re cycle: everything old

New Year Goddess, original collage by Deco, detail

New again

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.

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​The use of the old and unloved materials allows my participation in one of my favorite shows – the Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival. Around 100 vendors gather at the downtown convention center, each of us with unique materials and vision, and invite the public to buy our recycled art creations.  We did not have the show last year because of the pandemic, and I was very excited to send in my application for this year’s event in November.

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Recycle Santa Fe Art Festival, 2019

​Everything old is new again

​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

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