New Blog!

I've decided to separate my oils from my mixed media collage work so I've set up this blog specifically for the latter.
All of the images below were originally on my other blog (lilliemorris.blogspot.com). I copied them here and unfortunately had to sacrifice some of the text and comments from followers but I felt the two mediums were too different to share the same blogspace ('blogspace'...hmmm, is that a word? Well, you get the idea!). The works below were completed between May 2009 and Sept. 2009......Hope you enjoy the new blog!

New Life I & II

MAY 11:
There's new growth popping out everywhere! I've been picking fern fronds and all kinds of vegetation to dry for collage pieces. Bill found this butterfly on our driveway this morning and I decided to get to work. Here's the result

Writer's Week Collages

MAY:
I'm getting ready for a trip to Ireland that centers around a group art exhibition I've been invited to participate in. The exhibit will take place during a literary festival held in Listowel, Co. Kerry, Ireland called 'Writer's Week" (www.writersweek.ie) . Olive Stack, a wonderful artist and gallery owner from Listowel, graciously invited me to be a part of the exhibition. www.olivestackgallery.com

Over the past nine years I've visited Ireland annually and Listowel has become my Irish "hometown", so to speak. This small town in North Kerry has a rich literary history and has produced a number of well-known authors and playwrights over the years. One of the most beloved was John B. Keane who died in 2002. In deciding what to contribute to the Writer's Week exhibition I decided to do three collages based upon three of John B. Keane's most well-known plays "Sive", "Big Maggie" and "The Field...all having major themes of life, death and greed. The fourth collage pays homage to Writer's Week and the wealth of authors Ireland has produced.......the Writer's Week piece is the black & white & tan piece. These collages contain actual script from the plays, and papers that I created using a variety of techniques, as well as symbolic objects.

More Cill Rialaig Collages

JUNE:
Today I'll post the remainder of the collages I completed while at Cill Rialaig in Ireland...... In most of the collages I put organic material from the area itself - - such as dried grasses or sheep's wool......They're not listed for sale here on my blog as they'll be placed in one of the galleries that carry my work.

Cill Rialaig Collages

JUNE:
Today I'll post the remainder of the collages I completed while at Cill Rialaig in Ireland....... In most of the collages I put organic material from the area itself - - such as dried grasses or sheep's wool.

The image in this post that contains the 'fiddle head (scroll)" is of one of the collages I completed at Cill Rialaig. It contains traditional Irish music and a small sketchy painting of a fiddle scroll. It was untitled until last week when my friend, Kaye, came over looking for a birthday gift for her daugher-in-law, Sara. Sara is a wonderfully versatile musician.....she plays the double bass in our local symphony and also plays in a bluegrass band!! Plus, she teaches in the string program in our county school system.......When Kaye saw this piece she didn't want to look any further......we decided it was 'Sara's Piece' so now it has a proper title. I love it when that kind of thing happens. I like to think that every piece of artwork is created 'for' someone - - it's just a matter of finding out who the 'someone' is!!!

Molly's Orchid Series

Thank goodness there are no 'rules' in art. If you look as yesterday's painting you'd never guess today's was done by the same artist.....but that's just who I am!

JULY 28TH :
So this is 'Molly's Orchid I, II and III'. Back in December - - December 15th to be exact - - my cousin, Molly, brought me a beautiful white orchid for a Christmas gift. It was loaded with blooms and buds and the orchid continued to bloom until this month. As the blooms began to fall off I decided to dry them as collage material. I have enough orchids for several collages and this is the first.

Flesh Colored Canvas

SEPTEMBER 8TH
I've been working on this collage for the past several weeks. It's based on one of the songs recorded by, Dead Confederate, my son's band. The song, written by bass-player, Brantley Senn, is called 'Flesh Colored Canvas'. It's a very emotional piece which was largely inspired by the paintings of Jackson Pollock. The imagery from Brantley's lyrics was the dominate force behind my painting both figuratively and literally. Brantley's handwritten lyrics are actually collaged into the piece along with a small 'portrait' of Jackson Pollock and a set of bass guitar strings!! Thanks Brantley, for allowing me to 'illustrate' your song!

Flesh Colored Canvas' - by Brantley Senn

My vision's still blurred by the tricks that you turned,
I danced and fell back.
I laid open-eyed drinking heart wine,
Soaking in all that I lacked
A lover accused of standing abuse, then
Turning and running the track
A pawn in the game that muses had made
Somehow I always attract

Tainted and twisted, my drinks double-fisted
Aiming the path at a crash
Killing the time painting teeth with red wine
Spitting color to your back
A Pollock-like painting that don't keep you waiting
The feeling bleeds out of a gash
Your cutting won't peel, the washing won't heal
The meaning however abstract
This is how I changed my mind

A quick stroke of black on a
Flesh colored canvas
Emoting the sympathy left
Seven strokes red aiming ends at your head
Each for a sacrifice met
Dark blue blurs on the ends of your curves
The sadness you caused and I kept
I tie it all in with a solid gold pen
A frame to make sure it's felt

The medium bleeds but at least you can see
A mirror can reach to your back
It reminds you of me and what I stand to be
With obvious subtle attack
Lay on your side so it lasts a lifetime
Learn from this simple abstract
The painter is gone and now you stand alone
Gone with the tip of my hat
This is how I changed my mind