contemporary collage paintings
the process
Leslie Avon Miller

My life flows when I'm in my art.


Jean De Muzio

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Brown Paper Bags and Rust


Archive, Leslie Avon Miller
11x14x1.25 on panel


Today is a wonderful day. I'm moving into my new studio! I am more than excited!

And today at the Virtual TART site, I have the pleasure of exhibiting Brown Paper Bags and Rust. My thanks to Dale Copeland who is a tireless advocate for collage and assemblage artists. Not only does she coordinate the International Collage Exchange each year, (a monumental task) she also provides on line exhibition opportunities for collage and assemblage artists.

Following is my statement for this series of work. You will be able to see all of the pieces at the Virtual TART site. This series features papers I have altered in many ways including rusting and painting, as well as mixed media and found objects.

Life is full of common and everyday objects and processes. In my work as an artist, I have been selecting and gathering commonplace artifacts of my generation and the generations that preceded me. This series of Brown Paper Bags and Rust honors the simple objects and processes of living that might go mainly unnoticed, but for me have beauty of texture, graceful form and patina of history.

As a mixed media artist I explore the process of creating and altering materials much as an archeologist or scientist explores remnants of the past or chemical reactions. Beginning with admiration for familiar objects, I slowly built up a collection of papers including brown paper, found vintage autograph book pages, washi papers and vintage packaging. Each paper has been altered, painted, stained, rusted and marked to make it my own. This process takes time, repeated applications and the curiosity of an explorer. There is no map.

The small objects placed in these works include family items such as old piano roll ends, collected items such as common office supplies, and worn out rubber stamps from my town's post office. Egg shells, rusty hinges, bamboo and waxed linen all appeal to me for their simple and familiar utility. Yet, when altered, combined and seen from a new perspective they create patterns and textures that please the eye and document the journey. The metaphor of this process with the process of living does not escape me. Explore, select, collect, alter, be altered, evolve, honor, combine, be beautiful, decay and become herstory.

My attempt has been to honor the pedestrian and the everyday, and to mark their place in the stream of life. I have also honored my own process of exploration, of creating and of marking my place in the same stream.

43 comments:

  1. an auspicious day to check on you!! into the space long-awaited!
    it's looking the opposite of your new work, new header....which surprise me happily! earthly colors, shapes, secret bundles...rusty work in the pristine white space of your studio! congratualtions! what a winter you will have with that stove warming all.

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  2. What an incredible artist statement. You can WRITE as well as CREATE. It's such a joy to read . . . and I'm looking forward to seeing that new art space bursting with your art and supplies. Love you, Mary

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  3. Your artist statement is beautiful as is your work! Really fabulous!! Thank you.

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  4. Congratulations! A woman -- an artist needs space of her own to create. And lovely work you create! I as so pleased to have found you and your work!

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  5. how refreshing to move into a brand spanking new studio and make it your own! enjoy!
    your TART exhibition is outstanding...i love all the works in this series...the color and the elements are just perfection. Chronicle is my favorite at this moment...

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  6. LUCKY YOU and good for you! cool work also :) have a great time in your new studio.

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  7. Wonderful...love this piece, Leslie. LOVE the new studio space as well.....so new and exciting. Can't wait to see what you do here.

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  8. Congratulations Leslie! Both on your exhibition and the birth of your new studio. The Future is coming true...

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  9. Stunning work Leslie. I so like your mixes of papers and things...the bamboo, calligraphy, even to the beautiful and lowly wax paper!! Wonderful words....wonderful works!
    I have a smile for you and this studio move-in!

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  10. Thanks everyone! The move is in process... How can one collage artist have so much stuff???

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  11. Hi Leslie,

    I enjoyed seeing the series. Hope you have tremendous fun in your new environment!

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  12. Congratulations Leslie, on moving into your spanking new white studio. It looks so spacious and clean. I am sure it will be full before you know it, as we collage artists tend to collect, collect, collect!

    Your Brown Paper Bags and Rust show is superb. The colors and textures are rich and absorbing. How exactly does one rust paper? That is new to me.

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  13. Congratulations on the show - your work resonates with me on so many levels. I had to laugh when I saw your comment "how can one collage artist accumulate so much?" we just moved to a new house and I'm pretty sure the boxes from my studio ratio to boxes from the rest of the house combined was about 2:1!
    Wish I was moving my studio in to a space as beautiful as yours or at least that I lived close enough to come over and play!

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  14. O.K. Here is an idea - everyone is welcome to come over and play in the new studio and when you leave you are invited to take a "treasure" from my collection of stuff! Gesh! But I have a lot of stuff!

    I'll talk about rusting paper some time in the future.

    The strong men just arrived to help with moving the equipment.

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  15. What a wonderful piece of art at the beginning of this post. Your studio will be fabulous...what SPACE!!! wow,,,you can throw a lot of paint around in there,,,for sure! You can even have paintíng parties!!! fun, fun........

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  16. This is the day of all days for you, Leslie. July 31, 2010 is move in day! Yeah for you! I remember your telling me about your studio in Squim where you had a copper counter that I thought must have been so beautiful, and now here you are, with this big marvelous space, bigger and better than your dreams, I'll bet. I'm so happy for you. Watch out. I'm coming to play one of these days.
    Love the Brown Bags and Rust pieces. Please show us more and more.

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  17. your studio is really great! and your work at the Virtual TART site is so inspiring - I love rust and old papers!

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  18. Can we play music there as well?!! Hope you have a ball.

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  19. how exciting for you, it feels like a birth - which it is.

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  20. clean clear space
    [something i've been dreaming of but am yet to put into practice]
    how marvellous

    sending flowers via the interpixies [which means you'll have to imagine them]

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  21. such a wonderful space! enjoy every moment spent there :)

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  22. yahooo-- the day has finally come-- I told you it would-- back when you were in the garage standing on the hard cement with an aching back and with cold hands making your collages which has turned out fabulous in spite of the studio on progress stuff.
    congrats to you!

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  23. Ohhhh divine! I've just returned from looking at your exhibition pieces and am feeling very uplifted, Leslie. To think you created this series in a cold unfriendly space. Now a new phase begins in your sparkling studio. You have no idea how much I would love to pop over to play. One day!

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  24. Your art is awesome. You make me want to go back to doing collage!!
    I saw your exhibition on Dale's site. Thank you.

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  25. oh Leslie this space is just awesome congrats on such a opulent spacious studio to create in and your work is just visually chewy, love the piece! congrats, and now I am off to check out Dales site!

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  26. Kudos to you, Leslie, for your exhibit at the Tart Gallery! You have a wonderful champion in Dale Copeland, too! Enjoy your new space and may your creative energies flow like a river . . . :-)))

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  27. Wonderfully said, in your usual, highly articulate manner. And your work? Well, it never fails to fascinate and please the eye.

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  28. Thank you everyone! I just popped in from the studio to get some tea. There is paint on the wall, paint on the floor and paint on my hands! It's just so much fun!!!

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  29. Oh Leslie...your new space is thrilling to see...what a great day!!!!!!
    Like so many others I would love to be able to pop over and experiment with some of your amazing and cool stuff.

    Great way to solve the floor problem!!

    Tart Congrats too! So much to celebrate and be grateful for.

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  30. L Love your shopping - must go to my type of store. Studio looks excellent - my it give full flight to your creativity. B

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  31. Wow,,what an exciting post!
    Can't wait to see you in your new digs!

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  32. Wow, your online show is sooo wonderful- I just love every single scrumptious piece! I really like how you've added objects to your collages; that's something I've been thinking about for some time now, and you have definitely inspired me! Your pieces are so rich with a sense of emotion and the passage of time.
    I can't wait to see what wonders you come up with in your awesome new studio! Congrats!

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  33. Oh Leslie, the new studio looks grand, conducive to some excellent new work. Amazing how much "stuff" we can accumulate and so noticed when being moved. I like the change to the website...I'll go look at your collage site now. Enjoy all this new space!

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  34. so exciting that you are now in your new and long awaited studio. I am picturing you there, with your materials around you, working. With bear outside peering in to say hi.

    lovely work and i will check out the Virtual Tart show soon.

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  35. Leslie,
    I've been reading your post over a period of days,coming and going. I'm moved by your statement. The way you have written about your process conjures up the essence of the pieces. Looking at the exhibit, I was amazed by delicacy of the textures and surfaces you achieve with the rust and washes. Gorgeous. Congrats on both the exhibit and the new studio!

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  36. nouvel emballage de blog..très réussi!
    et l'atelier est aussi beau comme les oeuvres exposés!

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  37. Thank you everyone. It has been a busy time with the exhibition and the studio move. Your comments are very appreciated.

    We hung an 8 foot light over my painting area last night. Its a full spectrum daylight florescent. I'll be able to paint if I can stay awake at night!

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  38. A day in the life...and what a day. Many congratulations are in order. Your work on the Virtual TART site is wonderful. The pieces are all so srong. And your artist statement really resonates with me. And how exciting that your new studio is coming along. SO many things to celebrate!

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  39. The work in the exhibit is wonderful. Each one is unique, yet they all fit together to tell one story. I love the idea of rusted papers. Congrats on the great show.

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  40. I love your Tart exhibition Leslie. You have a wonderful sense of balance and design almost zen like in its simplicity. And what a fantastic studio space - I'm going to put that on my vision board as Im looking to upsize from my current tiny 1 car garage studio! Thanks for your inspiration!

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  41. Hi Leslie,
    It's been so long since I've visited your blog - it's changed. I chose this post to comment because I fell in love with this particular collage of yours...at first it looked as thought it was 2 dimensional and then it ...popped!
    Lovely!
    Look forward to photographs of your studio and congratulations!

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  42. Great how you explain the items you incorporated and how that draws me more into the work since they are more than visual elements.....thank you for reminding me of this - I always see visuals first.

    Depth charge.

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