Computer Graphics | Collage | Pysanky | Photography

I began making collages in high school, and have always felt very ambevelant about my work. Most great collage artists personalize the experience with paint and markers, working and re-working until the images are their own. Mine depend more on unaltered existing imagry. My role is less about personalizing the objects and more about expressing relationships between objects. As a result I often feel my collages aren't "real art," but instead more crafty, along the lines of arranging silk flowers or painting with a paint-by-numbers kit.

It's very hard for me to break through this "craft" stereotype, so I make very few collages, in spite of the small fortune I spend on paper, magazines, and empheria every year. My studio is overflowing with materials yet choking on emptiness.

A note on copyrights: Most of my collages are created at least in part with copyrighted materials. As a result the collages are displayed at very low, very poor resolutions unsuited for printing. I ask that visitors refrain from downloading the images to their hard drives. If your copyrighted work is included in my collage and you object to its display please let me know and I will remove the collage from my website.

American Pie Game (unfinished): One of my earliest efforts. These two panels were to serve as part of a game board about the antiques business.

The Memory and Dream Notebook started out as a journal, but instead became an artwork. Creating a cover wasn't enough, I also made several themed dividers, including one on tea, one on womanhood, one for my favorite local art supply stores PaperRoutes, and one called Moonlit Moths.

Valentines: For several years I made Valentines for my boyfriends. I didn't make copies for myself, and the originals were probably thrown away when we broke up. As I got older and dated less the Valentines turned into rememberences of romance or tirades against mankind, depending on what I was feeling that year. About three years ago I made one called Hope Rescued From A Dustbin. I do't think it's as artistically successful as the other collages, but from a psychological standpoint it worked like a charm. I haven't felt a need to make a Valentine since.

Modern Woman is a get-well card I made for a friend with a very good sense of humor after extensive reconstructove surgery.

My Mother (and her discarded Victoria magazines) inspired several collages, including Early Spring and this Mother's Day Card.