Big Bird

I wanted to make a larger piece to enter in a couple competitions. This "Surf Sifter" is 24"H x 18"W showing a great blue heron in the surf. I made the collage of the bird using 3 filtered photos cut into quarter inch strips. Then I added irregularly cut shapes of green handmade papers along the edge to give the feel of seaweed in the surf.

"Media Mix" show

For many years, I've "workshopped" my art with several other women. The current group of four women was offered a show at the Buchanan Center for the Arts in Monmouth, Illinois. The show runs April 17 - May 25, 2018.

Large close up

This 16" x 20" is comprised of 4 filtered photos of tulips with some fragments of tulip poems added into the background.

Filtering my former work

I'm experimenting with taking photos of collages I did years ago, running filters on them, printing those out and cutting into strips to make new and different art! I'll show the original art and the new version pieced together in strips.

 

Revisiting an image

I cropped an image of a flower garden tighter than a previous use of the image. Then I ran 4 filters in Prisma and cut the prints into irregular shapes. A few pieces of handmade papers found their way into this 12"x12" collage, too.

Blog cross-pollinating

A woman from Scotland asked me this week if she could feature my art on her blog about art and life. I like the article she wrote:
https://commaand.co/2018/02/15/featured-artist-lori-reed/#more-12984

Conjuring up summer!

This 12" x 12" piece features a happy bee sipping his supper. I made one filtered version of the photo in Photoshop and 3 in Prisma. I cut them into irregular shapes and combined to reform the image, and added in some handmade papers, too.

Taking the Long View

I took the original photo for this artwork five years ago in Knox County, Illinois not far from a relative's home. I ran four filters on the photo - two in Photoshop and two in Prisma - and cut them into irregular shapes to build the scene. I added some handmade papers in the grassy area to further break up the imagery. It is 16"H x 20"W.

Experimentation

I've been experimenting with cutting my altered prints into irregular shapes instead of quarter-inch strips. Feedback from my Facebook posts suggests the one with the red barn was quite popular and that I should continue with both methods. These are 12"x12" and 9"x12". I just started a 16" x 20" so come back and see how it turns out!

Multiples

I had a vision of creating multiple small collages to be hung as one piece—all showing people kayaking. We rented a kayak while vacationing in Florida and took photos of others out in the bay. In the foreground of each collage I've embedded portions of statements about boating, water, kayaks, etc. The smallest pieces are 5"x7" and the largest is 10"x10".

First collage of 2018

Since most of the U.S. is unusually cold right now, I'm happy to share with you my just-finished beach collage! "Shells and Shorebirds" features three attached collages: a 6" x 6" x .75" scene of cormorants on the posts of a former dock; 8" x 8" x 1.5" collection of shells I gathered along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico; and a 6" x 6" x .75" view of shorebirds running along the surf. Can you feel the warmth of the sea breeze?!

Other work made in November & December 2017

As the autumn leaves fell off our trees after a hard freeze, I sat at my art table and finished these pieces.

This is a 12" x 12" collage using a field of flowers and fields of color. Do you see the bee in the orange?

8" x 8" goldfinch collage - with script in the background - famed by gold acrylic paint.

My friend Linda gave me some antique brass cow # tags. I took some photos of the Shull dairy farm at Thanksgiving so as to pair a cow wearing a modern yellow plastic ear tag with the old brass one. The strips of ledger paper are from my great uncle's butcher shop from the late 1800s... I hope that doesn't make the cow nervous! 12"H x 9"W.