New Wrappings

I'm constantly changing and re-inventing the way my home looks. I change the linens, put up new curtains, move the furniture etc. I really enjoy having projects to work on around the house, and recently finished two new ones. I just made this window-seat cushion and cover for my new apartment from the red bedspread from my last apartment:

(click to enlarge)

The crimson window seat clashed with the bright pink in the print of my chair (Mom always said never put red and pink together and I stand by it) so I decided to re-cover the chair. With a few staples from my canvas-stretching staple gun I attached this old sheet from Urban Outfitters, and I covered the cushion with a light blue pillow cover. Allowing for the fact that the chair's most frequent inhabitant is Ms. Lorelai Meow, I topped the "human" cushion with a soft turquoise cushion, easy to remove when a human wants to sit down without getting covered in cat fur.

(click to enlarge)

Sarah Rose

I just finished this painting (although I confess I may go back and do more detail work) :

(click to enlarge)

“Sarah Rose” (2009). Oil paint on composite board, 16” x 49”.

The scale of the figure is larger than life, and unfortunately scale is the hardest thing to convey in a picture. To give you an idea, consider that on this same size board I was able to easily fit my entire body nearly life-size:

“Stripped Bare” (2008). Oil paint on composite board, 16”x49”.

(click to enlarge)

With the similarities, both in medium and subject matter, it is obvious that "Stripped Bare" was a major precedent for "Sarah Rose", which I was very concious of while painting. I even kept "Stripped Bare" propped up near my easel.

People are always interested in how I get from a blank canvas to the finished work. Although a few roommates have had the opportunity to see a painting from start to finish, it is largely a private process. Therefore I've decided to give you a guided tour via photos I took at various stages:

There you have it, start to finish.

Finally a painting!

It's been a while since I picked up the paintbrushes and got back to oil painting. I made an attempt last week on a self-portrait but didn't like how it was going so I put it aside for now, and went in a new directcion. I started the new painting today, which I'm much happier with, and here it is:

I'm painting on the same wood composite boards that I used for my horizontal nude paintings. The surface absorbs the oil in an interesting way, making an almost velvety surface.

Fall Harvest

I know that its been about a month since I last posted and I apologize profusely for my absence. It's been a crazy month for me, I moved to a new apartment in Midtown, and I've been getting prepared to submit a collaborative piece to the Center for New Media and the Arts in Bethel, CT for their November show. I'm collaborating with my good friend Abi Cohen on a piece we're calling "Head Garden" that will feature my collage as the backdrop for her sculptural relief. I was inspired by Abi's interest in nature and green technology to make a collage that prominently featured nature. Here it is:

"Head Garden" (2009). 18"x24"

(click to enlarge)

When installed at the Center, Abi's relief will extend out from the wall in front of my collage, covering the lower right-hand corner almost completely. I can't wait to see it installed in the gallery because Abi and I have been sending each other images of the works in progress but we've never seen them together! Keep checking back for pictures of the piece installed in the show!

Down the Rabbit Hole All Over Again

This collage is composed almost entirely of images from an Annie Liebovitz shoot for the December 2003 issue of American Vogue. Alice is played by the hauntingly childlike Natalia Vodianova and some of the world's top haute couture designers play the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts (I especially love Marc Jacobs playing a dazed and confused Caterpillar atop a giant mushroom):

Down the Rabbit Hole II, 20" diameter, (2009)

(Click to Enlarge)

Using the round canvas was an allusion to rabbit hole that beckons Alice into Wonderland. The circular shape lent a centrifugal force to the composition, with the vignettes composed along the edges. Alice's blue dress unites her image throughout the vignettes, and enforces the narrative aspect of the composition. I hope that you find it whimsical and fun!

Happy Birthday Captain Bruce

My Dad turned 65 this past Sunday, and my family went to Bermuda to celebrate. I didn't bring his actual present to the island, only a picture, but I wanted it to reflect his love of the ocean, and some of the aesthetics of Bermuda and, of course, Newport. The image itself is taken from a "How to Paint Seascapes" book that belonged to my grandfather 40 years ago, that we found hidden under cobwebs and decades of disuse in my grandmother's basement. I think that that family connection makes it an even more fitting present to celebrate Captain Bruce's birthday.

Darwin's Dinner Party

(click to enlarge)

Darwin's Dinner Party, 2009. (8"x8")

During the week I intern at Paul Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea, and they have introduced me a number of stellar artists, including my new favorite artist: Walton Ford. His paintings are so exquisitely beautiful, and demonstrate such skill and mastery, that they seem to come from a bygone century. I am absolutely obsessed with the large watercolors of parrots, lions, and monkeys which recall the look of an Audobon print. Luckily for me, Paul Kasmin represents Walton Ford, and has a pile of Walton Ford promotional day planners left over from his last show. I dismembered the day planner and combined three of Walton Ford's images into this collage.

(click to enlarge)

Oftentimes when I am people-watching I am amused by how ape-like humans truly are. At rush hour it really does look, and sound, like a bunch of monkeys are riding the subway. I was drawn to the Ford vignettes involving monkeys, especially where they are engaged in ostensibly "human" activities, because it was such an amusing play on that concept. The expressions on the monkey's faces are instantly legible, and eerily familiar.

(click to enlarge)

This wise ape with his glass of wine, peering around the edge of the canvas, is one of my favorite details of the piece.

(click to enlarge)

What should I call this?

One of the hardest parts of art-making, for me, is coming up with a good title. Sometimes, the theme or content makes it easy for me, e.g. Romeo & Juliet, but other times I have writer's block. With an abstract collage, like the one I just finished, I'm almost always at a loss. Therefore, I'm turning it over to you for suggestions. I just finished this new collage (its 12"x36" if the dimensions matter to you) and I need your creativity in coming up with a title!

"Panes" (2009) 12"x36".

(click to enlarge)

Works in Progress

WIP, or for the non-Orchesis readers out there, Works in Progress, is an opportunity for an artist to get feedback on incomplete work, and is an important part of any creative process. I'm currently working on two collages, one of which is further along than the other, and I'm ready for some input. I didn't get my whole studio set-up to take these pictures so they aren't as high quality as the pictures I usually post of finished work. But please take a look and tell me what you think:

This piece has a special relationship to the Romeo & Juliet collage, because both began from a Vogue magazine photo shoot by the (in)famous fashion photographer Annie Liebovitz. I've always loved the aesthetic of Vogue, and for a long time I've been haunted by images from an "Alice in Wonderland" inspired fashion spread from 2003, but I couldn't find the pictures anywhere. Now that I finally have the images, I'm thrilled to be working on a round canvas. My collages often have a centrifugal compositional force, which, combined with the round canvas in this collage, will play up the "down the rabbit hole" quality.

Unfortunately the quality of this image is sub-par, but as you can see this collage is nearly complete at this point. It is 12"x36", with images drawn mainly from Martha Stewart Living magazine's scenes of domestic bliss. The palette and mood of the piece are light, airy and uplifting, drawing a comparison to my Newport-inspired works.

Grandma Goes Chic

UPDATE:

(click to enlarge)

This chair has been ready for a while, but I was hoping to get a cushion ready for it before I put up a picture on the blog. Fortunately for you I am already impatient and want to share how great the chair looks. I painted it in the same glossy teal house paint as the table. The pictures didn't come out as well as I hoped, but you certainly get the idea.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Early in the summer I went upstate with my Dad, to a little town outside of Utica where my grandma lives. We went there to begin the process of clearing out her house: while she is still alive (and in her nineties!) she will never be returning home. Having recently moved into my first post-college pad, I seized the opportunity to nab some vintage home furnishings from Grandma's cast-offs. I loved the tables and lamps I brought back, but once I saw them in my apartment, my grandma's furniture looked less vintage-cool and more, well, grandma. My solution was a few coats of glossy turquoise paint (3 to be exact). The shape of this little table was already so unique, and after a little uncertainty and some paint fume inhalation, I'm really excited with how great it looks! I'm working on a chair now, and I think with a bright yellow cushion it will be stunning.

(click to enlarge)

Caution! Wet Paint!

Click to Enlarge
"Open to the Sky" August 2009. 8"x10" collage on canvas.

This weekend I am in my favorite summer resort town, Newport RI, to participate in a charity fundraiser. The Newport Art Museum has an auction each year named Wet Paint, where artists from all over the region come together for one weekend each summer to make art and auction it off for the benefit of the museum. The artists are of all ages, ranging from t0w-headed, 5 year old, finger-painters to some recognizable and venerable established artists. I'm very excited to have two collages included in this years offering: "Open to the Sky" and "Pottery & Peaches" (see last post). Tonight I got to go see them at the preview silent auction and put in the first bid on my pieces, and tomorrow they are going to be presented to the public. I can't wait to see how they sell, and I'll post to let you know!

UPDATE:

So the good news is, both of my collages were bought at the Wet Paint auction, the bad news is, the only bid on each was from my mom. So in the end we ended up just buying the work back, but at least it was for a good cause and a lot of fun. Next year I think I'm going more traditional, a nice oil painting of the ocean or something, because this was definitely not the right venue for collage. Oh well, you live and you learn.

Click to Enlarge
"Open to the Sky" side detail view

Right off the edge

(Click to Enlarge)
"Pottery & Peaches" (August 2009). 8"x10", collage on canvas.

Recently, I made the switch from using posterboard as the support for my collages to using stretched canvas. I had liked the posterboard (yes like from your seventh grade science project) because it was so lightweight that it made transportation easy, but unfortunately with all that moving around I learned the downside to posterboards portability was its fragility. With the ravages of time and travel all of my collages bent and buckled and broke. Canvas is much more durable, and it offered me a new, unconquered, territory for collage: the sides.

While collaging on posterboard, I would not extend the images onto the rough, raw, edges of the poster board, but with a stretched canvas the sides are finished, and thus a fresh pasture to frolic in. Instead of stopping at the edges my images have slopped right over the sides, overflowing down the flanks of the canvas- a coordinated frame:

(Click to Enlarge)
Side detail of "Pottery & Peaches" (August 2009).

All of the pieces that are currently at Wave Gallery in Newport, RI also feature the "right off the edge" look.

On another note I've been thinking about selling editions of my collages (as well as the originals). So if you are interested in making a purchase please e-mail me at Ashleye23@gmail.com , put the name of the piece that you are interested in in the subject line and I will send you all the pricing information.

Thanks for reading!

A Tree Blows in the Bronx

I've been working on a wall painting for a woman who works at Barnard. She's from St. Lucia originally, and she wanted the leaves of palm trees painted on her bedroom wall behind her bed.

Here's how it turned out:

When I went to her house I was originally planning on tracing a large print-out of palms, but I found it was easier to free-hand. In the pictures of palms I'd looked at, the width of the individual leaves seemed fairly consistent, so I used a single brush for all of the leaves so they would look consistent. I varied the colors, often ending with yellow tips, to convey movement and make them a little sundappled.

Detail view

The owner was very pleased with the final results (she even bought sheets to match).

Another blowing in the wind close up

Riding the WAVE

One of my main goals for the summer was to make some "commercially" sized and priced collages and see if I can get them sold in my favorite summer resort town Newport, RI. With that in mind, I made three new collages (pictures below) which are currently for sale at The Wave Gallery in Newport (www.wavegallerygifts.com). I decided to use imagery from Martha Stewart Living magazine, because she personifies the bright, commercial, and cheerful mood I was trying to capture. These are all a lot smaller than I usually work so I should be able to produce more soon!

(Click to Enlarge)

"Newport Blooms" (2009), 8"x10" collage on canvas.

(Click to Enlarge)
"Spools" (2009), 8"x10" collage on canvas.

(Click to Enlarge)
"Late July" (2009), 8"x16" collage on canvas.

Romeo and Juliet

One of the pieces I've been working on this summer is a Romeo & Juliet themed large collage. The idea started from a photoshoot that I pulled out of Vogue a long time ago, its a shoot featuring ballerinas acting out the seminal moments of the Shakespearean drama while dressed in haute-off-the-runway couture. I'm pretty sure that renowned fashion photographer Annie Liebovitz shot it- the images are truly immaculate, the lighting, the colors, the rich textures. The images were very rich in color and romantic in detail, which lent a different mood, more mature and subdued than with other work. I looked for similar rich colors and textures in my additional source images to establish continuity. With the non-Vogue pictures I was drawn to some riffs on the traditional romantic motifs, like the images of Marilyn Monroe on the set of "Some Like It Hot", as well as some more traditional romantic imagery, like the Monarch butterfly wings and the gondola in Venice. During the making of this I indulged my Leonardo Dicaprio fascination by watching the equisite Baz Luhrman "Romeo and Juliet", and the excessive lushness of his visuals came through in my aesthetic. The tentative working title at this point is "Romeo & Juliet", but I'm open to something with a little more irony if anyone has suggestions.

(Click to Enlarge)

"Romeo & Juliet" (2009). 24"x36", collage on posterboard.

The image gives you pretty good detail expanded but I've added some additional detail shots so you can see some of the vignettes:

(Click to Enlarge)

Here are some of the romantic touches: monarch butterflies, lavender fields, peaches, and red hair.(Click to Enlarge)

Venetian gondola and the dead Juliet.

(Click to Enlarge)
Venetian balcony scene.(Click to Enlarge)(Click to Enlarge)

Butterflies at the ball.

Fashionable Sketches

My mom loves to rip things out of magazines and send them to me as "ideas" for art that she wants me to make for her. So this past May for Mother's Day she sent me a fashion illustration from the 1940's that had been featured in one of her favorite fashion magazines. I decided to copy the sketch, which was little more than the silhouette of a woman holding a handkerchief, using water color instead of ink. Having made my first attempt at capturing the silhouette I decided it needed a little more excitement near the top and added the swoop of a hat brim. I think it turned out quite nicely! Since then I've been playing with the motif, changing the colors, hairstyles, and jewelry of the model.

Mother's day present, my first attempt.

Trying out a different style of hat.

Now with blond curls!

A different silhouette.

Featuring the Fiesta necklace made by my friend Hiedi Brueggeman for her jewelry line called Sugar: http://www.shopsugar.com/

Addiction To Elegance is Virtue Not Vice

This piece was a major component of my Senior Visual Arts Thesis Exhibition. While many of my collages are exercises in simple, frivolous, visual pleasure, this piece addresses serious issues. Entitled "Addiction to Elegance is Virtue Not Vice", the collage attempts to intitate a dialogue about popular culture, drug culture, and consumer capitalism. By conflating imagery used to sell luxury goods with depictions of illicit drugs, "Addiction to Elegance is Virtue Not Vice" exposes the underlying similarities in the economies of luxury. The same media that glamourizes profligate spending on jewels and furs is harnessed to the cause of promoting profligate drug use.

"Addiction to Elegance is Virtue Not Vice", 2009. 36"x48", collage on posterboard.

Installation shot from Senior Thesis Exhibition

"Addiction to Elegance is Virtue Not Vice" (center) is shown with (from left to right): "The Eye of the World", "Down the Rabbit Hole", "Gastronomy" (under "Addiction..."), "Saidin/Saidar", and "Synesthesia".

Some oldies

I've realized that to get my blog up to speed I need to upload some of my earlier collage work. Here I've put up four old pieces (late 2007-2008 era):

Flying AirIndia (2008). 24"x36", collage on posterboard, fronted with Styrene.

"Down The Rabbit Hole", 2008 24"x 36" collage on posterboard fronted with acrylic.

"The Eye of The World", 2007, 36"x48" collage on posterboard.

"Synesthesia" 2008, 24"x36" collage on posterboard.