Cross I Bear!

ART CARDS: A show I am in which is closing June 1 consists of Art Cards. For those of you not familiar Art Cards are never sold they are traded. It is art created on baseball trading card size. It can be anything you like. I have included a few of the ones I have done. When the show at the Mackenzie Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan comes down the cards are then distributed among the participants. I look forward to the surprise in the mail. What I like about this show is you do it for pure fun. I participate in a collage show in Taranaki, New Zealand which is the same kind of idea. Dale Copeland who puts it together does a fantastic job. Well worth checking out at http://outofsight.co.nz. You send 13 collages, one goes in a live show, one in a collection and the rest are in an online show and then distributed among the artists. There were over 125 artists last year.

Framework

The photos above are from a show I did under AMP with two other artists Leesa & Sharon. The show was called Framework and other than the three of us agreeing is was about architecture we did not see each others work until we came together to hang it. We all did different takes on the theme but all the work could hang together. This is the third annual show I have done with these two women and we always pick a new theme. I chose to take photos in my neighborhood so all pics were taken within 10 blocks of my studio. When I looked at different buildings especially in the light industry area I was inspired by the contrast of the use of different mediums used in the same construction, whether it was rocks, metal, wood, paint, etc. The photos were printed out on water colour paper and then overlaid with words on a transparency. Finding the right words that matched each photo was a challenge. Each piece was then joined together using rivets and then framed. I liked hanging them in pairs as I thought most of them worked together as a set but some like PLANK stand on their own.

First of More

I thought I would start with these two images. They show my fascination with junk and treasures. The first piece called "Looking for the Path" is a planter holder which I made a cover for the back with fabric. I then chose the figurine from my collection and made the floor from some salvaged glass tiles and the base from a clarinet horn and decorative metal piece. She needed an altar I felt. The flowers have fake water drops which look very realistic and add a bit of drama to the piece. I named it "Looking for the Path" as she seems in a very contemplative pose with some deep thoughts/questions going on.
The second piece is called "My Beaten Heart". The back is a old wood pattern that would have been used for the mold for copper washers. I hand beat the copper heart and added barbed wire and dried coral (I found the coral dried on the beach in Mexico). It is a sacred heart to me and could hold many secrets. (sacred hearts were sealed silver hearts which had a personal message which nuns carried under their habits). I encourage dialogue about my work so please forward any questions or suggestions you may have.