Through the month of June I participated in a wonderful exchange between artist friends from Twitter, curated by @Art_News, called #MailArt. 33 artists in all, we sent each other original postcards of our art. It was both time consuming and really fun- I found myself developing new ideas using this medium that I would love to expand on further in my personal art.
I began with making handmade paper for the project. I had wanted to do this for awhile, and this project seemed the perfect way to experiment. How the paper turned out determine how I wanted to present my collages. I decided on using b&w photographic images from an old photography encyclopedia, mixed with original drawings drawn on tracing paper and collaged on the card as well. I sometimes drew on the actual card in ink, and used ink and gouache to enhance the tracing-paper drawings. I am now in love with tracing paper- such a thin, delicate medium to draw on, and it mixes in perfectly with other media as well because of its transparency.
Here are all the cards I created below. Each is approx 3 1/2"x5 1'2" in size, and made from pencil, ink, gouache & mixed media on handmade paper. My theme generally involves humans interacting with an environment based entirely on insects, rodents and birds that match the scale of humans. In some, humans actually become part of the environment in the form of plants, in others they are able to interact peacefully, and in others they work to have some form of control over the insects, rodents and birds.
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5 comments:
Jayne, I am absolutely blown away. Truly. What you have done with your mail art has reached right into my heart, taken hold, and won't let go. I am a lover of nature and am also a lover of humankind as well, and your collages have spoken to both sides. I particularly like the fact that the human figures are scaled down to the size of the insects, rodents, etc, with whom they interact in the card. Too bad I don't have the tangible works in front of me instead of a computer screen. I want so much to be able to see your handmade paper, the tracing paper, the ink, etc. Finally, there is also some wry humor to be found that is an absolute delight. You have a beautiful creative spirit. :-)
These collages are gorgeous! I love seeing the layers through the tracing paper, the texture of the paper, the powerful imagery; including your play with scale, as the previous commenter notes! It all works very well! Wow! (found you through rejinl's tweet on twitter..) Thanks for sharing these!
What amazes me about these works are the many and varied ideas you had! Wonderful! So original and I loved them all. Coming up with ideas is my weakest area so I truly admire minds like yours that come up with such unique ones. Bravo.
Thank you all so much for your enormous compliments! I really felt like I expanded with this project- feeling free to explore some different ideas that I might have kept submerged in the name of making "more serious art" in the recent past (whatever that is:)).
I certainly recommend this type of exchange with other artists- it allows for a very nice balance between artistic playfulness/freedom (you're not selling this work) and seriousness, because you are making it for another artist- who hopefully, will understand your intent.
There was definitely a lesson learned in allowing for more playful freedom in art-making, and not worrying so much about how the paying public might view a particular piece. As much as I would like to say I don't think this way, for make art for this reason- those little voices certainly start talking quite loudly just when I don't need them to.
Happy creating!cheers,
Very nice. All of them are just great. Thank you for sending me such a nice piece.
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