Finally!

Finally I have completed my collage, the one I've referred to before, that thrilled me with its content and stalled me in it's execution. Finally it's done and now waiting on the purchase of a piece of glass to complete its framing. I promised to show it to a friend tomorrow evening. Hope that's enough stress to move me!

But the artwork itself is what I am most focused on. In the past I made Artist Trading Cards by printing on maps. I'd print a cut of a Ute petroglyph on a Colorado map or an Osage petroglyph on a Missouri map. Then I wanted to see if I could do something larger--well actually I had a larger petroglyph print I wanted to mount on a larger map. So...

I gathered my pieces: a road map, several prints of the petroglyph in its strangely altered state, a quotation from William Clark's Journal, and my wits. I arranged my equipment and media products: glue, brayer, brushes, gesso, acrylic paints, India ink, stylus, a photo of native grasses of Missouri, a sample of early 19th century cursive handwriting, and about a gallon of piping hot coffee and my mug. 

I started the process--actually many starts and stops lasting over several weeks. (I'm ultimately a multi-tasker.) I mounted the map so the snaking Missouri River lies near the top of the ground. I watered down the white glue and spread it on the mat board and map, rolled the map onto the ground smoothing out bubbles with a brayer, and pressed it between waxed paper to dry while weighted down by big art books. When it was dry I looked at it again and again. Finally I brushed on water-thinned gesso leaving the riverbed unpainted. Several times I changed my mind about which print to collage into the piece. Finally I glued on a print made on translucent paper I thought might let some of the map features--colors and lines--show through. I placed it on the left-hand side below the river, added the box to the circle like in Leonardo DaVinci's study of human anatomical proportions, and decided to paint the native grasses on the right-hand side. 

I painted any number of samples of the grass cluster I would use. I wanted to represent the tall grass prairies common to the area in Lewis and Clark's 1804 explorations on their westward trek up the river. I mounted the print and painted in the grasses. Then I added a quote from the journal around the print. In order to represent the measurement obsession of both the European Renaissance and the exploring spirit shown in mapping rivers and otherwise measuring the newly-acquired Louisiana Purchase, I added the compass points and measurements Clark recorded for the day he also drew the "paintings and carveings" [sic] on the limestone cliff. For balance I drew in another figure--a snake from another Missouri petroglyph and added Clark's comment about how the place where he saw the petroglyphs was "a den of Rattle Snakes." Finally I was happy and have put to rest another piece of art. 

"Taking Measure" mixed media with collage by Phillip Hoyle

One of my art teachers, Polly Hammett, observed that my starting point in art seems usually to be content--in this case a fascination with petroglyphs, Lewis and Clark, 19th century mid-western experience, interaction of Native and Euro-Americans, maps, and so forth. It's no wonder this piece took so long to complete. Now off to another task--oh the framing.