Quotes: Paul Rand

"Among the great contributions to visual thought is the invention of collage. Collage and montage permit the integration of seemingly unrelated objects or ideas in a single picture; they enable the designer to indicate simultaneous events or scenes which by more conventional methods would result in a series of isolated pictures. The complex message presented in a single picture more readily enables the spectator to focus his attention on the advertiser's message."

–– Paul Rand (1914-1996), American art director and graphic designer 

Source: Paul Rand. Paul Rand: A Designer's Art. Yale University Press, 1985; p. 137

via Sketchbook 17, 2012, p. 90

Quotes: James Gallagher

"... collage is all about recycling, reinterpretation and reprocessing of our collective past, present, and future." 

–– James Gallagher, American collage artist, editor, publisher, and creative director 

Source: Cutting Edges: Contemporary Collage, Preface, unpaginated.

via Sketchbook 16, 2011, p. 125

Quotes 299: J. Carl Heywood

"Picasso and Braque and others invented collage early in the 20th century as a way of forcing together visual experiences that didn't belong together, just as our lives are filled with experiences that don't really fit." 

–– J. Carl Heywood (b. 1941), Canadian artist

via Sketchbook 5, 2008, p. 138

Halifax Street Art

Barrington Street Mural; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

While in Halifax this summer, a massive mural by Jason Botkin (b. 1974) caught my eye. He's an ACAD graduate who originally hails from Denver, Colorado and is now a Montréal-based artist and a co-creator and co-director of en Masse Collaborative Mural project. The mural overlooks a sad parking lot on Barrington Street directly across from the Grand Parade, formerly the site of a gorgeous old Birks building, torn down in the early 1980s to make way for a government building. The empty lot has been an eyesore for more than 30 years.

Barrington Blocks Ceramic Installation; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

This Barrington Blocks installation by NSCAD ceramics graduate Catherine Laroche, is interactive. The ceramic blocks are glazed with a different colour (orange, yellow, green, grey) on each of the four sides and rotate independently: they are pixels one can touch. The installation screened the aforementioned sad parking lot. 

Halifax poster detritus; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

And finally, a collage of chance.

Sandra Brownlee Tactile Notebooks samples

Sandra Brownlee class samples; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

As I was cleaning out my blog photo files, I stumbled across two images from Sandra Brownlee's Tactile Notebooks and the Written Word workshop.

Sandra Brownlee class sample; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

The cut paper is a beauty. Enjoy!

Found Halifax collage

 Found collage; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Isn't it interesting that all the posters on this pole are black-and-white?

Studio Series: Matrix collage

Matrix collage © Karen Thiessen, 2016

While I was a textiles student at Sheridan College I developed a complex three-print pattern, but due to time constraints was unable to push it as far as I knew it could go. Fast forward twenty years and now I'm playing to see where it can go. The bonus is that ten years ago collage wedged its way into my studio practice, and now I have a thinking tool that I didn't have during my Sheridan days. Oh the places that this matrix pattern will go...

Studio Series: Two inch collages e

Two inch collages e © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Summer is officially here and with it I am experimenting with new rhythms. I'm stitching less and am mark-making and collaging more. I've learned to sit at the patio table on the back deck overlooking the tangled garden and feed my sketchbook. Normally, I enjoy nature by trying to tame my unwieldy garden. Sitting in nature is new to me. The weeds are still there and the daffodil bulbs still need to be divided, but I'm now almost able to ignore them. New rhythms are uncomfortable, but necessary. 

A few weeks ago I realized that I needed a vacation. This perplexed me. Vacations stress me out because they take me away from my work and my daily routine. So, I decided to take a vacation without going away: I am engaging in pattern disruption. One of my goals for this life experiment is to be mildly bored instead of being constantly over-stimulated and over-committed. It's working. It's uncomfortable but it's allowing me to play with smaller projects for which I might ordinarily not make time. If you aren't able to take a vacation this summer, try changing your routine. It might surprise you.

Studio Series: black & white collage II

Black & White collage II © Karen Thiessen, 2016

The studio is a happening place these days: I seem to have cultivated a new rhythm, a new sense of being alive in my work process. It is all thanks to the six weeks of classes that I took at my local indie fabric shop where I learned how to sew a dress, a flowering snowball pillow, and a pair of leggings. These were all personal projects that took time away from my regular studio work, but this investment of time has paid off in spades. First of all, I am now hyper-aware of clothing construction: of seams, lines, darts, shapes. As a result, I now see that my work could eventually move into three-dimensions. Second: I have returned to my stitching and collage practice with new energy and awareness.

I just finished reading The Art of Slow Writing (2014) by Louise DeSalvo, a book I highly recommend for any creative, whether or not you are a writer. In one chapter about supporting the work, she shares how Vita Sackville-West encouraged her friend, Virginia Woolf, to take time from her writing practice. "From Sackville-West, Woolf learned to be less obsessive about her art and to take more time for relaxation, travel, and excursions to enrich her work. She subsequently spent time bowling, doing needlepoint, knitting, bread baking, and listening to music (DeSalvo, 108-109)." So, I encourage my dear work-obsessed readers (you know who you are) to try something new and see how this enlivens the work. 

Source: DeSalvo, Louise. The Art of Slow Writing: Reflections on Time, Craft, and Creativity. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2014.

Studio Series: calligraphic collage

Calligraphic collage © Karen Thiessen, 2016

My cousin Paula visited over the Christmas holidays. We hadn't seen each other in fifteen years thanks to geographic dysfunction. We're both artists, avid readers of obscure works, lovers of poetry, note-takers. She's four years younger and four inches taller than I. When I took her to my favourite indie art supply store, we were amazed to discover that we were looking for the same Sheaffer ink cartridges for our calligraphy pens. What are the odds of that? Above is a collage of small drawings that I made with the Sheaffer calligraphy pen that I received for Christmas when I was a teenager... and a fresh ink cartridge.

Studio Series: black & white collage I

black & white collage 1 © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Three weeks of three day mini-retreats reset my studio practice. I completed two dresses and have started to wear them. While sewing the first one, it didn't occur to me to test how it functioned before cutting out the second and third dresses. I haven't yet sewn the third dress and I have enough fabric to restyle the pockets. Although I don't like the pockets in the first two dresses, the garments still feel good and fit properly. Tackling and completing a host of personal projects has injected new energy and confidence in my studio practice. I knew it would. Above is a collage that I did in my sketchbook yesterday.

Studio Series: Work In Progress

WIP collage 3'X4' © Karen Thiessen, 2016

This is week two of three weeks of mini-studio retreats. The above 3' X 4' unfinished collage is the largest that I have ever made. I am using papers that I have screen printed as well as found papers. I need to live with it for a while to see where it wants to go. It needs taming, but how I do not yet know.

WIP collage 3'X4' © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Once it is finished, I will hang it on the wall where it is propped. The hall is a busy, narrow space so I collaged on 1/4" plywood and will either hang it with metal mirror clips or I'll screw it to the wall with brass screws.

Studio Series: B&W collage 7

BW Collage 7 © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Today I finished my income tax preparations and earlier this month I completed a whack of professional writing and now there is less to stand in the way of long uninterrupted stretches in the studio. Office work is not my favourite activity but I feel a profound sense of relief that I've followed through vs. avoided it.

On another note, this year I am challenging myself by relearning how to sew my own clothes. I'm taking classes at my local indie sewing store and I'm loving it. Now, I just need to overcome my fear of making buttonholes! I'll write about the significance of sewing clothing again means to me in another post.

Of Note

Here are a few things on my radar right now:

1. Is Mending the New Shopping? via Surface Design Association eNews

2. Angela Holland's collages!

3. Design Matters Podcast with illustrator extraordinaire Maira Kalman.

4. I just finished reading Ray Bradbury's semi-autobiographical novel Dandelion Wine (because of Sandra Brownlee's textile that I photographed in May 2014). It's a book about twelve-year old Douglas Spaulding's summer of 1928 when he woke up to the world around him. Basically, it's a book about wonder, awareness, and taking notice.

Studio Series: Two inch collages d

Two inch collages d © Karen Thiessen, 2016

The same week that I made 43 two-inch-square glue stick collages on acid-free bristol, I collaged another 40. I was on a roll. The tiny collages are warm-ups for other work. They allow me to work quickly and not overthink what I'm doing. Rebecca Pidgeon, Beck, Rachel Zeffira, and Charlotte Gainsbourg provide a mellow soundscape that allows me to focus and become one with the work.

Studio Series: 2 inch collages a

Two inch collages a © Karen Thiessen, 2016

I've been quiet here in blogville as I write my various statements. The other day I had a revelation that I'm sure you've all figured out by now: I gave myself a break of about an hour (looking at design magazines) and I came back to my work refreshed and energized. It's such a simple concept, but so very effective. When I returned to the studio I made 43 two inch collages and was in flow during the entire time. A friend has a system of working 52 minutes and then taking 17 minute breaks. She uses a timer to keep on track and finds that this allows her to get a lot done and stay fresh. Do any of you have ways to keep fresh during your work days? If so, feel free to leave a comment.

Studio Series: Mennonite series tags

Mennonite series tags; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Off and on, I've been playing with words and symbols of my Dutch German (Russian) Mennonite material culture for more than twenty years. Until I discovered the tag format I hadn't been able to pull it together. Above is a random assortment of the strongest tags pinned to my studio wall. I'll present them differently in a gallery setting with proper spacing, probably in a long line and I'll install them with specimen pins.

Mennonite series tags detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

I have over fifty completed Mennonite material culture tags, but only thirty work well together. The collection now has a voice and an aesthetic has emerged.

Mennonite series detail; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

As of this week I have thirty textile tags set up for stitching. The collection is growing. It's about time.

Art Deco Designs paper

Art Deco Designs papers; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

This year I am working through my stash of paper and I'm putting it to use with the Annie Dillard quote fresh in my mind: 

"One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is a signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly is lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes." (from The Writing Life)

Art Deco Designs papers; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

In my paper stash is this Art Deco Designs book of gift wrap. I've had it for more than twenty years. It's time to use it.

Art Deco Designs papers; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

This is one of my favourite spreads.

Art Deco Designs papers; Photo © Karen Thiessen, 2016

Soon these papers will be put to good use. One of my goals is to follow Annie Dillard's advice to: "spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time."

Studio Series: B&W collage 5

BW Collage 5 © Karen Thiessen, 2016

I love colour but lately I've been playing with drawing, designing, and collaging in black-and-white. My studio flat file has a drawer dedicated to b&w photocopies of found images, my drawings, rubbings, and designs. It's ripe for the picking. Jane Hill, an esteemed potter, is a master of designing in b&w. About ten years ago, we took a collage class together and in the past few months her b&w influence has crept into my work, and I am glad for it. Many of my b&w collages will be translated into another format that will involve colour. I can't wait to see what works... and what doesn't.

Studio Series: B&W collage

BW Collage 2 © Karen Thiessen, 2016

In my quest to reduce my paper glut and tame at least one area of my office, I went through files and purged most of my craft history course packs from my NSCAD days (I did a major in textiles and a minor in art history). Naturally, many of the photocopied pages had beautifully degraded images that I could use in my collages. My office filing cabinet now has wiggle room but my studio flat file is bulging with new collage materials. Marie Kondo would not approve.