What I'm Working On ...

 

WHAT I’M WORKING ON . . .

This is a three-panel, two-sided, stand-up collage. It’s folded like an accordion book, but “book” is way overstated for what this is!

I lived in Japan for one year as a pre-teen. I visited Japan for 10 days in 2014 (when I was much, much older). That’s my entire physical connection with the country. But about 15 years ago, Japan kept popping up in my head, and then began appearing regularly in my art. Here’s the latest piece I’ve made that incorporates my memories, my collections, and the flea market that is my brain.

The first two photos show you the front and back (or are they the back and the front?) of the collage, and then two pictures showing you the details on two of the six panels.

What are all the items in the collage? Well, antique Japanese papers, hand-stained and hand-painted papers, pages from vintage Japanese books, Japanese ledger pages, my own photographs, vintage Japanese postage stamps from my collection, my own “faux calligraphy” scribbled onto papers using sumi ink, signature “chops” from a collection of Japanese hanko, and more.

There’s so much going on in this collage that it’s not exactly the “less is more” minimalistic, wabi sabi look one would expect of Japanese art, is it? But it’s quite representative of me and all my fleeting visual experiences and the constant “oh, look at this!” moments I’ve had in the country.

And it was Nietsche who said, “No artist tolerates reality.” Who am I to argue with him?!

 

©Copyright 2020 Carol Leigh

Kimono Package Montage #7

I have an 1828 wrapper for a kimono that is gloriously soft and weathered and yet sturdy. I have photographed various bits and pieces of the wrapper and then have combined those bits and pieces to create a variety of photomontages, montages that are slightly different, yet honor the spirit of the object. It's made of old, used boro paper, multiple layers pasted together so that it's thick and very soft.

I'm reveling in what this kimono wrapping paper is offering, and I hope you enjoy seeing my interpretations of it.

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Latest work . . . "Torn Squares Collage"

I created a gel print, decided I didn’t like it, and began tearing it up. Hmmmm . . . I became more deliberate in my rips and tears, creating a number of squares. Okay, now what? And this eventually happened. You just never know, do you? Uploaded to Fine Art America first thing this morning.

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Daily Photo 20190116 Scraped Walls

Wednesday's "Daily Photo" is two photos, pictures I worked on a good part of Tuesday and then uploaded yesterday to Fine Art America.

They actually began a couple of years ago. I was riffling through my photo files, specifically the file called "works in progress," looking for inspiration.

I selected a piece I thought at the time was going nowhere. But this year it looked different and so I gave it a go.

This is what happened. Two different but similar pieces that don't necessarily go together on a wall, but individually look pretty good.

The green one is soft, serene, and calming. And I really love the background.

The red/turquoise picture is bold and flamboyant, exciting, not calming. And yes, the colors really grab me.

So there you have it. Two pictures as my January 16 "Daily Photo."

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Daily Photo 20190113 Work in progress

A bit of detail from the "Japanese" artist books I'm making. Lots of time spent in the studio today, experimenting with plaster, dyes, inks, and new papers. A fun/frustrating day. But not nearly as frustrating as the Los Angeles Chargers felt...

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Daily Photo 20190103 Hanazuma Collage

I began this collage yesterday in the studio, moving bits of paper around.

This morning I brought yesterday's collage into the computer and added a few more things and now it's done.

I've uploaded it to Fine Art America, describing it as a "small collage consisting of red paper, handmade papers, antique Japanese paper, and ink. You can even see a bit of grass in the black paper on the left. The postage stamp, issued August 1, 2008, is called “Hanazuma of the Hyogoya House,” created by Kitagawa Utamaro between 1793-1794."

I always post low-res images online, but you can see a LOT of detail at the above link, if you wish.

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Latest work: "I Would Go Back There Tomorrow"

Created from my photos of vintage Japanese book covers and pages, India ink calligraphy, and a ledger book cover (daifuku) I gathered in Kyoto, Japan.

The original image was so big that I decided to create three other smaller, square images from it. Since I uploaded this to sell at Fine Art America, it gives me four different options for my buyers. (Trying to be smart about marketing!)

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

What I'm working on . . . KIMONO WRAPPER

I have an 1828 wrapper for a kimono that is gloriously soft and weathered and yet sturdy.

I have photographed various bits and pieces of the wrapper and then have combined those bits and pieces to create a variety of photomontages, montages that are slightly different, yet honor the spirit of the object.

The wrapper is made of old, used boro paper, multiple layers pasted together so that it's thick and very soft. I'm reveling in what this kimono wrapping paper is offering, and I hope you enjoy seeing my interpretations of it.


All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Japanese Postcard 1955

This is a physical collage I made that includes a 1955 Japanese postage stamp featuring an image by Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamaro (1750-1806). The original woodblock print was called “A Girl Blowing Glass Toy.”

I used Japanese rice paper, a page from an old Japanese ledger, India ink, various hanko (signature) stamps, and walnut ink to create an aged and worn look.

See the vertical black blobs on the right? I tried inking my own pseudo-calligraphy there and the ink just seeped away into the paper. I liked the look, however, and kept it!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

"Weathered Pages"

This is a photomontage I created at the beginning of 2014 and it's been sitting patiently in my "blog images" file all this time, waiting for me to upload it here. Not sure why I never did, because I do like it.

The inside cover of an old book forms the base, and to that I just kept adding old papers and ink. Ahhhhh!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

Latest work: "Splattered Ink Postcard"

I am making a series of collages and partway through this one I stopped, brought it into the computer, toned it down, added a few things, and created a more muted version of my original collage. I love the ink splatters, and it was fun creating them. Messy, but fun! And the circle behind the stamps upper left? My photo of the bottom of an old oil can. Of course!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Latest work: "Vintage Postcard"

My office contains nothing but this computer, a printer, a scanner, desk space, file cabinets, a couple of bookcases, a chair and an ottoman. No files. No PCs of various vintages scattered about. No books on the bookshelves. No stacks of papers "to be filed." Nothing.

And I love it!

I've been reluctant to bring anything else in here because I'm enjoying the spareness. The lack of distractions. Every morning I come in, fire up the Mac, look at my "works in progress" file to see if there's any inspiration there, and then begin playing around with photos.

My goal for this winter (when it might be cold and rainy -- but NOT as rainy as the Oregon coast will be) is to methodically go through all my slides, just a few slide sheets every day, and scan those that I think I can work with now, using new techniques, or that have sentimental value. All the rest will be trashed. Finally. I've not looked at my slides in 10 years or so, so this will be quite interesting. Or depressing. Who knows?

These two images are the same. The top one is simply an extract from the bottom one, but I think both work well. And both were submitted to Fine Art America a couple of days ago.

While in Savannah, Georgia in January I photographed a lot of wall textures and then combined some with a photo I took last week in Port Townsend of sidewalk detail. To that I added a photo of the cover of an antique Japanese ledger I got in San Diego, pages from a Japanese dictionary, Japanese calligraphy from a variety of papers I have, and then included a vintage image of an oriole. I "tricked out" the oriole using a paint program before adding it to the mix.

People ask how I make these photomontages, and the previous paragraph pretty much describes the process. I take weird pictures. I rummage around in my files, pick out a few, begin combining them, and let THEM dictate what the next step will be. I never know what will result. It's always a surprise. And that is precisely what I love about what I do: no plan, no routine, no "recipe." It is simply play, intuition, and problem-solving.

If I knew what I was going to make, there'd be no point in making it. For me. Thank God I'm not a plastic surgeon!

©Carol Leigh
 All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Courtesy of my mom . . .

I had the good fortune to live in Japan for a year when I was young. I also had the good fortune to have a mother who was interested in a lot of things, including the art of fish rubbing, or gyotaku. She made this fish rubbing 52 years ago and it's been framed and hung in various houses (military family, we moved a lot) and when I saw it last month, it had faded so much that the fish was almost invisible. The paper was dark on one side, stained, and splotchy. So I photographed Mom's print, brought out the details in the fish, then added my own touches, such as some photos of metal, a clamshell, a circular "moon" image, a bit of grunge, toned down the yellow colors, and came up with this. Mom died way too young, but a little bit of her lives on here. ©Carol Leigh