Inspirations

I saw a terrific exhibition at Cleveland's treasure of an Art Museum: Basquiat's Notebooks. I absolutely loved the show, and saw it twice. This box is one of my favorite pieces:

Seeing how he used his notebooks to create his artwork was inspiring. I use my journals and sketchbooks all the time, and am always in motion, creating marks or writing words as often as possible. It was really fascinating to have a glimpse into someone else's process.

New collage in progress by Gayle Pritchard, 2017

Now that our Memories Evoked: Circling Back Home exhibition is over, I am back at work on some new pieces. They are a bit different for me. This is the beginning of a new one, collage and oil pastel markings over painted marks. The antique handkerchief was selected for the color, but also because I knew how cool it would look made transparent with matte medium. I placed the found paper alphabet circle underneath it before gluing it in place, but after I made my marks on top of the paint. I like layers, and hiding some of my marks.

The next step was to add other collage elements, which I will show you next time. After those had dried, I began stitching the edges of the fabric with embroidery floss. I then ran everything that would fit through my sewing machine.

New collage in progress by Gayle Pritchard, 2017. This piece is enhanced by both hand
and machine stitching.

Because the paper is thick, I couldn't roll all of it to fit under the sewing machine foot. That forced me to choose which areas I wanted to emphasize. I can't wait to get it finished!

Home is Where the Art Is...uh Heart Is

One of my little collaged paintings

I am on the road tomorrow morning, early. I love beginning a long drive before the sun is fully up, then watching the sky change color as the morning sun emerges onto the landscape.

When I travel, I like to bring along a portable "art kit". I have one my friend Lois made for me. It is currently back at her shop for repair, so frequently have I traveled with it. That little bag, which has a top flap and measures, closed, probably 6" x 9", has been to Mexico six times, all over the west coast of Ireland, the beach in Florida half a dozen times, and numerous other places.

It holds a small watercolor paper block, paintbrushes with built in water containers, transfer pens, collage papers, drawing pencils, a small tin of watercolor crayons, small pair of scissors, a pencil sharpener, small pieces of fine sandpaper stapled to a piece of matboard, a wax resist crayon, small container of "yes!" glue, and several other things I can't remember without my list.

Oil pastel and watercolor collage, sketched while sitting on a beach in Mexico

Yes, I have a list. I teach a class called Trains, Planes and Automobiles: Techniques for Traveling Collage, so I really need to practice what I preach. Be prepared for art. Any place, anytime. I encourage my students to plan ahead for creative work while traveling, and to make a list of their favorite art supplies, so they can figure out a way to travel with at least some of them. As for me, I try not to go anywhere without a least a journal and some collage materials. I am a "found object" junkie. Often, bits of ephermera I find during my travels go directly onto a matboard collage surface, or into a composition in one of my journals.

My favorite journal, which is all but full, is one I handmade years ago. It has a hand bound Japanese stab stitch binding, is thick and full of a great weight cardstock. It is full of writings, collage, and on-the-fly experiments, like, what would happen if I iron this photo transfer onto that oil pastel covered photograph? Cool! It works!!

I covered the open spine with folded playing cards prior to stitching the covers in place. In addition to being colorful and pretty to look at, they serve as spacers for the journal pages. That way, when I want to add junk I find that has some dimension to is, it doesn't prevent the journal from still laying flat.

So these are my thoughts on this Monday, my birthday, as I plan for a road trip. Plan to make art this week!