Collage Series 2: Three Graces

Collage 2.8- Three Graces, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

Do these ladies look familiar? Sandra, Tina, and Nancy from Three Fates, another picture taken on the same day. These three, in many ways, were the center of my life. My grandmother Sandra was the head of the family. Aunt Tina had no children yet but loved to "borrow" my brother and me for outings and weekends. She was like a second mother to us. And of course, my mother Nancy. She enjoyed having us around but wasn't always sure what to do when things went south.

One day we were driving somewhere on the Long Island Expressway. Me and my brother were bickering (big surprise) and she had asked us to knock it off several times. Exasperated and about to blow her top, she pulled over on the side of the highway and told us to get out. We did, and she pulled away. We just stood there, unsure of what to do. We were both in grade school at the time. A few minutes later she came back and pulled over in front of us, just sitting there with the motor running. We promised to be good and got back in. It was never spoken of, at least not for a loooong time.

All of us have had these moments as parents. Nobody can drive you nuts-er than your own progeny. Were we scared? You bet. Did we simmer down once we got back in the car? Indeed. You have never seen two quieter children in your life.

Lately, I have become fond of using negative space in collages. Sometimes the cut-away "background" is at least as interesting as the figure I cut out. And what a fun way to talk about people's "internal" space, thoughts, feelings, moods. With these three women, everyone is smiling, but there's a lot going on inside them and between them. Lots of history, lots of emotion, lots of backstory.

Collage Series 2: Three Fates

Collage 2.7- Three Fates, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

Rummaging through the family pictures again. I found some pictures of (L to R) my aunt Tina, grandmother Sandra, and my mother Nancy. Not sure of the year, but I think it must be the mid to late 1960s. They were the universe from which I emerged, running through the woods in my red coat and hat.

I really did get to grow up running through the woods in Bald Hill Ski Bowl, something for which I am eternally grateful. We played in hollow trees, sledded down the service roads, rode bikes on the paths, took the shortcut under the fence that the neighborhood dogs had dug. In the winter, they flooded a basketball court for ice skating, renting out skates and selling hot chocolate. Sometimes I came across treasures in the woods. I once found a tiny bible, about 1.5" tall, and the pages pivoted out of the metal cover. I don't know what happened to that, but I do have the silver ring with a man's face on it that I found when I was about 7.

According to Wikipedia, the Three Fates "were the white-robed incarnations of destiny...Clotho ("spinner"), Lachesis ("allotter") and Atropos ("the unturnable", a metaphor for death). They controlled the mother thread of life of every mortal from birth to death. They were independent, at the helm of necessity, directed fate, and watched that the fate assigned to every being by eternal laws might take its course without obstruction. Both gods and men had to submit to them..."* Sounds about right, sounds like the women in my family. 

I like how their bodies sort of rise up and grow out of the picture of the nebula in the middle. Also, I enjoy how the trees at the top look like birds wings or feathered cloaks wrapped around the sisters, enclosing them, and protecting my world.

The nebula pic and the starry background came from Scientific American, and the trees came from Spark, put out by the most awesome Anythink Libraries.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moirai

Collage Series 2: Caution Cuidado

Collage 2.6: Caution Cuidado, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

For about a week, the maintenance crew kept adding more caution tape every day, wrapping each piece of play equipment several times. I guess people didn't think they meant it? One day the basketball hoop was normal, then the net was gone but the hoop was there. Next, there was caution tape strung from the hoop in big sweeping swags (gorgeous blowing in the wind, but that day I had forgotten my phone so no pictures). Then the hoop disappeared entirely, and they cordoned off the whole area using equipment, posts, and benches to anchor the tape.

This playground has, for me, become a symbol of life during the pandemic. Devoid of children, cordoned off, declared a danger zone. But the bright yellow always cheers me, reminds me that there is a good reason, that this will be over (hopefully) soon, and children will run and climb and shout here once again.

The daffodils were still in bloom, but the dandelions had begun to join them. Except for the daffs, all of these pics are from the park in the center of our community.

Collage Series 2: Spring 2020

Collage 2.5: Spring 2020, copyright 2020 Linda Farrelly

On my daily walks during this time of social distancing, I began to take pictures to use in collage. Flowers, trees, the textures of a rock, the shadow of a tree. Sometime during the second week the daffodils started to bloom bright yellow, and so did the playground. Daffodil yellow caution tape encircled each play piece. It was a startling sight. I had wondered when, and if, and how that was going to happen. A swarm of children on playground equipment could spread covid 19 from one house to dozens of them in no time. Sad to see the playground out of bounds, but happy everyone else now had a better chance of making it through. A strange spring, 2020.

The playground is in the park at the center of our community, and the daffodils are from my yard. They live under the apple tree, enjoying the warm spring sun.

What surprises have you discovered lately?

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?

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.

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!