an imageteller captures image celebrations.
sharing image tales broadens an artistic expression.
doing so, brings this particular creative indescribable joy.
what is your image story? perhaps I can help you tell it!
Photography Show At Sumas Library - Why I Love My Community
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.
Inspirit - Form At Deming Library
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.
Make.Shift Call For Art :: Making History
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!! )
Honored
i belong to a FB group where folks post what they "see" in our community. the group is large, sharing, positive and kind. the range of imagery and photograph talent is vast. in this group i have felt really welcome, and i've affirmed that my photography is unique in it's own way - my work is unlike what many others photograph. As an artist I need that reassurance. i have seen some remarkable photography and grown to admire many of the creatives in that group. i've also met some of these folks, and i feel i have met some friends because of this group. which has been especially wonderful. this last month one of my images made the cover for the group page. It may seem silly but being on the cover has been such an honor for me!!
this particular image tells a particular story, i had just moved. i moved farther into the county, as a matter of fact i moved so far north that i am just two blocks from canada. ha!! when you live this far out in the county some of your basic needs are less accessible - a grocery store for one, and a hardware store with flexible hours...another. on this day i had to go back to that big box hardware store because of one part. one single error. the round trip trek is FIFTY miles. i was SO angry.
As always nature seems to provide, and nature usually calms me - on the way back the day light at this circle intersection was so shadowy and elongated that i drove around and around snapping multiple drive by captures of it. the gesture of going around in circles just made me laugh. I felt much better. this photograph sums it all up perfectly
Why Make Art
I have been thinking lately about the compulsion to create. For those of us who are artists - we get it, but does someone not into making really understand? As many years as I have been tearing found images into collages, none have felt like these recent years. I see, think, wonder and sometimes even dream in collage. I love this compulsion. My making process affirms itself over and over. Images choose me, and an artful flow knowingly becomes something finished. It perpetuates. THIS is why I make art. The making is very self defining
In a cerebral art world they speak to elements and principles of design. Things like line, shape and texture, color, hue, value, and space all come into play. Balance, symmetry, asymmetry. proportion, rhythm, and unity are considered. How is the piece composed? Does it follow the rules of composition? Layering can make for a very interesting collage presentation.
I sometimes feel if I have to stumble over the correct language to describe a piece of art that it's overwhelming. I am terrible about following the rules in most aspects of my life. Including art making and art commenting. In college one of the big lessons in life drawing was the quality of line. I got that, but as an artist if I wanted my line to be exaggerated or something other than what was being taught, I'd get a lower grade. I often felt like I was put in my place. That individuality was not tolerated. Maybe I was a bad student. I was trying even then to have my own unique signature
I value tremendously a provocative critique offered by another that speaks to art elements and principles. I respect their grasp of the formulaic ways of describing what is art. For me, I offer a more organic conversation, something a tad less intense. Take a step back and notice what strikes you in an art piece. What are the shapes? The colors? What lines are you drawn to and where do those lines take you? Is the collage pretty, moody, abstract, pleasing, perhaps the piece is disturbing ? If so, why? What is the overall experience?
When I first started to collage there were those who bravely tore paper. I was not one of those. I used scissors for a really long time. I am clear it was a control thing. I have observed that sometimes in my life now if I am upset that my collages will seek a layer of control and scissors will come out. An interesting thing to be a part of. The beauty of tearing however is just that - it's risky, freeing and really fun! The edges a tear can bring to a collage....paper edges, unevenness, the white that is left behind in a tear ...all become an element of interest in a collage art piece. I love that!
The final expression for me are the messages relayed from the subconscious mind. This is why my work became a personal narrative. each collage built upon another to tell the story of my days going by. I couldn't help but notice it. Sometimes i found the insight to be quite compelling. I also felt that teaching others this technique very rewarding and a great way to connect with others.
Below are two collages that are not like most of my work.
Forgive the two different times of day that I photographed these collages. The first was taken in day light, the other under a drawing light. I should go back and re-photograph these at the same time in the same light. I'll do that and add them. A friend gave me a stack of this pithy handmade paper. it's a different color paper than i am used to working on and not necessarily a paper I would choose. But i just love it in these two pieces.
the torn edges are fantastic!!
windows are often found in my collage work
in these, the windows become part of the paper
much like i am beginning to feel at home in my new loft and studio
i feel like both of these pieces have a sense of movement.
like the windows are open and a breeze is billowing in.
in the first collage are ink smudges of the person who gave me this paper
i wanted to include that person in my work.
thank you for this great paper
Photography = a never ending opportunity to capture visual celebrations.
