Cone hats
pattern flat
primary colors
of a Vietnamese
modern painting
While slurping noodles, I was reminded of my trip to Vietnam.
Tag Archives: collage
Shades of Grey – Trying to be Straight
Trying to be Straight mixed media on canvas 56″ x 77″ double click on image
How do I write about this painting? The painting isn’t finished. The photograph shows a parallax error. This is a report on it’s beginnings. It’s trying to be straight, but its not. The measurements are a little bit off. How do I make a straight line? The canvas is five by six feet. I’m small. By trial and error I put together a painting using a T-square, a plumb line. I tied a weight to the end of a string. The string fell straight down. The painting is about connecting two marks or points to make a line. A straight line is the shortest distance between two points. A line has a beginning, movement and a stop. A line can go off to infinity in both directions. Here, lines are broken leaving room to wander through space.There’s a grid or it it a net? The goalie misses the ball; loopholes are found in tax laws. Shape, is it really a solid square? The white line – Is it the bulkhead at the pool? impermeable? The painting looks milky. But, milkiness exists. The edges of things are not quite what they seem. The plumb line is our constant.The mind set is complicated.
Inspiration for this painting came from a collage by Canadian painter Stephen MacInnis. The Long Series is a group of mixed media paintings on paper. 12″x12″. Stephen’s goal is to complete 10,000 pieces. At the moment he has completed over 1,400. I just bought this one. It’s interesting to me, that I, too, have been working on a lot of the same things. Click on images to enlarge.
Macinnis.http://sbmacinnis.wordpress.com/2014/06/26/long-series-1515/
Chattering Monkeys
Wash out all those ghosts cobwebs worrywarts black cloud critters
chattering like monkeys in your swollen brain
swollen brain filled with piston-like repetiton
it’s wrong it’s wrong it’s wrong
not good enough for who? for tin man looking for his heart?
wash out all those ghosts cobwebs worrywarts and black cloud critters
chattering like monkeys in your swollen brain
quickly lay your thoughts out on the page
protect those tender shoots
close the book
walk away
Traffic – San Francisco
Thinking about Richard Guest’s post Realm of Dusk http://thefutureispapiermache.wordpress.com/, collage of photographs. Thinking about David Hockney’s exhibit, The Big Picture http://hockney.famsf.org/, the way he experimented with different media. Thinking about Otto’s post http://munchow.wordpress.com/philosophy, trust in the creative process and find your own voice. And, thinking about a collaboration I did with Emily Hughes http://journeyofaphotograph.com/2013/10/08/night-train-to-sapa/ And, Karen’s creative glimpses into her world http://drawandshoot.me/ (I think we were putting together our posts at the same time) I snapped some shots with my cell phone while driving to San Francisco during rush hour. (Nope, I wasn’t driving.) This mélange is a quick capture of the traffic scene from 4 to 6 on November 14th 2013. Some images may be worth double clicking, like the abstract ones. The others? I was just clicking away with my cell phone. Just having fun playing around while spending a couple of hours in traffic !
‘You Can’t Judge a Book by it’s Cover’ – Journey of a Photograph
You Can’t Judge a Book By Its Cover
You shouldn’t form an opinion on someone or something based purely on what you see on the surface, because usually after taking a deeper look, the person or thing will not be what you expected it to be.
When looking for something to read, people will often times only glance at the cover of a book before making a decision. Due to this, many books get overlooked merely due to the title or picture on the front of them being unappealing to the eye. However, if one were to open the book up and peer into its contents, they’d probably find that they were missing out on some interesting and valuable information. Hence, don’t judge a book by its cover!
The phrase is also applied to people. How? Well, before getting to know someone, a person tends to first judge others based on their outward appearance, their nationality, or other external factors. It’s a shame, though, because while a person might look rough on the outside, you can never truly know what they are like on the inside unless you ‘open’ them up and get to know them.
The phrase goes back to at least the mid-19th century, as seen in the newspaper Piqua Democrat, June 1867:
“Don’t judge a book by its cover, see a man by his cloth, as there is often a good deal of solid worth and superior skill underneath a [???] jacket and yaller pants.”The print in the newspaper I was looking at was really small and hard to read, but even so, I tried quoting it as accurately as possible. Regardless, there was enough clarity to make out the phrase for sure.
I took this off the internet http://www.knowyourphrase.com/phrase-meanings/You-Cant-Judge-a-Book-By-Its-Cover.html
Emily’s photograph has been sent to the next participant in http://journeyofaphotograph.com/
As you can see the envelope is becoming it’s own a work of art. Click on the envelope to see details.
For the purpose of showing you the envelope, I placed Emily’s photograph over the next person’s name and address.
The envelope is only the cover of an interesting project involving an online collaboration.
Look inside. http://journeyofaphotograph.com/
200 Thank You’s :-)
click to see your Thank You bigger!
As of yesterday my blog has 200 followers. I want to thank each one of you for following my blog. You keep me on my toes. ( People from over 125 countries have visited my blog ) You keep my mind active. I have to produce for you. This means I have to get those creative juices going which is a great goal for me. In the mean time, I have a new group of internet friends who have blogs that teach me, entertain me and usually give me something to think about. You are good for me. Thank you. Carla
Zellig, an Artist’s Book – Morocco
click to zoom to enlarge image
In Morocco, moushrabiyas or geometrical screens keep Muslim women hidden from view. These screens allow women to observe their surroundings without themselves being seen.
When making an Artists’ Book with this beautiful young lady, I asked her in sign language if she had some scissors. She took me to her room where she flicked on the TV. A static zig zag pattern filled the screen. The room was set up for her family, three outfits hung on rope across one corner of the room. We tore the sheet of paper, folded it and sewed it together with a piece of thread we found. I wondered what this girls’ future was going to be. This idea was the impetus for my book. Zellig, also spelled Zellige, is a collage of patterns making up the tile decoration in Morocco. When making the book I used a collage of my work made up of my poems, paintings, drawings and photography.
Iris printing, on Somerset 175 gram soft white, by Urban Digital Color.
Typography and letterpress printing by Norman Clayton One Heart Press.
A limited edition of twenty copies and three artists proofs
Bound by John DeMerritt, Emeryville.
Copyright by Carla Trefethen Saunders
San Francisco, California 2000 $750.00
Zellig 2000
Limited edition of 20 with 4 artist’s proofs
Letterpress, iris prints, vellum UV Ultra 11 white, Somerset 175 gram soft white,
Rives heavyweight buff and Lamili Lokta paper
Images and poems by the artist
Original drawing
8 x 8 inches
This book is in the following collections:
F.W. Olin Library, Special Collections, Mills College
Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, Artist’s Book Collection, La Jolla, California
Private Collections
Zellig is for sale on Amazon.com
Flowers for Gauguin
Collage using tissue paper cutouts from China. The figure came from a magazine. 6″ x 8″ on paper
An Armload of Diamonds from Shanghai
The sequins or diamonds idea came from the influence of seeing Li Chen’s sculpture at the Frye museum in Seattle. Eternity tableau, a clay-and-wood installation, that takes up a big room, has at its center a 12-root ruling figure holding sparkling diamonds in his arms. He, clearly, is the leader— his entourage, mill around him. http://fryemuseum.org/exhibition/4306/
Under the tulips – collage mixed media 6″ x 8″
Moleskine sketchbook – graphite pencil 3″ x 12″ open
Keith Haring TV
