CARDBOARD MIXED MEDIA
These pieces are some of my most recent work, incorporating techniques I don't typically use, in this case cardboard scraps and various materials, including oil pastel, watercolor, acrylic paint, ink, gesso, chalk, and fabric on occasion.
My cardboard creations have been inspired by what has been, thus far, the most tumultuous upheaval of my life (50 years at this point!) The life I've wanted to create for the past 17 years began to crack and crumble some time ago, but I consistently patched it up, hoping the repairs would hold. Some weakened. Some cracked wide open. And of course, new ones appeared. I've accepted and grieved that these pieces have broken into painful microscopic shards that cannot be repaired or saved.
Following that thought process, these are representative of the
reconstruction that awaits. Covering cardboard in vibrant colors, pattern and design, then subsequently chopping them up is both cathartic and a little painful. But then I've created a pile of magnificent broken bits that are ready to be reassembled in new ways.
Sadly, I've not been hand-sewing or creating embroidery as much as I might like, but over the past year, my fingers and hands have started to get tingly and cramp up when I work so tightly, so this natural, looser shift into other materials has emerged at just the right time.