Still Lives

I am beginning a new series of work that I am thinking of calling "Still Lives". I am using vintage photos with a variety of media. I intend to tell a story with each collage. I see the photos themselves as depicting a moment in time, but also revealing so much more about the person. As I work, I create fictional lives around these characters, imaging their names, activities, loves, passions. It is so much fun.

My first is called "Marjorie". On canvas, I created texture using gesso, then glued book pages and covered with acrylic paint for the background. Then, after I glued the vintage photo print on the canvas, I used a clear gesso over the photo to give it some tooth for the pan pastel coloring. Well, it took off some of the emulsion of the photo and cracked it. Hence the theme of the photo. I also used stamps and ink for the letters, pencil for details, sequin waste as a stencil on the background and soft gel medium as a glue. I created three backgrounds using the same colors to save time, so the next two pieces will be in a similar color scheme.

I am totally obsessed with these vintage photos and anxiously wait for some I bought on Ebay to arrive in the mail from Germany and from England. I have been using Photoshop to help increase the contrast in these old photos and that has made a huge difference in the quality.