Thursday, November 21, 2013

in the studio - shredded art


the start of shredded project #2

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Not sure how it began but somehow I have recently become fascinated by shredded paper.....
 yeah, from my home shredder.
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You know when you are looking out of an airplane - flying over farmland and the ground below looks like a crazy quilt of color; or you are looking down onto a city and the patterns of the streets and rooftops create a brand new city never seen before? 
Both the farmland and the city always exist at the ground level when you are viewing them on the surface. But they get a new life when viewed from above - the farm land is more diverse, more colorful.  The city is potentially much more interesting. 

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What about people seen from a new perspective? 
What happens when we "deconstruct" a map and create our own? 
Right now, I think these are the concepts I'm looking at right now.... and they are subject to change.
All I can do is follow the path and see where it takes me.

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"City-scape"
8 1/2" x 11"
shredded paper - map and magazine pages

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Detail - "City-scape"

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I started down this road a few weeks ago and finished the above piece made from a shredded topographical map and pics from magazines. I had wanted to do another piece based on cities but felt like I did not have the right photos of my own to use/draw on so I wondered if I could somehow re-purpose other people's pics. One thing led to another and suddenly I was shredding!
Needless to say - this activity requires a certain amount of crazy and a lot of anal retentiveness!!
I did start by shredding everything I was going to use all at once - oops. I then had to go thru and separate; buildings, sky, ground, dark, light....... one shredded piece after another.
I have since learned to organize prior to the shredding process. I still have to go thru the pile to organize by color but the piles are MUCH smaller.

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Yesterday I began a new piece.  This one is really about trying to master capturing the various skin tones and the direction of the light source.


Beginning of shredded project #2

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I try to imagine her seen from above and the crazy quilt of pattern and color that lies there unnoticed.

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Sunday, November 3, 2013

in the studio - scattered


leaves waiting to be collected
Providence, RI

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Like the leaves that are quickly mounting up and blowing around the yard today I am feeling ever more scattered. The last few weeks have found me beginning new projects, tossing them aside, picking up something new … completing some things, but more often than not just staring at them. Lost. 

Thinking I need to go back and look at pieces that were working for me - point of view, subject matter. Hopefully I will find the new path.