Greetings all! I hope this finds you doing well...
I've been busy preparing some work for an upcoming calligraphy exhibit our guild (Michigan Association of Calligraphers) is hosting, opening next Saturday, November 7. I'll show you one piece I've got ready to go...
In the photo, there is a shadow almost halfway down the first third of the grid... it's there because I had to scan the canvas in two parts and then put it together in Photoshop, and I forgot to eliminate the shadow until I'd already posted it... sorry about that... I'm usually much more careful!
The requirements for this exhibit is that the work contain some form of calligraphic marks. The piece above will satisfy that requirement, but in a fairly unusual manner... I guess you could say it's done in true McCreedy style! One thing that is not obvious, is that underneath all the collage pieces is a layer of calligraphy done in a very pale gold... you can make out some of the letters near the top of the canvas. The colorful squares and large rectangle that runs down the left hand side are all cut from a piece of watercolor paper with layers of calligraphy written on it in multiple colors of ink.
None of the calligraphy is really meant to be read... and underneath all of it is handwriting done in pencil. In some of the squares of the grid is my handwriting in a dark green ink, again, not necessarily meant to be read, so some of the writing is covered with collage elements and with a somewhat opaque tissue paper. In addition there are a few three dimensional objects, the rusty washer in the lower right hand corner, the rusty calligraphy nib in the lower left hand corner of the grid, and the circle with the "B" in it is a slice off the end of a wine cork. There's also a metal brad in the upper left hand corner helping to hold the heavy paper in place, and give it another dimensional aspect.
Here is a scan of another canvas I'm working on, but am not quite happy with...
The white shadow and the numbers are done in layers in Photoshop... at this point there is nothing on the canvas except for the writing... I'm trying to figure out what to put on top of the writing... my husband thinks it's fine without anything else, but I'm not quite satisfied yet. I'll be sure to post a photo of the finished piece.
Thanks for stopping by, I apologize for not posting more regularly... my studio is nearly all back together now, so I'm able to be much more productive. Still no job, but I have a couple irons in the fire... my health care runs out the end of November, so I'm starting to get a bit nervous about that. Otherwise I've come to terms with things and am trying to just relax and enjoy the days to myself until I get a job offer. Keep your fingers crossed for me, would you please? I'd appreciate it... now, go make something! :D
By the way... this is my 200th post! I'm really surprised... see how time flies when you're having fun?!?