Something a bit different

Now and then that desire to set aside the brushes and get messy with paper and glue just takes over, like a craving for Ben and Jerry’s. And just as satisfying. I’ve got scores of magazine photos, filed by color family (like any self-respecting Type A), those old maps, some Japanese papers, and what a find…a bag full of old sheet music that was a pre-COVID Freecycle score. Did I mention the shop teacher at my school will cut scraps of wood any size I want? I’ve a sweet collection in my studio, just waiting for some creative attention. Enter…a little something to throw in Madeleine’s 23rd birthday gift box, a collage on wood of some of her favorites, from one of her succulents to a framed photo of our beloved Seamus. Best dog ever, RIP.

I’ve been thrilled to watch the “I GOTTA HAVE PLANTS” strand of DNA that courses through my family bloom (ha, sorry) in Madeleine. Her Wash U apartment bedroom windowsill is…crowded. And these fish? Madeleine found them on the donate table as she moved out of her undergrad dorm. No way could she walk past and not offer a new home. Harry and Hermione (RIP Ron) have been driven from South Bend to Arlington to St. Louis, to Arlington, to St. Louis. And the sweetest part? The sheet music is circa 1943, “Mairzy Doats”, which my dad sang to Madeleine when she was a toddler.

This was such a lighthearted and truly fun process. Let me know if you have a photo you’d like turned into a collage. I’d love the challenge!

Favorite Things, 12'“x 12”, collage on wood