May I?

May I??

Here is the question begged in RED letters from my dining room hutch... May I try; will I love it; can they alter art? May we take something and add to it, meld textures and forms, time periods, the old with the new? Can we enjoy something...maybe not as it was initially intended...as art?

YES! We can and we do! Look at these gals at a workshop Jody Battaglia hosted with us. We loved getting our hands dirty and our minds busy as we put ideas into motion...how brave artists are for being able to do this time and again! And maybe even braver when they alter art...when they use materials and objects not as they were intended....when they layer, revisit, and re-create....

The temptation to alter what is already there, make it better, make it whimsical, make it our own.... It's a lush concept, dribbled with funky nostalgic components, texture and sentiment. ALteReD aRt just might be kitsch's little sister....and we already know I love KITSCH!

Spunky and so very today, we reach for art that is tweaked anew. Old photos of those forgotten are freshly found in Cheryl Kuhn's "small stories studio" creations. Cheryl takes old images and alters them, adding layers of wood, metal and paper. Words are coupled with the images to breathe new life into old written art...literature and books, forgotten poems and long-ago chanted ditties. Cheryl has just emailed that a new box of work is on it's way. (We'll post these to the site next weekend...let us know if you'd like to be on a sneak peek list as her work does go quickly...)

In the realm of the wearable, Dara DiMagno bravely alters yesterday's photo art. I am so drawn to her work, wearing one of he pieces almost daily. They are kaleidoscopes of vintage metal, found objects and forgotten faces. Old silver utensils, odd findings, scraps from long-ago played games, tin types and old photos, steel cut Victorian buttons, Bakelite charms and baubles galore...to these she layers quips and monikers in collaged fonts. The altered elements emerge as charming stories...fancifully adorn what was there... and making it her own.

And in her series called "queens of kitsch", Ashley Carter takes 1940s paper dolls and creates a realm of frothy millinery flowers and faux confections as skirts, wands and more...how fun and what an altered use for paper dolls... and I am quite sure those vintage hat ornaments never thought they'd be turned into fairies' wands and party centerpieces!

These artists alter materials to make their own creations....and I have fallen in love with them for it. I admire their bravery, their whimsy and their STYLE!

So yes, you may! Have your own style, your own flair, your own love of art for what it is, what it was and what it can be to you...

xxoo Jen

Earth Angels Toys