the most collected

it's been a while since i have posted.  i have been kind of taking a much needed break from making art. i think my brain needs a rest so it can catch up on gaining some creativity cells.  i think they were all gone after my whirlwind summer.

i have started some new boxes this week. they are in the preliminary stages, but at least i have started to work again.  no pictures yet.  they are just beginning.

 the antique mall called me the other day (big surprise) to start collecting some box fodder.  turns out all i bought was things made from wood. as i was standing in line ready to pay for my new wooden stuff, i realized that it has become the most collected thing i have.  except for maybe metal objects.  it may be a tie.

anyway, here is some of my wooden object collection.  many of the items are also in other categories, like miniature houses, santos, boxes, and things with drawers.  i have no idea why i love things made from generations of trees, but it all fits in with my love of anything touched, used, and loved by a human.  

enjoy!

tiny wooden box.  someone fixed it with a wire.  love that!!

doll house chair

wall cabinet with added wire mesh shelf.  other wooden stuff on top!

frame.  thanks tina!!

the virgin mary, sans nose

san raphael.  i like to give my santos some bling!

another virgin mary with wooden rosaries

doll cabinet

hand made house for a train layout?  bricks and stones drawn with graphite

collections

medical stuff

pocket watches

doll dressers

old toys

numbers and letters

hands

i have always been a collector.  when i was small, i collected live pet mice, dead butterflies, plastic breyer horses, and seashells. the collections were just part of who i was, and i took joy from finding a new specimen to add to my cache.  none of my early collections have made it this far into my life.  the pet mice (they bred fast, and i had over 50 in my parent's basement) met their maker when one night i left the top off their cage.  my very happy cat had the feast of a lifetime.  ugh.  the butterflies went next door to my friend timmy.  shells...i think my mom probably got rid of them secretly over time.  they just disappeared.  breyer horses?  my niece ended up with them.  by the time they resurfaced, 30 years of girl play had stripped them of most of their ears and small appendages. goodwill was the final recipient.  

 i still collect today.  i like old things, things with wear and tear.  i often wonder what makes us collect, and why we are drawn to those things in our collections.  my gatherings of items changes a lot.  i go through periods of passing on my things, and replacing them with other ones.  sometimes i think i have to be crazy to keep all of this stuff, and do a major clean out.  often, i wonder if the collecting thing is a outward sign of a mental issue deep within me!!  i do know that finding and saving things is definitely something that makes me feel happy.  the good news is that most of my things cost little.  i am the consummate bargain shopper.

every once in a while, i like to donate a really great former collection item to goodwill.  i think about how happy i am when i find a great thing in the heap of donations at the thrift store.  and i somehow get a dose of glee thinking about the person who finds my former treasure.  it's a kind of payback to the universe.

anyway, the pictures above document some of my current collections.  i won't go into long reasons why these things resonate with me, because sometimes i just don't know.  but here they are for you to consider.

artist statement

handle with care, 2010

crappity, crap, crap.  i have to write an artist statement.  this is a hard one for me.  i am not into the "deep" stuff as far as statements (or art) go.  i make art, i play, i sometimes get a good result.  i like objects, people, shapes, patina.  i like all that stuff to look nice together.  i like color.  it's fun to put colors together that look beautiful.  for me, it's not about something higher.  it's just putting all of the elements together until i get just the right combination.  and then i'm done, and ready to do it all over again. 

here are things i like to use in my art over and over:

circles--they seem safe and comfortable.

stripes--they just look orderly to me, and i'm a virgo.  love order!!

lines--well, i don't know how you'd create something without at least an implied line...do you?

ordinary objects and people-- they are interesting to me.  i like the mundane for it's simple beauty.

red--it's happy.

green--it's safe and comfortable, like circles.

blue--i used to hate it, then i forced myself to use it because i hated it.  and now i love it.

brown--it's like green only safer and more comfortable.

texture and patina--i love things that are used and have the touch of a person or of mother nature.  if it's not there, i try and create it in a believable way.

handwriting--it's almost a lost art.  nobody writes letters any more.  and pencil?  it's just so beautiful!  smudgy, sharp or dull depending on the writer, and that shimmer of graphite.  wow.

numbers and letters--hmmm.  i like to use them as elements, and they usually don't say anything.  just elements of design.  3 is a personal favorite.  i think because it has circles.  i also like X.  so strong for such a tiny thing.

the virgin mary--she's an icon.  i'm not the religious type, but i have a huge collection of Mary in many forms.  she reminds me of my grandmother, who was such a kind woman.  she just makes me feel comfortable.  like circles.  and green.

here is what influences me:

pop culture--sometimes i just drive around and look at stuff.  i call it my artistic education.  it gets my brain ticking.  i look at people, buildings, products in the stores, old stuff, trash, fashion, advertising.

old stuff--back to the patina thing.

magazines--(all types including boring ones like consumer reports). i'm kind of addicted.  it's like driving around, only sitting still.  and you can bring them in the bathtub.

graphic design--letters, numbers, color combinations, flattening of the picture plane.

artists--oh god.  i look at everything i can.  how can i even make a list?  i could start today, and not finish for days.  it's impossible.  

i wish i were the kind of person who could take all of this information and make up a gorgeous paragraph or two that turns into an artist statement.  i guess i am going to have to do that really soon.