After a couple of extended studio days, and one last art tour in Seattle, I’m back in Vancouver for a while. Now, what was I up to again?

Making

This trip to Seattle was planned around me hanging out while my studio mate Joan held a clearing-out sale. With no business presence in Seattle any more, I just had lots of art time, with some great company as a bonus.

First, I’ve been working on collage inside a board book, following the instructions on Drew Steinbrecher‘s site. I’ve been adding bits & pieces for months, but with sustained time, I finished all the inside pages, and made a little slide show for you:

I used some house shapes to unify the pages, but each pair of layouts is different enough. With the cover and some trim to go, I’m really pleased: I do enjoy working on two facing pieces together.

Choosing the board books was part of the fun: I picked one I loved when I was little, Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman, which I also enjoyed reading to my son. And I have a pile of others — all found through used book stores, NOT the ones we kept as mementoes. Want to try one? It’s a wonderful substrate, and Drew’s class is free!

Most work in the studio is even longer-term, though. I’ve been experimenting with reworking my aluminum prints for… two years? Could I prepare the surface, and have things stick to it? I’m getting past the practicalities, and on to the compositional qualities. This reworking of an old print, feast upon, is coming much closer to done. I got some tips on masking from a few sources, and made some bungling attempts of my own. I still think it needs a few more touches, but I’m happy to let it simmer for a bit. Swipe left & right to see an old version versus the current one.

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Much less further along, this piece is another reworking, from printed pieces that are no longer current inventory. Skagit Homestead has been interfered with!

There was something so satisfying about rolling out that intense pink over this photographic element, part of my first big show, Layered Stories. But it’s not going to be a grid-based piece, not with that old house as the focal point, so a landscape-based work it shall remain, just with lots more collage.

If either of these updated pieces work out, I’ve got plenty more to alter.

But wait — there was more! I brought my collages from Collage-o-Rama, last week, the ones with all the texture, and gave them the old printmaker’s pass. Would I get any results from those lovely bits?

Yes, success! The reveal, as I slowly pull back the printmaking paper, wondering what I’ve captured, is always so fun.

Viewing

My art buddy Andrea & I wanted to catch a farewell show at Mad Art. This space, in several evolutions, has shown so many Seattle artists over its fifteen-year run, and they were all invited to show a piece for the final show. Each of them had the whole space for their individual shows, but with just a smaller piece from each artist, it was easier to digest.

Instead of signage, there was a flyer with a diagram, meaning we could play the guess-the-artist game. Fun! And awe-inspiring, given how many names and work I recognized.

Meetings

It was a quick meeting this week with the Arizona Collage Collective, so I had time for one spelling book spread, along with great conversation. This one makes it 25 in total.

And in SLMM’s Monday studio session, a few of my aerial pieces got some tweaks. Sometimes, not for the better…

Finally, in the regular SLMM meeting, I contemplated some simple landscapes, snagged over the past year, and their relationship to minimal abstract compositions. That dividing of the image into thirds is just so compelling!

Even less abstractly, I can always lose myself in a landscape. And some days, I really need to! What imagery do you keep coming back to?

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