Upcoming

This is just a section of a piece that I have in an exhibition celebrating International Women's Day next weekend.

I find it very difficult working to a theme.  Give me lots of restrictions on a project of my choice and that's ok.  Tell me what it's going to be about and it is a struggle.

I'll post the piece in full after the exhibition is up (and after I have taken a satisfactory photo of the entire piece).

I struggled with beginning the piece for several days until I saw Shovels & Rope in concert.  They are a local band now making it big.  Ten minutes after Cary Ann Hearst walked out on the stage in her red dress, I knew I had the basis for this piece.

By the way, if Shovels and Rope comes to your town, go see them.

To G or not to G

Those last final touches can take weeks.

Little bits of paper go on and off and on and off and left and right and up and down.   Then a decision is made, often a regrettable one.  Then I start that one little section over.   Or paint over it.  And then wish I hadn't done that.

This piece has been on the table for weeks.  And weeks.  And it is taking up too much room.  I need to finish it.  A couple of squares are bugging me.  Some are too sparse.  And some are too busy.  

And that dang G needs to make up its mind to stay or go.

Decline and Fall - Completed

Decline and Fall, 18 x18" collage on board ©2013 K. Hambric

So not the best photo.  I'll be taking a much better one for the soon to come new and improved website.  Soon.  I'm practicing my procrastination.  And doing very well, thank you.

"Civilizations."  They come.  They build.  They conquer.  They screw up.  They fall.

And what is that '50' stamped on there?  That's my new age.  I'm including my own declining and falling.  Why not?  I'm not sure about the conquering, though.  How does one go about that?

Wonders Never Cease

Wonders Never Cease, 20 x 20" mixed media on board ©2012 K. Hambric

Wonders Never Cease is part of an ongoing series of collages.  While the series itself does not have a name, it has a theme.  The ugliness and beauty of nature.  Human enjoyment and fear of nature.  The urbanization and suburbanization of our world.  Human happiness among the chaos.

A new website will be coming soon and will contain all of my new, larger pieces.  I am scouting out appropriate galleries here in Charleston.  I must rewrite my artist statement, bio and other blah blah blah items.  I'm sure that is easy for some, but I do not find it easy to talk about myself or my art.  I've heard about those elevator statements where one must be able to explain their work in the time it takes for an average elevator ride.  Strange how it can take me months to come up with something to say about my world in 20 seconds or less.

Now it is time for coffee and glue.  Hopefully not together.

See America Now

Monday was studio cleanup day.  Dusting.  Putting away things from before the summer up north.   Picking up of little dead things with lots of legs.

Tuesday was studio day.

I can't say I had been too creative over the summer.  My plan of a large series of small quilts didn't get too far off of the ground.

Would my studio time in Charleston be productive?  How long would it take before I became inspired?  I paced.  I looked at books.  I stared at the computer.

Then I decided to finish unpacking.  On the top of the box marked "studio," I found an old guide book I purchased on Etsy over the summer.  And there it was.  Right on the cover.  Those old greens and reds.  I would have to put some other colors with them.  But the deal was sealed and I got out the scissors.

 Here is the first little 5 x 5" square.  Only 15 more to go on my new piece, "See America Now."

Take to the Sky

Fish are Jumpin', Cotton is High - in progress

Recently, I was shuffling through some unused drawings I had cut out of textbooks and never used. Two jumped out at me at practically the same time -- the yellow cotton piece and the jumping green fish piece.  Immediately, the song "Summertime" jumped into my head and this collage began.  I have no idea how many recorded versions of this song are out there, but to me, only one stands out.  Way out.  No one can top Janis Joplin wailin' out these words:


Summertime, 
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Oh, Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky

But until that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With your daddy and mammy standing by

Summertime, 
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

Songwriters: GERSHWIN, GEORGE / HEYWARD, DU BOSE / HEYWARD, DOROTHY / GERSHWIN, IRA

Janis puts a certain kind of melancholy and desperation into this song that completely resonates with me.  The sky is yellow with heat.  There's joy and release in letting everything that's inside of you out into the air.  The menace of sorrow and rain is a wide ribbon of black on the horizon.

The First Gold Leaves

Streets of Gold, 12 x 12" collage on board, ©2012 Kim Hambric

Yesterday, I noticed the first gold leaves dotting the sidewalks and streets.  Soon the trees on my street will be gold.  My favorite fall sight is a golden tree against a brilliant blue sky.  Hopefully the central Pennsylvania autumn weather will permit such a sight.

Here comes my favorite season!!

This piece is available in my Etsy shop.

Better Late than Never . . .

Right?

48!, 6 x 6" collage on board, ©2012 Kim Hambric

This piece was completed sometime before July 14th.  After that, I would have put 49! on this piece.  Every now and then, I will include my age in my pieces.  Just to remind myself that I'm in the midst of a mid-life crisis.

2012 has been a slow year for me.  Hopefully with the coolness of fall, my energy will return.  If not then, I'll find something else to blame.

This piece is available in my Etsy shop.

The American Way

American Way I, 12x12" collage on board, ©2012 Kim Hambric

American Way II, 12x12" collage on board, ©2012 Kim Hambric

American Way III, 12x12" collage on board, ©2012 Kim Hambric

American Way IV, 12x12" collage on board, ©2012 Kim Hambric

What?  I haven't blogged about these before?!?

Well, here they are, and what a great time I had making them.  Ah, the pleasure of scissoring into old geography books and taking my revenge.  I was never an outstanding student of geography, but I was, and remain, very interested.

Here in the United States, we are a varied people.  Yet we often like the same things.  We like our grand buildings, we enjoy romanticizing the past, and the labeling of individuals is quite important to us.  We crave the wide open road and broad views.  We like gambling and railroads, circuses and speed.  We are gregarious people, but we need the privacy of our houses and property.

I'm loving the graphicness of these pieces.  They are strong.  I intend on making more.  But first, I need to gather up another load of vintage geography books.

Three of these pieces are for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Flight of the Suburbanites

Flight of the Suburbanites II, 12x12" ©2012 Kim Hambric

Yes, I fell in love with green again.  It may be a short affair.  Time will tell.

This is the second in a series of three (so far).  Flight of the suburbanites is a tale of those who go in search of the newest place to get away.  Is there a place to live where nature still exists?  How far out can we go?  Should one just return to the city?

A recent discussion with a Texas suburbanite set my gears in motion.  After living five years in a new house in an expansive new subdivision set among many other expansive new subdivisions, he informed us that it looked like it might be time to move.  Undesirables were moving in.  The buses were going to bring workers back and forth from the city.  Cultures were going to mix.  Onward and outward!  Or perhaps, he said, to a "used" house in a more upscale, established suburb.

Put on the top hat!  Grab the cane!  It's time for the turkeys to move on out.  Perhaps, once again, the birds will sing.  The trees will be green come spring.  Just remember, there are still going to be skunks, insects, and those pesky weeds.

Going Green

Not an environmental thing, though.

After two years of avoiding green, I decided I needed it in my artwork again.

So, the gathering of greens began.  However, there was no green paint in my collection.  A run to Michael's was in order.  I made a beeline for my usual paints, and, beneath the red clearance sign, was a smattering of bottles in a handful of ghastly colors.  Green not among them.  But there was a budget brand, and I figured that would be good enough.

But what about papers.  I would need some green papers.  I sponge painted a few vintage book pages, but I needed something else.  The something else was a vintage Better Homes and Gardens "New Garden Book."  Now, I don't hesitate long when taking the scissors to a vintage book, but this one was a bit different.  This book sat on my mother's desk for decades.  It might have belonged to my grandmother, who actually had an interest in gardening.  But, for my mother, it was probably an albatross of a book.  For some reason, she must have felt she couldn't throw it away.

My mother was NOT a gardener.  I'm not sure I ever saw her insert a plant or a seed into the ground.  When I was a child, I do recall a small grave-sized plot of land that was given over to petunias.  This teeny plot was located on the fringe of our 1/2-acre lot.  A nasty little stepchild type of garden.  Something you had to leave the house through the basement door to see.  I felt so sorry for all of the brilliant awning-striped petunias that spent their lonely days sizzling in the sun.  Perhaps my mother doted on them when she went out to hang wet laundry on the clothes line.  If so, I never saw that.

The garden book has sat among my chopped up tomes since my mother died and I brought the book home to live with me.  Every now and then I would look through its sparse information and dim photographs.  Then, as I was gathering greens, I gave the book another chance, and the book finally had a job to do.   Each chapter in the book has a divider page in a slightly faded rich green.  A stunning green!!!!  (see scraps marked "trees" and "shrubs" in top photo).  I convinced myself that my mother would approve of this book finally being put to use.  I've seen this book many times before in used bookstores and scoffed at its awkward three-ring-binderness and its mundane information.  If only I knew then of the rich green inside.

Now I am off to the studio to finish up this newest piece and begin another one with the pieces that did not make it into this first piece.

Optimistic

Optimistic,  6 x 6" ©2012 Kim Hambric

This is not my most optimistic time of the year.

Optimism runs low when it is cold and cloudy.

So I made this in what I consider cheery colors.

Originally, I was going to showcase a different piece for this post.  I pulled a few photos off of my camera of a piece I had photographed step by step.  Yep, there's the very beginning, the next step, and then another coming close to the end.  All were photoshopped this morning.  But  .  .  .  where the heck is the final photograph???!!!???

I checked all of the computer directories.  I went through all of the studio drawers.  I cannot find a trace of this piece.  Did I paint over it?  Did I finish it and take it to the artisan boutique?  Perhaps I would know the answer to that if I could find the folder that holds the inventory list.  That is gone, too.  And so is my favorite scarf.  I've looked everywhere for that.

I feel as if I'm losing my mind along with everything else.

I'm not optimistic about finding any of these.

This piece is available in my Etsy Shop.

There's just something about little houses

Little Shanty, 5 x 5" ©2012 Kim Hambric

Yes, I'm still working with house shapes and maps.  I guess you could say I'm obsessed with both.

There's something so comforting about a simple house shape.

While I'm frequently heard to say that I would just loooooove to have more room, if granted that wish, I'm sure it wouldn't take long for me to regret asking for that extra space.

My small home is somewhat restricting.  Yet it is also freeing.  No pesky servants to get underfoot.  No 20-foot-long dining table to polish.

I would much rather have my home than trade in for Downton Abbey.

This piece is available in my Etsy shop.

Me Also (am I becoming my mother?)

Me Also, 6 x 6" ©2012 Kim Hambric

In some way, this piece is about my concern(?) over slowly becoming my mother.  Am I trying to avoid this?  Am I giving in to this?  How fast can I run away from this?

The big "CH?"  My mother's initials.  The two similar houses?  My house is very little like my mother's house, yet are (were) they both traps?  And the meaning of everything else in this piece?  The shapes and colors are just a small selection of what was littered around my table on the day this piece was created.

This piece is available in my Etsy shop.

Highest Standards

Highest Standards, 6 x 6" ©2012 Kim Hambric

Strange Title?  Sure is.  It comes from the little blue circles cut from the packaging for the gesso board which is the base for this piece.  Ampersand states that its product is produced to the highest standards.  I love the little house.  It is cut from a piece of drywall tape and painted black.  I hope no one is getting tired of circle outlines.  I still love them, so I'm still going to paint them.  Seems to complete the piece.

This piece is available in my Etsy shop.

And Another Thing

And Another Thing, 6 x 6" ©2012 Kim Hambric

There is always something else to be done.  Something else to be said.

I'm having fun with those little Lego circles!

This piece can be found in my Etsy shop.

Anybody out there use strange objects as art and craft tools?

Beast

Beast, 6 x 6" ©2012 Kim Hambric

Finally, one actually created this year!  I love the more open and playful look.  (At least it looks that way to me.)

Too many things are taking me out of the studio this week.  A new 4x4" piece was finished today, and one 6x6" piece is taunting me and becoming totally obnoxious.  I've threatened it with a wash of gesso.  We'll see what comes of it.

Rules

First, I would like to thank my readers for their inspiring and encouraging comments on my last post. It is nice to feel, even for a hermit, that I am not alone.

Next, I want to talk about rules.  I understand there must be rules.  Some folks believe in commandments, some believe that one should wait an hour after eating before swimming, some enjoy a life of anarchy.  I believe that in most cases rules make us safe or even out the playing field or make life a little easier for the government of a country comprised of hundreds of million of people.

After a point, rules can become a nuisance.  Rules are often used in place of simple encouragement.  And, too often, rules are made just because it feels good to somebody to make them.

Each year in January, many bloggers I read chose words or statements of encouragement to follow throughout the year.  They may use these words to create more art, deal with people more effectively, make more money, etc.  Sounds like a good idea.  I've never done this before.  This year, my personal statement is: follow fewer rules.

Sure, I might get into a bit of trouble.  I might lose a friend or two.  I might, inadvertently offend someone who might have been willing to give me a bit of help.  But for so long, I've followed too many rules in order to keep out of trouble and keep from offending.  And I feel this has keep me far too silent.

The new pieces in the photograph above are part of the new me.  You are probably thinking they look pretty much like the old me.  Maybe I'm the only one that will see the difference.  That's ok.  These five pieces were made in five days.  My goal wasn't speed, but just a freeing up of my mind.  I wanted to get something down fast.  I wanted fewer rules, even self-imposed ones.  While creating is normally fun for me, doing these pieces was a joy.  I actually laughed while making them.  Not hysterically and not the entire time, thankfully.  Sure, there was a moment of sorrow when I dropped a piece that had been painted and the board cracked.  But seconds later it was in the trash and another piece was underway.

Destination, 12 x 12" ©2011 Kim Hambric

Last,  here is my newest piece on Etsy. Definitely a more controlled piece, but fun just the same.

Sliver of Blue Sky

Sliver of Blue Sky, 8 x 8" ©2011 Kim Hambric

Today is not the day for a sliver of blue sky in central Pennsylvania.  Not too many slivers of blue sky to be seen here until spring.

I love being deep into a city and seeing a bit of blue over the skyscrapers -- so invigorating.

This is my last new piece for the year.  There are still a few from this year that need to be photographed, so I'll be able to post "new" work for the next several weeks.  My studio needs a thorough cleaning (and my brain does, also) before I can get to any real new work.

This piece is available in my Etsy shop.

Happy New Year to all of my readers and their families!!!

To Freeport

To Freeport, 6 x 6" ©2011 Kim Hambric

Even though I very recently returned from New York City, I am once again feeling the need to go somewhere else.  I'm feeling the need for something new.  Perhaps, for the sake of my wallet, it is best to travel vicariously through my art.

This piece is for sale in my Etsy shop.