Love Is In the Air: Part 1

Love is in the air early at Studio 791!

Valentine's Day is one of those holidays that I usually don't pay much attention to until it is a day or two away.  This year, though, I have been creating cards and collages to sell at the lovely gift boutique Gabby's Jar in Wayne, PA. 

My collages were inspired by a piece of art by Nancy Gene Armstrong published in Volume 4 of Artists' Cafe by Stampington & Company.  In her piece, titled M, Nancy tied vintage book papers with string, with a transparency image on top.  The tied, layered pages made me think of love letters, a perfect reference for Valentine's Day.

The collages that I created exemplify what I find both exhilarating and painful about creating collage art.  I have such an abundance of vintage text pages that I don't have a hard time parting with them for my work, and I know that my transparency images from Art Chix Studios can be replaced by a new purchase.  But the 1930s handwritten text page used as the backdrop for the piece above, and the undated letter on extremely old graph paper in the piece below, are unique pieces of paper that can never again be found and never again recreated in all the world.  How precious!  What gems!  It is exhilarating to use these truly ephemeral treasures in a work of art, and yet painful to part with them, as well. 

I used frames from Ikea for these pieces, and was thrilled that the dimensional aspects of the collages could be protected and still appreciated behind the glass. 

Here are additional views of my first two pieces:

In my next post, I'll share some of the Valentine's Day cards that will also be available at the shop!

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Would you be interested in exchanging Valentine's Day cards with me?  If so, send me an email message to aleakaskey@yahoo.com.  We will commit to create handmade cards (which could include cards, postcards, or ATCs tucked into a card), and to send them out to one another by February 12, so we can enjoy them right near the holiday. 

 

I look forward to hearing from you!