Art I'm Making: One of my collages reproduced in Kolaj Magazine

I was pleased to see one of my collages reproduced in the current issue of Kolaj, an international quarterly dedicated to the art of collage (No. 18, page 34) in an article about "collage painting." While I don't normally think of my work as collage painting, the author of the article, Ric Kasini Kadour, argues that the term is useful in describing collage work that, when representational, subordinates the collaged fragments used to "the gestalt of the picture" to create a whole rather than juxtaposing relatively independent, distinctly different collage elements to set up tension between two or more picture segments, a technique common in Surrealist collage and among the Dadaists.

The author used my Untitled Collage No. 158 (Santa Rosa), as an example of a non-representational collage that emphasizes a compositional whole. Before concluding the article by saying "Wholeness, completeness is the magic of collage painting," he said I use paper elements like the sounds of violinists "in the pit orchestra of a grand opera," presumably to suggest that in my collages the whole composition is more important than any of the individual elements, and, as I work, I am always focused first on creating a stable yet dynamic compositional whole—so, I suppose he has a point. In any case, it was nice to see the work reproduced.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 167 (Santa Rosa)

A new collage, this one experimenting with somewhat more organic shapes than I usually use. This is Untitled Collage No. 167 (Santa Rosa), January 14, 2017, acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, collage. Image size 20.0 x 26.9cm (7.9 x 10.6 inches). Matted to 16 x 20 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse.

Click on the image for a larger view. For more of my collage work, visit my collage site at http://ctalcroft.wix.com/collage-site.

Miscellaneous: Photographs in Birds of the Pacific Northwest

I'm pleased to announce that some of my bird photographs were chosen for use in a new field guide. Birds of the Pacific Northwest (Timber Press, authors John Shewey and Tim Blount) is scheduled for release in March 2017. It is part of the Timber Press Field Guide Series. In particular, a clear, diagnostic shot of a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is hard to find, it seems. My photo of the bird that appeared at Shollenberger Park in October 2011 is among the dozen or so of my photos included in the new book.

Serendipitous Art: Black on Black (February 2, 2017)

Black paint on black boards in a window painted black with a black frame. Black on black. Unintended art.

For more unintended art, see my blog Serendipitous Art.

Rain: February off to a wet start (February 2, 2017)

We had the wettest January I can remember, and February is off to a wet start. We've had 0.95 inches of new precipitation this month (February) as of 5:00PM on February 2. That brings our total to 34.50 inches at my location in Santa Rosa—which is astounding, given that normal annual rainfall is about 36 inches for the entire rain year (which runs through the end of September). On top of that, rain is forecast for the next six days.

[Update: As of the afternoon of February 5, we've had another 1.05 inches of rain, bringing the total to 35.55 inches for the 2016-2017 rain year so far.]