No Sleep 'Till...

This is the second in my montage series inspired by paper plastered telephone poles. On this piece, I also used an old map of NYC and antique dictionary pages. I'm really enjoying the convergence of text and color. I can see this being a direction I want to push a little harder. As a matter of fact, I think it could be fun to do some personal montages for folks... More on that later!

No Sleep 'Till

8x10

acrylic, mixed media, acrylic glaze

New Series

The idea for this series emerged last fall, when I spent some time in Huntington Beach, CA. Maybe it was the always blue sky and the perfect sunlight, but everything seemed beautiful... including the peeling, scraped off and half-covered show posters that covered every telephone pole and light post.

I took a lot of photos of these graphic wonders, and am finally getting around to using the references for a series. I think they will give me a good opportunity to learn more and experiment more with composition and color relationships. I hope some good things come from these!

The first photo here is the actual light post - pretty sweet, huh? I think I'll make it a goal to photograph these where ever I go. I can collect shots in Kent, Cleveland, and SanFrancisco in a month when I visit there!

The second photo is the first painting in the series. It is called "Gazetteer", after the dictionary entry.

Gazetteer

8"x10" unframed, 10"x12" framed

acrylic, acrylic glaze, antique dictionary page, acrylic transfer

Comes framed in a semi-gloss, black, wooden frame.

See my etsy site for sales information:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JuxtaposedArts

Cleveland Trunk!

I have been working on this so fun project for a while now... The goal was to take this old steamer trunk, and make it into an auctionable piece for a Cleveland Orchestra fundraiser.

I was given the trunk, which, in fact, has been used by the Orchestra for almost 100 years! Various musicians have stored their personal belongings in it when the orchestra has traveled overseas. Most recently, a the principal tuba player had it.

After loving the trunk, and staring long and hard at it as it sat waiting to be worked on, I finally saw the Cleveland skyline emerge along the sides. (The trunk is actually oriented vertically, but it seems to be more versatile in a home as a low table rather than as a column.) Once I saw the skyline, things began to fall together.

I am a huge fan of the city of Cleveland. Such a wealth of culture there, and so underrated! I am really happy to be able to express my appreciation for the city and its culture in this piece.