Saturday, July 30, 2016

July 2016 Wrap Up Post

1. All Together Now
collage-15" x 18"

2. Cool Customer
collage-15" x 18" 

3. Back in The Day
collage-15" x 18" 

4. Essential Elements
collage-15" x 18"

The month of July, (and hopefully the extremely hot weather), is almost over. It's been one of those long months that also seems really short!

I have had a productive time in the studio while still managing to get out and enjoy walking, hiking, and now, kayaking. Let me provide a rundown of the pieces listed above:

1. All Together Now: This piece started with shapes leftover from other projects. I wanted to add things together to simply see what happened. The resulting piece has a slightly different feel from the others, for me anyway. 

2. Cool Customer: Sometimes all it takes is just one shape or a small group of shapes to give me an idea about the direction in which to head. For this piece it was that pointy orange shape in the left corner. I started to think about boats lost at sea and the men and women who try to find them. The rest of the pieces fell into place shortly thereafter.

3. Back in The Day: Though I struggled with this one for awhile, it was the pale blue shape with white squares in the middle which began to suggest a story to me. I was reminded of visiting my grandmother's house when I was a kid. I remember trees, and a screened porch and a fence. I mixed in several other ideas as well and am happy with what came out of the blending of ideas.

4. Essential Elements: Normally I don't start with a specific theme in mind. I find it limiting which isn't good for free thinking! This piece started with a practice collage and the idea of some biblical literature as well as two Greek letter symbols, the alpha and the omega. I imagined animals from Noah's ark and an angel or two heralding the arrival of someone or something important. Also, if you can spot the two additional Hebrew letters, give me a shout out.

News: 
My wrap up posts and email newsletter are now 3+ years old. I have decided it is time for a change and will no longer be sending out email notification of these end of the month posts. I have appreciated so much the interest that people have taken both in my artwork and what I write. It's very gratifying. But, as with all things, even positive happenings, there is a natural ending. I will still be doing these monthly wrap ups. They will be posted right here on my blog as always. I simply won't be sending out an email notification. I encourage those of you interested to utilize a news reader such as Feedly or Bloglovin. You can also bookmark my site and keep up that way. And lastly, there is always the email sign up available with Feedburner. That link is on the right hand side of my blog and by signing up you are automatically sent an email every time I make a post. It's very easy. Many of you may know that I am also on Facebook and Instagram. It's damn near impossible to get away from me! So please, I hope many of you will continue to read the blog and to keep up with me. I've appreciated all of you who read and send me comments. 

Here's to a good August. I hope everyone is busy enjoying themselves in some fun way.
Libby

9 comments:

  1. Libby, as always, I enjoyed reading your comments about what began the dialogue with you and your collage pieces, and how you followed through. It has been a true pleasure for me to get to know your work and I will continue to look for additional posts. I can't help but see a sort of baby bassinet in All Together Now and think this decision you have made to change is kind of like inviting something new into your life. Keep up the wonderful work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carol,

      Thanks so much for your comments. I like that baby bassinet imagery. I definitely had something else going on while I made this piece-some other way of wanting to work. Who knows what comes out subconsciously?

      Thanks you as always for your thoughts. I hope you will continue to visit!
      Libby

      Delete
  2. Libby, these pieces are just so crisp and appealing - I really like them! I just love the way you go through different phases of your art and stay in each category for a good deal of time and really work it! I hope you understand what i mean. I loved the realistic landscapes and buildings you used to do, the faceless people, the previous group of collages you did - but you don't just flit from one thing to another, you really examine the reasons behind each technique and produce so many wonderful pieces of artwork. I wish I had your persistence! Lovely work!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Judy,

      Thank you as always for such lovely complements! I hope that by trying different things I will continue to evolve my art. It's tough going as you know. I'd like to be able to land somewhere and simply continue to advance that one thing. These collages have been very useful so far. But even as much as I like them I feel that they too will change a bit over time. I am waiting for that!

      In the meantime though, thank you again for your support. I sure appreciate it!
      Libby

      Delete
  3. Dear Libby - it was wonderful to catch up with your July wrap-up. I am loving your happy colors in each piece. Some may depict more serious thoughts but too my eyes they are very joyful and playful pieces. I love them all but Cool Customer is my favorite. As you wrote it reminded you of your grandmother and it evokes memories of my grandma too - hmm - maybe they were sisters :)! Hope your August is delightful friend. Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Replies
    1. Debbie,

      Thank you so much! I am always happy that these wrap up posts seem to work for people-and it is good to hear about that too.

      Glad too that the colors seem happy and that you thought about your grandma a bit. How great is that?

      Hope you are doing well. As always, I appreciate your visit!
      Libby

      Delete
  5. Good to catch up with your art and I agree with you...All Together Now has a different feel than the others so I bet you are on the path to your next step. Can't wait to see.
    My July started with a series in mind and by the end of the month of intense painting, the difference between the starting concept and ending piece was like night and day. Mostly due to working in acrylic which I find is more forgiving and leans itself to the experimental.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Julie,

      Yes, that one piece was started differently and with a different mindset. I am not totally sure just yet but it's something I would like to work towards. It's hard to let go though of what I have been doing. I want to blend things and not necessarily start over, if that makes sense.

      Acrylic is a great medium for experimenting. And you totally changed your game plan which is great-a natural evolution! Maybe you will be showing what you did at some point? That would be nice to see.

      Glad that you are getting back to blogging. Hope to see what you get up to:)
      Libby

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it! I reply back in an email if you are signed in and I can see your address. Otherwise I will post the reply here under your comment. I tend to cut and paste my emails too so that others can experience the back and forth which I think is integral to blogging.
Libby