Janice McDonald / Collage Art Studio

Hanging the show at EDGE Gallery

It's been nearly a week since we began hanging the "Re-purposed" show and I've neglected to post photos of the process. Above is a photo of me supervising progress as my husband, plus good friend, Ted Crawford, did all the physical work... as I am STILL on crutches due to tibial plateau fracture. Below are the views of the walls of the gallery. More images / details about the opening to follow.

 

Above: From the "Color Constructs" series, each 20 x 10 x 1," collage on wood panel.

 

"Ruminations on a Pieced Quilt", composed of 45 collage panels, each 7 x 5."

 

Collages from the "Time and Balance" series, 10 x 20 x 1" and 10 x 10 x 1" on wood panels.

Larger collages from the "Time and Balance" series, each 38 x 26," framed.

Sorta like rearranging the furniture...

My architect-husband has kindly constructed a facsimile of the gallery space for my upcoming show in SketchUp modeling software. It allowed me to see how the work I have produced for the show will fit into the gallery. I can virtually jump into the middle of the room and turn around to see the space. He attached scale images of the completed collages to the walls and we are able to arrange and re-arrange. Really amazing, and gave me added impetus to finish a couple more pieces to fill out the space better. Technically, this should speed up the hanging process -- although there's nothing quite like being there -- so we'll see when the time comes! The show opens at EDGE Gallery in Denver on Friday, November 6th. Hope to see you there!

Ready or not...

Well, the postcards announcing my show arrived from the printer today, just as I was beginning the flurry of writing press releases and updating my mailing list, all of which I'd planned to take care of weeks ago... at least until I broke my knee (tibial plateau to be precise)! So, I'm a bit behind and some things, like my blog, have been on hiatus. I think I'm -- just about -- back on track now. Still working on a series of small collages, hoping to have about 50 to hang in a group, but the major pieces are complete and ready. I'll be cruising around on the crutches for another month or so, even at the opening (11/6 at Edge in Denver). Please drop me a comment/email with your address if you want to be added to my mailing list and receive a postcard. 

The collage featured on the card is "Feelers," contemporary papers on board, 20 x 10 x 1."

(With thanks to Jim for keeping my studio supplied with fresh glasses of ice water, as pictured, all this time. I haven't yet mastered the art of carrying open liquids on crutches.)

A Book About Death

I'm watching this show, which opens in NY on September 10th, as it grows online each day -- now at 434 submissions. Very compelling, intriguing, and powerful work... I'm glad my collage is included and plan to spend some time perusing the blog of all the work that's been submitted over the weekend. The sensibilities of the artists responding is so vastly different, from lyrical to gritty and everything in between! This promotional poster was designed by mixed media artist Robert Mars and is available, among others, for download on the blog site. 

 

Cobwebs of the ordinary

Today I submitted 500 postcards of the collage above for a group show, "A Book About Death," which will be on view at the Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery in New York City from September 10-22, 2009. The concept is to have artists respond to the subject of death. The show is an homage to Ray Johnson, a celebration of Emily Harvey, and a global exploration of death. 

People who visit the gallery can compile and take away an unbound book of all the entries -- a real collaborative concept/show/experience. I'm thrilled to have my work included and of course, am wishing I was going to be in NY during that time so I could collect the parts to make a book of my own. There is a very cool blog documenting the works that have been submitted so far. It's fascinating to see the range of work represented. (I'm number 203. Yoko Ono is number 161. Check it out.)