Collage...from the artist, Audrey Smith, living in Baltimore who flew into Portland for her premier show at Gallery 6 PDX (131 N.E. 6th Av., Portland, OR). The curator, Liz Cohn, really hit the "sweet spot" with her choice of artists this month (she does this every month!). I got permission last night (First Friday) to take a few photos, and promised to get them into my blog. I plan to go back and revisit the show another time before the month is up. It was nice to meet Audrey and chat with her about her beautiful collage work.
The artist, Audrey Smith, with my new puppy, Gracie...a mini labradoodle (more on her later).
Liz Cohn (curator of the gallery) with her husband Ole...holding Gracie (yes, the puppy came along to the show...all apart of the doggie socialization process).
MOMA
Stopping in NYC a couple weeks ago before heading on to Bermuda, the hike to the Museum of Modern Art was well worth the visit. Some of the art now on display:
There were four Joseph Cornell assemblages on display as well as a few of his collages:
If you live in the NYC area, be sure to stop in and visit Seth and Kristin at the Cog and Pearl Gallery (190 5th Av, Brooklyn) I have several assemblage pieces available there right now (yes, a little shameless self-promotion).
Big street fairs seem to cover several blocks in different part of the city on the weekends...great fun if you get there early before the crowds of people show up:
Having just returned from a trip to Bermuda, I realized that most visitors take the "usual" touristy photos...beaches, landscapes, flowers, etc. I, on the other hand, found a massive pile of beautifully old rusted equipment and metals that just begged for some photographic attention. Venturing into this pile of rust with camera in hand, I discovered some treasures:
I suppose a few of those touristy photos of Bermuda are in order:
I had no idea what this item was! I found it last year during one of my gleaning sessions at the city dump. I just had my "ah ha" moment today when I got some unexpected online information about it:
The one that I found, made from some type of soft fiberboard, had obviously been used quite heavily...it was very nicely "aged."
I cut it apart to line one of my boxes, but realized that I'd have to coat it with gel medium to keep the many loose fibers in place. It worked beautifully with the Madonna statue that I found which also needed a good coating of the gel medium to keep everything sealed in place (you gotta' love that stuff).
The completed piece was actually "banned" from our culminating group gallery show at the last moment ("no religious icons allowed"), which was ultimately a good thing...it's now one of my favorite pieces!
I had originally constructed this piece about a year ago "without" a box. I've decided that it needs its own box (and glass cover)...and that direction became the new re-vision for this piece.
Photographing any work with "glass" is a tough job! I do my best, but it's always a struggle to get clarity.
A piece that I made a couple years ago for a "Day of the Dead" show at Cannibals Gallery has undergone a re-vision. It's the same small piece, in the same small black box...given new life in a larger glassed box with a few added details:
A few of us assemblage artists met at Gallery 6 PDX for a swap meet on Tuesday evening...trading away some of the unwanted stuff that we'd ordinarily use in our own projects for new stuff. There were only seven us at the gallery, but we all seemed to make some good trades.
A few photos of some of the treasures that I brought to the trade:
At the gallery:
The new treasures that I brought home (as if I really need more stuff!!) :
The transformation of the backyard is now complete...the overgrown English laurel is gone, and the new fence (replacing the old fence that blew down quite some time ago) is finally in place! It looks much better, and there's more privacy with a secure yard for the new puppy coming in June.
There are cherries forming on the four cherry trees, but in the past, actually getting to eat those cherries has been tricky...the birds and raccoons seem to take them before they're even fully ripe (maybe my new fence will do a better job of keeping out the raccoons this summer). I've actually been considering chopping down those cherry trees and getting them out of the backyard.
On the other hand, the raspberries are a clear winner. They take up a side portion of the backyard, and for some reason, the wildlife leave the berries alone (they're too full from the cherries). They grow extremely well in this Oregon climate.
The banana trees are very quickly coming back to life. At this point, they look rather lanky...it's unclear (to the untrained eye) what kind of plants they actually are at this point of their growth. In another month I'll have a full tropical banana jungle gracing my front yard with baby bananas showing up in August. There seems to be some element of "luck" in getting these things to grow well...I just happened to get them in a perfect patch of soil.
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