Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 168 (Santa Rosa)

Catching up with posting some recent work, this is Untitled Collage No. 168 (Santa Rosa), from January 25, 2017. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, collage. 26.7 x 35.4cm (10.5 x 13.9 inches) signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse.

This one draws on some blue papers I've recently made and on black and white monoprints with some unusual textures caused by the paper ripping and sticking to the painted glass I work from. I left ripped sections on the glass and repainted the surface before making new prints. Because the sections covered with plastered down paper layers absorb ink, I ended up with areas of mottled grey-black unlike the cleaner areas of color created by printing off clean glass.

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.

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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 166 (Santa Rosa)

A new collage. This one draws on a batch of new monoprints in warm tones ranging from cream to raspberry red.

This is Untitled Collage No. 166 (Santa Rosa), January 14, 2017, acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, found paper (handwritten music), collage. Image size 25.3 x 26.3cm (10.0 x 10.4 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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 165 (Santa Rosa)

A new collage—a diptych of sorts that pairs a straight monoprint in pinks and orange with a blue-oval studded monoprint in streaky blue. The subtleties of the blues don't quite come through in the photograph, but this is a fair facsimile.

This is Untitled Collage No. 165 (Santa Rosa), January 5, 2017, acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, collage. Image size 25.5 x 15.6cm (10.0 x 6.1 inches). Matted to 20 x 16 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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 164 (Santa Rosa)

A new collage drawing on the results of a recent morning of making new monoprints.

This is Untitled Collage No. 164 (Santa Rosa). January 4, 2017. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, found paper, collage. 25.8 x 17.5cm (10.1 x 6.9in). Matted to 20 x 16 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse
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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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 162 (Santa Rosa)

A new collage--small, layered, and blue. 

This is Untitled Collage No. 162 (Santa Rosa). December 31, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, collage. 13 x 7.9cm (5.1 x 3.1in). Matted to 14 x 11 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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage N. 161 (Santa Rosa)

My latest piece is another diminutive one—just about three inches square. This one uses various leftover scraps from other work but also incorporates a piece of hand-written music with scribbles. Fellow collage artist Sherry Parker gave me a stack of old music that I've been going through. It's so visually appealing that it's hard the resist using it.

This is Untitled Collage No. 161 (Santa Rosa). Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, found paper (handwritten music), collage. December 18, 2016. 8.2 x 7.6cm (3.2 x 3in). Matted to 14 x 11 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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 160 (Santa Rosa)

My latest collage, my first in several weeks. This one uses found Japanese paper and several subtly different shades of off-white monoprinted papers of my own creation. Together these were originally part of an abandoned monochrome experiment. I've coupled the pale overlapping lays with an abortive black and red juxtaposition from a few months back that I had abandoned as well. Paired, they finally began to make some kind of sense to me. The subtleties of the monochrome areas are lost in the photograph here, but it's a reasonable facsimile.

This is Untitled Collage No. 160 (Santa Rosa). December 11, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, found paper, collage. Image size 19.9 x 27.2cm (7.8 x 10.7 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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 159 (Santa Rosa)

My latest collage is another predominately green one, using sheets of monoprinted paper I made when in the mood for green. This is Untitled Collage No. 159 (Santa Rosa). November 3, 2016. Acrylic on Paper, acrylic monoprint, collage. 20.3 x 27.6cm (8.0 x 10.9 inches). Matted to 16 x 20 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat. I haven't been in the mood to create art since the election, I'm afraid.

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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 158 (Santa Rosa)

Almost caught up with posting recent collage work. Here's another new one. This piece is now on view on The Art Wall at Shige Sushi, Cotati, California (through December 31, 2016), along with many others. Come by and see it, and me, and have a glass of wine--or two--at the OPENING RECEPTION on MONDAY, November 7, 5:00PM to 7:30PM.

This is Untitled Collage No. 158 (Santa Rosa). October 22, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, found paper, cotton thread, collage. 15.3 x 20.1cm (6.0 x 7.9in). Matted to 20 x 16 inches. Signed and dated on the reverse. Signed on the mat.

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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 157 (Santa Rosa)

My latest collage. This is another done during the recent Sonoma County Art Trails open studios event. This piece (and many others) is now on view on The Art Wall at Shige Sushi (through December 31, 2016, opening reception Monday, November 7, 5:00PM to 7:30PM.) Come by and see it, and me, and have a glass of wine--or two.

Untitled Collage No. 157 (Santa Rosa). October 17, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, found paper, collage. 30.8 x 25.5cm (12.1 x 10.0in). Matted to 20 x 16 inches. Signed and dated on the reverse. Signed on the mat.

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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 156 (Santa Rosa)

My latest collage piece. This was done during the recent Sonoma County Art Trails open studios event.

This is Untitled Collage No. 156 (Santa Rosa). October 16, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, collage. 21.8 x 31.6cm (8.6 x 12.4in). Matted to 16 x 20 inches. Signed and dated on the reverse. Signed on the mat.

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.

Art I'm Making: New Collages

Since last posting images, I've finished three new collages. These are numbers 153, 154, and 155. I don't give my collages titles because to me they are mostly problems of composition. Inevitably, people see images in them (and I do myself sometimes), but these are coincidental. I intend no subject. I seek no subject. From top to bottom:

Untitled Collage No. 153 (Santa Rosa) September 5, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, collage. 23.3 x 18.6cm (9.4 x 7.25in). Matted to 20 x 16 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat. This one is a fairly simple overlay of hard-edged forms over a flowing black-on-white monoprint, a study in motion and stasis.

Untitled Collage No. 154 (Santa Rosa) September 20, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, found paper (handwritten music), collage. 18.0 x 23.1cm (7.13 x 9.13in). Matted to 16 x 20 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat. This one sets horizontal linear effects of dark blue-black monoprinted elements against verticals created by up-ended staff paper.

Untitled Collage No. 155 (Santa Rosa) October 12, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, found paper (handwritten music, Japanese textile stencil, fragment of a doodle bot drawing), collage. 17.6 x 15.1cm 6.9 x 5.9in). Matted to 20 x 16 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat. A study in blues accented by green and rust patches. Here I've used found music again, but I've used it more for the blue pencil marks on the staff paper than for the linear quality of the staff paper itself.

Click on the images for larger views. For more of my collage work, visit my collage site at http://ctalcroft.wix.com/collage-site. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can see my work in person during the Sonoma County Art Trails open studios event, always the middle two weeks of October--this year, October 8, 9 and October 15, 16. This year, I will be Studio No. 141.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 151 (Santa Rosa)

Catching up on posting recent collage work. Another tiny collage, only 8 x 6.2cm (3.1 x 2.4in). Being so small, the subtleties are hard to see here. But, Sonoma County Art Trails is just around the corner (October 8,9 and 15, 16). This year I'll be studio no. 141. Come and have a look at a year's worth of new work.

This is Untitled Collage No. 151 (Santa Rosa). July 28, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, collage. Matted to 14 x 11 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat.

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. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can see my work in person during the Sonoma County Art Trails open studios event, always the middle two weeks of October--this year, October 8, 9 and October 15, 16. This year, I will be Studio No. 141.

OPENING RECEPTION for the preview show at The Sebastopol Center for the Arts is September 23, 6:00PM to 8:00PM. The preview show, which includes one piece of work from each of the 192 participating artists is on view now through the end of the event. For more information, go to http://sonomacountyarttrails.org.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 150 (Santa Rosa)

Playing with purple, I've created an unstable-looking pile of textures in that color. The shapes are vaguely suggestive of something. I can't decide what—but there's no need to discover a "subject" in this little composition. It is what it is.

This is Untitled Collage No. 150 (Santa Rosa). July 21, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, collage. Image size: 15.3 x 15.6cm (6.0 x 6.2 inches). Matted to 16 x 20 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat.

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. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can see my work in person during the Sonoma County Art Trails open studios event, always the middle two weeks of October--this year, October 8, 9 and October 15, 16. This year, I will be Studio No. 141.

OPENING RECEPTION for the preview show at The Sebastopol Center for the Arts is September 23, 6:00PM to 8:00PM. The preview show, which includes one piece of work from each of the 192 participating artists is on view now through the end of the event. For more information, go to http://sonomacountyarttrails.org.

Art I'm Making: Two New Collages--Untitled Collage No. 147 (Santa Rosa) and Untitled Collage No. 149 (Santa Rosa)

Two recent collages, one very small, the other a little larger. These are numbers 147 (top) and 149 in my ongoing series of untitled collages made in Santa Rosa. (I haven't posted No. 148 because I've been unable to create a good image of it. It doesn't scan or photograph well.)

Untitled Collage No. 147 (Santa Rosa). June 26, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, collage. Image size: 9.5 x 10.5cm (3.7 x 4.1in). Matted to 11 x 14 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat.

Untitled Collage No. 149 (Santa Rosa). July 14, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, fragment of an automatic drawing by a doodlebot, collage. Image size: 14.2 x 15.9cm (5.6 x 6.3 inches). Matted to 16 x 20 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat.

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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 146 (Santa Rosa)

Another new collage. Untitled Collage No. 146 (Santa Rosa). June 20, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint. 17.6 x 19cm (7 x 7.5in). Matted to 16 x 20 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat.

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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 145 (Santa Rosa)

My latest collage--another study in green with a few blue accents. This is Untitled Collage No. 145 (Santa Rosa). June 15, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, pastel. 21 x 20.8cm (8.25 x 8.2 inches).

Matted to 16 x 20 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat.

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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 144 (Santa Rosa)

A new collage. Not quite so new, but the most recent piece I've finished. Art-making has been on the back burner the past few weeks, pre-empted by a two-week trip interpreting for a Japanese film crew in the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley area and then an unusually busy work (translation) schedule.

This is Untitled Collage No. 144 (Santa Rosa). May 14, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, found paper (artist's trash), pastel, collage. 13.8 x 9.8 inches. Matted to 24 x 20 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat. 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.

Art I'm Making: Untitled Collage No. 143 (Santa Rosa)

Feeling I didn't have enough green in my life, I made a stack of monoprints in green and black and in green and blue. From these will emerge new collage work. Here is the first such piece.

Untitled Collage No. 143 (Santa Rosa) May 10, 2016. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monoprint, pastel, collage. Image size 19 x 26.4cm. Matted to 16 x 20 inches. Signed and dated on reverse. Signed on the mat.

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