Collage Series 2: Earthly Remains

Collage 2.4: Earthly Remains, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

My dad again, as a child, and myself as a child. He seems such a mystery to me, yet in some ways I knew him intimately. I knew him when I was a child, but once I was a self-sufficient adult he was long gone. I often wonder how my life might have been different if he was around more when I was a teenager and young adult. I wish he could have met my kids, and I wish my kids could have seen the mischievous glint in his eye, experienced his warmth and wit.

Not that he didn't have his issues. He and my mom had some fights that were worthy of the silver screen. The family he grew up in basically disintegrated at some point, leaving him and a couple of his sisters to be raised by the nuns in an orphanage (long story). The bitterness he felt towards his own father never lessened, never left him.

 But I knew he loved me, appreciated me for who I was. I feel like he and I shared the same basic temperament, quiet mostly, drawn towards physical labor and tasks involved in making things. Drawing. Writing. Taking pictures. Building things. Bad puns and sarcasm.

Mom- What do you want for breakfast?

Me- Make me oatmeal!

Dad- Poof! You're oatmeal!

Collage Series 2: Inner Light

After I cut out all those pictures for Playing Ball, I realized the backgrounds were every bit as interesting as the figures I removed. What to do, what to do...

Collage 2.3: Inner Light, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

Using the negative space is a fun way to talk about internal vs. external reality. I look at that little girl and see all this sweetness and joy, and just a bit of mischief. When you take away the physical form, what lies beneath?

What do you want your future look like?

My bedroom window, the first thing I see in the morning.

Lately, I have been giving a lot of thought to what I want my new version of normal life to look like. I'm sure many of you have been thinking about this too. Although I will need to return to my job for at least a while, I do not want to stay there long-term. Not that I don't like it, I do. But it isn't what I want to do with my life.

This crisis has given me time and space to think about what I really want. That is to be an artist, a full-time, financially stable artist. I have enjoyed taking time every day to create: to draw, collage, weave, write, to think. Working at home on art all day feels right to me, it is comfortable in a way nothing else has been. I feel focused and at peace. I can also see the progress I have made in a few short weeks.

My art studio is almost finished. The last section of floor will be ready for furniture on Thursday. My drafting table arrives on Friday. I hope to have everything organized and in a useful state by Monday. That gives me at least a week to work in there seriously before I have to go back to work. The weaving studio has been up and running, although it still needs some organizing. Moving some of the fine art stuff out of the weaving studio will help. At this point, I have been researching domain names and site hosting options. This summer I will take my last class, website design. My capstone project will be done in the fall semester, then school will be over for the time being. Time to take the plunge!

I do realize I need to do this in stages. I cannot afford right now to just quit my job. But I can start my art business in a real way and scale back my work-for-wages as I am able to. I can build my email list and work on a good website, build a solid body of work and start marketing in earnest. Starting Monday, that's my plan. Starting Monday, I will consider myself to be a working artist who sometimes works for wages, instead of a full-time worker who sometimes makes art.

What have you discovered about yourself during this "downtime"? How do you want to live? What have you been able to do lately that you are not willing to give up? What will your new normal look like?

Series One Scarves 1-8

Series 1 Scarves 1-8

Since January 2019, I have been exploring the design possibilities of my rigid heddle loom. Sounds hifalutin, I know.  But really, it’s simple. Here are the rules. I have a 10” wide rigid heddle loom and a bunch of sock yarn, both full skeins and smaller amounts. Each sock yarn is wound into a 3-yard warp. However many ends I get, that’s it. Some warps have only 5 or 10 ends, others can have more than 100. I can combine different yarns to make a wider scarf, but I must use all the ends. The weft yarn, however, can be anything.

Each warp or combination of warps presents a unique design problem. How to arrange the warp threads? Random? Gradated? Striped? I do enjoy doing the math, figuring out a pattern that fits the number and type of warps. Once the loom is set up, I get to play with weft threads. 3 yards is longer than I need to weave a scarf, so there is plenty of room to experiment. A heavy yarn, maybe? A solid or a pattern? Maybe a fine yarn. And what color? Shall I use a color from the warp, or maybe try a contrasting color? Light or dark? The only way to know for sure is to weave a few inches. Once I find the right weft, I weave to the end, cut it off the loom, wash it, and see what I’ve got.

It’s fascinating to see how the fibers, colors, patterns, and textures interact. Each scarf challenges me and adds to my knowledge and informs the next scarf, gives me ideas for what to try next. As exciting as it is to see the finished project, what I truly love is the process of discovery that brings each scarf into being.

Warp 1.1

 Although I love the colors and the feel of the finished cloth, there were tension problems in the warp. Did not have a long enough mistake-free length to make a scarf, but I will use the good sections for something.

Scarf 1.2

This one was a success! I love how the sky colors came together, very simple and quiet. There was just the right amount of variation in color and tone. And using a strang of KidSilk Haze paired with a very fine wool for the weft made it feather-light and buttery-soft.

Scarf 1.3

I enjoyed this one very much. Using a variegated yarn in warp stripes and a solid color between them made for a bright and lovely combination of early fall colors. Available at lafarrelly.etsy.com.

Scarf 1.4

For this one, I wanted to see what a gradation between a variegated and a solid yarn. I love the effect! Definitely a spring scarf, with flower colors blending into green. Available at lafarrelly.etsy.com

Scarf 1.5

I had 2 colors I really wanted to use together. Smaller stripes worked well, gave it a classic look and showed off the colors without becoming loud. 

Scarf 1.6

Using the narrow stripe idea again, the variegated yarn is the background, undulating just under the surface. This one reminds me of sunflowers! Available at lafarrelly.etsy.com.

Scarf 1.7

A turquoise yarn with black and white flecks serves as a backdrop for narrow variegated stripes in blues and grays.

Scarf 1.8

Pairing a navy solid with a variegated blue, brown, and ivory yarn, the shifting stripes make for a jazzy scarf with colors that go with anything. I did not realize until now that I never got a picture of the finished scarf. 

The next 3 scarves are off the loom, waiting to be wet-finished and hemmed. That's on my list for this week, so it should not be too long before they hit Etsy and the blog.

Collage Series 2: Playing Ball

I enjoyed the whole family pictures idea, so I decided to play with trio of photos my father took of me when I was a small child. He had a double lens reflex camera, the kind you look down into to take a picture. I like how these three pics tell a little story and I have them framed together in my home. I decided to use some of the cloud pictures I have been taking for the last 7 years. When I got my first cell phone, I fell in love with the sky and took hundreds of pictures, something I still do (but not as often). I printed out some skies, and I printed out some me-s in different sizes, and I got to work.

First, I tiled some sky pictures to cover the background. Printer paper in 8.5x11, and the bristol is 9x12, so I moved everything around until I liked it, then taped it down and trimmed the edges. Cutting out the me-s was fun, cut out a bunch more than I used so I am sure they will pop up again sometime. Plus, so cute! Moving them around on the page felt kind of like playing paper dolls. I glued those down and got out the colored pencils.

Playing Ball in progress

At first, I thought I would just color the balls, then I drew one in the corner so she (I) would have something to chase. I posted it to the group, but it didn't feel quite done. A week later I got the pencils out again and kept going.

Collage 2.2: Playing Ball, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

I wanted to blend the cloud images together so it looked more cohesive. Also thought the idea of more balls scattered in the clouds sounded fun, so I went for it. I did a little and set it aside, off and on for a few days. Deepened the blues of the sky. Darkened the colors on the balls. Made some shadows. Drew a cloud under the me that was floating in space. I don't think my white colored pencil has ever gotten such a workout! Touched up a few spots with sharpies. I was afraid I would go too far, but I think I stopped at the right time.

It's funny using pictures of myself, especially ones where I was young enough I don't remember anything. It's like looking into another world (and it is, really), or looking at a storybook. Once upon a time, I wore a white jumpsuit and a bonnet, and all I needed was to be out in the sunshine with a ball to play with and I was in heaven.

Collage Series 2: Love, Gerry

After the first 5 collages, I had run through my stash of canvas board and decided to try a larger format. Found a 9x12 pad of bristol hiding in the paper stack. Always glad to use what I already have! Saves a trip to the store, saves money, and makes more space (in theory) at home. So, 9x12 for Series 2. I also felt more focused, having tried a few things out in Series 1. I had a better idea of what I wanted to do and how I might go about it.

Collage 2.1: Love, Gerry. copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

I have been thinking about my father a lot lately. My parents divorced when I was 11 and we moved away, from Long Island to south Florida. It was a few years until I saw him again. By then I was a teenager, and he had been through some stuff, so it was difficult to get close again. The last time I saw him I was 16, and the last time I heard from him I was 18. Feels like a million years ago.

What I remember about him: He had a wicked sense of humor, loved jazz, took lots of pictures that he developed and printed in the basement, and sometimes wrote poetry. He liked to work in the yard, and he could eat like nobody's business. Always stayed slim and strong.
I decided to print out some pictures on plain paper and see what happened. Most of the pics are black and white, but I printed them in color because I like the effect that gives, more detail but also kind of watercolor-like in look. I knew I wanted the letter he wrote to his sister (that was actually scanned in color) for at least part of the background. I printed out a bunch of pics of Dad, not knowing really what I would want to use.

The picture of Gerry with the cigar is a favorite of mine, and it is from the same time period as the letter. I wanted to use a picture of him as a child also, so I auditioned a few until one seemed to fit. Young Gerry is in white with one of his sisters. Using backgrounds from these pics and others, I worked out the composition and started taping things down. The colored pencil was used to highlight certain things, blend other things in, unify the piece. The coloring part was a lot of fun to do. This is the first one that felt personal.

Collages: Series 1

So, my friend Jill from Wisconsin asked me a couple of months ago if I wanted to join her in making a collage once a week and sharing it on Facebook. We decided to post on Tuesdays, and both had a great time trying things out and seeing what the other one did. Here's the first batch I made, using 8x8 canvas board. I had not collaged in a long time, so I painted a background color on the first 3 canvas boards so I had something to start with.

Collage 1.1: Water of Love, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

The first collage, Water of Love, was made using postcards from an art show, a couple of magazine pics, and some vellum. The vellum wrinkled a lot when I stuck it on with ModPodge, now that I know better I will try something else with vellum. The orangey-red background was my starting place. I picked things that would work with that color and narrowed it down until I like the composition. When the man with the pitcher found his place, I started hearing Water of Love by Dire Straits in my mind while I continued working. Besides the wrinkling, I am very happy with the composition and overall feel of the piece.

Collage 1.2: Inside Outer Space, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

For Inside Outer Space, I was intrigued by a multicolor picture of probably 50 test tubes I found in a magazine. It was pretty large, so as I went along I kept cutting he circles apart a little at a time. I have a roll of funky wrapping paper with maps and globes and some ads I just used for texture to create more circles. These circles complemented the circles of the test tube tops. I was thinking about science, space, the natural world, and how it all fits together. I cut out a sweeping section of the wrapping paper to ground the composition, give it some weight. It is definitely a map, but it also suggests the Milky Way. I wanted to include something from nature (besides planets), so there's a butterfly and a rose to represent the animal and plant worlds. After everything was glued down and the ModPodge dried, I grabbed my markers and played around, adding shading and shadows, working the background. I have a couple of thoughts about what I could have done differently, but overall I enjoyed making it and am pleased with how it turned out.

Collage 1.3: Bees Have the Gift, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

Bees Have the Gift was an offshoot of found poetry. The portion in the lower left with the face and yellow highlighted words were cut out of a found poetry page I did at a library class (anythinklibraries.org) last year. Once I find the words, I like to keep drawing with markers until it feels finished. The rest of the paper came from other parts of the book. This one was very relaxing to work on, the first one that wasn't stressful. I find it soothing to look at as well.

Collage 1.4: Sun Island, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

This week I had no ideas, so I decided to try torn paper collage. I grabbed a few sheets of colored scrap paper, a magazine, and went to town. Loved the branch sculpture pictures, so that's where I started. The thing I'm liking about collage is the ability to compose on the fly: adding, subtracting, moving, and changing elements. This is the first one that has no drawing in it. Did not need it, and I thought it would take away from the piece instead of add something. I do love the way the paper color looks different on the surface than it does on the torn edges.

Collage 1.5: Super Adventure, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

This collage was just super fun! We got three copies of the same advertising postcard in the mail, sent to 3 different people who live here. I threw the postcards, a canvas board, scissors, scrapbooking tape roller, an empty envelope for small pieces, and some markers in my go bag on my way out the door. On my work breaks, I cut things out. Before class began I started arranging the bits, and by the end of class I was finishing up with marker.  It was good to know I could work on something over the course of a day that didn't have room for any art-specific time, and it was easy to carry around.

Sometime during the preceding 2 weeks, Jill started a Facebook group for this. Now we have 6-10 partners in crime. Always look forward to Tuesdays!