Collage is the medium of mystics - Charles Simic
At least once a year I sit down and rip images and text from old magazines and quickly assemble and affix them on to a poster board. By working quickly, I don't try to make art or get my ego involved. Voodoo collage is an intuitive and invigorating process. What always surprises me is the distinct narrative that emerges, regardless of the magazines I use. Also, that the collage reflects my current emotional state, aspirations, desires, and blind spots.
I call this collage-making process voodoo collage, because, after the collage is finished, shellacked and clipped to the easel for viewing, it almost always acts as a dialogue and provides answers. I use my voodoo collages as inspiration for paintings.
All art reflects the artist's inner world and how his or her filter refracts this understanding. I agree with Simic's quote regardless of the actual medium, whether it is paper, metal, music,fabric, language. It is the cobbling together of ideas, materials and forms that create the unity. Collage is the art form of this new century.
Check out The International Museum of Collage, Assemblage, and Construction, and these artists and writers, although not necessarily collage purists, that employ collage sensibilities and techniques in their work: Marcel Duchamp, Chris Roberts-Antieau, Phillip Glass, Quentin Tarintino, Sapphire, Tupac, Cohen Brothers, Thomas Pynchon, Maggie Taylor. Then get to work on your own voodoo collage. Post it here if you'd like.
Here's a poem to serve as inspiration.
Read Your Fate
Charles Simic
A world's disappearing.
Little street,
You were too narrow,
Too much in the shade already.
You had only one dog,
One lone child.
You hid your biggest mirror,
Your undressed lovers.
Someone carted them off
In an open truck.
They were still naked, travelling
On their sofa
Over a darkening plain,
Some unknown Kansas or Nebraska
With a storm brewing.
The woman opening a red umbrella
In the truck. The boy
And the dog running after them,
As if after a rooster
With its head chopped off.
Supplies:
1. a variety of magazines
2. poster board
3. glue sticks
4. scissors
5. Modge Podge or gel medium
6. medium size brush
Instructions:
1. tear or cut images and text from magazines that appeal to you until you are satisfied you have enough (suggestions: give yourself a time limit and don't try to force a theme)
2. set aside the magazines and clear the space
3. have images, text and glue sticks at the ready
4. quickly shuffle through your images and text to remember what you have
5. begin placing images and text (note: remember to work quickly)
6. affix with glue stick
7. paint a thin layer of Modge Podge or gel medium over the entire surface
8. allow to dry
9. pin to the wall
10. reflect and enjoy
Mark Christensen November 15, 2009
"...The threshold we cross with closed eyes-
Where angels hide behind their backs
The saws with which they mean
To saw the present from the past,
Oblivious to the scarlet threads
That prove to be hiddenn among
The filaments, those red rivers
Running through the theme of time..."
from Angels Grieving over the Dead Christ -Gjertrude Schnackenberg
Mark Christensen, our friend, died this morning of complications from a stroke.
My husband and Mark were friends from their early, wild man years. They grew up together, were in and out of trouble together, were together during hale times, and saw each other through hard times.
Mark and I became friends when my husband and I met close to fifteen years ago. One of my favorite memories is of Mark and my husband sitting in my living room politely drinking Thai coffee from demitasse china cups and eating petite chocolate-covered cookies. I wish I had taken a picture. I didn't know either of them very well then, and I certainly didn't know they drank thier coffee black, or that they generally drank an entire pot of Folgers or gas stop variety coffee every morning.
A few weeks before his stroke, Mark came over for early morning coffee in my husband's man cave. I walked out to say hello and he greeted me with his usual kiss and hug. It's true that life changes on a dime. It's so strange and sad that he's gone.
Where angels hide behind their backs
The saws with which they mean
To saw the present from the past,
Oblivious to the scarlet threads
That prove to be hiddenn among
The filaments, those red rivers
Running through the theme of time..."
from Angels Grieving over the Dead Christ -Gjertrude Schnackenberg
Mark Christensen, our friend, died this morning of complications from a stroke.
My husband and Mark were friends from their early, wild man years. They grew up together, were in and out of trouble together, were together during hale times, and saw each other through hard times.
Mark and I became friends when my husband and I met close to fifteen years ago. One of my favorite memories is of Mark and my husband sitting in my living room politely drinking Thai coffee from demitasse china cups and eating petite chocolate-covered cookies. I wish I had taken a picture. I didn't know either of them very well then, and I certainly didn't know they drank thier coffee black, or that they generally drank an entire pot of Folgers or gas stop variety coffee every morning.
A few weeks before his stroke, Mark came over for early morning coffee in my husband's man cave. I walked out to say hello and he greeted me with his usual kiss and hug. It's true that life changes on a dime. It's so strange and sad that he's gone.
How to Ignore a Problem
"How a person expresses his desires,
follows them, ignores them, reacts to
their satisfaction or lack of fulfillment is
a measure of a person's character."
-Susan Minot
Yup!
But, sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to ignore it for a brief time. One way to ignore a problem is to indulge in distraction, until the moment to face the problem and engage full force, presents itself. I present my calm before the storm:
1. Of Bees and Mist
2. Etsy
3. Cake Wrecks
4. Watch rap: ignore book
5. Shorpy Historic Photo Archive
6. Not Paper
7. Almost Alice
8. Tarot reading
9. Ed's Chicago Cocoa Chili ( Chocolate Chili )
10. Political cartoons
11. Ed Fella
12. Don't Chew the Wallpaper
13. Chocolate Voodoo Drunken Zombie Cake Recipe
follows them, ignores them, reacts to
their satisfaction or lack of fulfillment is
a measure of a person's character."
-Susan Minot
Yup!
But, sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to ignore it for a brief time. One way to ignore a problem is to indulge in distraction, until the moment to face the problem and engage full force, presents itself. I present my calm before the storm:
1. Of Bees and Mist
2. Etsy
3. Cake Wrecks
4. Watch rap: ignore book
5. Shorpy Historic Photo Archive
6. Not Paper
7. Almost Alice
8. Tarot reading
9. Ed's Chicago Cocoa Chili ( Chocolate Chili )
10. Political cartoons
11. Ed Fella
12. Don't Chew the Wallpaper
13. Chocolate Voodoo Drunken Zombie Cake Recipe
It's That Time of Year
Wasatch Front dwellers are expecting a winter snowstorm to arrive today. It's supposed to last through the weekend, so everybody get to the store and stock up on eggnog, and get out your winter blankets!
The good news is that today's storm will be ushering in The Sister's Holiday Boutique!
Here are the details:
Holiday Boutique
November 12 & 13
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Unique hand-crafted gifts,
with home & holiday decor
for everyone on your list!
Location:
12243 Grizzly Hollow
Draper, Utah
I made sterling silver and gemstone necklaces and earrings, so I've been hammering and soldering up my own storm.
The good news is that today's storm will be ushering in The Sister's Holiday Boutique!
Here are the details:
Holiday Boutique
November 12 & 13
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Unique hand-crafted gifts,
with home & holiday decor
for everyone on your list!
Location:
12243 Grizzly Hollow
Draper, Utah
I made sterling silver and gemstone necklaces and earrings, so I've been hammering and soldering up my own storm.
Veteran's Day November 11, 2009
Tsingtao China: Daniel Eugene Layton & Frank Thornton post bar brawlFirst picture: was taken outside the Lighthouse Bar. There was a white Russian lady with a cloth sack for a dress. We were getting out of bounds and were in the wrong place and got out of line. The lady picked us up by the nape of the neck and threw us out of the bar into the mud.
South China Sea: Daniel Second picture: Shanghai China. We were going in for discharge on the USS Anderson. You can see a sanpan in the background. We were on board with some National Chinese troops who were headed to Formosa (Taiwan).
Phillipines: ShipmatesThird picture: in the harbor of Saipan, Marianas Island group, with James Wood from Bountiful. Met him in Saipan.
U.S.A.T. General Wm. Weigel; U.S.S. Roosevelt not shownFourth picture: USS General Weigel headed for China. On the way we stopped in the Philipines, Okanowa, and Yokahama. I got off the ship and went to Yokuska, Japan. One night when traveling through tunnels on a Navy bus, we saw Japanese planes half assembled inside the tunnels. I was in Yokuska for about a month, then caught a plane to Aleta Airfield (spelling may be wrong), and flew back to Guam. On our way back on a four-engine plane we went over Mount Fujiama three times as the pilot kept saying, "Let's take another pass" several times. When I landed in Gaum they put me in a quanset hut at about midnight. The next day I ran into Lloyd Colmere, he was a mess cook. After he got off duty we went to the beach and gathered cat eyes. They are a beautiful shell and rare. Every day when he got off duty we would visit the beach. One day when I was near the beach I ran into two water buffalos and they scared me. I didn't dare go by them and ended up going back.
When I was there before, two years previously, I guarded Japenese prisoners of war up by Ganna field. One night I was there, two-three weeks waiting for transit to Tsigntao, China to catch my ship. I boarded about midnight and they told me I had to get my blues on. We were hot. When I boarded the plane and we got up 10,000+ feet it was cold and I was glad I had my blues on. When the sun was coming up we had engine troubles and had to land in Shanghai. It was off the beach. I waited a day there while they fixed the plane. I boarded another plane and we flew to Tsingtao. There were about 50 flying tigers (P-40s) on each side of the strip. The U.S. had turned them over to the National Chinese.
On leave in Hawaii: Daniel, Dick Dawson
Three sailors: Sailor, Dick, Daniel
Haircut in Hawaii: Daniel
Salt Lake City Airport: Daniel, John H. Adams, Pinky Bone 
Early morning
Boot camp: Guard duty 
Barracks: Daniel with shovelHeartfelt thanks to all who serve!
Lon Searle, accountant and b-i-l, acted as scribe,Veteran's Day 2009, recording the stories exactly as they were told to him by Dan. He and Dan sat in the Searle great room and as Lon scrolled down on each picture, Dan filled in the details. Four are related above, under the corresponding photos. Dan began his informal interview by stating: I'm still farming, raising cattle, and wheat.
Reinventing Myself in the Kitchen
I am not a domestic person. I dread like the daily grind of cooking dinner, but I do enjoy cooking when I'm entertaining and can try out new or exotic dishes, especially when I know my guests will appreciate my efforts and not heap salt or slather the dish in soy sauce. I can remember a time when cooking was an adventure, and spices were exciting, (and I used them to paint with until my mother put a STOP to it. Glue mixed into ground pepper or paprika or cumin is just fabulous to play with). I know I made a cheese souffle when I was very young, because I thought this evidence I was becoming sophisticated, and not some ordinary farm girl who raised runt lambs as pets. In college I learned how to make Palestinian red pepper and ginger chicken soup from Sharif, a grad student who also taught me traditional dances and always claimed that when he was fishing he heard the fish complain how unlucky they were to be Mormon, since they were allowed to only drink water. At the time I thought he was old. He was probably thirty.
As far as the domestic goddesses, I'm more of wild at heart, how did this housework & cooking stuff get to be MY job?, Artemis type, not the hearth-warming, soup-making Demeter. But, like Demeter, I would make the earth barren and everybody pay if Hades abducted my daughter to the Underworld.
The only apron I use on a regular basis is paint-smeared and seriously messy. I do own a cooking apron, my sister gave it to me, and I have worn it, once. This is all going to change, as is my attitude about cooking. The plan is to cooking dish that hold my interest, and that my family will eat. I started with making hearty split pea soup. I hate split pea soup. Always have. My husband loves it. The weather turned cold so I decided to start making soup. The base is an organic mix (from delectableaddictions.com Gourmet Food Mixes Homemade without the Hassle) to which I added sliced turkey sausage, diced carrots, celery, and onions, and a big splash of Tapitio hot sauce. Yummy!
I love food, books about food, recipe books, history of food, etc. I read Julia & Julie a few years back, read old blog posts, but have yet to see the film.
My younger sister told me about The Pioneer Woman Cooks, and I ran across Heat today on Powell's website.
If you're interested in free and incredibly tasty recipes, my nephew's wife, Stephanie, has an awesome blog. Check her out at http://www.stephanieskitchen.com.The featured recipe today is: Mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes with Peanut Butter Frosting.
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell
As far as the domestic goddesses, I'm more of wild at heart, how did this housework & cooking stuff get to be MY job?, Artemis type, not the hearth-warming, soup-making Demeter. But, like Demeter, I would make the earth barren and everybody pay if Hades abducted my daughter to the Underworld.
The only apron I use on a regular basis is paint-smeared and seriously messy. I do own a cooking apron, my sister gave it to me, and I have worn it, once. This is all going to change, as is my attitude about cooking. The plan is to cooking dish that hold my interest, and that my family will eat. I started with making hearty split pea soup. I hate split pea soup. Always have. My husband loves it. The weather turned cold so I decided to start making soup. The base is an organic mix (from delectableaddictions.com Gourmet Food Mixes Homemade without the Hassle) to which I added sliced turkey sausage, diced carrots, celery, and onions, and a big splash of Tapitio hot sauce. Yummy!
I love food, books about food, recipe books, history of food, etc. I read Julia & Julie a few years back, read old blog posts, but have yet to see the film.
My younger sister told me about The Pioneer Woman Cooks, and I ran across Heat today on Powell's website.
If you're interested in free and incredibly tasty recipes, my nephew's wife, Stephanie, has an awesome blog. Check her out at http://www.stephanieskitchen.com.The featured recipe today is: Mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes with Peanut Butter Frosting.
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany by Bill Buford
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl by Ree Drummond
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powell
Books to Read Around the World
Another find today, (all on my own), is The Guardian's World Literature Tour. The current destination is Egypt. The reading list is growing; of course Naguib Mahfouz and Alaa al Aswany are included, as well as authors that date back to the Pharoahs.
My suggestions to add to the list:
Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif.
The book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, its author compared to Tolstoy and Flaubert. I devoured this book two summers ago. Although the central theme is a blend of politics and love, forbidden or otherwise, the book is much more than the tale of forbidden love, or yet another tome decrying the arrogance and destructive effects of colonialism. The emerging Egyptian Nationalist struggle against British imperialism, is explicated through the means of a culturally forbidden love affair between Lady Anna Winterbourne and Arab nationalist Sharif al-Baroudi. Close to one-hundred years later, Isabel Parkman, Anna and Sharif's great-granddaughter, discovers Anna's journals and letters, (translated by Amal, her lover's sister), and thereby discovers the parallel between her Great-Grandmother's choice to marry a man outside her own culture, to that of her obssessive love for Egyptian American composer and political activist, Omar Ghamrawi. If you're not paying attention you might miss that Amal is a quiet symbol of the effects of postcolonialism and the current state of Egypt.
Memoirs of a Woman Doctor by Nawal el-Saadawi
I read Nawal el-Saadawi's fictionalized memoirs when I was in my early twenties, back in college, and I can remember thinking the character was very angry, and also, that a lot of what was written, the social and political oppression of women as a whole, just couldn't be true. Turns out the character had every right to be angry, and yes, the injustices were true. el-Saadawi wrote this novel in her twenties, and the book was instantly hailed, yet also considered highly controversial, so many parts were deleted. The book is considered a revolutionary feminist book which showcases the struggles of ordinary women, for basic rights. Speaking truth to power is risky business. el-Saadawi has never strayed from telling her truth, the truth of Arabic women, the truth of her life as a professional and as a wife and mother, nor from working to better the political and cultural lives of Arab women.
My suggestions to add to the list:
Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif.
The book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, its author compared to Tolstoy and Flaubert. I devoured this book two summers ago. Although the central theme is a blend of politics and love, forbidden or otherwise, the book is much more than the tale of forbidden love, or yet another tome decrying the arrogance and destructive effects of colonialism. The emerging Egyptian Nationalist struggle against British imperialism, is explicated through the means of a culturally forbidden love affair between Lady Anna Winterbourne and Arab nationalist Sharif al-Baroudi. Close to one-hundred years later, Isabel Parkman, Anna and Sharif's great-granddaughter, discovers Anna's journals and letters, (translated by Amal, her lover's sister), and thereby discovers the parallel between her Great-Grandmother's choice to marry a man outside her own culture, to that of her obssessive love for Egyptian American composer and political activist, Omar Ghamrawi. If you're not paying attention you might miss that Amal is a quiet symbol of the effects of postcolonialism and the current state of Egypt.
Memoirs of a Woman Doctor by Nawal el-Saadawi
I read Nawal el-Saadawi's fictionalized memoirs when I was in my early twenties, back in college, and I can remember thinking the character was very angry, and also, that a lot of what was written, the social and political oppression of women as a whole, just couldn't be true. Turns out the character had every right to be angry, and yes, the injustices were true. el-Saadawi wrote this novel in her twenties, and the book was instantly hailed, yet also considered highly controversial, so many parts were deleted. The book is considered a revolutionary feminist book which showcases the struggles of ordinary women, for basic rights. Speaking truth to power is risky business. el-Saadawi has never strayed from telling her truth, the truth of Arabic women, the truth of her life as a professional and as a wife and mother, nor from working to better the political and cultural lives of Arab women.
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