Although the heat of the sun feels like summer, the days are shorter and the winds are brisker; time for seasonal changes.  
I am launching a newsletter "Bits and Pieces" which will be a brief update on my coming shows and all the special sales and promotions in my Etsy shop.  It is FREE and you can sign up here, in the the sidebar of this blog post.
​The big news is the upcoming Live and in Person show, Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival. Mid-November and in downtown Santa Fe, it is the pre-holiday festival and market that everyone relishes.

Recycle Santa Fe
Art Festival
​November 12-14, 2021
Santa Fe Community Convention Center
201 W. Marcy St.
​Santa Fe, NM 87504
3 Day Art Market
Trash to Treasure:
​Originals, posters, prints, cards

I created a new collage, which I will debuting at the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival.  Here is a slide show that reveals the progression from first day's  few scraps to completion.  This collage, like most of my work, is composed of paper cut from magazines and catalogs.  I call it "Serenity". 

  My work is in a few more shows - both in California.  One show, All About Women, is displaying my original collage "What Dreams May Come".  The other is National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, and they are displaying my original collage, "Hear the Echoes". You can read about them in the blog sidebar.

I am going to take a little time and sit outside and read a good book now - the weather is gorgeous and soon a full moon will be rising.

Deco

Old magazines and mail order catalogs are often tossed as soon as they are delivered to the mailbox. But for me and my art medium, cut paper collage, they supply a treasure trove of wealth.  The color, the shapes, the shadows, the hues, the text in a myriad of font and size – these provide me with an endless source of material. Using this “used and useless” paper, I can form endless space-scape, intricate still life, and meaningful portraits.  I use these scraps as my paint palette, and I let my imagination take me to the ends of the universe.  I can be realistic or abstract, and nearly every one of my collages is loaded with embedded words and phrases.

​That phrase "everything old is new again" seems like a centuries-old chestnut – but apparently it isn’t! Simple research showed that it was the title and theme of a song written by Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager (he usually gets full credit though) in 1974.  The phrase was also employed by Stephen King, in 2005.  I thought it would have an ancient lineage.  Nope.  Nevertheless, it is a handy adage for the Recycling show as well as my art.

​As I write this blog entry, our world plague is surging, and mask mandates are returning, and our sequestering appears to be the future for the safety of us all.  After a taste of cautious freedom – did you travel? Go to a concert? – returning to ordering in and binging Netflix seems like a dreary outcome.  I am going to comply of course (sure beats the alternative!)  I hope that all of you who read this post take the necessary precautions to stay healthy and keep your communities alive. I want to see you all.

Buy a new mask or two.
Wave at people. 
Be kind to workers. 
​Tip well.
"the smiles returning to the faces"

​Deco

​Water is on my mind this summer, the excess and the dearth, abundance and scarcity.  Here in the high plains desert of northern New Mexico, we worry about having enough water. It is monsoon season, and the summer downpours give us joy, while – at the same time - whole towns in Europe are washed by devastating floods. We, and most of the planet, are dependent on clean fresh water, and yet we pollute the oceans with chemicals and garbage.  Breaking water, mother's water breaking, water broken; ​Tó éí ííńá át'é   Water is life.

​​Water has been a theme in my art for a decade or so. As a transplant to Santa Fe, I was fascinated with the storms and flooded arroyos in the summers; my Monsoon Rush explores the powerful gush of water lit by the setting sun.

​I used Water in the first of my Elements series, Too Far Out, as I studied the dissipation of matter and the distorted perspective in and above a body of water.

​​The series I have been creating over the past several years, Coral Reef, is all about Water, and Life and Water.  It is a 12-part exploration, nearly complete.

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​I recently was accepted into another group exhibition, Cimarron National Works on Paper, on display at Oklahoma State University.  The work that was invited is What Dreams May Come, a small but intense, densely packed cut paper collage, contemplating pathways to heaven, and conflicting impressions of magnitude.  This exhibition will be "live and in person" August 16-September 17 in the Gardiner Gallery in Stillwater, OK, and will include a virtual exhibition too.

Joyceans around the world celebrate the 16th day of June as occasion to meet, feast and read literary excerpts to each other. The day commemorates the day that Leopold Bloom and his wife Molly and his young friend Stephen Daedalus (and other assorted denizens of 1904 Dublin) lived Life, as recorded by James Joyce in his novel Ulysses. Mostly it is an excuse to descend from the ivory towers and have fun.  I have been honoring the day with my fellow readers since 2004, the 100th anniversary revelry. My Original Collage “Bloomsday at Molly Malone’s” was created to reflect upon that particular celebration.  Since moving to Santa Fe, I joined the local James Joyce group; we meet weekly for reading and discussion, and yearly for celebration.  The pandemic dampened our usual hijinks – music, recitations, art exhibitions, and feasting on the traditional foods, for which we invite the public to enjoy.  This year our fest was smaller and private, but nonetheless joyful.

​I am so pleased to announce that one of my Original Collages will be included in another national group exhibition. The selected art is my collage depiction of the great spiral galaxy M101.  The show is "Liminal" at the Verum Ultimum Art Gallery, 3014 NE Ainsworth, Portland, OR and runs the entire month of July 2021. Inclusion in this show is especially meaningful to me, as “Liminal” is the concept that I have been probing in my art for the past decade or so. Liminal is an adjective that’s used to describe things that exist at the threshold or border between one thing and another, specifically means relating to the point beyond which a sensation becomes too faint to be experienced. My work on “M101” is an exploration of that threshold. Although the original is in a private collection, the work will be viewed in an online presentation through the gallery. Giclee prints are also available.
This will be my fourth group exhibition this year. 

I am giddy with the excitement of new exhibitions and future possibilities.  So I am going to have a poster sale!  My three posters are for sale at $12 each + shipping, through July.  I am going to bypass Etsy this time, and offer them to you as a direct sale.  Send me a message, and we will arrange shipping and payment asap. 

​Here are the three posters:

​This season has been surprisingly busy.  In addition to my spring sales, I have entered  group exhibitions; in addition to the two I announced in my last blog entry, I was accepted into a lovely show titled “Blue.” The gallerists at the O’Hanlon Center for the Arts in Mill Valley, California, invited artists from around the country to participate.  The theme clearly was the color Blue and inspired creations in all media.  I submitted three likely candidates from my collection and the jurist selected my piece “Hear the Echoes", drawn by the vibrant hue of the sky and the contrast with the red cliffs.

​The artists from the exhibition were invited to participate in a Zoom call on May 18; after signing in at the wrong time (twice! dang time zone gap!), I joined about 6 dozen participants in the Zoom.  We had a chance to say a few words about our entries, as the entire show was presented to us one piece at a time.  Stirring statements and astounding creativity, from Cape Cod to Seattle…it was inspiring to see the variety.  The Zoom was recorded and is accessible for view, as is the entire show without commentary.

​I have been submitting applications for more shows; these exhibitions expand my horizons internationally.  I feel honored to be included with the other creators.  The work on my 12-piece opus “Coral Reef” continues to grow, and I hoping to complete this year.

​​Meanwhile, I am off to read in the garden – irises are in bloom!

​Spring is here and the restrictions imposed by the pandemic are easing, and my world is opening up – I am out exploring, and in… expanding my vision and my reach.

​In the middle of April, I did a short road trip to El Malpais National Monument in western New Mexico. The name means “badlands” and refers to a vast area of volcanic land created tens of thousands of years ago, considered inhospitable to many people for centuries.   Nowadays, we appreciate the geology and the flora and the fauna.  I arrived early on a frosty morning, the first to park at the trailhead.  I started my hike by following a portion of the Continental Divide Trail through the verdant lava fields.  I was fascinated by the evidence of elk; their hoof prints were huge and deep – the size of my hiking boots and making 3 times the impression in the soft mud.  The soil reminded me of the red mud of Maui. I climbed the cinder cone and explored the lava trenches; I did not encounter any people until my return to the trailhead; mostly ornithologists, it appeared.

​As Santa Fe begins to open post-pandemic, I have been expanding my activities.  I am pleased to have been accepted in two upcoming shows.  The first is in Norfolk VA, Merged II, an exhibition of collage and assemblage.  The piece they accepted was “Hear the Echoes”, the Original Collage commissioned by the State of New Mexico a few years ago to honor the poets of the state.  This exhibition will be live and in person – I shipped the framed collage this week. The Gallery is D'Art Center, 740 Boush St., Norfolk, VA 23510.  The Opening Reception is on Thursday, May 6, 5:30-7:30 pm, and it runs until May 23, 2021. I encourage my friends on the East Coast to check it out and take photos!

​The second show is based in California, but has an on-line exhibition component, so everyone will be able to view the art.  The exhibition is Purely Abstract, a Group Exhibition, and is presented by Las Laguna Art Gallery, 577 S. Coast Highway A-1, Laguna Beach, CA 92651. The exhibition includes all media; this is the first time I have had my paper mosaics accepted into an all-abstract exhibition.  They selected an Original Collage from my Coral Reef series, which I titled “All there in… (black and white)”. The show opens on May 6, and runs until May 29, 2021.

​I continue to submit my work to national and international shows, and I look forward to the possibilities locally too.  Meanwhile, the sale that I am featuring in my three Etsy shops is coming to an end soon. I offer a 20% discount on the purchase of any 2 items, and the sale ends on May 7.  You will find items to please a Mom, a grad, as well as confirmation candidates.  Take a look; enjoy!

​My mom’s birthday was a few days ago.  She’s not around anymore, but while she was living, we always added festive elements of a St. Patrick’s Day celebration – some of the traditional foods and drinks of the Irish-Americans in Chicago, where I grew up. Here is a picture of her kissing the Blarney Stone in Ireland when she was a young woman. I miss her.  She was proud of her bright intellect, her creativity, and her drive to improve her community. She was not a touch-feely person, and did not like hugging, although I have no doubt that she profoundly loved me and my five siblings. Motherhood does not always match what shows up in the selection of Hallmark cards!  As a mother myself, I learned that one of the characteristics of motherliness is Ferocity.  I do not know of any mom who lacks ferocity.  A mother is often ferocious in her love; ferocious in her support and protection.

Mother’s Day is around the corner (Sunday May 9 this year), and I wanted to do something special, so you can celebrate your mother.  In honor of my mom, I am offer two sales in all my Etsy shops.  The first sale is for the Early Bird, which offers 25% off the purchase of 3 items – anything in the shop!  Yes, even framed originals.  Of course, the shops also have smaller items, like greeting card sets and journals, which are easily giftable to your own mothers or new moms you know.  The Early Bird sale runs from March 31 to April 7, 2021.  The second sale is the traditional Mothers’ Day Sale and offers 20% off the purchase of any two items in the shop.  This sale runs from April 8 to May 8, 2021.

My three Etsy shops include:

• DECO fine art collage, featuring my collage art – New Mexican landscape, still life and portraits - in originals, prints , giclées, and posters.
• Star Art by Deco, with my collage art featuring cosmic designs like stars, planets, and nebulae, in originals and prints
• DECO Collage Cards, specializing in giftable items like greeting cards and journals, featuring my collage designs.

These three images are available as prints in various sizes, in DECO fine art collage:
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​In other good news, New Mexico is opening up after pandemic restrictions, just in time to welcome Spring. The landscape is always beautiful, but our spring weather is capricious, and I can plant pansies and two days later, wake to winter white. I am looking forward to more colorful days ahead; soon, I will welcome family and friends to my backyard, join friends in a local wine garden and return to traveling.

I like February even though it has brought snow and icy cold over much of the continent. In Santa Fe, the temp dropped to below zero (that’s -18 Celsius!) and many residents’ pipes burst (not mine - whew!) Then came the white blanket – not as much as other regions, but a goodly amount.  However, the snow was a polite visitor and melted away in the midday sun, with only a dusting or too over the next few days.  

​I had a Snow Day and used the time to rework some collages that I had developed while I was set up at the weekend markets last year and the years previous.  I met a ton of people there, both at the Railyard Artisan’s Market, and El Museo Mercado, making solid connections with my colleagues, and my work was introduced to hundreds of visitors.  Every weekend, I set up an easel and cut and paste my collages in full view of the public, who were intrigued with my technique and product.  But the lighting was not the best! And I did not have a large selection of paper.  I am glad to have the time to work on these – they are mostly from the Coral Reef series (nearly done!)

​February brings lots of holidays and birthdays to celebrate.  We celebrated Tet and Mardi Gras, and saluted Abe Lincoln, Yoko Ono and George Harrison.  As part of the Fest for Beatles Fans birthday celebration for George Harrison (February 25th), I am curating the art show, with art selections flowing in from all corners of the world.

Today is National Drink Wine Day; I salute you!
(Read the label on the bottle!)


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Love and peace!

​Deco

​I saluted the new year with joy at midnight on December 31 and opened my heart and mind to the possibilities of the New Year.  Reflection on the year past and contemplation of the coming year was especially poignant.  I welcome both the tumult and peace, progress and stillness.
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For the last several weeks, I have been adding new products to my Etsy shops. I have added new originals and prints, and I have expanded the selection of sizes of the prints that are available for many items.  I added new products, like a new Mouse Pad, and I will continue to add listings over the next few months as well.  I have a lot to offer!  Here is a glimpse:

Visit me at:

• DECOfineartcollage
• StarArtbyDeco
• DECOcollageCards