contemporary collage paintings
the process
Leslie Avon Miller

My life flows when I'm in my art.


Jean De Muzio

Sunday, March 9, 2014

that sigh when all tension releases

Collage, Leslie Avon Miller


We need words
That ring like bells
Through cool air
Taut with sun,
that smell
like grass and violets
that feel
like sitting on moss
by the stream
listening to
songs of woodland birds,
words that bring
fresh air into our lungs.

Collage, Leslie Avon Miller



Words that bring us
visions of baby robins
trying to use their wings,
early tinted light
on the horizon,
tiny ants
swarming in and out
of their granular hill.

 





Collage, Leslie Avon Miller


 

Distant hum
of bees on plum blossoms,
sensation of sunlight
on the skin,
a moment of peace
in a hidden place,
hearing the sound
of water over rocks,

something to make us sigh
that sigh
when all tension
releases
and we’re
Just there.
   





These small collage on paper incorporate fragments of the photos I discussed in the previous post entitled Found Paintings. I find old walls, a partially decayed leaf frozen in a puddle and a found hand print to have a quality of mystery; of a story only half told.


Collage, Leslie Avon Miller

The quality of enigma engages me and makes me want to know more, to ponder what else might be there half hidden.

Collage, Leslie Avon Miller


To add to the puzzle, I added fragments of a poem I found engaging. The poem is called
The Laughing Heart by Charles Bukowski. Some of the words are from an essay entitled

A Language Older Than Words  by Derrick Jensen. 


There is something about putting my hands on paper and moving small bits around that can make me sigh that sigh when all tension releases and we’re Just There.

Each collage is open to interpretation, and I hope acts as a  a doorway to our own thoughts and feelings hidden beneath the surface of polite everyday conversation. That's where I prefer to live my life; a little deeper, a little bit richer, a distance off the beaten path.

I don't know who the author is of the poem I posted at the beginning of the post about needing words.   If you do, will you let me know?




 

19 comments:

  1. j'aime ces compositions tout en délicatesse , sobres et avec force.. ! bises

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  2. Wonderful, thoughtful words and images - thank you.

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  3. A sigh of release..... This post makes me feel very content and soothed. I'm amazed at the beauty you create in the small pockets of time between day job and housework. The poem is by someone who calls himself geopsych on Tumblr.
    http://geopsych.tumblr.com/

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  4. Beautiful , poetic compositions that are so economical and subtle. Wonderfully uncluttered and spacious. YUM!

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  5. I very much appreciate this post as it has given me a pause this morning for a bit of calm and reflection. Please let me say that I love your work!

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  6. Lovely way to start my morning. thank you!

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  7. Always beautiful Leslie....you never let my artist down.

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  8. Adding words in these beautiful collages is magical. Love the fish!

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  9. Thank you everyone. I appreciate that you took time to comment on these little collage. Little collage have been an important way for me to be in touch with my art while I have been busy with life.

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  10. LAM - layers and threads of words beautifully woven. B

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  11. These collages are so very compelling Leslie. Both the composition and your choice of leaving the open space on each surface really draw me in. Stories are being told here!

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  12. That quality if mystery and enigma you find in your 'found paintings' is exactly what I find in your lovely collages. They do allow me to enter a world of my own thoughts - a very relaxed place to be.

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  13. sighing
    that sigh
    and truly
    soaking up
    and basking in
    the sensual words
    and your spacious and poetic collages
    ever so lovely,

    sigh...

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  14. everything about these is delightful! exciting to see what you did with the found "paintings" and then adding poetry! sigh indeed. on top of that, you are a master at speaking through the negative space. deep deep sigh.

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  15. Your small collages are very wonderful... so much depth with minimal shapes and text.. with open space too... very lovely.

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  16. Leslie, These small collages are truly wonderful. Love the care with which you have integrated positive and negative space into a whole far greater than the sum of the parts. I'm inspired!

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