Up Above it all

has sold.
But thanks for looking!

Up Above it all

Found photo, found paper, found magazine clipping, orange thread, and graphite
23.5 x 32 cm or 9.5" x 11.5"

This work is larger than the scan bed and therefore it appears that it is a perfect piece of paper - but actually it is a very irregular piece of paper.

Growing up in California I spent endless hours on the freeway. It is fair to say that I have been interested in the organic shape of freeways for sometime. These very round and winding exits and entrances have always been exciting to me. I have always wished I could have a bird's eye view of the freeway systems. So I was quite happy when I recently stumbled across this freeway image which is positioned below the character. Living in Germany I don't get much opportunity to go on the Autobahn, but somehow when I do, it is always a very different experience.

Thanksgiving

This work has sold.

Thanksgiving

Found paper, found black & white photograph, graphite, watercolors, and origami paper
19 x 24 cm or 7.5" x 9.5"

Note about this piece:
All the (blue) area below the photograph, is cut out of the paper - I think it might be hard to see here. The purple piece of paper between the two characters is a darker purple in this scan than in real life.


Today is American Thanksgiving. One of the few days in America where the banks and post offices are both closed. Admittedly it is the only mainstream American holiday that my family celebrates- and it is one of two days during the year that we use our formal dining room. In the past, my mom would always dig up the paper cut - outs of turkeys (which used our traced hand print as the turkey body) that my sister and I made in grade school and decorate the table.
As much as I love being with my family on this day we always have to deal with our share of complex family dynamics. Nevertheless I will miss sharing our annual Thanksgiving meal together! Earlier today I was listening to NPR and on the program All Things Considered there was a report on a country Thanksgiving dinner. The narrator stated that Thanksgiving is "...the one time in the entire year where families do the same thing." There is something to be said about the unity of experience.

Happy Thanksgiving.

She is holding on tight.

This work has sold....(in record time).

She is holding on tight.

20 x 30 cm
Vintage paper, found black and white photographs, thread, wallpaper, water colors, spray paint

Notes:
The lady's head is not attached to the main piece of paper and there is an empty space for her face. The birds are loosely attached to the paper so they are lifted a bit from the page and finally the bottom 3 birds are not fully visible as the scanner bed was a slight bit too small.

I like to imagine that in just a moment
this prim and proper lady will be whisked away
into wild mayhem by the 8 birds that she is holding onto.

Various attempts.

Has been sold.

Various attempts.

22.5 x 32 x 2.5 cm (high!)
Felt, batting (in German: Bastelwatte), thread, graphite, ink-jet print, paint, and a clipping from a Polish Magazine (1973)
(The green paper actually goes down into a point. and the voice bubbles, and heads are cut out of the background.)

The topic for this collage is not one that just occured to me - but rather it is one that I consistently face - almost daily. The idea of communcation. When I first got to Germany I felt like I was underwater because I couldn't understand or say anything in German. I distinctly remember when the times started to change - I was in the S-Bahn on my way to work and reading a book (in English of course). I realized I couldn't concentrate on my book because there were a couple of young girls sitting behind me talking about some boys they liked in school. I just wanted them to be quiet until I suddenly realized they were speaking in German and I could understand what they were talking about. A small smile crept up on my lips and I closed my book - and just listened! That said - there are still many, many moments when my tongue is tied.
I just went to Istanbul on holiday, and there I was again - underwater. By now I feel a certain kinship to not understanding everything all the time. This work could be a result of my trip to Istanbul - and the certain level of consistent frustration I felt in not being able to communicate while there.

The Painted Lady

This work has been sold.

The Painted Lady

19.5 x 23cm
Found photos; both black & white and color, butterfly clipping (from the book: Schmetterlinge - Bunte Delphin Bücherei Nr. 2 - don't know the publishing date because I ripped out that page a while ago)



Even though there is only a small part of the black & white photo visable, it is a picture of San Francisco - one of the finds that I got from the Alemany Flea Market when I was there back at the end of July this summer.