Inspired by Artemi II -- Lunar Sphere of Influence

 

The gorgeous cut-out images are from a book entitled "deep space" compiled by Stuart Clark with hundreds of credits listed, a few being: NASA, CALTEK, JPL, AURA, ESA, ECF, DAVIS etc.

"Don't Drink the Kool-Aid" or????

 

Ascending With Inspiration

 

OCD Creativity Exposed

 

Missing the Ocean

Hawaii's recent storms have had a big impact! Days of relentless rain, flooding, lightning and thunder storms with downed trees, damaged homes and business. We've had big ohia trees down, dangerous "leaners" and power lines at risk. The cleanup has been weeks during which I've missed my swim time. This collage reminds me of the JOY I feel swimming at the ocean.

 

WAR (...what is it good for!)

During the first term of DJT's presidency, I created several protest collages, but I've not done so for this term -- until recently.  This new piece was inspired by simple outlines of soldiers' silhouettes and a small section of a larger piece, the work of Butoh, a Japanese pioneer artists in the field of photographic theatre. Simply entitled "WAR" it speaks for itself.

 

GREEN & LIBERTY

 

All The Gods

 

Creation! "KUMU"

 

A SHELL-INSPIRED COLLAGE (IN PROCESS)

 

Chicago Sunset

 

Slice and Dice "Hey Brooklyn"

 

"Golden"

 While filing gold colored pieces left over from my previous "Weightless" collage, I decided to use more gold scrap in another more abstract arrangement....creating "GOLDEN" which is 16x16

2026 Roll of the Dice

 

YANTRA

Closing out 2025 .....

....with a collage that incorporated                     

 all of what I learned this year was a challenge.  Yes, it needed to be geometrical, include "weaving" designs and, COLOR!!  I began with the a photo of  a middle eastern ceiling and a photo of the largest

"flower"(Malaysia Rafflesia kerrii) in the world.  Taking my clue from the orange columns I sliced up the blossom, saving half to show at the bottom. The design led me to use a "yantra" style pattern with cut-outs for the weaving.  After a dozen iterations and frustrations...the end result = "Yantra 2025"

It includes my "favorite things" science, architecture, nature, water, flowers and creatures!

Rain Day Winter Collage

 

"Water Baby"

 My return to swimming in Hawaii's lava-encrusted East Side ocean has been an unexpected delight. Swimming was an important part of my mental and physical well-being for many years. After the loss of our home in 2018 and our relocation to Volcano, many things changed.  Also I had both knees replaced with ever-lasting Titanium, and, the density changed my ability to float. However, recently, with the aid of rubber shoes, the problem was solved.  

I've been wanting to express in a collage how I feel being back in the water.  Luckily I came across a vivid poster from 1915 by Fred Spear about the sinking of the Lusitania. Although the original message was about people drowning -- to me it felt like the woman was protectively holding her child -- which is how I feel in the ocean -- held safely.

 

A MOON INSPIRED COLLAGE

 

"Shangri-La"

 

Ah HA!!! More Purple and Orange (overlook my typos)

 

Looking UP - Looking DOWN

 

Another Fun Collage Day

 

"MOTHERSHIP" (a working title at least)

Thanks for visiting my ART BLOG!!  If you scroll down one entry, at the bottom you'll find the first steps to the collage below.  I was intrigued by the concentric circles formed by splashes of raindrops and wanted to emulate that in collage. After collecting other oval/circular shapes an idea began to form. Once I found the image of swimmers (taken below the surface) the idea of "escape" solidified. Turning some of the oval shapes upside down, it began to look like a space ship....

INTERNATIONAL COLLAGE DAY 2025

 

 

Collage: Perfect Tonic for Obsessive/Compulsive People!

 Another small collage -- 10x12 

Lilinoe - Goddess of Mist

 

Windmills of My Mind #3

 Yep -- another in the series....  During the first layout of Windmills #1, I had an image of a cool, old blue 'poison bottle' that I was attempted to use. A great image, but too literal to fit; Phil suggested that I not use it. Nor did it "fit" in Windmills #2.  So, it lingered in the scraps of images that didn't make the final cut. That is, until I figured out a way to "Make it Work!"  

Windmills of My Mind II

 If you happen upon this page, scroll down one entry to see the inspiration for this second collage based on the old song "Windmills of My Mind" ... this one was a bit more conceptual.

Windmills of My Mind Collage

 

Step by step collage by Lunel

 

Homage to Andy Goldsworthy

 Using one of Andy's ephemeral mud installations, I cut it out and surrounded it with collage shapes cut from complimentary colors using my flexible ruler.  Hey Andy, collage is ephemeral too! Thanks for the inspiration.

Collage with Scraps

After any collage is completed there's always a mess to clean up or to refile in folders marked "architecture," "anthropology," "science," or "archaeology," etc..  Finishing up the latest "roll of dice" collage during December, most of the left overs were still on the work table in January. But!!! They were so very pretty, I decided to use them to create a tiled abstract just using circles and squares.

ROLL OF THE DICE

Having had the most amazingly beautiful winter during November and December I had the joy to work on my largest palette -- our two-thirds of an acre in the beautiful ohia forests where we live near Volcanoes National Park.  In the last 24 hours eruptions are taking place in Halema'uma'u crater in Kilauea crater.

Recently I received a gift of "Art Dice" - 1" dice you can roll to suggest medium, color, style, setting, mood, and subjects!!   My role of the dice gave me LOVE, GREEN, FLOWERS, UNDER WATER, ABSTRACT AND DETAILED. I used a design that would suggest underwater waves and lots of yummy colors. 

Evening Hunt

 

Harbinger

 

Studio at Rest

 September and October in the small community of Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii is one of my favorite times of year. The sunlight is crisp, the trade winds coming through have bounced off of our gigantic mountain-volcanoes of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea offering brisk delightful breezes. And, it is the perfect time to finalize projects before winter.  Getting cuttings into pots, setting up two small greenhouses for winter rooting, raking up leaves and cutting back older fronds of our giant Hapu'u ferns and turning them into mulch.  All that to say, my studio has essentially looked the same for nearly two months. There are ideas afloat -- numerous collections of color/texture/subject --- but no new collage to share.  The fallow-time is as important as the weeks where scissors and glue dominate.

PLAYFUL OBSERVATION

 

"Visitors at BIshop Plaza Honolulu"

 

Collage in Wailoa Center Exhibit

 

Hawaii - Keck - Kick-ass COLLAGE!!

 

Collage Day #2 2024

 

Beyond Limits

 Another day, and another collage?!!?  Yes, this happened so fast! Playing with colors but in that luscious range of lavenders.   "Beyond Limits"

Collage -- Practice, Patience, and PLAY!!

 

FINALLY...entering collage for an exhibit

 

EYEING ARTISTIC EVOLUTION

 

The inspiration for "Cosmic Connection"

 

"COSMIC BELONGING" and World Collage Day 2024

 

May Day, Lei Day, May Remembering

In May we celebrate our meeting for the first time in Santa Cruz in 1986, as well as our wedding anniversary. This year marks 38 years together.  The other anniversary we recall was the fire that took our home in 2018 and the year we spent being homeless while seeking legal help in handling the denial of our insurance claim. While we did, eventually, receive insurance funds and did relocate to a new home a year later, memories and emotions still surface. This year I created a collage that depicts the feeling of vulnerability and "nakedness" of losing everything, dealing with traumatic medical issues, learning about and living with PTSD and the lowest point in our lives. We were left with "empty bowls" and later had the chance to re-fill them though the many acts of kindness of friends, neighbors and the amazing support of our D9 team of lawyers. 

Oxford, Henry The 8th, Copernicus, NY 1964 Worlds Fair... and more