National Bird Day

Today is National Bird Day so it seemed a good time to look back at some bird-themed art from the 2011 Project.  The original story behind the piece can be found here.

Time and Art

Valley of the Wiggle — mixed media photo collage on board, 12”x9”

Five years ago, in the middle of the 2011 Project, I created this photo collage titled Beach Day.  It instantly was one of my favorites of the 365 pieces done back in 2011.  That piece was a key to my latest project, Time Travel Photos.  

The latest work for the series is of a valley that became the Lower Haight.  Where I have lived for over 25 years.  I have seen a lot of changes over time and at some point in the future may even do a series based on the changes I have witnessed in my neighborhood. 

Tennessee Valley 16 - Back to the 4x4 format

Earlier this winter friends and I enjoyed a hike in Marin County’s Tennessee Valley.  That day it rained on and off but we managed to stay fairly dry.  Yesterday was a day of late season rains that kept me in the house.  The results are a series of 16 4”x4” paintings based on that afternoon on the trail.  I deliberately forced myself to work quickly.  Any painter knows the trap of going too far and overworking a painting.  It’s frustrating when you get a work done and then keep going and, well, ruin it.

Inspiring Postcards

Various pieces from the 2011 Project incorporating vintage postcards, (4’x4” each)

Four years later, as I look back at the 2011 Project, I can see what significant role postcards continue to play in my artwork.  There have been many new pieces since 2011 that have used postcards.  And now, as I reach the halfway point in 2015, my new book Helen’s Postcards is now available.  Be sure to check it out.

2011 to 2014

Three years ago now, I was in the middle of the 2011 Project and making a 4”x4” piece of mixed media art on each day of the year.  By this point in 2011, I realized I was also working on a series that was akin to a sketchbook for future work.  My subsequent new work and shows in 2012 and 2013 proved that.  Now it’s time to exhibit the latest series of work called Collagescapes.  Some of the new work is shown above as well as the 2011 pieces that influenced them.

Collage + Landscape = Collagescape will be on view at San Francisco’s Glama-Rama Salon and Gallery.  The show runs from July 29 to September 28, 2014.  The opening reception is on the evening of Friday, August 1 (7pm to 10 pm).

Three Years Later

Three years ago, at this point during the 2011 Project, it became clear to me that one of things I was creating was a series that was like a sketchbook for future work and ideas. It was when I began talking about the theory that, at some point in the future, we artists would see a demise of source material four our collage work.  The electronic, world we live in is diminishing the amount of ephemera we are creating for future art projects.  For example, we generate less and less ticket stubs, postcards, colorful luggage tags, non-digital photographs, etc. 

Three years ago my response began with the piece shown above.  It’s time for artists to start making their own material for the purpose of collage.  We have a long way until we really run out, but it is good to think ahead. Since then I have been exploring the idea of making my own material.  This year I am getting ready for a new show opening in July.  It’s a series of work I call Collagescapes — where painting meets collage (see below).  Instead of cutting up finished paintings, I am painting fields of color for the various places I wish to depict.  I then cut up those colors and reconfigure them into new work. Collage + Landscape = Collagescape.  It’s come a long way since that one piece back in 2011.  

3.14

Pi or Pie?  I prefer pie.