Out On A Limb: 19

© Out On A Limb: 19 (2012)
mixed-media collage: antique and vintage illustrations
(The Chatterbox, 1899; Audubon calendar, 1990); recycled
glass catalog; chalk; watercolor; ink; acrylic sealer, acrylic varnish.
 6" x 6" on claybord/hardwood panel. Price: $75. (SOLD)

I noted earlier that I've begun making slightly larger Out On A Limb collages - 6"x6" vs. 5"x5" - which doesn't sound like much of a change, but it's amazing what difference an inch all around can make.

This is one of eight finished recently for my show, Expecting To Fly, at Cincinnati's 5th Street Gallery. I opted to include them - along with five new 5"x5"s - because there is a sense of anticipation in the series, as though the birds might take wing at any moment.

These are the first owls in the series. The pair in back were accompanied by a poem that began "Laugh not at our grimaces, Nor call us dull and odd, But come and watch us sailing, When the dew is on the sod." The swirling, colorful barn beams they're resting on are from a glass catalog retrieved from a recycling bin in the glass school adjacent to my studio. I was wowed by the variety of glass and its collage potential.

Out on a Limb: 11

I took a break from the Santa series to return to Out on A Limb, thinking I'd pick up where I left off. Ha! The piece ended up markedly different. I still was going with combining color and black-and-white images of birds but wanted to use an engraving of a robin I've had for some time. It's from a series published in The Chatterbox throughout 1871. The British children's magazine was big on nature and education, and there's no better proof than its beautiful engravings of flora and fauna. I scanned the original, below, in case I want to reproduce it some day. Luckily, I have two sets of the magazine from that year, so there's still another original to play with.

Some of the trellis is missing at the bottom of the collage, a casualty of the knife. I know that I probably shouldn't point that out. But, well, I was determined to cut out that intricate trellis at all costs to expose the background, which includes a piece of veneer from my friend Laura Chapman (I love that it's labeled veneer and wanted to show that) and a sliver of an 1877 map of Ohio from Harper's School Geography.

The vibrant robins were clipped from an antique Christmas postcard. Birds were a common holiday motif and the Christmas theme is carried out subtly in the holly and mistletoe on the trellis. 5" x 5" on claybord/hardwood panel. [SOLD]

The Yearning

This is the newest piece in the Bubbling Over series mentioned the other day when I posted Damn. Clowns. That piece - also created just last week - was snapped up during Friday night's open studios but this one wasn't hung, because - well - I got behind on matting, etc. The engraving from The Chatterbox was titled "A Peep at Italy." It seemed to me that the woman was longing for something. I wasn't sure what, then, started thinking about Italian shoes.

One thing lead to another. The large circle contained an inset with another Italian scene, which was cut out - saved, of course, for future use - and a collection of shoes that are part of a vintage Andy Warhol fashion illustration was glued under the engraving. The remainder of the shoes are from a variety of sources,  from books, recycled greeting cards and an antique issue of Godey's Lady's Book. 5.5" x 8.5" on archival mat board with acrylic, ink and watercolor.

Magic Lantern

This started as another piece in the Bubbling Over series. The initial idea was to have butterflies in bubbles floating out from the circle. However, I dropped that idea once I found the butterfly-winged circus acrobats. Bubbling butterflies just seemed too tame for these Victorian pranksters from The Chatterbox magazine. Originally, the image inside the circle showed a man breaking through a sheet of paper. I cut him out and substituted the acrobats, allowing one wing to extend beyond the circle. I like the layered effect created by some images being below the main image and others pasted atop it.

The acrobats are from the same family guide to Cincinnati Art Museum's circus poster exhibit mentioned in Tuesday's post and the woman flying above them is from a tear-away-poster in the exhibit. The diving beauty is vintage stock art. 5.5" x 8.5" on acid-free watercolor paper. Matted to fit a standard 9"x12" frame. $45 + $5 shipping/handling

Damn. Clowns.

I was well into this piece before visiting the circus poster exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum. But didn't have nearly enough clowns in my stash. Yeah, who knew? So, I was giddy with excitement when I spotted the family guide to the exhibition and its surfeit of fantastic clowns. The rest of the group are from recycled greetings cards, and the vintage books "The Jack of All Trades or New Ideas for American Boys" (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1914) and "ABC & 123" (Whittlesey House/McGraw-Hill, 1955).

The piece is related to an earlier one, Olivia Sat Mesmerized as Jonathan's Libido Bubbled Over and is part of the new "Bubbling Over" series in which I re-imagine seemingly innocent Victorian illustrations (this one came from The Chatterbox children's magazine) in new - and, sometimes, scary - ways. Those who hate clowns will get my drift. Making more bubble pieces came about, because as I went through images I had set aside recently I noticed quite a few with circles or ovals that I planned to fill. 5.5" x 8.5" on archival mat board with acrylic, ink and watercolor. {SOLD}

Olivia Sat Mesmerized as Jonathan's Libido Bubbled Over

When I came across this illustration in an antique children's book, I wondered what the girl was thinking as she watched the boy blowing bubbles, then, what he was thinking. They each appear so proper and straight-laced that I couldn't resist the temptation to nudge them into naughtiness. The bubbles are painted with acrylic and hand-punched from a range of sources that include vintage postcards, antique ads and Andy Warhol fashion illustrations. The headline, from an issue of The Chatterbox magazine, was a serendipitous find. 5.5" x 7.5" on acid-free watercolor paper. {SOLD}

The Lass With The Delicate Air

I matted this collage the other day, so thought I'd post it. It began as a test in adding a mitered border, something picked up in a bookmaking workshop. The border is made from antique endpapers, which I clip from books soon after buying them and now put in an archival sleeve with the name, date & publisher of the book attached. Now being the operative word there! The butterflies were cut from a recycled wrapping paper sample square and the flower is an antique print.

The girl is an illustration from the Chatterbox, which along with St. Nicholas, is among my favorite 19th/early 20th century children's magazines. I blew the image up a few of times on a photocopier, because I was thinking of turning her into a rubber stamp. Still might. After that was done, I painted her with watercolors. Oh, almost forgot to mention the sheet music that gives the piece the title: yes, it's a vintage page. {SOLD}

Note: just found a Time magazine feature about the cherished Christmas annuals that British magazines published that also touches on the history of the Chatterbox.