Finding your own story

...Let us talk about living....

Books are my earliest and most consistent love. They provide comfort, connect me with my father, make a house my home. There was only one rule about books (besides curbing my obsession with buying them...) - you do not write / mess up books. Ever. Well, almost ever. Until now. A few month ago, I started altering one of my very favorite books, "The Secret Garden," rediscovering the story and making it mine. Something compels me to re-imagine, page after page. Snippets of text reveal a story beneath a story. And somewhere, between the two, a new door opens.

...it felt as if she understood a robin ...

...just looking ....

The key to your very own Modigliani!

"Good artists copy, great artists steal". The first time I read this quote in Will Gompertz book "What are you looking at?" I was stunned. Really? Steal?? After reading a bit more, a light bulb went off. "Stealing" as a first step towards making something your own, is very different from copying someone else's work. Learned something new.

Fast forward almost a year. My better half and I visit the LACMA museum in LA, one of our favorites. One of our personal jokes when visiting museums is deciding which piece of art we would like to take home. Hubby can't decide between two: a Picasso's blue period painting and "Young woman of the people" by Modigliani. As lately I've been playing with collage, without thinking much, I blurted "I will make you a Modigliani" and snapped a picture of the painting. 

Well, here it is. "The key to your very own Modigliani". Perhaps this does not make me a great artist, but I am definitely evolving as a wife :)

"The key to your very own Modigliani", the full collage.

Her head is full of butterflies

Years ago, when my father was still alive, whenever I said something that seemed funny to him, he would say "your head is full of butterflies". Both of us would  smile, and continue talking, sometimes agreeing to disagree. I wish he could see me now, see the butterflies starting to emerge from their cocoon and spread their wings. I hope a few of them will reach him, wherever he is and give him my everlasting love.

This is a collage I have just finished. Its title: "Her head is full of butterflies". To my dad with love.

Detail from "Her head is full of butterflies". Collage: Paper, old books, nylon, napkins, acrylic color.

Walking on air

Image by Joseph Heidecker

After enjoying a fun opening at bG gallery, where I have three of my images in the latest Monster exhibit, we decided to peek at the other openings at Bergamot station. After looking at two new exhibits that left me pretty unexcited (hmm...trying to be politically correct here), we entered Craig Krull Gallery. And, boy, was I blown away.

The first artist I couldn't stop staring at was Lou Beach, who creates these amazingly fun collage. I have never seen anything as beautiful and fun. Truly inspiring, and yes, the day will come when I will move from photo collage to mixed media collage. And Lou's work is a breathtaking inspiration. (Got home and ordered his book, so I can start studying his work at my leisure.)

And as I was thinking nothing can top this, I entered the second room of the gallery and saw Joseph Heidecker embroided photos. WOW. So simple and so effective. Stunning black and white photos, embroided in silver, gold, pinks and beige. Stunningly beautiful. I left the gallery walking on air.

Lou Beach collage

Another one of Joseph Heidecker's amazing embroided photos

Listen to Van Gogh...

The box of colors sat on the very bottom of my bookcase for years, actually since I got it as a gift from my mother in law. A beautiful and pricey wooden box with charcoal and pastels from Faber-Castel. Me, using it? That's for people who can really draw. Sometimes in the future. Maybe. 

Then I started a class in painting photos. And the last assignment was to play around with borders.

For the last days I've been playing around and enjoying myself learning new Photoshop options. 

Last night, my husband reminded me of the color box. And today, when alone so no one can see me, went upstairs, pulled the box out and dared to give it a try.

So this is it. The first time I combined drawing and photography. The frame was drawn in pastel colors, photographed and combined with a fall color image I took earlier this year in Vermont.

Autumn - my very first painted pictures. Who knows where it will lead?