ideas are like stars

In my opinion, Mary Chapin Carpenter must be the most underrated song writer in the world. Her lyrics are brilliant, and her singing superb. This collage was inspired by repeated listening to her brilliant music.

alligator luggage

Sometimes the weirdest images just evolve. This is one of them, so imagine what is happening in the darker recesses of my brain.

diva

ATCs

I haven't made any of these for some time and then all of a sudden I come across a bunch of images the right size to work at this scale. So here's another bunch.

Andy cola

I have always been a big fan of pop art, and the way the artists associated with it would include ephemera in their artwork. Some of my fave pop artists are Robert Indiana, Robert Rauschenberg, Mel Ramos, Jim Dine, Mimo Rotella ,Oyvind Fahlstrom, and of course, my favourite, the inimitable Peter Blake.

Some ATCS

hoarded treasure

I am one of those people who think twice about throwing things away. Strangely enough, both my parents were "neat freaks", especially my mom, so where do I get this need to pick up and collect stuff? The mailman? Maybe that's why I like mail art as well. Only joking mom!

This is a recycled postcard with pieces of magazine (hoarded in my workshop and with the pages bonded through years of dampness) stuck to it. Beautiful.

slick

Mint tea

Cerulean

I managed to sneak in some collage time over the weekend and here's one of the results. Maybe its the onset of winter (well at least an unseasonable cold snap that had the dogs huddling up in the sun) but I seem to be doing some gloomy, monotone images lately.

drawing plans

I just received a mail art call that includes a small pencil and an invitation to "draw an idea". It was a reminder to me to get back to carrying a sketchbook around in order to draw just for myself. This led me to thinking how little time I have in this rushed and busy world to take time off just to sit and focus solely on such a personal and rewarding activity. Aah well, maybe its time to slow down and make time for something I enjoy again. Here's a collage that includes a bit of drawing.

summer break

Aah for those lazy days of warm weather on the beach. Winter is truly on it's way here and we can pack away the sun block and board shorts for another year.

Curlews

I occasionally disembowel old Reader's Digest books because I love their old school bindings. I recycle the bindings as loose leaf folders for collages specifically made to fit. This particular collage is a double whammy as it also contains bits of lovely old RD illustration.

Blue monday

A melancholy collage for a blue Monday.

hectic day

Sorry, I've had a bad hair day myself so here's another car collage.

world cup series

I am a sucker for ephemera and sweet and bubble gum is one of my holy grails. These stickers were inserts in a bubblegum series that came out during one of the world cup soccer tournaments. I think they look better like this than just stuck in a box or an album. Ephemera art.

bad hair day

Years ago, I read an article in an old Graphis about a designer or illustrator, I can't recall who, who mentioned that he divided his life up into sacred time (work on creative projects, personal stuff etc.) and profane time (brushing your teeth, renewing your vehicle licence, working to earn a living). I like this idea but realise that I do it in very short bits.

My day job as an editorial cartoonist means that I work to quite tight daily deadlines. However, there is always some dead time (mainly rebooting my poor computer) when I grab the opportunity to swing round on my chair and work on one of the many half-finished collages sitting on my work table. This is my latest result - a few minutes of fiddling around that gave me more satisfaction than the rest of my efforts to do my "daily work". Isn't that why we get up in the morning?

mileage

Just a fun image from my set of car collages.

Pure blue

A melancholy collage for a gloomy day.

white wall tyres

Just another one in the series of 60s car collages. Truly these vehicles are a triumph of that old design dichotomy - with form definitely dominating function. I am by no means a petrolhead but these vehicles are, in my opinion, just magnificent.

love boat

A recent postcard based on a recycled kid's book, on its way to the sticker dude in New York.