The Magpie’s Eye is the first full-size artwork that I’ve made in my new basement studio.
Adjusting to a new studio always takes time. I haven’t worked on any real artwork since last fall – before we moved the gallery – so I was feeling rusty. To get back into practice, I’d been making smaller things (Ledger Series) and other littles, but was hesitant about taking the plunge into something bigger.
I was feeling distracted and scattered, having a hard time focusing on anything in particular.
So I decided to make a piece with everything: a jumble of stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. All the colors. Tactile, rich textures. Dimensional bits.
Got to thinking about magpies and bower birds being attracted to all the shiny bits, nests full of found items, and took my cue from them.
I gathered up all kinds of paper bits: images from magazines, stickers, painted papers, tissue, metal foil.
I cut a piece of watercolor paper into a rough 18 inch circle, painted it aqua blue and raspberry pink, then began gluing on all my little colorful papers.
Then, I ran the disk through the sewing machine to stitch concentric circles and lines radiating from the center. Lots of wonderful loose thread bits all over!
A 24-inch square canvas that I’d prepped in bright yellow and green a long time ago became the base. The colors were really bright, so I covered the canvas with pieces of old sewing pattern to tone down the paint colors and add texture.
My colorful disk felt like it needed to rest in a nest, so tore and glued bits of wallpaper to the canvas around the edges. The nesty bits curl up around the edges and wave gently in a breeze. I like that added movement.
For the eye in the center, I had planned to use one cut from a magazine but felt odd about having that focal point be someone else’s image – and couldn’t really find one that was the right color or bright enough – so I painted one myself on watercolor paper and glue it in the center.
The eye had to be green. I have green eyes.
When the whole surface was dry, I added 3-dimensional bits to the surface: sequins, beads, yarn, fabric trim.
And there you have The Magpie’s Eye. It’s a very satisfying image for me: I enjoyed the process of creating it and enjoy looking at it. It also accomplished its purpose of warming up the new studio for me, breaking the ice so to speak. New ideas are starting to percolate, which makes me especially happy.
Details and close up images below:
Medium: printed images, wallpaper, thread, sewing pattern, 3D elements (buttons, beads, sequins), acrylic paint
Size: 24 inches high x 24 inches wide on gallery wrapped canvas
Signed: on the back
Exhibits: Ohio Collage Society Members Exhibit, The Oddball Show at Stella’s Art Gallery
Close up photos of The Magpie’s Eye:
