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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