(c)06 Daddario
Dragon Claw And Feather
4 x 6 inches
About the time the October 2006 earthquake hit Hawaii, I was working on a series of ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) as well as handmade postcards for Mail Art projects. I liked what was happening in those pieces. Even though the earthquake interrupted that process, I keep thinking about the work, believing eventually I will get back to these things as my art world returns to a normal pace after the quake.
The above piece was done at that same time using elements I've used in both ATCs and Chunky Book pages. I like this process of attaching and working a piece with a combining of materials, in other words: Mixed Media.
Grommets attach an archival-processed-digital-collage image to hotpress watercolor paper. The collage image is made up of a photo (my eyes), digital files (the dragon and other design elements) and a scan of the watercolor paper, with cross-brushed watercolor washes that is also used as the actual background for the piece. In addition I've drawn with water-soluble permanent ink and added both watercolor and acrylic paint to create texture and a shallow depth in the piece.
Much of the process used in this piece developed as a result of my involvement with Mail Art over the past year or two.
I like combining personal symbols and imagery with this Mail Art process to add layers of interest to the piece while making the work personal. The work becomes an icon for the process I am exploring, much as a variation of the digital collage in this piece has become my avatar on Gather.
11-19-06
(c)06 Daddario
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Comments: 6
i've mentioned in several places that i've begun to bring a number of versions of mail art pieces together at the same time. all from a similar concept/place - or beginning point. i like doing that. from that i began to think about not only multiples which were actually individual works, but larger visions created using the concepts in the smaller Mail Art pieces such as ATCs, chunky pages and Postcards.
i began to leave slightly larger pieces of paper for larger work when i cut up sheets for these Mail Art pieces. one was this size 4 x 6 size when i was cutting 4x4 pieces. then i realized that was actually a postcard size. i know i want to move into larger pieces than this, yet continue mail art works.
it will be interesting to see where this goes. i had not intended this piece as a postcard, i had actually intended to do works that i could show or even market in places such as Etsy that would be affordable to most people. i'm excited about the process and the exploration that these ideas are opening up for me.
the earthquake has dislodged me further than i realized when i lost all my stuff on the other computer (and i may not have lost it - just have not recovered it yet). i've been hesitant to mail out pieces - actually to finish almost finished pieces - because i knew i could not scan them or document them the way i wanted to document them. i've now got my scanner set up, altho using it to get what i want is not going to be an easy process that i can quickly figure out, it will take time. eventually i will get there. i thought i would see if i could hook my old scanner up. it works fine - this is the piece i used to test on both scanners. unfortunately my old scanner is old. it may be developing other problems that will become issues, so it is just as well to figure out how to work within the new scanner processes.
life happens while we think we are pursuing it... isnt that the John Lennon song... life happens while we are busy making other plans. may be this hiatus is the catalyst i need to move into a process that will incorporate larger works. cool on that. cool on letting pieces, and our work, reveal themselves over time and building up rich layers too.
play hard, create hard and have fun. hard. - aloha - Wrick.
it pleases me that you find the work interesting Anne. i like when something intrigues a person. if that quality is in my work, i know i am on the path i want to be on...
adele - for me art/creating is an important part of well being - my art is that way for me personally. that you as a viewer find this aspect within this piece is a great connection. it is a connection that completes a circle between art, viewer and artist - for me that is a great ongoing circular connection. way cool.