Hanging At Sumas Library through October or so

Hours M-W-Sa 10 - 5 except W 10-7

Thank you Friends Of The Sumas Library for hosting my work!

Why I Love My Community

There are people who enjoy homes that are exactly alike. Driveways that lead to battery operated garage door remotes that open doors wide and whisk one away into anonymity. I have always personally preferred the quirk and edge of peripheral living. This draw to odd has me currently living in a garage with a loft in Sumas, WA. The community of Sumas is not a destination. It’s a drive by, transient odd ghost of a town, and I love it.

I love it because of the nuggets that show up as you get to know the place. The blast of upbeat exterior music at the local convenient store/gas station, the solo blinking stop sign,  the community closet that clothes locals for free, the little dose of park near the bridge, the geeks who hang at the library playing games, the impeccable cleanliness of a new burger place, the billboard exclaiming exceptional drinking water.

I plan to open a gallery. My marketing pitch includes an emphasis on how inconvenient it is to get here. I declare it beautiful because around here you have to find the love.  Best part is that the love is here.

Thank you friends of Deming Library for hosting my solo collage installation Inspirit-Form.

I thought i'd author a post on how this show came to be. 

I have been a collage artist for twenty years. In the past few years my work has become a personal narrative; highlighting the loss of a home, a broken heart, a journey west, and the challenge of making a home here in Washington. 

My collage work has grown. I've shown and sold collages. Doing so has been very inspiring!

In December I found an Audubon magazine in the free bin at the Bellingham Library. 

2017 artfully began with a decision to collage daily. 

Torn pages from that found Audubon magazine became part of early January work.

I found the work to be strong and affirming.

Thanks to FB - and a collage that I posted also made from that same magazine, I was invited to show my work at the Deming Library. A solo hanging! Imagine how honored I was. 

I decided moving forward to source part of my image inventory for this exhibition from Audubon magazines.  

Not knowing how hard Audubon's were to find, I had to put out a call for them on FB.  Friends sent me magazines from around the country to help me with my show! Even the Deming library pitched in. 

The work evolved in a very organic way. Different from my daily collage work in that it didn't necessarily follow a narrative of my day to day. It did however touch on a subconscious level some personal struggles.   

I had recently befriended a curator - Jody Thompson, and invited him to collaborate on the project. Jody is responsible for the title, and the entire written narration of this hanging. I loved working with Jody. He brought a rich and provocative commentary from an outside perspective. Experiencing his version of my collage work was very emotional for me and also very educational. Jody brought earnest and detailed attention to the many facts about the birds involved in my collage work. 

I created 22 pieces from February to June.

Inspirit-Form hangs from Sept 20th - October 28th at The Deming Library -- there is an artist talk and reception Friday October 27th at 4:30

This body of collage work is on a natural white cotton pithy 130# paper sourced by Pentalic - made in the US.  A percentage of sales from The Natural Pentalic Sketch Book Series is donated to The American Wildlife Foundation. They are framed in a 11x14 black studio frames with a black matt. 

15% of sales from this show goes to Friends Of Deming Library. 

Karen Hanrahan is a narrative collage artist and photographer.  

She is founder of Keyhole Gallery And Making Space ( inconveniently located in beautiful Sumas, Wa) home of Tailgate ArtMart. Karen is the mother of two adult children, she loves cooking from scratch, reading, taking road trips (especially here in Washington!) and she adores the color blue. 

I am submitting a collage to this call for art - super great art making prompt from Make.Shift Making Space 

I had to go to this neat reference library and source an old photograph. i picked this one because it was so crisp and clear. I also thought i could superimpose a modern scenario fairly simply and get the idea i had in my head into a reality or finished piece.

have to say it came together rather nicely!

not pictured here is the cheesy ornate plastic frame I put it in.

which i think was perfect for it!!

( a friend is dropping this off for me while i am off on vacation. thanks sara!! )