A New Genesis

At the end of September I took a workshop with Roxanne Evans Stout, a collage artist at River Garden Studio.  I never know what to bring to workshops, often I am immediately inspired only to get stuck longing for an item left at home so I either bring everything or nothing.  For the first day of this adventure I decided just to bring an open mind.

Our assignment was to create a collection of images using the various techniques Roxanne demonstrated.  Our challenge was to make each "page"--each collage--a work of art, something that was beautiful and could stand alone in and of itself, but was stronger as part of the whole.

Roxanne was very prepared and greeted the participants with a little bag of found items and a narrow piece of watercolor paper we were to fold into thirds--ah ha--a triptych!  Within my little bag I discovered a page of botanical illustrations, drawings of the parts of a flower, very uterine in nature--hmmmm--something feminine!  I was also given some images by Modigliani and a butterfly shaped hinge--my ideas really began to take shape.

Working with found items and collage is a bit like free association writing--beginning with a blank page, one is given something and then responds to that something with another something and so on and so on until a collage is created.  It is an unfolding, a building towards revelation.  This project, like so much of my art, was metamorphical, leading me to greater self discovery.

My project:  A New Genesis

 

 

 

"A man watches his pear-tree day after day, impatient for the ripening of the fruit.
 Let him attempt to force the process, and he may spoil both fruit and tree.
But let him patiently wait, and the ripe pear at length falls into his lap."
-A. Lincoln

Pyrus Pomaceous

"A pear will never fall into a closed mouth."

"It...is the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable,
but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption."
-E. Bunyard

 

Back of the triptych

 Empty box