Sketch

Sometimes I like to do a digital rough sketch to see how the composition works when I start on a collage. Colors may change, textures will be added, but so far, I'm liking the composition. That rooster needs a new set of legs!

Tricycle girl

Isn't she a cutie? Love the bow, love the trike (with white tires!) - and soon, I'd love to see her in one of my collages!

Silent Night

As I mentioned in the previous post, I had the opportunity to work on some concepts for the Minnesota Opera, with Amy Kirkpatrick of Kirkpatrick Design, and here is the second opera visual concept in progress, "Silent Night". This World Premiere opera depicts the true story of a Christmas Eve truce in the trenches of the Western Front during World War I. Such a poignant tale - it began with the Germans lining their trenches with tiny Christmas trees and progressed to the soldiers exchanging chocolates, cigarettes and other token gifts in No Man's Land. Apparently they partied all night long, showing off pictures of their loved ones back home, sharing whatever liquor was to be had, and even playing a game of soccer. When the next day came, the war resumed, but with such reluctance on the part of the soldiers that they had to be stationed elsewhere in order to continue to fight.

This is one of the cut-and-paste thumbnails that I submitted.



Another thumbnail, with postcards fortifying the trenches.




A third version, featuring the soldier in a more prominent position.


In the end, the last version was chosen, and I'll show you the finished result tomorrow.

Madame Butterfly

detail



detail


Here's the final version - Madame Butterfly awaits the return of her lover.

The Minnesota Opera Project

A while back I had the good fortune to work with the very talented graphic designer Amy Kirkpatrick of Kirkpatrick Design on concepts for the one of Amy's many clients, the Minnesota Opera. Amy thought my collage style of illustration might be a good choice for the upcoming season's brochure and marketing materials, and invited me to submit concepts for consideration. I worked on two of the season's upcoming operas, the well-loved classic, "Madame Butterfly" and "Silent Night", a world premiere libretto based on the true story of the World War I Christmas Eve truce in the trenches of the western front.

In the end, the Opera folks opted to go with photography instead of collage and my fun came to an end, but I really had a good time working with Amy on the preliminary concepts. Speaking of which:


I began with this photo of Kelly Kaduce of Madame Butterfly. With a little Photoshop magic, I reduced those worried lines in her forehead, (if only I could do that with myself) and I reduced the blue hue.


before


and after

Next I took out my scissors and found my glue stick and created some rough thumbnails with a cut and paste routine. Here's what I sent to Amy, and she decided to go with the last version, which will show in my next post:

Old Cars

Collage detail


Farrah look-alike



Farrah look-alike - rear end


I found this vintage postcard in an antique store, and you will soon see this old Ford in the collage that I'm working on. I just love old cars, and I'm not sure why. When I lived in LA, I used to careen around in a 1957 Ford Fairlane 500 that I bought for $400. I named her "Farrah Ford Fairlane 500". I adored her sleek baby blue and white exterior and her shiny chrome dashboard that looked like a cockpit. She was so big you had to plan your turns a block in advance. The only let down I experienced was when I was on the freeway and it began to pour, and I discovered that the windshield wipers didn't work. When she finally fell apart, I realized it was probably for the betterment of my pocketbook and the environment.

Unfortunately, I can't find a photo of Farrah, but I did find a red one on the Internet that is of the same year, courtesy of American Dream Cars.

As you can see, driving Farrah was the closest I'll ever get to being an astronaut.

A Digital Sketch

I got so confused and frustrated working with all the elements that may go into this collage that I wanted to pick up the panel with all the cut out pieces resting on top of it and throw the whole mess out the window. But then I decided to use my computer and do a digital rendition as a "rough sketch" and play with the sizing and the colors and elements in this manner.

Oddly enough, my initial idea was of simplicity. But I can't seem to stay austere, since the theme is one of excess! Hmmmm. Still haven't resolved it. It looks so prim and precise. Need to wrestle with it some more. Maybe instead of trying to wrestle it to the ground, I should just turn and walk away. Do something else. Then maybe it would come creeping back to me with a resolution in hand.....

The Successful Artist

vintage photo



detail




successful artist

I'm working on a new collage, inspired by a line in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's book Love in the Time of Cholera: "He earned much more with his art than he needed." Ha!

I'm starting with a lovely old photo of two brothers who look to be working class peasant stock (just like me). I'm transforming the younger one into a successful insolent artist (just like me). Apparently all one needs is a pair of sun glasses. How fun is this?

Hamline Commission

DETAIL


DETAIL

Here's a little work in progress - I'm working on two collages commissioned by Hamline University. Hamline is located in St. Paul and has the distinct honor of being the very first university here in the Twin Cities and among the first coeducational institutions in the nation. I've been provided with some wonderful historical photographs to use in these collages. Here's the 1901 freshman class, floating on a letter written by a long ago student, whose many colorful and descriptive letters have been preserved in the archives. I love the many different personalities depicted in this group shot. How did the women (and the men, for that matter) manage to wear those tight high collars all day long?

The Writer

The Buckley sisters are going to have to wait - it seems I am preoccupied with finishing up a collage featuring this red-headed heroine. I often work on two or more collages at once so that I can let one "marinate" while I work on the other. Problems seem to solve themselves this way and interesting developments appear when I return to the work.

Bird-headed figures have been seen throughout history, and interestingly enough, they always seem to have a reference to writing or wisdom. So it seems appropriate that this hybrid creature be a vessel for the concept of writing and storytelling.

The Buckley Sisters

I just LOVE these ladies! Look at them, smiling (well, sort of) in their fancy scarves and ties. I've been saving this postcard until now, when I am finally ready to make a painting/collage to honor them. Their names were Mabel, May and Myrtle. They were known throughout Montana as the "Red Yearlings" because of their red-blond hair and horsemanship. They were so accomplished that they were sought for hire by the Wild West shows, which they declined. I wanna be a cowgirl.

YEE HAW!

More Sketches

Here are three more sketches that I submitted for my current job for Minnestota Medicine Magazine using a template background for the magazine. The one that was favored was the vintage clip art doctor holding the vintage encyclopedia brain - but I will be substituting the photo of an actual neurologist mentioned in the article as a key figure in the history of neurology within the state of Minnesota. This will be Photoshop fun!

P.S. In the second sketch, I utilized two preliminary comps (the metallic head and the very cute neurons) I downloaded from iStockphoto, a great source for photo and illustration stock at very reasonable prices.

Brainy Assignment

I'm on a brainy assignment, a cover for Minnesota Medicine that features an article about neurology and it's history relating to Minnesota. Here's one of the sketches I came up with, using the idea of the sense organs that neurology encompasses and an antique brain illustration. It's difficult to submit pencil sketches for a collage idea, so I sometimes just use the collage material in a loose fashion, if I can find it.

Out of the Cave

My old computer died on me. It did not go peacefully into the night. No, it stalled and balked and went bananas. It shut down when it wasn't supposed to and wouldn't shut down when I asked it politely to do so. It swore at me with all kinds of alien language that popped up at odd moments on my monitor. The turning point was when the monitor turned PINK. It has always been a calm navy blue. I felt sorry then, it was almost as if my poor computer was bleeding internally, even though a moment later it returned to the usual blue. Before it totally died on me, I rushed off to buy a new computer, something I had been putting off for way too long.

While transferring my old files to the new computer, the technician read the serial numbers on my first computer and declared that it was considered "vintage". Imagine - a six year old computer is considered vintage! This seems outrageous!

I not only have to learn a new operating system, but a new email program and several new graphics programs that I have also failed to update over the years. The technician said I was "leaving my cave and entering a space ship." I loved that - it describes my thoughts exactly!

I will never procrastinate again.

Mushroom Girl

She's a princess in her court. She's actually a work in progress, a collage that has been shuffled to the back of my studio because I can't figure out how to finish it. So I just played around with a Photoshop background for now, although the actual collage will be quite different when I am finished. But for now, I do like the mysterious feeling evoked with the sky.

July Cover - Thumbnails

Another cover for the Minnesota Medicine magazine, July issue - YAHOO! These are the 4 thumbnails that I submitted. The theme of the cover was to announce the winners and other entries of the annual writing contest. Once a year the magazine invites physicians to submit their essays reflecting their experiences in the field of medicine. This year's essays had such bleak (it seemed to me) subject matter: illness, death, abuse, violence, impact of war, difficult patients, aging, etc. But when you think about it, that's exactly what a physician deals with daily! Initially, I submitted thumbnails that were somewhat generic in outlook - just addressing the issue of a writing contest, or keeping the visuals to symbols or medical icons. That's the Pollyanna in me, I guess, the eternal optimist not wanting to face the dark side. But that was not what the editors wanted - they wanted specifics! And the thumbnail they chose was the most difficult for me to realize, the collage. (But I must say, my favorite of them). So I'll show you how I changed it around when I post the final tomorrow.

Sketch

Here are some things you may not know about me, and probably don't care but I'm going to tell you anyway: I used to smoke, but gave it up many years ago. I've never dated a man who owned a white suit. I own a dog, but she doesn't look like this. And I once saw a flying saucer, but I wasn't in Roswell, I was in Iowa. Same thing.

So I'm putting all this terribly fascinating information into a collage. Check back for an update!

Bird Girl

My next collage will feature this little lass. What struck me when I saw this photo in a a thrift store bin (without the bird and background) was the necklace. Some proud mama dressed her baby up in her finest clothes and jewelry so that that moment, nearly 100 years ago, would be captured and treasured in memory forever. And so it will be!

Bonny

I have to tell you about my friend Bonny Belgum. She just wrote a glowing review of my work in her blog www.bonnysamerica.com and flattered the living daylights out of me. My head swelled up til my headband nearly popped off.

Now I'm going to tell you about how fabulous she is, because if you don't read her columns, articles and latest book, Cut the Woman Some Slacks you are missing out! Bonny is a writer who sees the humor and absurdity of everyday events and conveys her vision in a manner that is absolutely hilarious. I met Bonny when I read her article in the Opinion section of my home town paper, The Star Tribune. It was an article about Keith Richards and her reaction to seeing a photograph of him. The odd thing is, I had the identical experience and reaction several years ago. But she described it in a way that made me laugh so hard that I had to stop and blow my nose and dab my eyes not once but numerous times. She's that funny! Here's the article - Bonny Belgum: Sympathy for ...

So I emailed her my appreciation for her outlook on life and our friendship began. I think a collaboration is in the works. Stay tuned!

Accordion Players

I've always wanted to do a collage inspired by the following line: (a quote from the book "Love in the Time of Cholera") ---all he wanted to do was "play the accordion and drink beer with the sailors, finishing the evening at the transient hotel". Can't you just SEE that? Well, don't worry if you can't. I can, and I'll soon create a collage so you can see it too!

I have a been looking everywhere for an old photo of an accordion player, and have been unsuccessful until just a few days ago. I was rummaging through a bin of old photos in an antique store, and these two lads popped up. It was meant to be, hallelujah!