hospitals To Let Women Die Instead Of Having An Abortion," Talking Points Memo, February 4, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205974&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=11

6. "Republican Officials Cut Head Start Funding, Saying Women Should be Married and Home with Kids," Think Progress, February 16, 2011
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/16/gop-women-kids/

7. "Bye Bye, Big Bird. Hello, E. Coli," The New Republic, Feburary 12, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206104&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=12

8. "House GOP spending cuts will devastate women, families and economy," The Hill, February 16, 2011
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/144585-house-gop-spending-cuts-will-devastate-women-families-and-economy-

9. "House passes measure stripping Planned Parenthood funding," MSNBC, February 18,2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206122&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=13

"GOP Spending Plan: X-ing Out Title X Family Planning Funds," Wall Street Journal, February 9, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206105&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=14

10. Ibid.

Birth Control for Horses, Not for Women," Blog for Choice, February 17, 2011
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=206106&id=26177-18530888-HHml48x&t=15

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

Happy Birthday VyVy!

2011-02-17T16:21:00.000-05:00

Today is the birthday of a friend of mine who also happens to be a brilliant young physician! So I made this birthday card for her. Have a happy one, VyVy!

I'm also excited because I recently found blogs by Teesha Moore, one of my favorite artists and the one-and-only creator of the planet-wide art phenomena called "zettiology," and also her husband Tracy's blog. Tracy Moore makes incredible hand-made books, in addition to producing fabulous journals like Teesha. Check them out!

Where the Lotus Goes in Winter

2011-02-16T19:25:00.001-05:00

I have removed my blog background (except for some color), in the hopes that this will spur me to create my own background. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time. Why not now? While I wait for Spring. The weather has been teasingly warm(er) here, I no longer feel like a lady locked in ice.

AValentine's Day Wish For You...

2011-02-14T17:53:00.000-05:00

Search for a Hidden Heart

May your Valentine's Day be rich
in love, friendship, and chocolate. And may someone special discover your hidden heart.

Time for a Change...

2011-02-08T21:08:00.000-05:00

...it's been happening for a long time anyway. Early on, I said the reason I was doing this blog was to get myself to make more art. It worked! For awhile. Perhaps my collage-a-day project was ill-conceived, given that I could not sustain the stresses that goal put on my time, sleep, and other commitments in my life. So, why not write posts about other things that interest me, or things in my life that others might find interesting? Next to art, the biggest category of personal obsessions is books--as well as music, interior decoration, food, gardening, animals, etc. The fact that reading a book is MUCH EASIER than producing art has something to do with it.

So....to bring you up to date with the highlights, and nadir, of my past several days:

Last Friday night I was delighted to attend Handel's Rinaldo when a friend's husband was not up to 3 hours of baroque opera!


Sorceress Armida (Alexandra Loutsion, center) has Almirena and Rinaldo (Shannon Dooley, left, and Stephanie Lauricella) under her power in Pittsburgh Opera's "Rinaldo." © David Bachman Photography, 2010

The singing was nothing short of astounding, especially considering that these vocalists are members of Pittsburgh Opera's Artists in Residence program, singers-in-training, all so young that only one is just embarking on a professional career. Minimalist but effective sets, in combination with evocative lighting and costumes, also made for a visually magical night. How about a little operatic beefcake?

Sexy & Shirtless: "Barihunk" Dan Kempson, who sang Argante in Rinaldo

Saturday night I attended a baby shower for a co-worker, and a fine, ribald old time was had by all!

Sunday afternoon I picked up my daughter from a sibling reunion at her Dad's place, looking forward to spending Monday with her before putting her on a train back to NYC on Tuesday morning.

We watched the Steelers lose the Superbowl., in spite of this year's fabulous fight song, "Drink Up, Yinz Bitches!"...well, gotta give the other guys a chance to win once in awhile.

Alas, I awoke early Monday and found myself face to face with a nasty bout of the flu. I haven't been that sick in quite awhile, and lost my day with my daughter. Fortunately her Aunt was able to get her to the train station so she got home ok.

Last night I finally stopped the frequent dashes for the bathroom, but I stayed home from work today as well. I'll be back in harness tomorrow.

I'm online tonight, actually, because I was searching for pictures of the Honorable Stephen Tennant, whose biography, Serious Pleasures, I am currently reading. There's something about early-20th c personalities that I find utterly fascinating--Stephen Tennant, Diana Cooper, Ottoline Morrel, the Sitwells, the Mitfords, Vita Sackville-West, to name a few. Perhaps its that sense of temps perdu, of ways of life that are forever vanished, that makes the magic. Also, people seemed to conduct themselves with so much more panache and/or elegance in bygone times. Or does every generation think that?

Stephen Tennant costumed as Prince Charming

The days are getting longer...

2011-01-27T13:06:00.002-05:00

A melancholy faux-memory for a time when branches are bare,

nests are empty, and eggs are stones.

The days are getting longer, and I feel like I might start creating some art again. Seasonal depression is such a bore. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it.)

January is half over. WHAT?!? sigh

2011-01-15T14:28:00.002-05:00

At least we are that much closer to Spring. On the other hand, winter can be so wonderfully beautiful. As a child, I loved to explore the woods near my home, especially after a heavy snowfall. Then the branches, arching close over my head with the weight of snow, became a magical, soft tunnel from which I emerged with my own sparkling mantle of white. Now, as an adult, having to commute through the ice and snow to spend my day doing what I do not prefer, can rob the season of its charm. How nice if we could declare winter to be one long holiday, compelled never to leave home unless we chose to visit friends or buy food to be eaten with our families in our warm kitchens.

“Being in this room on a winter night,

alone or with one or two great friends,

the sparkling coal fire with its low

brass-bound fender, the familiar things all around,

sitting in a chair which becomes a nest

with letters and papers and baskets and telephone

scattered on the floor, dogs comfortably

settled by the fire, or near the draught of the door

according to their thickness of coat,

is my idea of an evening happily spent.”

Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire,

The House: A Portrait of Chatsworth

And so begins another year…

2011-01-07T12:51:00.000-05:00

"Angel of Light." Christmas 2010

I wish I had had the foresight to put up a post after Christmas that said “Holiday hiatus in effect, see you later!” I didn’t do so, because I had intended to keep up with Collagitation blog throughout the holidays. Next year I’ll know better—or try harder! I have this dilemma, where I still desire to post my own artwork, but, especially during the holidays, I didn’t make the time to do any. So I ended up not posting anything. However, I did take some nice pictures of the decorations in our house, so I’ll use some of those instead.
The arrangement above is situated in a corner of the dining room, which is an interior room with no windows so it is ideal for this type of display. I saw the crystal bowl full of lights and silver ornaments on a Christmas house tour several years ago, then later I found the lovely angel figure (at the Salvation Army store, no less) and I love how she looks hovering over the lit bowl.

My New Year’s Resolution, of course, is to resume regularly making artwork. I wish all of you a happy, productive, prosperous and serene year in 2011!

"Go into yourself and test the depths in which your life takes rise; at its source you will find the answer to the question whether you must create." Rainer Maria Rilke

12/27/2010: Merrily Chistmas Rolls Along!

2010-12-27T21:53:00.001-05:00

We left room under the tree for Dundee, who loves laying there

It has been a lovely, if somewhat bittersweet, Christmas here at Patchwork Cottage (an unofficial name given to our little house by my Mother, because of the miscellany of materials that cover the exterior.) Lovely for all the usual reasons—sheer beauty, warm emotions, memories, familial love, traditions, contemplation, companionship, time off from my job –but also a bit sad; due not just to the sweet melancholy engendered by all of the above, but also, primarily, because of my Mother’s continuing decline into dementia, and then my son’s non-appearance due to flu, and my daughter’s non-appearance due to burn-out and the need to take time to reconnect with her and her husband’s own home in New York and all the solace therein. Well, this last is actually not sad-making, I am happy for her to have time off to just indulge in home-life without dealing with holiday travel stresses. My son, who lives locally, is on the mend, having, as usual, not even let us know he was ill. He travels a different orbit and we never know when he may or may not communicate/turn up.

Nevertheless, the pervading mood of the holiday (so far—I insist on all 12 days’ worth of celebration) has been one of wonder and gratitude. Wonder, because, no matter how often I experience it, the physical transformation of our home wrought by the Christmas tree, the tiny lights strung on wreaths and garlands which festoon every room, massed candles, the festive music and aromas of special foods being lovingly prepared, is such a source of joy! I told my Mother, as we watched Baryshnikov dance the Nutcracker, that one of the reasons I so loved Christmas was because it was a time when the appearance of my physical surroundings almost matched the magical world inside my head (where I probably spend way too much time.)

Well, I guess that is the whole point (once you get beyond mere shelter) of inhabiting a home at all: to create an environment that reflects and nourishes your own senses and sensibilities as nowhere else can, your intimate space into which you can beckon family and select friends. Holiday decorating is that, on steroids. All the decorating excesses that would be bad taste any other time are allowed at Christmas. Though I draw the line at two items: those hideous, bloated, inflatable plastic Santas and Snowmen; and exterior Christmas lights that operate in such a way as to send susceptible persons into epileptic shock. You know, those lights that race, flash, jerk, change color and direction--! No, give me the still, silent grace of strands of white light drifting from the eaves, or colored bulbs illuminating the façade of the house, tracing against the night that familiar icon that says “home.” Or spirals of lights outlining the primal forms of trees, casting their glow onto the carpet of snow on the lawn around them. Silent night, still night. Give me Christmas lights that echo that aesthetic—the deep silence and stillness of winter, the quiet of animals hunkered down in earthen dens or straw-insulated barns, the evocative pattern of a window cast in warm, supple light on the snow outside, bearing silent witness to the human warmth within.

The wonder of the Birth of Christ is not absent from my Christmas. I still call the winter holidays by the name honoring that event. Having been raised a Roman Catholic, it’s true I have an atavistic tug towards all those religious elements that form the “true meaning” of Christmas to so many. Yet, other, older impulses draw me just as compellingly—the winter festivals celebrated since long before the advent of Christ or even his father, that rather sour-tempered Judaic patriarchal god. Oh, how long ago the snows fell, how long our memories dwell, our sagas tell of nurturing the light, seeking the warmth against the endless night, marking the settings of the Sun, until the night that brought us the dawn of the returning Star. The Winter Solstice, the greatest of the olden holidays, (usurped by the greatest of the Christian holidays, Christmas) the rebirth of the star that gives life to this planet. The source of physical life and the source of spiritual life combined in one season--what more could we ask….?

And gratitude—what makes one count one’s blessing more than the winter holidays? There must be some kind of atavistic wellspring of victory about surviving the harshness of winter, a primordial memory of overcoming the double-whammy of the cold death coupled with cold winter, that makes us especially grateful at this time of year. (Reminds me of an episode of Northern Exposure, where a corpse had to be hauled into a tree to survive the winter, safe from wolves, until the spring thaw when a grave could be dug.) Every feeling of gratitude is magnified in this season: I offer gratitude for my family and friends, my home, my abilities (such as they are), and for so many other things spreading out into the wide world—gardens, books, music, classical architecture, Victorian hotels, the fall of Communism, inexpensive red wines, bread machines, organic eggs, thrift shops, the internet, and friends I reach thereby—and here let me stop!

ALSO greetings and thanks to Junibears, Nigel and Connie for your comments, I will offer personal responses later this week--cannot respond from home computer : (

Merry Christmas to Me!

2010-12-21T23:37:00.001-05:00

While shopping for Christmas gifts for family and friends, I usually end up buying way too many books—especially for myself. Here I offer a little tableau, in my over-flowing library (which is also my art studio), displaying some recent acquisitions.

With so many discount book stores on the streets and publisher's closeout catalogs arriving in the mail, at least I almost never pay full price for them. Nowadays my favorite catalog sellers also have websites, but I get cheap, bibliophiliac thrills from perusing discount book catalogs. My favorites come from Edward R Hamilton (http://edwardrhamilton.com/) and Daedalus Books (http://www.daedalus-books.com/). Dover Publications http://store.doverpublications.com/ is another favorite source, not discount but I always try to get their items on sale —a regular occurrence at Dover (also don't forget to sign up for weekly, free email samples from Dover's digital images library). When in pursuit of a specific, probably out of print book, my first resource is American Book Exchange (which offers no catalog): http://www.abebooks.com/ as well as Amazon.com (no link necessary) whose affiliate sellers also often carry those hard-to-find items.

The costume book, containing marvelously detailed engravings of mostly Teutonic 18^th c dress, and the Dore Gallery (with CD-ROM) from Dover will provide inspiration and materials for collages. Also from Dover comes a book about Chicago World’s Fair of 1893. I’ve been fascinated by that event ever since reading Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City. Larson creates a masterpiece of tension that moves between the logistics of designing and constructing the splendid “white city” that housed the fair, and the nefarious activities of the charming but murderous psychopath, Dr. Holmes, who found the fair to be fertile hunting grounds for his victims (true story.)

From Daedalus came Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi; Manor Houses of Normandy, and Temple Grandin’s marvelous book, Making Animals Happy. The Life of Pi was an impulse buy, and it looks to have been a good one. It’s one of those books written for adolescents, that, like the Harry Potter series, offers writing with depth and wit enough to keep more mature readers enthralled; the story of a ship-wrecked boy whose wits and skill enable him to survive (unlike his several animal boat-mates) at sea in a life-boat with a ravenous tiger. It contains magical illustrations by Tomislav Torjanac.

Buying books sight unseen, of course, sometimes results in unexpected encounters, as well as pleasures. Manor Houses of Normandy is a rather dry, didactic, technical study of these structures, but nonetheless there are wonderful photos to fire the imagination. The buildings date mostly from the 18^th century, yet they look to me so archaic that I thought they dated from the 14-15^th c. This book will take its place in the architecture section rather than the interiors section of my library.

Temple Grandin is an authority on animal communication who suffers from (or is gifted with) autism, apparently the source of her ability to penetrate the veil between our minds and those of the animals we love, as well as those anonymous beasts who play such a critical role in our lives. If you care at all about animals (who could not??) I heartily recommend her book, Making Animals Happy. You will discover, among other revelations, that one of the reasons cats are reviled among a certain percentage of the population, is because they do not possess the facial muscles to form expressions similar to our own, that dogs do.

Almost hidden in the photo is a book entitled Making the Metropolis: Creators of Victoria’s London, by Stephen Halliday, which came from a recent used book sale at a local library (oh, to tell you of the treasures I have found coughed up from the dusty cellars of libraries!!) It is the kind of fascinating study that I love to get immersed in and let carry me away to another time and place. From the jacket flap: “Halliday’s…book shows how the ramshackle collection of communities that entered the 19^th century became the world’s first metropolis.”

Finally, there is the first volume of Anthony Powell’s epic series of novels, collectively entitled A Dance to the Music of Time. I read about these books in other books (there’s a topic for a whole other post—bibliosynergy) and have always wanted to read them. I gather they are sort of a British version of Proust, perhaps? The books cover the decades between the world wars, an era (among others) which endlessly fascinates me. So much change, so fast, and with such devastating consequences—how did it all happen? And also producing such singular personalities, how did the people survive it—or not? There are many books which fall into this chronological span, both fiction and non, and some of my favorites include the novels of Mary Wesley and such works as biographies of Vita Sackville-West, Stephen Spender, Lady Diana Cooper, the Sitwells, Cecil Beaton, the Mitford sisters, Iris Origo, etc, ad nauseum. Oh, if only I had the time! (Which will probably be the epitaph on my urn….)

Motherhood

2010-12-16T23:20:00.013-05:00

I know a couple of women who are deathly afraid of birds. Can you imagine? Did their mothers watch Hitchcocks's "The Birds" too many times during pregnancy? Birds are naturally excellent mothers, as are all members the animal kingdom.

I read an article once years ago, about a woman who was a preacher I think in the 19th c. South, and she was taken to task by male church members for it, who felt it was not a woman's place to try to teach about Christ. She pointed out to them, that only women should teach about Christ, because he was born of a human woman WITHOUT the involvement any human male! You go, girl! So I think Christmas is as much a celebration of Motherhood and the miracle of birth, as of the coming of a savior.

I Love Christmas!

2010-12-15T21:26:00.000-05:00

...and so here is another piece of Christmas art for you. Made on Polyvore.com. My Polyvore name is Diakea, you can do a Member search to see my other digital art made there, as well as some fabulous art by my Polyvore buddies.

Christmas Kisses to You!

2010-12-15T11:05:00.000-05:00

A digital confection created on Polyvore.

Olden times and ancient rhymes of love and dreams to share...

2010-12-13T23:44:00.001-05:00

Like the lyrics to the beautiful song by Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaraldi, the winter holidays evoke memories and dreams more than any other time of year. I suppose this goes back to ancient times when humankind hunkered down and nestled in for the winter season, replacing the vigorous activity of farm and field for the introspection of fireside warmth. For me, Christmas is a time of dispensation, when the normal pattern of everyday life is briefly dusted with magic, and we indulge in traditions that cheer us and give reassurance against the dark and cold beyond our walls. Little Augury recently posted some of her favorite Christmas traditions, and requested some from her readers. Herewith, my own “Top Ten” cherished holiday rites:

1) A Christmas tree, decked with treasured ornaments that each have a story. The cloudy, craquelured glass balls from my childhood are among the most cherished.

Our Christmas tree, c. 1953

2) The Manger. Having been raised Roman Catholic, the Manger scene will forever be integral to my Christmas. My Mother’s set goes under our tree, and I temporarily displace some books to make an arrangement in the library of the well-worn figures that were under my Grandparent’s tree during my childhood.

My Mother's manger set from the 1970's. The sugar angels are c. 1965.

3) My annual Christmas card. I believe I’ve missed only one year out of the 39 or so that I’ve been doing this, starting when my children were small. The cards used to be individually hand-made, but as my painted or collaged designs got more elaborate, I started having them color-copied. I still assemble the cards by hand.

lino block print, 1970

Paper collage card, 2007

4) Decorating to the hilt! I love the annual transformation of my home into a holiday house with something special to see at every turn: little surprises tucked on bookshelves and table-tops, greens, berries and poinsettia blossoms (mostly artificial but still beautiful) garlanding door frames and mirrors, as well as our annual Nutcracker display. The topiary trees at each end were made by me, using moss harvested from the lawn of our German apartment building, c. 1995. They have been part of my Christmas decorating ever since.

The Nutcracker collection, 2006

5) Baking. Everyone knows that goodies you eat during the holiday season will never cause you to gain weight. Right?

6) Christmas Eve dinner with family at the home of my cousin and her husband.

7) My musical friends’ annual Christmas party, which always culminates in everyone gathering round the grand piano in their Victorian parlor, to sing Christmas carols, loudly and lustily, accompanied by flute and trombone (played by father and son, respectively.)

8) The Victorian Christmas house tour in Old Allegheny West, an enclave of lovingly-preserved Victorian houses on Pittsburgh’s North Side. I discovered this wonderful event a decade ago when I saw an article about it in House and Garden magazine.

From the 2007 Victorian Christmas House Tour

9) Gluhwein! What the Germans drink to keep warm during outdoor winter events, such as Christmas markets. I will soon be enjoying some here at home. One does not, of course, buy the prepared bottled stuff. First, you make a mull with lemon, orange, cinnamon, clove and other aromatic goodies, sweetened with sugar or honey, simmered for awhile (filling the house with incredible aroma) then add red wine and heat, very gently, so as not to burn off any merry-making molecules, and serve. Good cheer indeed! A must while out on the nighttime patio viewing the December star-scape.

10) Elizabeth’s bears. My soon-to-be-84 year old Mother has been collecting teddy-bears (for affection, not value) for quite awhile now. At Christmas, the entire collection makes its annual appearance all around the house.

Wishing all of you the happiest of holidays, and may you enjoy just rewards for all the hard work I know you you've put forth to make them special!

A Coming Metamorphosis

2010-12-04T17:17:00.001-05:00

It’s been awhile since I posted anything, and at present I still have no new artwork to show, alas. However, I do see light at the end of the tunnel: I’ve finally finished this huge calligraphy job that has been stalking me like the Hound of the Baskervilles for several weeks and preventing me from taking up more creative activities. Here is a tale of woe all too familiar to calligraphers: the piece is done, all 500+ words of it filling an 18x24 sheet, and the last step is adding a logo in black. Why I chose to do so with a crow quill pen instead of a permanent black marker, I can’t fathom, but I’ll know better from now on! Because, of course, the pen burped out too much ink, which bled beyond the edge of the logo design and thus ruined the entire piece. (And that was the second attempt, the first one being only half-done when I ruined it by leaving out an entire, important word.) That was last weekend. This past week, every night after work, I plied my pen (doing the logo first—in marker!) and, HURRAY!! last night I finished it. Here it is, with apologies for the lousy digital photography:

Since I can no longer keep up the strain of working full time and still producing one of my intricate, detailed collages every day (attempts at simplifying my style have been futile) I’ve been pondering where to go with this blog. Recently I came across a couple of other blogs whose style I love—Little Augury, written by an interior designer in the Carolinas, and Scala Regia, by a Diogo Mayo, who is Portuguese. Both of them have exquisite tastes and interests in art, books, fine interiors, beautiful gardens, legendary personages, in short, the very things that are most compelling to me. Little Augury tends to emphasize interiors, while Scala Regia has lots about fashion, and both offer plenty about the personalities involved in those industries. LA includes a good bit of text, while SR is mostly visuals.Their blogs are loaded with wit and style and never fail to interest, enlighten and amuse. So, taking inspiration from these, I will attempt to broaden Collagitation to encompass all of my interests, not just my art. Whether I can do this without boring people remains to be seen!

Collagitation will remain the title, because, after all, life is a collage, made up of colors, patterns, and contents that we select and attempt to arrange in a fulfilling design of our own making. But unlike the art that we create, many, if not most, of the elements that comprise our lives are not what we choose, but either what we are dealt or what we settle for. Which is one of the reasons why creating art is so satisfying. “Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” - Twyla Tharp

The Amazing Architecture of Antoni Gaudi in National Geographic

2010-11-27T14:29:00.001-05:00

illustration by Fernando G. Baptista & Shizuka Aoki

Having been long enthralled by the soaring, intricate beauty of gothic architecture, I’ve never much cared for the idiosyncratic art nouveau architecture of Antoni Gaudi. It always seemed a bit creepy to me. (It came to mind the first time I watched “Alien” and saw the huge skeletons on the abandoned planet.) Well, the December issue of National Geographic has totally revised my attitude about the work of Gaudi. It contains an article, “Gaudi’s Masterpiece,” by Jeremy Berlin, about the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. This amazing cathedral is a massive structure with a footprint of 48,438 sq. ft., projected to be completed in 2026, 144 years after work started.

The NG article quotes professor of mechanical engineering Adrian Bejan on Gaudi: “He understood that nature is constructed by laws of mathematics. What is strongest is inherently lightest and most efficient, and therefore most beautiful.” Bejan calls Gaudi a "tightrope walker on the line bridging art and science.”

Gaudi conceived the columns of the nave to represent a forest of trees that would bear the weight of the building from inside, without the need for the gothic flying buttresses. One of the main interior columns in Gaudi’s cathedral supports a load of 1,138 pounds per square inch, compared to a combined 697 psi for one 3-column flying buttress on Cologne Cathedral. The details of how this is achieved are beautifully presented in double sided 4-panel foldout in the magazine, illustrated by Fernando G. Baptista and Shizuka Aoki, from which I scanned the above picture. This fold-out is a work of art in itself.

Gaudi was, of course, a visionary. To quote the NG article again, Gaudi’s “belief in the beautiful efficiency of natural engineering clearly anticipated the modern science of biomimetics.” Take a look at this illustration below from the foldout, showing how Gaudi adapted the structure of a leaf to create the roof of a school. Is this not amazing and beautiful? The building looks like forest structure out of a fairy-tale, so perfect for a place to shelter and nurture children. (I googled an image of the actual building. It really is small, one-story, but its situation in a highly urban setting belies the woodland look.)

illustration by Fernando G. Baptista & Shizuka Aoki

I’ll be looking at Gaudi with new eyes from now on.

Mea Culpa with Miniature Cathedrals

2010-11-26T21:50:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone enjoyed a warm, nostalgic, lovely Thanksgiving with family and friends! And ate too much, of course.

In lieu (yet again) of a new piece of artwork, here is a little bookshelf landscape, consisting of one of my assemblage pieces, called "Mea Culpa," and part of my collection of miniature souvenir cathedrals acquired in German fleamarkets. The red you see in the assemblage piece, is very tiny writing on struck matches, which states, over and over, Mea Culpa, It's Your Fault, Mea Maxima Culpa, It's All Your Fault, Mea Culpa...etc. The calligraphy is the Confiteor, a Latin prayer expressing guilt. A little commentary on one aspect of my Catholic school upbringing.

Abandoning my collage a day project has broken my heart. How I miss that feeling of accomplishment as I built up a body of work, day by day. What a thrill to be self-assured that I could call upon an inner source of creativity that would not let me down. How bitter that it was external circumstances that brought it to a halt—but how much more bitter if I’d had to quit because I’d simply reached the end of my ideas. Still, it is bitter too, to know that while I am up to the challenge creatively, yet I must let art that might have come forth, stay locked up in my mind, because I do not have the time and constitutional fortitude (sleep deprivation is impossible to sustain for a woman of my age) to bring it into the light of day. *sigh* I feel all at sea. How typical of me to over-reach, then crash and berate myself. Well. This is a line of thought that will lead only to a dead-end. I’ve found myself in a morbid mood too often as it is. And please forgive me for splashing my personal angst all over my blog. But where else??

I’ve concluded that the collage workshop I took last month did more harm than good. I learned what I did not need, and very little that I did. Which is, of course, educational in itself, but still. So I’ve been trying to figure out what I expected from that course, based on the pre-workshop tasks we were set to collect samples of colors, texts, and imagery from magazines (both which we liked and didn’t) and how I could achieve those anticipated goals on my own. An interesting exercise.

I suppose there are good points to giving up 3SIXTY5. I was working very small, due to time constraints—now I don’t have to. And it spawned many ideas which will require time to work out , that will beckon me into the future. My biggest stumbling block remains Time, as in, not enough of. Time, as in, spent mostly expending my energy on others’ concerns, in order to pay our bills. Time, as in, Running Out!

What I've been up to.

2010-11-17T21:13:00.001-05:00

This week I've been working on the calligraphy for an award to be presented to a Harvard professor by a group at the University of Pittsburgh, called the Center for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. Like that name, this piece is extremely wordy! I've included a couple of pix of my work area, which is an area about 8 x 10 feet in the library because there's no where else in the house to put it. This house is the first place I've lived in that does not have studio space, in over 20 years' worth of homes. What was I thinking??

The little baroque-style cherub head is a Christmas ornament from Heidelberg, Germany. I purchased a bunch of them while I was living there, and have used them every year on our holiday tree. A few years ago, this one escaped from her storage box after it had been put away (or maybe I just overlooked her?) and since then she has hung and swung over my drawing table, adding whimsy and, hopefully, inspiration.

The calligraphy project will be finished for delivery this weekend, and then I can indulge in more art-making!! I can't wait--I miss it. Which is a good thing, all in all. See you then.

Le Ciel

2010-11-12T23:15:00.001-05:00

Where is my blog? From Collagitation to Defunctation?

Biting off more than I can chew is not a new experience for me. A collage a day? Why ever not? Maximum sleep deprivation for a year? No problem! So began my dual adventure of getting my chops back after a decade of minimal art activity, and putting up a blog that would actually not be an embarrassment. I felt up to the challenge, embarking on my 60^th birthday in April, 2010. And I did pretty well for awhile! Sure, the strain started telling after several months (I also work full time and look after my elderly mother, who lives with me) but I soldiered on, refusing to admit I’d stepped into a bog until the quicksand was up to my neck. I bragged to my Mom about how well I was doing on so little sleep, to which she replied, “Oh, you’ll just age faster.” Just the thing any woman wants to hear! I had my first major melt-down in early August. I didn’t post any new art for about 5 days, which put me into throes of angst. When I resumed my daily efforts, I went from colorful parrots and classical ladies to skulls, skeletons and my own version of the grande macabre. I figured this was because Halloween was only a few months away. In fact, I now realize it was probably my subconscious sending me dire warnings about the un-sustainability of my new life-style.

A couple more melt-downs followed, this time met with resignation rather than angst. By mid-October, I was ready to admit that making collage-a-day was probably no longer viable. But good things had happened too: I’d amassed a body of work the likes of which I’d never produced before, ever; my work has been accepted by my favorite Pittsburgh art gallery, Galerie Chiz; and, last but not least, I've made new friends all over the globe via sharing my artwork online.

I am still creating, of course, just not at my previous pace. The past few weeks have been crowded with calligraphy free-lance, and with the big holiday season fast approaching, I will have many other activities demanding my attention. I conceived Collagitation as my art blog, and that is certainly its primary mission. But I have decided to include other things from time to time that catch my fancy, and which I think might be of interest to a wider audience. The emphasis will remain on the visual but will go beyond my own artwork. I think this will be fun…

Meanwhile, I revamped the blog a bit, to get the sour taste of the last few posts out of the air. And here, finally is a new piece, featuring a lovely blue bird I found on The Graphics Fairy.

Theatre of Chance

2010-11-08T21:12:00.000-05:00

An experiment. As in, win some, lose some. Or is that a card game? A game of chance. Life.

I'm Back. Sort of.

2010-11-07T20:35:00.000-05:00

A bit of ancient history: a collage I made in 1986, in my sketchbook (where it still is.) This one incorporated some drawing and painting, as well as collage. I was into marbled paper even then.) The background between the pillars is my hand-made paper, of which I still have a huge supply even though I haven't made any in years! In fact, I still have a good supply of un-sheeted, dyed, dried pulp, and a couple boxes of unused fiber sheets for when I get the paper-making bug again.

This past week was pretty off-the-charts, waaaay too much going on! Some good, some not so good. One of the good things is, we have acquired a new cat! He is a young male, a beautiful orange marmalade, who will be getting snipped VERY soon. He appeared, wailing, on a neighbor's friend's porch for days. She couldn't take him, so we did. Sight unseen, which was a source of some apprehension. But he is a real sweetie! We have named him Dundee, after the city in Scotland where orange marmalade was first manufactured in 1797; and also after an orange marmalade library cat named Dundee, a character in Lilian Jackson Braun's delightful "The Cat Who..." books. (I read those, all 20+ of them, last spring and summer to comfort myself after Rainbow died.) I like a cat's name to have a story behind it.

I also finally stopped in at Gallerie Chiz to see three of my Collagitation works on display! That was a thrill! They are very nicely hung in the gallery entry area. I am pleased, and intend for this to be the start of bigger things.

Well, I am back in harness, and will be posting new art this week--as in freshly made, not unseen for 24 years old!

OMINOUS

2010-10-31T22:41:00.001-04:00

Tonight's piece is pretty different from anything I've done previously, mainly because it was "art directed" by the one and only Suzanne Moore, calligrapher and book-artist extraordinaire, who came to town this weekend at the invitation of the Calligraphy Guild of Pittsburgh to give her 2-day workshop entitled "Kol-ahz" at Carnegie-Mellon University. If you are interested in some details about the workshop, read on. If you are not, bail now to avoid boredom!

It was an unsettling endeavor for me, being very wedded to a particularly pictorial, narrative style of collage making. I am a concretist, Suzanne is an abstractionist. So it was sort of Max Ernst colliding with Schwitters and Braque! I was way at sea--not a bad way from which to begin an educational experience. As I grasp it, Suzanne's style starts with letterforms as abstract shapes, which then become the focal point of a composition. There are no illustrative, pictorial elements added to these abstract letters, but like any good abstract art, they are executed with such a richness and depth of color, texture and form that they evoke a thoroughly satisfying visual experience. Today during lunch, we saw slides from her book of A's--a multi-year project in which she explored hundreds of renderings of--the letter "A." You would have to see it to believe it! A Sistine Chapel of A, a Pieta of A, a Guernica of A!!!

To start with, we created materials to use for the pending assignments. The first of these involved making broadly gestural, black and white interpretations of letterforms in sumi ink, preferably created using anything but traditional calligraphy pens. Everything from dentifrice aids to chunks of roots dug out of her yard, were employed as mark-making tools. These sheets were then cut up into precisely measured 2 or 3 inch squares (what else could one expect of a book-artist, for whom precise measurement and 90 degree angles are a way of life?) At one point I thought, "I'm cutting out squares; how boring is that?" until I realized that those squares were just a starting point, within them many things were possible. Our squares containing ink marks of no known meaning became the seminal elements from which we assembled our abstract compositions. While I found these restrictions and this method of working very challenging, I learned a lot in this workshop. It is always worth the time and effort to encounter and work with a world-class talent close up, one on one.

Nevertheless, the above composition was my only creation from 2 days of effort with which I am even remotely satisfied, and then only because I finally departed from the abstract and inserted a pictorial element (the dragon's head). Moreover, tonight, I decided to add another: the skeletal arm was added afterward, because I suddenly realized that tonight is HALLOWEEN! I've been doing skulls, bones and innards for weeks, so I could not let the target holiday pass without at least a gesture to the macabre!! The exercise in which I produced this piece involved making a template via a very loosely executed--more "drawn" than written--word of our choice. This was sketched in pencil, then the enclosed spaces captured inside the lines were filled with texture, color, other lettering, clips from many sources, including xeroxes or originals of previous work, magazine images, printed text, photographs --in other words, whatever we chose. My word was "Ominous." If you look very carefully, you can discern the letters, especially the initial O, the N, the peaks of the M, etc. But again, restrictions were in effect, all the choices of "fillers" stated above nevertheless being based upon the types of elements we had been instructed to choose prior to the workshop and bring with us. Suzanne is a great believer in "boundaries" as a way to control the endless choices available to an artist, thus freeing up the mind for creativity instead of mundane in decision-making.

She also offered several other techniques, based on her own preferences and experience as a book artist, for embellishing and enriching compositions. One of these which I did not play with, was sewing, the use of stitchery both as a decorative linear element and a functional one to adhere parts of a composition. the use of needle and tread is, of course, integral to bookbinding and a natural addition to the vocabulary of embellishments for someone involved in that craft. But I found no affinity with it at this point, although many others in the workshop produced effective results utilizing various threads and stitchery patterns.

Many other techniques were demonstrated, and lots of other technical information imparted, well beyond what I was able to absorb. Those which I chose to experiment with, and which have stayed with me most readily, are the ones that most align with what I already love the most to do. But even these are novel, taking a step beyond. Thus do we build incrementally on what we already know, and so approach what will enable us to evolve and grow as artists.

No knowledge gained is ever wasted; no experience is ever without its unexpected repercussions. Over time, I am sure the lessons I learned (both consciously and subliminally) this weekend will affect my work. At this moment in time, the main effect registers as a reinforcement of my current favorite way of creating art: via selecting and assembling pre-existing images into some readable, visual narratives that nonetheless result in (I hope) unique works of art. Who knows what lies ahead?

Once in a Blue Moon

2010-10-29T13:05:00.003-04:00

My offering for Theme Thursday's "Blue" challenge, a day late. Should the princess kiss that frog? Well, in a cynical world, probably not. But, once in a blue moon...magic really does happen!

Created on Polyvore. Thanks for looking!

Glorious New Hat

2010-10-28T00:35:00.002-04:00

Hats, it seems, are not as popular as they once were. Millinery shops are a thing of the past. But sometimes, one can understand why. This piece was inspired by Three Muses theme this week, which is... hats.

The elegant skellie lady is from Itkupilli, other elements from Dover, background text is pages from a vintage German book.

Masks

2010-10-24T23:16:00.000-04:00

Halloween is almost here, time to think about masks. I offer some originals, along with a simple but sinister one (far left) by by 18th c Venetian painter, Felice Boscarati. Do not be alarmed to find anatomy specimens on your doorstep next weekend!

Warm in Thine Eye

2010-10-21T23:50:00.001-04:00

Turmoil has been showing up in my life lately, especially in regard to the house my mother and I share. At 70 years old, it has decided to wage war on us. I will spare you the details. Suffice to say, to hell with the expense, tomorrow I call the plumber!!! (With gratitude to my son and his buddy, who did their best to fix the problems. Sorry, guys, this is beyond your capabilities.) Nevertheless, I am grateful to have 1) my son 2) my Mother 3) a roof over our heads 4) income to pay for repairs 5) the phone number of a good plumber. I almost entitled this post, "It's better than being bombed," but decided this would've been really bad taste, really shabby. I feel humbly grateful that my problems are so essentially trivial, compared to the sorrows so many people face every day. And why can't we fix this??

I rather like tonight's piece, but, I must say this scanned image does not do it justice. There are a lot of layered areas, with subtle transparencies happening, that are not captured here. Be that as it may, I am struggling to get back to my collage-a-day-or-so activities, and this is a good start.

Castles in the Air

2010-10-19T00:22:00.000-04:00

Ah, that felt good! The first new collage since days and days!

Griffin and Baby

2010-10-18T11:59:00.000-04:00

Oh, I've been soooo bad. No new art since last week :-( As you might expect, from someone who has just started at age 60 to answer the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?", I tend to live in the moment, let tomorrow take care of itself, and not worry too much about planning ahead. Thus, I am always somewhat unprepared, and perpetually in a time crunch. Most recently, I've been spending time trying to edit several of my Halloween collages to fit the Zazzle.com templates so I can offer them for sale as Halloween cards. "Nothing is ever easy," especially when it is advertised as being so. Well, if not this Halloween, next year I'll already have a whole stable of card designs ready to go. (Now I need to start thinking about Christmas, so I don't have to repeat that statement come December.) For the time being, in lieu of new work, I offer a collage I made years ago of a Griffin, actually one section of a large piece based on medieval bestiaries. The calligraphy is mine.

Tonight, after an unusually hectic weekend, I'll be back at my work table, yippee!

Galerie Chiz Made My Day

2010-10-14T23:34:00.000-04:00

Today I had a wonderful interview with Ellen Neuberg, Proprietresse Extraordinaire of Gallerie Chiz in the artful Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh. I have been attending openings (and partaking of Ellen's hospitality) at Gallerie Chiz for many years, but today's visit was special. I loaded up a binder with collages from 3SIXTY5, and offered them for possible inclusion in the gallery. It was tremendously gratifying when they met with a positive response! So it looks like this may be my re-entry into the vibrant art scene in my hometown. It is wonderful to have this blog, and make so many friends through sharing my work and observations online, but it is still very special to participate and be part of something at "street level," in real time, face-to-face with people. I am soooo excited!!! (Please overlook that I am posting no new art tonight--yet again I began a piece which I find I cannot finish in one night. So I hope this narrative will excuse the omission.)

Flood

2010-10-13T00:23:00.000-04:00

Tonight's art has no bearing (that I know of) on what has been uppermost in my thoughts today. Like opera lovers the world over, I am saddened by the announcement of Joan Sutherland's death. Dame Joan has been such a fixture, a sort of benign, presiding Goddess over the realm of opera, that it just didn't occur to me she would ever die. Surely, she was much too young? She was 83, an age she achieved secretly, behind all our backs, while we listened over and over to the flights of bel canto magic on her numerous recordings made over the decades of her spectacular prime. Well, all good things must end, and here again is one of those occasions when the world turns, and another Immortal goes to her just rewards, never to return. Brava, Joan, and farewell.

Adventures in Banner-land

2010-10-10T22:30:00.001-04:00

My art post for tonight is MY NEW BLOG BANNER!!! I actually made it for the opening of my store on Zazzle, to market Halloween cards, and cards & postcards of other designs as well. I've been in a real time-crunch lately, which threatens to extend right through the holidays. Usually Halloween is the only event in October, but this year, I have an activity on at least one day of every weekend throughout the month. Well, what can I say, I've decided to just get loose with 3SIXTY5, my collage-a-(almost every)-day project. I should have thought of doing something like this when I was still young enough to bear up under the commitment! But I was too busy being a sybarite.

Today my mother and I went to see "Vatican Treasures" at the Heinz History Museum in Pittsburgh's Strip District--a warehouse & market district so named because it occupies a 4 block wide strip of land between the Allegheny River and the bluffs that rise to neighborhoods atop them.--NOT because of entertainment you will find there, LOL! Anyway, my Mom loved the whole adventure, but I found the exhibit somewhat meagre on "treasures." I also couldn't help but register the evidence of immense wealth and luxury enjoyed, historically and into the present day, by the Popes in Rome and their huge retinues. Be that as it may, the exhibit displayed many genuine works of art, albeit the majority of them by "unknown artists " rather than those by recognized masters (do I detect insurance considerations at work here?) Which is not to disparage the quality of those unknown works, they were still breath-taking! But the "blockbuster" pieces, such as the Pieta, were reproductions. I had a similar experience many years ago, when I went to see an exhibit in Speyer, Germany, of the "science and drawings" of Leonardo da Vinci. There were many impressive constructions of machinery and engines from his designs--but all the Leonardo art was bogus. I took off my glasses, the better to take in Leonardo's brushstrokes, and found myself looking at benday dots!

Thanks to everyone who visited my blog from Three Muses and Theme Thursday! It's always fun to "spend time" with friends this way.

Phone Home

2010-10-09T16:54:00.001-04:00

A digital piece created on Polyvore. I thought it would be a quickie, but then I had to tweak the heck out of the phone in Photoshop. Number one priority after the completion of my collage-(almost-every)-day project, will be to spend just about as much time every week on really learning PS. Though I have to say, I've learned to do a lot more through using it with my 3SIXTY5 images, than I probably would've had I not started this collage project. "It's All Good!"

Composition in Black and Redd: OH, RHETT!

2010-10-07T22:07:00.001-04:00

Well, two of my favorite colors, Black and Red, have been called upon for Theme Thursday's challenge for this week. Subject matter a secondary consideration.

Here is my offering: RHETT!!! OMG--was there EVER a man so sexy--so pliable to one's fantasies--so, So, SO---(fill in the blank). Which of us would not meld ourselves to the contours of his embrace, offer our lips to the clasp of his kiss--AHEM--ok, and here we stop.

My apologies to any gentle, virgin souls who I may have offended (Get a Life--!!)

Thanks ladies for an excellent challenge! Nighty-night!

The Immortal Piaf

2010-10-07T21:06:00.001-04:00

Three Muses challenge this week is "Say it with Music." Where to start? Who doesn't love music? I'm told there are benighted souls who seldom listen to music; how do they survive??

Well, after some thought I decided to make a tribute to Edith Piaf, the "Little Sparrow." A woman of consuming talent, consumed in turn by her passion for the lives and loves described in her art. Song lyrics of love and loss, recreated as the narrative of her life. Reality impinged on her world in the form of brutal disabilities, alcoholism, drug addiction, grief and pain on a monumental scale. Yet, a true artist, she kept singing--and loving.

She was a phenomena, an incarnate Act of the Goddess. There will never be another like her.

Victorian Parlor: A Tribute to Edward Gorey

2010-10-05T23:27:00.001-04:00

Tonight's piece isn't really a "collage-a-day" effort, because I worked on it over several evenings during the past week (including hours of damage control when I pasted down the old lady in the wrong position.) But I knew how I wanted it to look, and I searched for the images relentlessly until I found what I wanted. I conceived it as another tribute to the great Edward Gorey, so it had to be the visual equivalent of le mot just. I can't say I entirely brought it off. I've discovered the fun in tweaking scanned collages in Photoshop, to offer as art prints or cards, so I'll take this one along that route too. I've not included a caption with the picture, as EG usually would do in his work, though I may add it later. Here is the narrative: "As Violet sat in her Aunt Letitia's parlor, patiently waiting for some sign of interest from her shy suitor, she suddenly noticed that a most handsome ecorché had appeared in the room..."

Almost all the images came from various Dover books, including Aunt Letitia, who I took from Gustav Dore's virtuoso illustrations for Orlando Furioso. The creepy little child came from Itkupilli.

Ecorché is a word I first encountered in a Gorey piece. It's a pretty way to say "a cadaver flayed to show the musculature." Of course, the one in my collage is not a cadaver, but most likely alive, and Violet appears to be interested. What could possibly go wrong?

My Dark Heart

2010-10-04T23:29:00.001-04:00

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Please click on this post to view it at a larger size; in which view, the image will POP, and the work will be seen much more in its entirety. Thank you!

Constellation Equus: digital collage for Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010

2010-10-03T21:11:00.001-04:00

This digital collage is a catch-up from yesterday. After a day of house cleaning, I was too tired last evening to complete and post a collage. In honor the power of equine beauty to carry us away from anxiety and trepidation, I offer a tribute to the horse, in the form of a new constellation, "Equus magnificus." OK, I'm making this up, but the admiration is sincere. There are two genuine equine constellations that I know of, Pegasus, and his offspring, Equuleus ("the little horse") which come into view in the Fall. I have a marvelous telescope, but, alas, I probably won't be able to make the time to use it this year.

An artist friend of mine owns a fine horse that competed in the just-concluded World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY this past weekend. I will be visiting her farm later this month, and will meet this equine celebrity. And I'll definitely have my camera with me.

Thank Goodness for Friends!

2010-10-03T15:53:00.004-04:00

I want to say a big "Thank You!!" to Nigea, of Paris, France, for her (unsolicited) aid with my Etsy shop. She commented that my Etsy badge did not point to my shop, but only to the Etsy homepage. Then, she sent me directions to find the Etsy Mini widget, with the result (see, top of right column) that I now have a direct link between Collagitation blog and my Etsy store! You can visit two of Nigea's blogs, nigeArt and Marie's Freebies, as well as her Etsy shop, from my links section. Thank you, my friend, for your coming to my aid! With big hugs from Diane.

(I'll be posting new art tonight!)

Oh, Fortuna

2010-10-02T00:55:00.000-04:00

The sculpted head of Fortune dates from the end of the first century. I love her crown: a city wall and gate. This could be the basis for an interesting Halloween costume. "Oh Fortuna" is the title of the first segment of Carl Orff's masterpiece, Carmina Burana. I saw this awesome piece performed a few years ago, danced by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, with the Mendelssohn Choir and invited soloists, and the ballet orchestra, in a memorable performance that I will always recall with a thrill.

Memory Whispers

2010-09-30T23:28:00.000-04:00

In spite of promises to self to work smarter, faster, design simpler pieces, etc., I keep starting pieces that develop into very detailed narrative collages which, after a couple of hours of searching, printing, trimming--I realize I will not able to finish in time for that night's blog post (given that I have to get up the next morning and go to work: Oh, what I could accomplish if I did not need to support myself!! They can inscribe that on my ashes urn...) So, tonight, in lieu of the more elaborate pieces that, again, I realized I could not finish before 3 AM, I decided to just grab some already cut out bits from my work boxes and assemble a quickie image. HA! "There's no such thing as magic!" as Uncle Vernon told Harry, and there's no such thing as putting together a quick, simple collage--at least for me. My quickie took another couple of hours and while I suppose it's more or less acceptable, I can't understand why I can't seem to work faster.

Meanwhile, I hope to open my Zazzle shop this weekend, to sell Halloween cards and postcards, given that I have yet (since July) to sell a single thing on Etsy. Maybe that just means I need to find an art gallery to sell my work? I love crocheted cupcakes, and I admire the numerous successful Etsians, but it doesn't seem to be working for me. Maybe I am too much of an acquired taste....

Forest Apparition

2010-09-28T23:16:00.000-04:00

I imagine they're wondering if they can somehow build a nest out of it. Birds nesting in your heart? Sounds lovely! A macabre valentine, as it were. Hmmm...I forgot the eggs...

Home Cooking

2010-09-26T23:56:00.001-04:00

Mmmm...gotta love that home cookin'! I once overheard my mother, who never liked to cook, tell a visitor that she was very grateful to be living with a daughter (me, her only child) who enjoyed cooking. So true. If you do not cook, how ever do you feed yourself well? You can partake of restaurants (of varying degrees of excellence, depending on your pocketbook) or visit family/friends with, perhaps, irritating frequency until all standing invitations are withdrawn. Otherwise, you might exist in an ever-narrowing field of mediocre, to bad, to inedible, to positively poisonous food. Or, you could learn to cook. But maybe not the cuisine of the lady in tonight's collage.

Apropos this image, I should defend myself by mentioning that I am currently reading a bio of Charles Addams, "Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life" by Linda H. Davis. Well, I wouldn't put CA in the same class as Edward Gorey--he was much too attached to mainstream living, and a bit of a poseur--but, his work was known to a much broader audience, and perhaps initiated more folks into the mind-set of the macabre, who would not have otherwise stepped into that realm. Charles Addams was, in spite of his openly celebrity-cultivating habits, as much of an original as EG. Should he have followed EG's example and chosen the more reclusive route in life, he might have suffered less. But he also might have had less fun. To live is to grieve, as well as enjoy. (Curiously, it appears that Addams and Gorey never met; unusual, considering that they operated in the same time frame and place, and had stylistic correspondences.)

Tonight we had an unexpected visit from a friend, and his teen-aged daughter, arrived to pick up a computer that my son had repaired. Due to some miss-communication, said son was late on the scene, and my Mother and I got to visit with said friend (actually a divorced relative-by-marriage--but forever biological uncle to my children) and his daughter. She is a remarkably personable young woman, with excellent manners and none of the morose, sullen attitude that condemns so many contemporary teens to dismissal by those who might otherwise have something to offer them. During the course of the evening, I brought up the Chas Addams bio to Dad, which discussion led to an opportunity to introduce the young lady to the original CA work, via one of the printed collections of cartoons. When the link with the two Addams Family movies was established, she understood who her Dad and I were referring to, and perused the volume of drawings with attention. Who can describe the delight and triumph of actually engaging the interest of a contemporary teenager in something rooted in the past, which has long been a source of one's own pleasure?

So tonight I return to what I am again confirmed in believing is my true metier--the realm of the macabre, where the mortality of the flesh is not only met, but greeted with twisted glee, a la Addams and Gorey. Bon appetite!

Three Muses Challenge: A Letter for Marie

2010-09-25T19:30:00.000-04:00

This week's challenge at Three Muses is to make a decorated envelope. I have done many of these for mail swaps, but this one is a totally digital confection, created on Polyvore. Which I suppose stands as much of a chance of reaching the recipient as a real piece of mail would. Perhaps more?

I am taking a small hiatus from my macabre art. Not that I don't have plenty more of ideas to work up! Especially with Halloween right around the corner. I had quite an adventure at work this week, which I will tell all about soon--and it will definitely put me back in a mood for dark art.

Autumn Arrives

2010-09-24T15:38:00.002-04:00

The Autumnal Equinox this year is special. Well, autumn is always special, but celestially speaking, the 2010 autumnal equinox is different. Here's the scoop: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/09/100922-autumnal-equinox-first-day-of-fall-2010-harvest-moon-nation-science/

This is a digital collage created on Polyvore, my old standby when I get too far behind with my collage-a-day project.

Remorse

2010-09-22T23:32:00.000-04:00

I love playing with translucent paper. This was a fairly quick effort that worked pretty well on the whole. The title refers to that ability of remorse, guilt, and related emotions, to kill something in the heart. A bit of living death inside you, as it were. Or a bit of death living inside you. Nothing that another does to you, hurts you as much as what you do, that hurts someone you love.

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I'm still compelled to back-date pieces to reflect the date on which it should've been done. Rather silly, I guess, since if I was consistent about it, I'd have to date this considerably earlier. I keep promising myself that I'll get caught up on the weekends, but it never seems to happen. So maybe I'll just say, whatever isn't caught up with by the end of September, falls into a black hole. I'll start October on the 1st of October! In fact, I may play hooky from 3SIXTY5 a bit (I'll post other art I've done), because I want to put some Halloween-y stuff on Zazzle to market as cards and postcards. I've got this wonderful, huge pile of new art now, but no time to try to market it. Which is better than having nothing to try to market!

Autumn Dirge

2010-09-22T13:47:00.001-04:00

I was too tired last night to finish the piece I'd started (which should give me a leg-up on tonight), so here is something I whipped up on Polyvore during lunch at work today.

VANITAS

2010-09-20T22:18:00.005-04:00

There is a whole set of these 18th c French prints of coiffures and adornments in my "Art Scans & Downloads" folder, but I neglected to make note of where they came from. Shame on me. Yet, isn't that a nice thing about altered art? We find vintage images, manipulate them, transform them, make them our own. Who can gainsay us? Well, perhaps many. I always draw the line at using something that clearly is someone else's art--unless they're 200 years dead--much as I wish I could lend its magic to my work. Itkupilli and Lisa Vollrath (to name a couple of my faves) release a whole lot of scrumptious stuff for appropriation/alteration, as do many other online altered art divas, for which we are all grateful (perhaps someday I'll give that a try myself?) So forgive me if I often neglect to give credit for the images I use, for, in truth, I am a collector of images, printed as well as digital, from many years back, and obviously I cannot keep track of it all!

"Vanitas", pictures that remind of inescapable death and also manage to scold some segment of the population for indulging in woefully superficial and temporal pursuits--trendy fashion, hairdos, musicians, etc., are a time-honored, but often neglected, genre in art. Maybe started by peevish people who didn't jump on the bandwagon in time? Anyway, these particular French pictures did not start out as Vanitas, but let's face it--any woman who would let someone turn her hair into a posh resort for at least half a dozen gnomes, complete with awnings and flowers, deserves to go down in flaming derision. What were they thinking?? Of course, it's also possible that the original pictures are satires, spoofing the trend for over-the-top hairdos but not, let us hope, depicting actual 'dos.

So I decided to nestle some awfully sweet little skulls in their wiggy nests and create some absurdist art of my own. Why ever not? My mother has often said a quote, which is both pointed and poignant:

"What you are, I once was. What I am, you will become."

A memento mori if ever there was one. Good night, may we all wake up tomorrow.

Death on the Wing

2010-09-19T22:27:00.000-04:00

I saw no bats in my garden this year, unfortunately. But then, I've been too busy with 3SIXTY5 every evening to sit outside at dusk, as I usually would. Hopefully they're out there, chomping up the mosquitoes and other flying insects. No death's head moths, however, which live in Europe and Asia. According to Wikipedia, the death's head moth has the ability to "emit a loud squeak" by expelling air through it's pharynx if it is molested.

I am an annoyed by being unable, as usual, to leave comments on others' blogs from my home computer! I will do so tomorrow at work. In the meantime, thanks to several people who left comments for me.

Titanic

2010-09-19T01:22:00.001-04:00

Cadaveric

2010-09-17T22:28:00.001-04:00

My day job is as administrative assistant to several doctors affiliated with Pittsburgh's largest medical center and network of teaching hospitals (which shall herein remain nameless; I don't suppose associating them with this blog would do anything to increase my chances of a raise!) My docs are all academics, as well as superlative surgeons and practitioners, meaning they train baby-docs to become the surgeons, medical scientists and teachers of tomorrow. Medical training is basically a very lengthy, intense, elaborate, and rigorous apprenticeship, and many of these people, both masters and apprentices, are some of the most incredibly motivated, intensely high-energy, and awesomely super-intelligent beings on the planet. They are also, IMHO, all somewhat nuts, so it is quite an interesting milieu in which to work.

One of the more interesting tasks I've handled over the years has been ordering cadaveric body parts for them to practice surgery on. Great way to spend Halloween! ("Ummm, give me dozen of those...and do you have any fresh brains....?") Yes, there are companies that specialize in supplying certified disease-free dead bodies and pieces thereof for educational purposes to the medical teaching establishment. So you might look askance at the next FedEx truck you see, you don't know what might bounce into the street during an encounter with one of Pittsburgh's infamous potholes...

"Cadaveric" is a term meaning coming from a dead body, referring to the above-mentioned goods. Now I ask you: how many corpses are on the earth at this moment? Think of all the graveyards, all the shipwrecks, all the disasters, all the catacombs, all the research and training hospitals around the globe. I do believe the dead must out-number the living. Even allowing for decomposition--a natural process heavily compromised by the modern use of chemical preservatives.

Biology and mortality. You can't have one without the other. The more animate a being is, the faster it flares and deteriorates, releasing its components into the universal recycling pool of life-engendering matter. Science endeavors to continuously extend mortality, nowadays by combining biology with technology. But Mother Nature always wins out. One of the most brilliant and distinguished surgeons with whom I've had the privilege to work, once said, in a lecture to the incoming Residents: "Remember, in medicine, we don't know far more than we know." Obama, Congress, Sarah Palin (aaaaggghh!!!!), are you listening?

Wonderful medieval towns

2010-09-16T21:02:00.004-04:00

For my Three Muses friends who especially appreciated the medieval image of Bamberg in my "Printed Word" collage, here is the source: Medieval Woodcut Illustrations: City Views and Decorations from “The Nuremberg Chronicle” selected and arranged by Carol B. Grafton. (Dover Publications, Mineola, NY, 1999)

This book is out of print, but it might appear in a search on American Book Exchange, http://www.abebooks.com, my favorite site for used books (limit your search to your home country, or you'll get results from used bookstores all over the globe.) I can't even remember how many great used books I've searched for and found on this site!

Thanks to all of you for visiting, and for your supportive comments!

Medieval Bamberg

2010-09-15T23:06:00.002-04:00

Bamberg is another of those lovely little cities in Bavaria, Germany, with a charming, medieval Aldt Stadt (old city) section still intact. I missed out living there for awhile in the 1990's, when the Army stationed my then-husband to another town. So here is a little tribute to Bamberg. It is also my offering for Three Muses' "printed word" challenge.

Haunted House: My Sister's Ghost

2010-09-14T23:59:00.004-04:00

I've discovered there are sites out there devoted to posting "dark" themed art. So I decided to join a challenge on Art on the Dark Side, where the current theme is Haunted Houses. Cool!! When I was a kid, there were a couple of "haunted" houses within walking distance of the home where I grew up in Turtle Creek, PA. Mind you, I lived on a street that was a dirt road until I was about 10 years old. So spooky old houses, inhabited and otherwise, were not an uncommon sight. Boy, was Halloween fun in my neighborhood! I had an imagination even then, and when the moon was being driven by whippy clouds coursing across the dark sky, and the wind rattled the dry leaves still on the skeletal trees, I was out on my little broom. Any bit of weedy field became the blasted moors, any bare tree was inhabited by (possibly evil) pagan spirits, and beings of the night were out and about and up to god knew what tricks! I was ready for them.

One of the "haunted" houses, I later learned, was used by a homeless man called Gandy. I never saw him, but I would occasionally invade the premises, heart beating wildly and eyes darting ceaselessly, to give myself a thrill. What I found, was candle stubs. I don't know where the old man got all those candles, but I took a few to burn in one of my own haunts in the surrounding woods. I was forever finding "treasures" like these, bits of cast off stuff, shiny metal, an old empty wallet, a small brass flower pot. I was an avid pack-rat even then, and built myself little nests in the woods to hide my treasures that I wasn't allowed to cart into the house.

I don't actually have a sister (I'm an only child). That being the case, it's easy to pretend I had one who died. So here she is, flamboyantly haunting a house I (probably) never lived in.

Italian Singer

2010-09-14T00:38:00.000-04:00

Well, this night certainly got away from me. Long story. Buona notte!

The Apple

2010-09-12T21:24:00.000-04:00

Although I think the Adam & Eve and the apple story is a male chauvinist plot, nevertheless, here is a little piece (4 x 6 inches) that allows me to do yet more art with a skull in it. Is this healthy??

Greetings to Junibear!

2010-09-12T16:04:00.002-04:00

This post started as an email to my friend June of Junibear's Jottings, http://junibearsjottings.blogspot.com/. For some reason, I find I cannot leave comments on people's blogs from my home computer. I think it might have something to do with the draconian security settings my ever-vigilant son-in-law put on. So, I end up emailing people directly instead of posting a comment on their blog. But I like to leave comments that other visitors can read too, so my way around the problem, this time, is to post the email I intended to send to June. Here it is:

Hi June,
Thanks as always for your encouraging comments on Collagitation! This is the sixth month of collage-a-day, which I should rename "collage-almost-every-day" I'm so far behind--probably around 10 days by now : ( It really matters only to me, but I hate to set a goal and not follow through!!!

As usual, I am unable to leave a comment on others' sites, I still don't know why. Curiously, when you or someone leaves a comment RE an entry on Theme Thursday or Three Muses challenges, I am able to follow the link and leave a comment. But not if I go directly from my computer, which tells me something (although not anything helpful to me.)

June, your post about being wheel chair bound is very moving, not maudlin at all. I do so admire your courage and cheerfulness in the face of such a life-changing event. I hope you are not in pain. My Mom is still ambulatory, but she often has severe pain from gout and arthritis. She has a whole slew of health problems. As my daughter says, we are lucky to still have her with us.

I had to smile at your comment about where I get my ideas for my art, because that particular piece, which I call Nocturnalia, came about mostly by chance. I keep cuttings in shallow boxes where they live until I need them for a piece. Yesterday when I started to work, I picked up a box and noticed the way a bunch of elements had arbitrarily arranged themselves in the shallow box. (That's why the pillared arch is upside down!) Here's the digital photo I took after I started playing with the image,while everything was still in the box, so I'd remember the arrangement when I really got to work on it. It changed quite a bit but still recognizably the same piece.

Sometimes inspiration is just a matter or having enough stuff laying around the worktable! This is not the first piece that came about that way. Which is one of the reasons I love manual as opposed to digital collage. The main reason being, of course, because I don't know enough about digital art to make the images I want to. But I'm working on it!

My mother and I are both feeling much better today, thank you for your kind wishes, and I hope you are feeling good too, Junibear, because you are a treasure of a friend and we are all so lucky to know you!

Hugs from Diane

Nocturnalia

2010-09-11T22:23:00.000-04:00

I missed a friend's birthday party today, due to feeling extremely crappy. Napped during the afternoon but didn't help. I think it's from the past stressful week. And I misspelled "stilettos." Sloppy! This too shall pass.

hook, me, and ...

2010-09-09T22:47:00.002-04:00

Tonight that toothy skull is looking over my shoulder, saying: HA!!! No new art from you tonight!

So, in lieu of new art, I offer a never-before-published cell phone photo taken in 10/08, when the Starn Twins' installation, Gravity of Light, came to Pittsburgh. The shadow with the head is me, taking a shadow-portrait in the intense light of the huge carbon arc lamp they made for the show. Good night, may we all wake up tomorrow.

Killer Stillettos

2010-09-08T23:17:00.000-04:00

We all get bit by the silly bug from time to time.

No Grey Area--Either you are, or you aren't!

2010-09-07T23:07:00.001-04:00

Today, instead of returning to my job after a busy 4-day holiday, I ended up taking my mother to urgent care, who sent her to the emergency room. Fortunately, it was not a life-threatening situation, but one that was causing her considerable pain, most likely due to a huge arthritic flare up in her fingers. After 6 hours consisting of a few tests and a lot of waiting, we were no further ahead. They didn't know what it is, nor what she can do about it. *sigh*

Meanwhile, this morning before getting out of bed, I listened to a story on NPR about the link between lack of sleep and obesity. Which would explain why my waistline has completely disappeared behind an exploding wall of fat over the past 5 months. I thought it was just old age creeping up on me. But, I hope I can mostly reverse this with adequate sleep and more exercise. The threat to my 3SIXTY5 project is problematic; I will try to repair my compromised health and continue with my collage-almost-every-day exercise. Can I simplify my work enough to manage it? Well, my self-imposed art challenge has become something of a life and death matter. And my goth-themed art continues...

Eglise des Leidenschaftlich bewegt

2010-09-06T23:25:00.001-04:00

Spent most of my long weekend working on a rush calligraphy job (I need the money) but also made time Saturday night to go out for a drink with an artist friend I hadn't seen in awhile, as well as attend the obligatory end of summer picnic Sunday afternoon at my best friend's place. I paid the piper by missing yet another day of 3SIXTY5. Regardless, tonight to celebrate completing the calligraphy job, I treated myself to re-viewing (as opposed to re-reading) Max Ernst's masterpiece, Une Semaine de Bonte. In a similar vein, I made a little composition of my own, using an entire image as a starting point then altering it with absurd additions. Not sure if I like it...

Biological Clock

2010-09-05T01:21:00.000-04:00

The Constant Gardener_090310

2010-09-03T23:55:00.001-04:00

The Moon Unmasked

2010-09-02T23:30:00.001-04:00

I am so glad to finally have something to post tonight--!!! I almost decided, more than once, to bag it and just go to bed. I kept at it and after discarding idea upon idea, I ended up with something more or less reasonable. By tomorrow, I may even really like it. Right now, I'm sick of it. Which often happens. I've decided the Lost Lenore piece, which seemed a failure when I first finished it, is not so bad.

Since my "melt down" in early August, when I fell 5 pieces behind my collage-a-day goal, I haven't been noting the date of the piece in my post titles, because at this point, the time-line is hopelessly broken. Date-wise, this work is actually for yesterday, 9/1, because even now I'm still a day behind.

But hey! I'm still making more art than I have EVER; I have a small gathering of friends, on and off-line, who follow my progress regularly; and even if I'm behind, I'm accomplishing something important to me, which will take my art to another level. So I'm glad, and grateful for this experience!
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I fixed yesterday's artwork so it will enlarge if you click on it. I have no idea why it wouldn't enlarge in the first place, because all I did to fix it was delete it and upload it again. Go figure.

A big THANKS to my Three Muses friends for their comments on my Nature Girl piece!

Nature Girl

2010-09-01T23:20:00.001-04:00

Tonight's collage was inspired by Three Muses "Back to Nature" challenge. The labels tell it all. The skull is there because death is also nature at work. Sleep tight!

Lost Lenore

2010-08-31T23:55:00.000-04:00

One of those "good" ideas that didn't work out that well. At least Lenore is grimly beautiful. She is another of the elements from my Itkupilli purchase.

Midnight Prayer

2010-08-30T22:42:00.001-04:00

Tonight's work owes its soul to the magical Finnish witch at Itkupilli (I hope she doesn't mind my calling her that--I mean it in the nicest possible way.) I recently made my first purchase from her shop, buying all kinds of dark elements and backgrounds for doing spooky collages. This entire piece, except for the skeleton and the arm, is one of her backgrounds. Thus tonight's work came about relatively quickly, which is great, because I took time to ride my cardioglide exercise machine after I got home tonight and got a late start. I'd love to have been one of those decadent artists who sat around drinking absinthe until midnight, then lit candles and worked into the wee hours. I've tried at least the wee hours part of that scenario, and it took its toll. I'll try to keep at least one vice to make up for exercise and more sleep. Thanks to Itkupilli's shop for making tonight's art possible, and please visit her via the badge in the right column.

Absinthe Drinkers

2010-08-29T21:46:00.000-04:00

I understand absinthe has been making a return, albeit with a "safer" recipe. The wormwood (Latin name, Artemisia absinthium) is now illegal, I believe. Which is good, since it's basically poison! Yet,we must always pursue our pleasures, especially (for some) those that provide a frisson of danger. So here's to absinthe, the "Green Fairy" who will lead you into the wormy woods, but not necessarily out again.

Incubator

2010-08-28T23:29:00.000-04:00

Nothing macabre going on here, for a change. Yesterday I heard from a friend who had a worrisome health issue come up recently. She has resolved to eat healthily and lose weight. I wish her the best!! This episode got me thinking again about my own current state of less than optimal health. Then it occurred to me that at least some of the skulls, skeletons, monsters, etc. that have dominated my work lately, may just be my subconscious trying to tell me something. I believe I'll listen...

Theresa regrets her sins

2010-08-27T22:18:00.002-04:00

Can you imagine being trapped in time, in a cosmic bubble, or a time-warp-wrap of softest spun galaxy light? So she finds herself, damaged but hopeful. [this text makes no more sense than the image, but what the heck!]

B is for Bella, Assaulted by Bats

2010-08-26T23:56:00.001-04:00

First of all, a BIG APOLOGY to eBlogger. My recent difficulties with posting images were entirely due to my own ignorance. I posted a question on their help forum today, and voila! Problem solved. (Note: you can't upload images from the html editor. So if you've accidentally clicked the "Edit html" tab, you have to click the "compose" tab to return to the place for uploading stuff.)

Today's piece is a tribute to the one and only Edward Gorey, being a little parody of his celebrated "Gashlycrumb Tinies." If you are unfamiliar with this compendium of grisly child mortality, well, Halloween season is definitely the time to become acquainted with it.

Collage for August 24, 2010: Mixed Anatomies

2010-08-25T21:51:00.002-04:00

This all started with a primitive image of heartworm and grew from there. I haven't written anything for a post in awhile. I've just been too tired. Going to bed early tonight!

Also a big WTF?! to eBlogger, I still couldn't upload the image and had to go through Flickr again. NOT ideal. I'll have to poke around online tomorrow and see what's up.

Collage for August 23, 2010: Midnight Music

2010-08-25T10:08:00.002-04:00

eBlogger's uploader is still missing, this is linked through Flickr. You learn something new every day.

August 23, 2010: Midnight Music

2010-08-25T01:09:00.000-04:00

Tonight's art will have to wait until tomorrow (that is, today) for posting. Blogger has decided to not display the link for posting a graphic.

August 22, 2010: The Mirror That Flattereth Not

2010-08-23T23:23:00.006-04:00

I wrote a lengthy post to accompany this image, but after giving it some thought, I decided it was hopelessly cynical and deleted it. Just consider tonight's piece as another simple Memento Mori.

Collage for Saturday, August 21: Scream Fountain

2010-08-23T00:45:00.002-04:00

Collage for Friday, August 20: Strasbourg Cathedral

2010-08-21T23:41:00.001-04:00

I think a cathedral makes a pretty good-looking party hat, but only for a certain kind of party. You know, the kind that goes on for eternity!

August 19, 2010: D

2010-08-21T01:06:00.002-04:00

D is my initial, and I must say I like it. It's always seemed like a friendly letter to me, perhaps because of its girth, and its generous, safely enclosed counter (in calligraphy, the counter is the shape created by the enclosing boundaries of a letter; it occurs in all of them except narrow uprights like f, i, j, l, r, t, though the capitals of some of these do have counters-such as R.) D also stands for Door, as in the one in the collage. I've always loved doors, not only for their metaphoric charge, but also for their status as protectors, and simply for their beauty. Doors represent such a wonderful concept--a piece of the wall that opens to admit you, then closes to keep out intruders, noise, weather, etc. Usually they are objects of beauty, ornamented with engraved or stained glass, lovely hardware, gorgeously finished wood. Here's to doors, small and tall, recent or ancient, plain or ornate.

Collage for August 18, 2010: Coliseum

2010-08-20T00:43:00.003-04:00

This collage was inspired by one of the most interesting books about ancient Rome I've ever read: Those About to Die, by Daniel P. Mannix, written in 1958. (My copy is a yellowed paperback dating to 1960; price: 35 cents.) It is about the Roman "Games" in the Coliseum, which, to quote from the back cover, "started as gladiatorial contests between warrirors and were degraded through the centuries into the wildest public massacres in the history of perverted pleasure." So much for the roots of western civilization! I don't necessarily care for books containing excessive cruelty and bloodshed, but I do like reading about history, so I must tolerate a certain amount of it. This book goes way beyond, entering that zone of primal, lizard-brain sensations that we've spent millenia taming. It does so, however, without crossing the line into cheap thrills, being well researched and written. My collage is positively prim and tame in comparison. Bones signify death, but they do have a certain "clean" quality. For whatever reason, the skull theme continues to prevail in my work...

Collage for Tuesday, Aug. 17: Folly of Youth

2010-08-18T00:16:00.003-04:00

Thinking up titles for artwork can be fun, or a pain in the butt. It's a process I usually enjoy, until I come up against a stumper. Especially since I'm often choosing a title in the wee hours when all I want to do is finish and go to bed. I find I am not satisfied with the title for this piece. OK, it may be folly for a young woman to run around half naked with a snake around her neck--didn't she hear what happened to Cleopatra? But "Folly of Youth" seems kind of a cliche. I can still remember myself that feeling of immortality that young people often exhibit (I was a particularly foolish youth) simply because they are so far away from death, time-wise. This work is another memento mori, but I already used that phrase for a title. So I guess I'll let the current title stand. Though I'll admit, looking at her youthful beauty, that there is probably a good bit of Envious Age going on too.

The painting is Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci by Piero di Cosimo.

Collage for Monday, 8/16/10: All Hallows' Eve

2010-08-16T23:34:00.005-04:00

All Hallows' Eve, the old name for Halloween. Seemed more appropriate for this piece, than the gentrified holiday name when children go from door to door gathering treats. These guys look like they're after more than treats. Your soul, perhaps? I think I'll read a little Edward Gorey before I go to sleep tonight.

Collage for Sunday, August 15; Premonition

2010-08-16T00:32:00.001-04:00

I'm still on my surrealist kick. I should be tired of skulls any day now.

Never Looked Better!

2010-08-15T00:33:00.001-04:00

Another little Halloween inspired scene.

Daphne

2010-08-14T00:00:00.001-04:00

I can think of worse things than being turned into a Tree.

Halloween Treats

2010-08-12T00:09:00.002-04:00

Please feel free to grab a handful of that Halloween candy you bought for the neighborhood kids, and munch down! Wait--it's only August, isn't it? Never mind--my macabre imagination generally kicks in about this time of year. Once it's dark by 9 PM, I dust off my broom. Mother Nature (aka, the Goddess) knew what she was about--we long for summer, yet we anticipate the cooling weather and moody skies of Autumn with a frisson of pleasure, as the heat of August drags on. And Halloween! Who could not love this shadow-laden celebration? As with Mexico's Day of the Dead, here is a holiday where we flush away that fear of death and dread of evil, and embrace them instead. For how could we celebrate life, without occasionally taking off our hats (or putting them on) to death? Dark is only the other side of light. Would light matter if we never experienced the dark? So here's to the Dark--keeper of secrets, nest of conjugal coupling, bridge to our land of dreams. Or nightmares.

Today's Collage: Fatal Attraction

2010-08-11T01:01:00.002-04:00

Death goes a-wooing. With the help of a beastly servant, known for its breath-taking embraces. Don't dally too long in his mesmerizing presence. Keep on climbing...

Back Online: 3SIXTY5 for August 9, 2010: MEMENTO MORI

2010-08-09T23:57:00.003-04:00

This piece started out to be a Halloween design for Theme Thursday's challenge from last week. Then I had my little melt-down, resulting in no new art for 5 or 6 days. So I guess tonight's work has a potent message for me--Stop Wasting Tme!!! It's funny, if I look at this piece with my eyes kind of squinty, I see a skull with a little Santa Claus hat on. That's not so inappropriate for (lapsed) Catholic--in RC iconology of my era, it was all about suffering and death. The Babe in the manger, celebrated by Santa and his bag of gifts for all the world, in fact carried a destiny as dire as any. One of the most instructive books I've ever read about this theme--the god-man who sacrifices himself so that his people may survive--is Joseph Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces, which places the Christ story in the continuum of savior stories from way, way back. Informative, and liberating to those of us who have felt burdened by the weight of faith.

Well, I've wandered pretty far from my original purpose of making a simple Halloween design. Thus my Memento Mori (which means, in Latin, "Remember you will Die") is an appropriate reminder for me at this point in my journey. In spite of all our plans, dreams, and investments, life is transitory. But, this is no reason for despair. To paraphrase Dumbledore: to a right-thinking mind, death is but the next great adventure. Nevertheless, it's a scary thought to contemplate one's lone journey among the remote stars. Or not? I admit I am in no hurry to find out.

My Apologies

2010-08-08T20:29:00.000-04:00

Friends, I am now 4 days behind with my collage-a-day project, not counting today, and I think the accumulated sleep deprivation, lack of exercise and on-the-run diet are taking their toll. To quote Ren from the "Space Madness" episode of "Ren and Stimpy"--"I'm tired...soooooo tired!" The ideas are there, but I find myself spending way too much time Planning the pieces and not Doing them. In other words--I've relapsed into my decade-old bad art habit. This is annoying and distressing, but not insurmountable. A combination of sleep and determination will work their magic on my diffused brain. I will be posting a Halloween design tonight, one of several I have in the works, with a view to marketing them in my Etsy store (or possibly on Zazzle; I haven't decided.) Lack of ability to make a decision/choice has always meant I need sleep! Not sure I'll be getting all I need tonight, but I'll seek to strike a better balance between pounding out artwork and maintaining a flexible, healthful state of body and mind. I'll be back with some artwork to post, forthwith!!

3SIXTY5 for Tuesday, August 3: Melody

2010-08-05T23:58:00.001-04:00