Preparing For a New Beginning

In the April of 2010, I started this Collagitation blog as a means to present my collage-a-day project, “3SIXTY5”, in honor of my 60^th birthday. Now, in 2017, it will be reborn as a platform to document my journey from full-time employee to full-time artist. 

As of May 5, 2017,  I’M RETIRING!!

Much has changed in seven years. There have been losses (my dear mother passed away in 2013) and gains (I got a new knee and the house got a new back porch); but what has remained constant is my desire to do my artwork, with my full attention, whenever I choose, and without interruption.  That’s a lot of emphasis on me, my and I.  Surely there are greater reasons, beyond personal fulfillment, for why people are given talents? This too I will discover, in time.

A man is not old until his regrets take the place of dreams. 

-Yiddish proverb

Meanwhile, here is a sample of what I’ve been working on. All of these were begun within the past 12 months; none is finished yet.

This first piece is entitled "Owl for David Caspar Friedrich," who is one of my favorite painters. (http://www.caspardavidfriedrich.org/the-complete-works.html)

"Owl for Caspar David Friedrich"  

You can see the painting that inspired it here, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Owl_in_a_Gothic_Window_by_Caspar_David_Friedrich.jpg

Making tiny books for a library assemblage piece

The books in their gothic bookcase. The rest of the interior of the assemblage box is in the works.

This piece was inspired by another favorite artist, Peter Gabrielse, whose work I discovered last year on Pinterest. His website is here: http://www.petergabrielse.com/ And if you are into interiors as much as me, on my Pinterest page you can see photos of his home in Normandy (as well as his artwork) https://www.pinterest.com/diakea/peter-gabrielses-world/ though it is sometimes difficult to distinguish rooms in his house from those in his work.

By the way,  most of the photos of Gabrielse's home were taken by London-based jewelry designer and photographer Kotomi Yamamura, who travels all over Europe every summer taking photos (MAJOR ENVY!!), and visits Peter. You can see her work here, https://www.flickr.com/photos/kotomi-jewelry/albums  I recommend scrolling through her albums, there is an amazing assortment of inspirational things to see! Unfortunately (for me) her blog is in Japanese.

You can also see boards of my painting, collages and calligraphic art on my Pinterest page.

Finally, one more work in progress, tentatively entitled "The Cosmos in Her Hand." Another tribute to my love of books, reading, and the allure of old objects.

That's it for now! 

Watch this space!