Collages -- January 4, 5, 6

Photo suite 54 -- W - W - W - What's up, Doc?

Sign of the week

Collages -- January 1, 2, 3

Daily art for 2013

My daily art project for 2013 will be collage.  My rules are simple: every day, make a collage and put the date on it.  No other rules.

I'm on vacation for another week so I had to pack my supplies in advance.  What I brought along was a pack of library card catalog cards, a scissors and a glue stick.  I own approximately 3 million catalog cards, salvaged from two separate libraries that went to all-digital catalogs.  They have been excellent art materials for some time, and I thought they would be the best choice to start out my new project.

For one thing, they're relatively small so I could carry them along easily.  For another, they're relatively small so I wouldn't be faced with too much blank space to fill.

Collage is a technique that I have yearned to do for many years but for some reason have had a hard time accomplishing.  Some big bundle of insecurity must be lurking a few layers down in my psyche, but I thought that attcking it head-on with a daily art project might be a good plan.  Even so, you don't conquer your insecurities all at once, so I am starting small.  I expect I may work larger as the year goes on, but not yet.  Unlike last year's daily art project, in which all the bits got assembled into a single piece for display, I don't expect to glue, sew, bind or otherwise combine the daily collages.

I bought myself a present in preparation for this project: a date stamp.  I think I may use it on the face of many if not all my collages, but if not, it will show up on the back

So here's my first collage:

Very simple:  a photo from the newspaper, plus a spiral cut from a second piece of paper.  And the date stamp.

It won't win any awards, I guess, but I'm just starting.  I'll have 364 others to practice with.

Stitching -- December 31

Photo suite 53 -- Boa viagem!

On New Year's Day 2012, we were in Santarem, Brazil, several hundred miles up the Amazon.  I began a year of "photo suites," collections of related pictures that seemed to say more in chorus than they could say alone.  I've had so much fun with this project that I will be continuing it next year.

Meanwhile, back in Brazil, the mighty river is the main transportation artery for the entire region.  Hundreds of little boats go back and forth carrying passengers and cargo.  On the dock in Santarem, you can buy a ticket for any place you want, with your choice of competing carriers.

As the year is about to end, and a new one awaits just around the bend, I wish you boa viagem for all your future voyages, whether in reality or in your imagination.