Found Object Assemblage – Page 5 – Art and Art Deadlines.com

CALL for ENTRIES: Consequences

Posted on February 7, 2012 by R.L. Gibson

MER-lower,
please

Merlot sings to me. But the next morning, I will harm anyone attempting to sing to me. I am allergic to the tannins after years of enjoying the taste of an earthy glass at art openings. Now, just one glass makes me feel like I’ve been hit by a bus. I still have a glass occasionally and deal with the consequences. This next Call wants to see how you deal with the consequences. Fabulous…

Check out this Call for Entries from the Arc Gallery (San Francisco, CA) for Consequences. This is a great space, AND I LOVE this theme. For those of us that live life with little thought of the consequences, this is pure fantasy. Take a look…

*Editor’s Note: If you have read the personal portion of this post, CALL for ENTRIES: Consequences, anywhere other than by email subscription or on ArtAndArtDeadlines.com, it has been published without permission and is considered theft.

CALL for ENTRIES:
Consequences

Consequences: aftermath, effect, conclusion, outcome, payback, repercussion, result, fallout, reaction, spin-off, inference, distinction, importance, or significant. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “Everyone, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences.” Arc Gallery is looking for contemporary works that will fill its space with a smorgasbord of perspectives on this theme. Dark, humorous, quirky or twisted, interpret the theme as you like.

ELIGIBILITY: Artists residing in the continental US

MEDIA: Sculpture, painting, drawing, photo, printmaking, ceramics, assemblage, collage, mixed media, fiber art, and artist book.

DEADLINE:
February 24, 2012

NOTIFICATION:
April 1, 2012

ENTRY FEE: $35 for up to 3 uploaded images per entry. A maximum of 2 entries per person is allowed.

JUROR: Donna Seager was born in New Orleans and received her education in English and Art History at the University of Texas in Austin. She is in her 33nd year in the art business, having started in New Orleans in 1978. She went on to direct Marlborough Gallery on Newbury Street in Boston and moved to the Bay Area in 1989. She worked with Robert Green of Robert Green Fine Arts for ten years. Throughout her career, she has written articles about artists and exhibitions for various publications and juried many shows in Northern California.

In November of 2005, she opened her own gallery in San Rafael, winning Best of Marin in 2008, 2009 and 2010. She believes strongly in the role of art in refining the sensibilities of the community and that involvement in the arts enhances the quality of life for all.

AWARDS: A Juror’s Award ribbon and certificate will be awarded to three works that express the most imaginative interpretation of the “Consequences” theme. *Editor’s Question: Am I the only one tickled pink by getting an award ribbon? hehehe.

SALES: 60% will go to the artists, 40% will go to Arc.

For complete details, Read the Full Call!

2011 ARTIST of the YEAR: Pamela Zimmerman

Posted on January 24, 2012January 24, 2012 by R.L. Gibson

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
(kind of)

Today marks a New Year for ArtAndArtDeadlines.com! And, per usual, I am running a little behind the traditionally recognized New Year Celebration (December 31st), but I love Chinese New Year (yesterday). And, I almost got this post done by then, ha! I, of course, always appreciate an excuse to eat Chinese food…it doesn’t have to be a holiday.

This is the day we name the
Artist of the Year for 2011.

When this blog began in September of 2009, I was determined to cover not only art deadlines but also really good art. And, I chose a few artists here and there. I quickly realized that the Featured Artist program needed structure, or it would never really get done on any sort of regular basis. The $2 Art Contest was born.

I began to realize that the Featured Artist Page was getting crowded and adding more artists would lessen the impact of being Featured. I knew I had to start archiving artists yearly…

And the idea of
the Artist of the Year
was born.

I now give all of our Featured Artists each year notice that on December 31st at midnight EST, the Artist of the Year would be determined by the number of comments on their individual Featured Artist blog posts.

Right out of the gate, three artists’ fans came out strong: Denee Black, Deanna Bowdish, and Pamela Zimmerman. And after a month of voting, the final count was close… only a few dozen votes separated Black, Bowdish and Zimmerman.

Congratulations to
Pamela Zimmerman
AAAD’s 2011 Artist of the Year

I have enjoyed getting to know her this year. It feels to me like she showed a vulnerability to me, and thereby you, with her intricate, personal work. True vulnerability is rarely seen and often imitated.

Get to know Pamela Zimmerman:

ArtAndArtDeadlines.com
Facebook
Twitter

Do you want to be the 2012 Artist of the Year?
It all starts with the
$2 Art Contest.

Stay tuned later this week we unveil 2012’s first Featured Artist as well as changes to the Featured Artist Page!

FEATURED ARTIST: Terri Lloyd

Posted on July 16, 2011 by R.L. Gibson

SPOONFUL of
SUGAR

When the $2 Art Contest began, I thought it would be easy to sit on my rear and judge other people’s work. Turns out, it isn’t quite so simple. A glass of wine is always helpful when figuring out whose work to feature, and how to word all the rejection letters. Chocolate or goat cheese are excellent substitutes for a fine wine, in my humble opinion. But this month’s Featured Artist finds her comfort in gnocchi.

I have a soft spot for portraiture, as you all well know. However, I also have an attraction to typography and work that doses out a sometimes less than palatable dose of vinegar with a spoonful of sugar. Ha. Now you can sing THAT song for the rest of the day. It is frequently the attempt of my own work, so I suppose I am just self-absorbed enough to be attracted to it in others’ work.

This month’s artist has
a voice that will not be silenced:
and I suspect she doesn’t care what we think, either way.

The Featured Artist chosen from the May and June entries is Terri Lloyd. Lloyd’s work, quite simply, makes me clutch my guts laughing, then, once I’ve caught my breath, I say, “Hmmmm.” I enjoy the guiltless laughter at vibrant work with both a message and a sense of humor. I am inspired to remember that we are not invisible, you and I, and WE decide how to use our gifts.

FEATURED ARTIST:
Terri Lloyd

Terri Lloyd is a San Francisco Bay Area transplant that has called Los Angeles home since 1980. Under the influence of a Sixties latch-key-kid youth, the circumstances of a working class life did not provide the conventional means to an art education or experience.

“It has been challenging, but I refuse to let the institutions get in the way of my education. Knowledge is now available at our fingertips. There is no excuse for ignorance. Ignorance has become a choice.”

Introduced to the Apple Macintosh in 1987 a love affair with digital art was born. Terri has never viewed computer generated imagery as a movement. The computer and software are tools. How the operator chooses to use them remains as individual as any other artist working in any other medium.

“I compare the work I create
to advertising.”

“It’s about formulating the right message first, and not becoming a sporting event half-time fiasco that baffles the viewer with high tech circus tricks.”

Terri’s approach is something that she terms a “whole-istic Zen,” which emulsifies decades of commercial and graphic arts expertise into pointed, often controversial visuals. Seasoning her images with pun and insinuation, all the while thumbing her nose at conventional wisdom and other popular absurdities.

She currently resides in Northeast Los Angeles with her husband, three cats and one boisterous macaw.

But I wanted Lloyd to weigh in on the “Pink Buddha” image to which she has become inextricably linked: “Pink Buddha is a mythological creature who appears from time to time planting whimsy and baby headed flowers, reminding us to lighten up and stop taking ourselves (especially artists) so very seriously.

I suppose the significance to me is that I want a happier mythology, or creation story. I don’t like what religion, dogma, ideology does to people. Sure, there’s some good, but then again look at what is happening around the world. We need a better, nicer story about who we are and why we are here on this small blue marble hurling through space.”

What do you consider your media? Are you a graphic designer? Or may I suggest Art Terrorist? “I guess I’m a story teller mostly. A sort of chimera, part graphic designer, part digital artist, part performance artist, another part absurdist (okay, smart ass). I like ‘Art Terrorist.’ I might change it to “Art Terri-ist.” (My ego again, sorry.) I think I’m a surrealist or absurdist with photographic and digital execution.”

Talk to me about how you work, your process. Do you have special terminology that you have developed for how you work? “The Pink Buddha video was shot using a cheap digital camera. I’ve also created prints with linoleum, and silk screen. Oh and I’ve even made prints using the now defunct Print Gocco.”

“The terminology I use for how I work is ‘riding the crazy train’.”

You know we have to talk about food: “Well, I believe the tree of life is made from pasta. I love Italian food. Gnocchi brings me great comfort. So does lasagna. But I also love Indian food. I’m a nut for saag paneer and dal. I love fish, and the cockroach of the sea, shrimp.”

So, what’s coming up next for you, Terri? “Lots of fun. I’ll have a piece in the Brand 40 Works on Paper exhibition at the Brand Library and Art Galleries in September. In October, if all goes well, my organization, The Haggus Society, will be hosting it’s first exhibition in Pasadena. We’re still sorting out some of the details.

“B*tch Fest is something The Haggus Society is working toward building. Ideally it will be a month long exhibition or festival celebrating the older female artist. For some reason, older women in the arts have no voice, and very little institutional support. Particularly for the re-emerging artist. It’s as if we are invisible. Our objective is to change the thinking about this.”

Thank you, Terri Lloyd for the unapologetic middle finger you give to conformity. I am inspired to scream at the top of my lungs…with my own art. You are a lune of the best kind.

Learn more about Terri Lloyd online!

Want to be a Featured Artist on www.ArtAndArtDeadlines.com?
Check out the $2 Art Contest!

CALL for ART ENTRIES: Eye of the Beholder

Posted on July 12, 2011 by R.L. Gibson

STICK
‘EM UP!

I love kitchen gadgets, as you very well know. However, I’ve found lots of fun and funny uses for my least used kitchen accessories outside the kitchen all together. My favorite Wilton offset spatula for icing cakes has become my best palatte knife. And back before I cut off all my hair for ease and convenience, I had a favorite set of red and black enameled chopsticks that made fabulous hair sticks. Maybe your found object for this next Call will come from the kitchen. Take a look…

Check out this Call for Entries from the Maryland Federation of Art (Annapolis, MD) for Eye of the Beholder! This found object show is unique in that you only have to incorporate ONE found objects. Have fun…

CALL for ART ENTRIES:
Eye of the Beholder

Found Objects: (According to The Smithsonian Institution) “Found art, more commonly called found objects — in French, objet trouve — is a term used to describe art created from common objects not normally considered to be artistic. The idea behind found art is that the piece of art derives its significance from the context into which it is put. Found Art blurs the traditional lines of what is art and questions the very nature of art itself. Found objects are often used by artists and may include the repurposing of street signs, license plates, or bottle caps, use of recycled paper, or imaginative application of household items.”

ELIGIBILITY: All artists residing in the United States and Canada

MEDIA: The exhibition is held to showcase the works of fine art that have incorporated at least one or more found objects into their presentation. Any two or three dimensional submission following exhibition guidelines will be considered by the juror.

DEADLINE: August 24, 2011

NOTIFICATION: Sept. 23, 2011

ENTRY FEE: A maximum of 6 original works created within the past 3 years may be entered. 1 or 2 entries $35 (MFA members $20). Additional four entries $5 each. Entry fees are non-refundable.

JUROR: Janet Maher has been a working artist for thirty-five years, and is an Associate Professor of Art at Loyola University Maryland. She works in a wide range of mixed media, and teaches courses that reflect her interests, such as: Collage, Assemblage and the Found Object; Book Arts and Artist Books; Digital Mixed Media; Printmaking (Relief, Intaglio, Screenprint, Lithography and Alternative Processes), as well as Drawing and Two-Dimensional Design. She has exhibited widely and her work is in numerous public and private collections.

AWARDS: Cash awards total $1000. Contributors and recipients will be listed in the exhibition catalog.

SALES: The MFA will retain 30% commission from sales.

For complete details, download the Prospectus!

CALL for ENTRIES: Fur Elise

Posted on July 8, 2011 by R.L. Gibson

FUZZY WUZZY,
but not a bear

I will eat snails, but peaches give me the willies. Illogical, I know. It is about the fur. I eat kiwi and coconut because it is clear they are meant to be peeled. But fresh peaches have human-like hair growing that peeling seems a little cannibalistic. I hear your snickering; don’t judge me. I’ll eat my peaches canned or just settle for nectarines, thank-you-very-much. This next Call is all about the fur… in a good way. Take a look!

Check out this Call for Entries from White Flag Projects (St. Louis, MO) for Fur Elise, an artshow celebrating companion animals. This show will be a little out there for some of you, but White Flag Projects is known for being on the edge… this is no exception. Don’t miss this all hung opportunity!

CALL for ENTRIES:
Fur Elise

White Flag Projects, a not-for-profit arts institution, invites all companion animals and their guardians to display objects crafted from collected fur brushings as part of Für Elise, a special display of fur objects to be held August 13 through 22, 2011. Für Elise will open with a free public reception for companion animals and their guardians Saturday afternoon, August 13 from 1-3
PM. All guardians will receive a complimentary Für Elise poster including their companion animal’s name.

ELIGIBILITY: All entries that meet the requirements will be accepted for display.

MEDIA: Entries must be comprised of at least 90% collected fur brushings. Entries containing excessive secondary materials will not be accepted.

Entries must be crafted from the fur of living cats, dogs, and other companion animals – pelts, hides, or artificial fur will not be accepted. Entries may be 2 or 3 dimensional. Entries must be accompanied by a completed entry form. Entries will be credited exclusively to the companion animal.

DEADLINE: Mailed entries must be received no later than August 10, 2011.

ENTRY FEE: There is no entry fee, but you will have to pay shipping.

ABOUT WHITE FLAG PROJECTS: White Flag Projects is a non-profit gallery established to facilitate meaningful exhibitions by progressive international, national & local artists.

For complete details, Download the Full Guidelines!

CALL for ENTRIES: Collage, Digital & Mixed Media

Posted on April 30, 2011 by R.L. Gibson

FREAKY & FRUITY

With rare exception, I am not a fan of fruit and meat combinations. Keep your pineapple off my pizza and out of my stirfry. Lemons and limes are acceptable, and figs and plums are only allowed in Mediterranean food. While I don’t care to mix my food groups sometimes, mixed media in artwork is a different story. This Call gives you an opportunity to show your best mixed media work (or collage and digital). Don’t miss this opportunity for artist representation too!

Check out this Call for Entries from Upstream People Gallery for the 13th Annual Collage, Digital & Mixed Media Juried Online Art Exhibition. I am not crazy about entering every online show that comes along, but if you are looking for quality online gallery representation, this Call comes with a full year of representation. Bonus: only 20% commission! Take a look…

*Editor’s Note: I am sorry, Dave. 🙂 If you look at the comments on the CultureHall post, I assured him that I would take it easy on the online gallery calls. But, this one was already written… and a year of representation with really low commission will work for some of you…

CALL for ENTRIES: 13th Annual Collage, Digital & Mixed Media Juried Online International Art Exhibition

The Upstream People Gallery presents an exhibition with 12 month’s gallery representation, June 1, 2011 through May 31, 2012, with approximately 900,000 hits each month.

ELIGIBILITY: Open to all artists worldwide.

MEDIA: Artworks in collage, digital and all mixed media. All artworks including alternative media, paintings, sculpture, prints, drawing, photographs, papier colle, assemblage, installation, digital manipulation, ceramics, fiber and other.

DEADLINE: Postmark Deadline to send early entries May 8, 2011. Final Deadline for later entries May 24, 2011.

NOTIFICATION: Early entry jury notifications mailed May 15, 2011. Final deadlines entries are notified shortly after day of receipt of entry.

ENTRY FEE: A fee of $25 must accompany up to five slides or jpegs/tiffs; $5 for each additional. No maximum.

Checks or POSTAL Money Orders or for artists outside the U.S. send an International POSTAL Money Order or a Cashier’s Check in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. Bank, payable to: Upstream People Gallery. Western Union via http://www.westernunion.com/ or cash (where possible) may also be used. PayPal may be used with payments made to: shows@upstreampeoplegallery.com, with $2.00 added to cover PayPal’s fee or $27 entry fee. Later entries after postmark deadline is $30; Later entries with PayPal is $32.

JUROR: Professor of Art Larry Bradshaw, University of Nebraska at Omaha, College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media, who has exhibited in over 350 exhibitions with upwards of 60 art awards.

SALES: Upstream People Gallery will take 20% commission on sales directly attributed to the web site; however, the gallery takes no commission from artists who negotiate the sale of their own work.

For complete details, Download the Prospectus!

CALL for ENTRIES: Junk Metal Sculpture

Posted on December 1, 2010June 7, 2017 by R.L. Gibson

THE FIRST CUT

There is nothing like the beginning. My first class at Johnson & Wales was knife skills. I will never dice a vegetable again…only brunoise. I will never again cut matchstick size vegetables –only allumette. This next call is from a burgeoning gallery and may give a few of you your first shot at metal sculpture. For others, you might discover the beginning of a career in junk art. Seize your beginning…

Check out this Call for Entries from the Shaviq Gallery (Rapid City, SD) for Junk Metal Sculpture. The entry fee is cheap, the commission is unusually low, and the show length is long. You can’t ask for better circumstances for art sales. Take a look…

•

CALL for ENTRIES:
Junk Metal Sculpture
from Shaviq Gallery

•

ELIGIBILITY: Open to all U.S. artists

MEDIA: Junk metal sculpture

DEADLINE: December 22, 2010

NOTIFICATION: December 29, 2010

ENTRY FEE: $25 for up to 6 ($6 ea. add’l)

JURORS: John Lopez, Metal Sculpture Artist. Sculptor John Lopez was born and raised in Western SD. His western & rodeo theme bronzes have been well received & have sold all over the country from CA to NY. For the past 10 years, John has been working on The City of Presidents project in Rapid City SD, creating bronze sculptures of the presidents. In the midst of a successful career in bronze sculpting, Lopez discovered scrap iron sculpting. See Blonde pictured above right.

James Van Nuys, a realist painter & sculptor, is one of the finest interpreters of the SD landscape. Van Nuys was born in Whittier, CA and has lived intermittently in Rapid City,SD most of his life. He attended Wilmington College, graduating with a double major in art & music. Shawn Wilson, owner of the new Shaviq Gallery, designs beautifully unique jewelry consisting of natural stone, repurposed wire, bright colors of glass, broken jewelry, old buttons, dead watches, even tea bag tags.

SALES: The gallery will retain 35% commission

For all the details, visit the full Call for Entries!

Save

CALL for ENTRIES: Spare Parts

Posted on October 28, 2010 by R.L. Gibson

A CROCK FOR EVERY POT

I am the queen of the crock pot. I have Lemon Chicken in the crock pot as I write this post. I love Fall and Winter because they provide the perfect excuse to through lots of things in the crock pot and call is soup or chowder or stew. And in my kitchen next to the crock pot (when it is stored on top of my cabinets) is two of my favorite pieces of found-object assemblage–toasters covered in journal pages and a virtual crock pot of other brick-a-brack.

Here’s your chance to cook up a masterpiece of your own. This Call for Entries from The Renaissance Center in Dickson, TN is for a show called Spare Parts. It doesn’t have to be kitchen-themed, but it does have to be found objects or assemblage. Check it out!

CALL for ENTRIES: Spare Parts for the Renaissance Center

The Renaissance Center in Dickson, TN has issued a call for assemblages and found-object artwork. Work can be three-dimensional and free-standing or two-dimensional and designed to hang on the wall.

The Renaissance Center’s Visual Arts department is committed to artistic performance, aesthetic appreciation and cultural understanding. They provide an educational resource for their community through course selections, gallery exhibitions and artist workshops.

MEDIA:
Assemblages &
found-object artwork

DEADLINE: November 14, 2010

ENTRY FEE: There is no entry fee.

ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible, artists must be over 16 years of age. Submissions must be original work by the artist, and must be created within the past two (2) years. Accepted work must be ready for display (2-D works must be wired for hanging). If your work requires any special accommodations please detail this information on your Entry Form.

NOTIFICATION:
November 24, 2010

SHIPPING: Please note that delivery or shipping of accepted artwork to and from the exhibition is the responsibility of the artist. The Renaissance Center has the right to refuse to display any work felt unsuitable for a family-friendly environment or misrepresented in the application.

COMMISSION: A 25% commission is taken out of all art sale transactions conducted through the Renaissance Center. Images of accepted work will be used for marketing and documentation, giving credit to the artist.

For full details,
Download the Prospectus!

FEATURED ARTIST: T.S. McFadden

Posted on October 16, 2010 by R.L. Gibson

CRUNCHY GOODNESS!

The $2 Art Contest is getting to be like pulling teeth. And, I can’t afford to loose my teeth. While I love silky bisques and hollandaise, a blogger cannot live by hollandaise alone. What good is the hollandaise when you’re dreaming of corn nuts and have pulled all your teeth? I think this month’s entries for the $2 Art Contest were extraordinarily tasty.

The entries I receive each month for the $2 Art Contest are incredibly varied. I see work from every imaginable media, from artists at every level of their careers–some polished and PR savvy, some more vulnerable, but honest. Because it isn’t a level playing field, it isn’t really just about choosing the best art. I love having the honor of reviewing all the work, but I am made anxious by the necessity of choosing.

The Featured Artist chosen from September entries is T.S. McFadden. McFadden’s work hits so many of the right notes for me–multiple media, over-the-top devotion to the creative process, and a love for found objects and recycled materials.

FEATURED ARTIST:
T.S. McFadden

T.S. McFadden is an intuitive artist whose prolific body of work explores process, internal dialoques and facilitation. He was born in a small town in Ohio and raised in the country. He is now based in New York.

McFadden has sculpted and painted since he was a child and is self-taught but for a handful of private lessons. He studied in the fine arts, graduated from Kent State University and has spent time in Europe studying other artists.

While I am in love with the Elephant Graveyard series on which McFadden is currently working, I chose to focus this feature on McFadden’s Mother Series of paintings. As I have shouted from the mountain tops many times, my artistic skill does not lie in painting media. But, I find my inadequacy in this area makes me appreciate the talent in others even more.

The Mother Series is what the artist calls an abstract expression of logic. That will serve as a huge contradiction for some. The next contradiction will come from the idea that these paintings are a sort of recycled assemblage.

“This series was created using remnants from my palattes, which were scraped and pulled and meant for the garbage. Too haunting and too beautiful to be discarded, they were stacked and saved for years. The kinetic energy found in the palatte is art in its purest form–it is the unintentional genesis of intention.”

There’s that logic for you.

I always send a quiz to my Featured Artist picks to gain a little insight and help me feel inspired to write. Some of the questions are food related, some are art related, some try to unveil the inspiration behind it all. What have a learned from the quizzes as a whole?

Artists don’t often like
to give direct answers, ha.

McFadden’s answers did not disappoint. When asked about his favorite foods, he reinforced the notion of contradictions. How do you claim corn nuts and sashimi among your favorites? I suspect those choices just reinforce how the pull of opposites can produce a cohesive balance.

What do you think?

When asked about his favorite media, McFadden decided upon Experimentation. Perfect.

And what school of art does feel
his work fits? Intuition.
Even more perfect.

Energy, emotion and circumstance direct him. He uses layers of color to examine, define and mask an inner world. Organic and graphic elements invade the space, push the calm and subdue the conflict.

McFadden considers his creativity intrinsic and his pronouncement of it solely environmental.

He is a painter and a sculptor, a published author, a writer of poetry and music, a furniture designer and whatever else the moment he is living in requires him to be.

Thank you, T.S. McFadden, for the Mother Series…and for reminding us of the old school definition of “artistic.” I, for one, can’t wait to see the Elephant Graveyard series!

Learn more about T.S. McFadden online!

Want to be a Featured Artist on www.ArtAndArtDeadlines.com?
Check out the $2 Art Contest!

FEATURED ARTIST: Peg Grady

Posted on August 13, 2010 by R.L. Gibson

INDULGENT WHIMSY

I find the sacred in everyday objects and appreciate the indulgence of artists that do. My house is filled with odd tidbits that have called out to me from here and there–things with which I cannot part for reasons unknown.

Peg Grady is a kindred spirit.

July marks the first month of the $2 Art Contest. The purpose of the contest was not to get rich, but to force myself to regularly review the work submitted to me by artists. Now you will get monthly Featured Artists, not quarterly or whenever the mood strikes me.

When choosing to force myself to be more diligent about posting Featured Artists, I neglected to account for how hard it would be for me to chose only one. I contemplated giving 2nd and 3rd place, but felt it somehow took away from the true winner–Peg Grady.

PEG GRADY

When I started investigating Peg Grady’s work, I was immediately drawn to her paintings and drawings that often take on the appearance of oil pastels and often incorporate a whimsy of color and typography. But once I found The Perfect Word Series, I was hooked. The work was, well, reverential…from a distance.

I noticed a statement on Grady’s site apart from her Artist Statement specifically for The Perfect Word: “An old thesaurus’s yellowed pages containing outdated phrases such as ‘apple pie order,’ ‘pretty kettle of fish’ and ‘tittle-tattle’ evoke a sense of history that delights me, sending me back to my elementary school classroom where the teacher told us of the value of Roget’s (not the dictionary style) thesaurus and how it branched off with differing shades of meaning, leading you to the perfect word.”

This led me back to the work, where I used the built-in magnifier to examine the details that tied it all together.

The simply whimsy in sacred found objects is all tied together in the simplicity of The Perfect Word.

Some of you may recall that I send out a questionnaire to all of my potential Featured Artists that asks a variety of questions from favorite foods to artistic influences, and I couldn’t wait to read Peg Grady’s answers to see if I really could have developed a picture of who she was based on this short series of work.

Artistic influences? Betye Saar, famous for her assemblage work, seems fitting. Robert Rauchenberg reinforced assemblage as Grady’s true love. Romare Bearden rounds it out.

Foods? Dark Chocolate and Almonds–indulgent. I would expect no less.

When asked if she liked to collaborate with others, she matter-of-factly explained that she doesn’t “play well with others. But I do run with scissors.” A woman after my own heart.

I have fallen in love with The Perfect Word series, and my heart is singing to hear that The Perfect Game series featuring a vintage book of solitaire layouts is in the works.

How did Peg Grady develop into the artist she is? Maybe it all ties back to her childhood…

“I was born in New York City where I appreciated the dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History much more than the Monets at the Modern. Finally I got older and (hopefully) wiser, became a California girl and fell in love with art.”

Thank you, Peg Grady for the reverence with which you treat the written word and for creating work that makes us think. Thank you for artwork that both celebrates and believes in the ability of the child in all of us to remember the whimsy of our childhood with the sacredness it deserves.

Discover Peg Grady’s artwork on your own at:
www.PegGradyArt.com

Just a side note, Peg Grady embodies many of the tips that I preach in “The Art of Cooking (aka How to Get an Art Show)” Investigate and learn.

Category: Found Object Assemblage

MER-lower, please