what elephant? (I see no elephant in the room.)

 "What Elephant?" - 12"x16" - framed at 16"x20" - gifted to a good friend on christmas

 

I've had this hefalump cutout and the lovely blue wallpaper backdrop set aside for some time now. I knew I wanted to marry the pieces in some way, but didn't really know what message I was going for - if any. Turns out, not a lot of message, just a lot of elephant (for those who didn't get the "hefalump" Winnie the Pooh allusion). What do you think? 

Hope you've been enjoying the holiday season out there. I'm off to clean up the papery residue of a fruitful family christmas... and birthday. Twenty-four and counting...

Cheers. x

So, you want to become an artist?

So, I log-in to blogger this morning and the first thing I see in my 'following' roster is the this: "Want to become an artist? Win your scholarship"

Technically speaking, I don't reckon I'm eligible - and, heck, I don't know if I'd want to live in NYC even for schooling purposes (England is where my true heart lay :) ) - but for any of you eligible folk out there, you must absolutely check this out. Here's what she wrote over on A Matter of Style:

"Today I'm excited to share with you this amazing competition offered by The New School of New York. If you think you have the talent to make the difference as an artist this is your chance to win your dream education in New York City. The New school is seeking for talent and it's ready to reward it with a scholarship valued up to $160,000!

"The challenge is to answer logical reasoning & The New School quizzes and solve a creative case by presenting a video. The competition offers four full and four partial scholarships for Bachelor’s degree within art & design, liberal arts, fashion or music and it's open to high school and college students worldwide. 
Scholarship winners must be a high school graduate on or before June 2013.

"The following four divisions of The New School are participating:
•        Parsons The New School for Design
•        Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts
•        Mannes College The New School for Music
•        The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music


"DEADLINE January 27, 2013
READ MORE  @ http://www.thenewschoolcompetition.com/ "


P.S. Scanner still on the fritz, hence (in part) my lack of artistical postage. Also, I've not been so artistically prolific as of late. Shh - don't tell. I do have some projects lined-up, but am lacking the necessary verve. In time, people, in time.

I'm not dead, I swear. Just sleeping.

I know I've been absent for far too long... I know how many avid followers I have and I'm sure they're keen to know what I've been up to: Not all that much.

But it's not been for nothing. I actually have a couple more collages to add to my most recent series, Phrom Phrazes, buy with my scanner on the fritz, they'll have to wait. In the meantime, I'll post photos of my Halloween project for work. You'll have to forgive the crudity of the model; I didn't have time to build it to scale or to paint it. (That's really only funny if you realize I'm quoting Doctor Emmett L. Brown.) Obviously it's painted - though crudely - but it was only constructed over a couple of days before Halloween. Knowing that it would be broken down and recycled the very same night, I didn't have the heart to create a 3-dimensional masterpiece. So, here's what I came up with:

 

More works shall be forthcoming, as soon as I can get them scanned in. I'm working to turn in an application for a fine arts fellowship on the east coast, so if I disappear for a while, fear not! I've just retreated to get stuff done that needs to get done. Cheers.

UPDATE: No such luck with the fellowship. Let's move on, shall we?

A declaration: shop now open for business!

phrom phrazes (serial collage... as opposed to cereal collage)

when roles are reversed opinions are too           I'll just nod. I've never been so good at shaking hands

 So here is the group of collages I've been working on. I'm calling it "Phrom Phrazes," the explanation for it being pretty simple. All the titles (under each image) are cut up lyrics from the album "Phrazes for the Young" by Julian Casablancas. I've been going through a phase (phaze?) of listening to a lot of the album and certain lyrics just have kept running through my head. Here's what's come out of it. More to come, methinks. Cheers.

once this whole world was all countryside.               but I am only a drop from the storm.

 anything to watch while we are waiting for this apocalypse?       where did you go? you were my ride home

  

we're going nowhere and we're going there fast.               I am at your feet where critters meet.

don't you dare get to the top and not know what to do                  I understand that's how it goes.

            nothing stands still                                 I live on the frozen surface of a fireball.

feels like I'm going left and right in the dark.                   soon I will simply evaporate.

  UPDATE: ...twenty-four and done? See below.

 complicated mammals on the wings of robots           together we'll sing songs and tell exaggerated stories

those who helped me along the way

I smacked them as I thanked them                                     forgive them even if they are not sorry

      but there are some things

     they do not want the answers to                            we're in a race against time and time might be winning

and the ones who deserve it they'll never understand it           and you're watching the time run

soon the whole world will be urban sprawl        it's not gonna take all day long watching the urban decay all around us, oh boy     

UPDATE:  So, here are those last two collages I'd made for my series 'Phrom Phrazes.' The scanner has finally been sorted out.

This brings the count to twenty-six.

 

     you are looking for you own voice but in others
     while it hears you trapped in another dimension                                  that war is over

(all on 8.5x11" printer paper)

A forgotten work

Here is a piece that I'd vaguely forgotten I'd completed back in either Fall 2009 or Spring 2010 for a color theory class I was taking. Acrylic on matteboard (based on a magazine collage), approx. 14x17" And in case you couldn't figure out what the heck it's supposed to be, I'll tell you that there's a profile of a woman-lady in it - as was part of the assignment.

utopic escapism: A Journey (Eden Series)

 The third and second collages, respectively, of comparable content as the previously posted, which I've changed (barely) as seen below. I'm trying to sit down when I have any length of time and pound out some collage; it's fun. Cheers. x

Above (There's a Bubble in the Sky): 14x17"

Below (Bridge to Nowhere in Particular): 11x14

Farthest Below (It's Quite a Climb to the Blue City): 14x17"

UPDATE: Utopic Escapism turned Journey

 
Minor changes on a couple - here and in Red Umbrella - but I've got three new collages below.

After having made three figures relatively prominent in the first couple pieces, I decided to take it and run with it... The series has become one of their journeys - alone, together, and often alone together. It is a documention of this quest of theirs for escape, tranquility, and happiness. Not all of them have the same path, nor the same level of success. At least that's the case in my mind. :) 

Until next time. Cheers. x

 New collages start here. Now.

 "We Don't Know Where We Are, But I'm Definitely Thirsty" 14x17"

"Cave of Wonder" 11x14" 

 

"Are We Drowning Yet? OR An Island in the Sea" 11x16"

 This, if you're keeping count, is the fifth piece thus far. Smaller dimensions and the first "portrait" orientation. I don't think it is the last, however. Something tells me that as a whole, the series will work better with at least a round dozen. Maybe baker-style. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: The next step.

 The seventh unit in the current utopic-escapist-eden series. 11x14"

"Not an Island, Just a Canyon"

(click photos for enlargements)

 UPDATE: Sept. 6, 2012
Here are a few new pieces I've completed the last two days. Between work, illness, allergies, humidity, work, and a little artistic block, I've not been producing for some time. I'm up to eleven pieces as of right now. The order of the series is evolving as new pieces are created, so I'll update all that when all's said and done. Hope you enjoy!

14x17"

approx. 13x16"

 

11x14"

 "Are We Where Yet? AND I Don't Think So" 17x28"

The Biggest One Yet. Though I have been aiming to keep this Smaller-ish, since they will be many in number. :) And I'm always open to constructive criticisms, if you think of any, I swear. Cheers. x