'SHORE BIRD'

I'VE developed a series of birdie collages on rag papers; most will fit into an 11 X 14 inch frame. I like doing small works....

As far as the detail in gold is concerned: it's like a little tile. The bird is drawn freehand on copper foil; flipped over (to reveal an embossed drawing) and gilded in 23 carat gold.
It's all assembled with double sided archival tape. Voila! A rich, small work for other near-sighted folk.

I'll put this on my studio website on the GOLD BIRD VARIATIONS page..

'NEW-DAY SONG'

AS I paint, I like to clean extra paint from my palette  and brushes by rough brushing it onto the stacks of small, acid-free matboard scraps. This finally results in a colorful stash of little abstractions which turn up in collages or are the basis for small original paintings.

You can see a few of those scraps in the collage which measures about 10 inches square. The green border on the left, the deep purple band at the base and the delicately decorated center piece all started as 'brush-offs'; that's what I'll call them. The first two mentioned have transfered typewriter correction film doodles on them- most easily seen are the white bird legs at bottom, center. The centerpiece has small india ink paintings of birds with details removed by scratching with a very sharp X-acto blade.


The bright bits are 23 carat gold on free-hand embossed copper foil. The printed patterns are altered photoscans of Indian cotton fabric. Parts of the fabric are also included in the collage.