“ComBUSTible: Striking Her Power Pose”

Supermodel — more like super Mod Podge! Stepping back into collaging after taking time off for health & holiday obligations.

12 in. square black mounted canvas with vintage imagery, spray paint, acrylic tube paints, metallic Sharpie markers, silver & black spotted washi tape border, Mod Podge sealant

#surrealart #oddcollage #modpodge #90ssupermodels #werkit

“These Loins Bear Fruit (Melon Balls, Dried Apricots, Frozen Grapes)”

Launching into the holidaze with this

playful Thanksgiving centerpiece

— it’s *literally* HIGH STEAKS stuff —

12 in. x 12 in. vintage & contemporary imagery collage on mounted spray-painted canvas in snow-speckled sage green/soft gray hombre background + metallic washi tape side trim in tarnished gold, sealed w/ glossy Mod Podge

#surrealart #oddcollage #modpodge #thanksgiving2023 #holidazed #vintageglamour #fooddisplay #sagegreen #melonorange #gravyporn

“Organ Chain”

8 in. x 10 in. vintage imagery collage on mounted canvas with titanium white latex paint, Mod Podge, and metallic washi tape side trim in tarnished gold -- a companion piece to "Medallions", below, (and as seen in final slide, pasted to the back of this work's canvas)

12 in. x 12 in. vintage imagery collage on black canvas with enamel latex paint, Mod Podge, washi tape side trim in patterned bronze & black (late-May 2021)

"Without even asking the price, Keith Richards slipped the ring straight onto his finger." 

- Connoisseur Magazine

#surrealart #oddcollage #modpodge #channelingversace #outrageousfashion #organdonorlove #unusualcharms #goodasgold #keithrichardswasmymuse

“Little Fires Everywhere” (*with apologies to Celeste Ng)

A VERITABLE ERUPTION OF PLAYGROUND PANDEMONIUM!

14 in. x 11 in. mixed media collage, primarily sourced from a recently unearthed preschool textbook entitled ABC Social Studies Series: “Our Neighborhood” (1961) by Professors Dorothy M. Fraser & Harry E. Hoy, with hombre spray paint over mounted black canvas and acrylic black latex paint for smoke detailing, then sealed with glossy Mod Podge + patterned pink washi tape sides

Enjoy this wild rumpus 

of precocious pyros and displaced spirits 

as we approach Halloween...

#healthyamountsofchaos #surrealart #mixedmediacollage #modpodge #sheermadness #anarchywithinreason #butseriouslystayesafe

“Lady Marmalade: Temptress From Tampa”

SHE'S GOT SOLAR FLAIR!

Third in a series (see last two slides for the others, property of my dear friend Emma Carbo, from March of 2022 titled "High on the Hog" and "The Gammon Gamine:  Fallen in Pollen, the Rasher Will Catch Her")

12 in. x 9 in. surreal colllage/sequin art on an upside down page from 1965's "Science For The Here and Now: Third Edition" with sparkle washi tape edging, yellow acrylic paint highlights + spray dotting, and L’Oreal True Match Glotion luminescent makeup skin highlighter in “Fair Glow” (shade no. 901), plus the requisite Mod Podge sealant glue

"We are very, very far from the sun.

We can see the roundness of the sun."

- Page 124 -

"Hot Mess Bequest"

 - CALLING ON THE FLOWER CHILDREN! -

18 in. x 9 in. mixed media collage (with turquoise washi tape border) of vintage textbook imagery, primarily sourced from 1965's "Science For The Here and Now: Third Edition"

Side note:  The piece photographs terribly — much just doesn’t “read” or the glossy Mod Podge reflects off all the bumps (especially where I fused an extension onto the canvas).  As far as relevance goes, the following press release (seen in final slide) regarding climate change as evidenced by drastic global warming was issued today: 

“This summer was the hottest ever measured in the Northern Hemisphere, according to the World Meteorological Organization and the European climate service Copernicus.”

- Associated Press, September 26, 2023

Today's Final Jeopardy Category: Words Ending in "-ina"

The latest installment of a TV guilty pleasure resurfaces the author's deranged inner child 

Amongst the purported “crown jewels” of HBO’s streaming platform, recently revamped as simply "Max," has been the hotly-anticipated Sex and the City reboot …And Just Like That. The limited series, currently winding down its second and potentially final season, was quickly recognized by both critics and dyed-in-the-wool (or rather, cashmere) fans for its out-of-touch writing, and deflated in ratings with a rather clumsy “thud” by the end of its first set of 45-minute installments in winter 2022. Where the original dramedy was recognized for its fresh and contemporary, somewhat edgy sexploits amongst urban females, its follow-up is the very definition of hackneyed and obnoxiously elitist. Worse, it awkwardly if not maddeningly makes a desperate reach for relevance by tapping into issues of transgender identity, which smells as strongly like an inauthentic ploy as the official Sex in the City perfume and body deodorants still available from Walmart and Amazon.

As my new favorite “hate watch” I couldn’t help but feel obligated to share a plot point in this week’s edition that stood out for its sorely and sadly disordered mindset. My gripe is with an abhorrent paperlight B —or rather, C— storyline, quickly and superficially resolved by episode’s end, involving Kristin Davis’ Charlotte, who I otherwise consider the sole likable lead (especially after Mr. Big’s untimely demise). As it plays out, the bubbly fifty-something Upper East Sider has decided her new career path lies in returning to the NYC gallery scene in some capacity that honestly escapes me (being not entirely important). Accompanying this comes the resolution o lose the bump so visible in her newest Prada LBD work "uniform” by subsiding on bone broth and layering an onion’s worth of shapewear skins underneath the garment's unforgiving form-fitting silhouette. The bold pink accent accentuating her curvy middle becomes the bane of her otherwise charmed existence. 

"I don't need to lose the belt, I need to lose the belly," she tells Harry, the ever-patient and supportive, somewhat bemused husband. Then later, perhaps more distressingly, to her other right hand man, gay BFF Anthony: “I'm going to be a gallerina again. Think about it: ballerina, gallerina. Anything that ends in '-ina' is teeny-tiny.”

This rather quirky —albeit irrational— conclusion immediately registered with me, my often-on-alert Anorexia-concerned brain flagging the remark as perhaps a long-ago buried ED thought from my formative years. After all: “Lor-ina” might fall under this vocabulary rule. 

Yes, to be above all else "teeny-tiny." And never amounting to anything much more than this sad, rather one-dimensional end goal and nearly lifelong obsession.

Think about it? Believe me, I have.

A still from Season 2, Episode 8 ("A Hundred Years Ago"): Attempting to hide her “problem area," Charlotte covers up in a bold floral Oscar de la Renta coat, with the belted dress of concern peeking out beneath.