22 Artists, along with the galleries represented artists have been juried into a virtual group exhibition titled "CONNECTIONS" at Roaring Artist Gallery.  I was one of those artists!

Juror Adrienne Brown-David selected this collage:

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I am honored and delighted.

Roaring Artist Gallery was founded by Katie Bradford Osborne

The Call For Art:  Connections. As people, there were new connections with family as we found ourselves stuck together, day in and day out.  There were connections that we scrambled to hold onto with friends we couldn’t touch.  There were also connections we let go of, as we saw sides of others we simply could not live with and as we grieved our vast and devastating losses. As artists, there was the connection with our art, as we tried to figure out what it meant to us during a pandemic that had shut down our exhibitions and driven us inside of our houses- and inside of ourselves, as well. And here, going into 2021, with a vaccine on the horizon and time continuing to tumble forward in a way we still don't quite recognize or understand, we’re all realizing that the meaning of “Connections” has changed irrevocably.This show is here to allow women-identifying artists a space to share their own confusion, sorrow, joy, and hope with what “Connections” has meant to them and will mean to them moving into 2021. This theme can be interpreted as widely or as specifically as each artist imagines it. We want YOUR stories and voices.  We know you have something to ROAR! 

This is a juried exhibition with guest juror, Adrienne Brown-David an award-winning artist whose work has been exhibited and collected across the continental US and the US Virgin Islands.

The Connections exhibition will debut online on April 1, 2021 in our Interactive 3-D Gallery Space as well as our online Show Catalog.

The exhibition will run from April 1- May 31. 

Artist Statement:  I love when connections circle back.  In 2020 a fellow artist sent me an envelope full of items to collage with. “Could you use these?” she wrote.  One such item was a bird book made in 1935 by the father of a very dear and mutual friend. The friend’s father, Bobby Zimmerman was 9 when he made the book. His youthful making reminded me of books I made as a little girl. Full circle. It seemed criminal at first to tear the vintage bird book apart, but the collages became something new and uniquely mine using parts of the blue book cover and bird imagery. It was as if the old illustrations hatched new lives. New beginnings. Full circle. This friend connection prompted a flurry of bird themed work. My focus took me deep into about 6 weeks of making. I felt giddy, I had clarity that what I was making was wonderful. These collages would have little to no meaning if the bird illustrations were simply found. They meant more as a gift. Full circle.

It took me over a year to perfect this particular collage technique. At first I was exploring how to complete an existing piece and avoid the cost and weight of framing. Binding with a backing much like they do in quilting became a solution. Along the way I stumbled into videos that taught crazy quilting techniques. I thought, how could I do that with paper? My collages began to feel like puzzles. Further along I cut magazines pages into one inch strips. I saw them as dashes of color, texture and design. Since, I find myself hooked on this method. I feel a sense of order as I make. The visual is sustainable and reliable, yet over and over the vibrant patterns surprise me. Plus making strips is a remarkable way to use up an entire magazine.  When I first began to machine stitch my life was broken. The stitching had me feel like I was piecing myself together. The stitches weren’t perfect. But they would have to do. I have a long meaningful history with collage. I don’t think any year has needed to collage as much as 2020 has.

Artist note: the collage above was made from the bird book mentioned above. 

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