New Zealand collage art exchange 2016

An artist out of Taranaki, New Zealand, Dale Devereux Copeland, holds a unique art exchange every year. Where artist from around the world send her artwork that is then sorted and used for a exhibit in New Zealand, as well as on two different websites www.outofsight.co.nz and http://virtual.tart.co.nz . After the exhibit is over the best pieces from each artist makes their way to Verbeke Foundation in Belgium where the collection will be donated as a public collection for the year.

ENGLAND THE BEAUTIFUL

 

The first mural is also a full large scale collage cut into 12 smaller collages. This mural was titles "England the Beautiful" and features a beautiful young lady who passed away during child birth. She is passionately missed by her family and her daughter who survived. It represents the beautiful thing that come out of England. 3 of the 12 collages were given to the family as a memorial. The other 9 went to the exchange.

WORKING CLASS

The second mural is also a fulle large scale collage cut into 9 smaller collages. This mural was titled "Working Class" and features a different aspect of English life. There is no running image in these collages. The over all imagery is working class life, gane life, sex, and poverty. This is the opposite of England the Beautiful, the underbelly. Random images scoring the page like graffiti on a wall.

Bath pieces starte with a combination Applica of 4 pound bags, and drywall compound. From there hand cut stencils are applied with spray paint in a collage format. Once that process is complete the flags were added and the pieces were cut into smaller sections for the exchange.....5.....

New Priority

It’s been almost a full year since I have posted anything on here or created art for that matter. I’ve been concentrating on myself and my humanity. Fine tuning all those broken or dysfunctional parts to make my journey in life more productive and empowering for my marriage , my children and, of course, myself. How sick and selfish I was in the past letting my personality get tangled up in melodramatic imagination and false perceptions of myself and the world around me. What a lie I lived for so many years and how close I came to disaster. One of the biggest changes in the last year was the elimination of Alcohol from my diet. Not only did that effect my health dramatically it also changed my awareness of the world around me, and the people I love. I was much more able to appreciate the little things I had been missing for years. One amazing thing I experienced was the change in the bond with my daughter. I spend part of every morning watching cartoons and cuddling with my kids for a couple of hours. At about four or five weeks of not drinking at all I took the same position cuddling with my kids and I took a good hard look into my daughters eye, and she looks back for the first time. Prior to this I felt that her possible developmental issue was the reason for her distant stare and her lack of connection. But little did I know she had been there the entire time. It was me that lacked the connection. What a great journey I had with her that day. We sat there staring at each other, playing and laughing. This is what people mean by clarity. All I can hope for is more of these perfect experiences, jumping back into the production of my art and pushing forward toward a great life…..5…..

Ronald McDonald House Broward General Location

Sponsor Board Design 2004

In college, 2004, I had the opportunity to design the sponsor board for the top sponsors to the Ronald McDonald house.

The concept of the entire space was of course Florida, beaches, ocean, and sunshine. ASID student chapter painted a mural I designed for the play room and every 2 chapter members were given a suite to design themselves. The entire project came out great but my favorite part was the sponsor board. I created a wave like board in bright south Florida colors. Since in was for outside, I wanted to use a weather resistant material. So we had the board made of composite materials and acrylic signage plaques. This way if it weathers over time it can be refinished and polished again, plus these material work great outside. 

Overall I think the design work great for the space and hope they enjoy it as much as I do.....

What is 305?

WHAT IS 305?  2010

DRYWALL COMPOUND, AEROSOL PAINT, LATEX PAINT & WOOD STAIN ON PLYWOOD

 Size: 48” X 72” Frame-less 

 What is 305?  Expands on the development of the greater Miami area;  giving a brief history of icon facts and terminologies. It displays a propaganda like poster style to represent to strength and power Miami has on our national economy. But even being one of the top cities in  America still we see mass unemployment and major city decay. Which leads me to believe even with power  and strength, if 1% run America, it  will always have major failure, and we  will become the laughing stock of the world no matter how will we       market our selves as powerful and dominate.  Remember the Romans.....Currently part of the RS Gallery Collection.....5.....

The Simple Man

So there's confusion about men that men are simple and not complex but the reality is men are very complex yet hold simple standard and principles. I watched a movie recently that hit me at home it was about a man who live not such a positive life but loved his family extremely. He loved his daughter, loved does wife, he tried hard to balance these two worlds and found out that no matter what those two worlds would end up meeting up.  I read once that children are a mirror, they are the mirror of all the things we do wrong in life and where we need to do to progress. They are the key to why we are successful as human beings without them sometimes we just have ourselves and sometimes yourself are not enough.  Children make us better people no matter how awful we were in the past. They explain the future better than any elder ever could. They are the reason some of to live and their mentors in their own right. What will give up for family is endless. We strive for the best for our children but sometimes realize that the best is only what we envision ourselves and not what our children vision. There has to be an understanding of Hope, Love, care, and consciousness that goes into parenting even know not everybody understands or respects this theory but it shows up in countless forms of  media, movies, books, and our minds.  there is only one reason bad boys become good dads and that is children. Love you baby girl.....5.....

IN 2008 I WORKED ALONG SIDE SCOTT ROMAN FROM HARVEY HERMAN INTERIORS, AS A CONSULTANT ON THE TILE AND STONE FOR THE PROJECT, WHICH WAS LATER PUBLISHED IN HOME MAGAZINE

HOME MAGAZINE AUG/SEPT 2008

GLASS MOSAIC ACCENT WALL FOR THE POWDER ROOM

STONE ACCENT WALL FOR THE LIVING ROOM

TEXTURED PORCELAIN LARGE PROFILE TILES FOR THE FLOOR 

MILESTONES

ISLA BARNES BORN MARCH 4TH 2013

For years I have felt trapped in quicksand, not able to get out and move up to the next milestone. Left stagnate, waiting for that child to begin our family, that forever child. Now that veil has been lifted, new life can begin, wasted years are behind us. She came to us and now she is finally a permanent part of our family.  The quicksand feels like it is loosening and the fear and stress of the responsibility ahead engulf my eagerness. The fog has clears the stairs are visible and I am climbing. It’s a bit overwhelming thinking about the responsibility ahead but I am defiantly up for the challenge. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow bring and look very forward to the milestones.

ISLA IN HARD TIMES

Milestone seem important in life. They direct as well as set the footing for our next step. I never really paid too much attention to milestones in the past thinking they were just trees passing by in my travels. A nice thought but they are more than this, they are foundations being forged. They are the rise of your steps to your next point. Lack of concern for them creates a loss of drive and a decrease in forward momentum. We need milestones to show us we are heading I the right direction. Without them we are flying blind. By doing this we take the chance of going in the wrong direction or even worse sometimes going in no direction at all. Milestone also build your respect and enforce your relationships with family and friends. The more milestone you share with family and friends the closer bond is developed.  Graduation, They are a scrapbook of our lives allowing us to look back and see where we succeeded and where we failed, but most of all where we are heading and how we can get there quicker. Marriage, Children, Car accident, Promotion, New home, Prison, 25th anniversary, etc etc etc. No matter how small the milestone. How positive or how negative, all of them hold a place in our hearts that will drive us, even negative milestone can drive us forward if they are looked at correctly and seen for what they are. If not, they can limit us and stall us from achieving the next milestone. They can stall us for minutes or they can stall us for decades.

 I sit wondering what the future will bring, what is out there for us and where we will be in 10 years. I make suggestions and comments to myself hoping the energy will maintain the excitement. She is ours and we are her netting. Her only defense against this world in which we live. The only protection from that which is dark and unmanageable. Do I put blinders on her and school her like a horse for success, or water her like a flower and let her grow in her own unique chemistry. So many questions and no answers. Lots of options but no facts. It’s a scary road to not know where the next pothole is, but we will strive through it. Build this house solid and large. Filled with love and charity. We will develop ourselves to be that family with communication and understand. One that helps you through in times of need and gives space when you need it. I hope I can show you everything you desire to see and I hope I can teach you everything you desire to learn. I see that energy within you. That enormous, powerful, power which you convey. How luck the world will be to experience even a faction of what you are capable of, and can you imagine what you will be capable of in the future. 

Farewell Letter to G, for now.....

I ventured to the supermarket the other day to see you and your family standing there, you looked amazing. I spent the last year and half scared to death that you were not safe, protected and loved. I also spent that time missing you tremendously, that great smile and your unmistakable call for “Daddy” will always resonate in my head. I didn’t want to say anything cause I didn’t want to confuse you or create anymore turmoil in your life, you have gone through so much already, so I just walked on by, wowed that I finally got a chance to see you again. I hope you didn’t see me I wouldn’t want you to think I forgot about you, far from it. I’d rather you live your life and be happy. But I was glad I got to see you healthy, and well kept. It gave me some clarity of your future and even know I
will still worry daily, at least I know you are likely on a good path.

I want to thank you for being a part of our lives and creating so much love in our home. You brought a lot of joy to our family and I hope the time you spent with us brought that same amount of joy. You helped me through some trying times, and helped me grow as person and most of all as a parent. More than you will even know. I hope the skills and goals we instilled in you while you stayed with us, bring you much joy and happiness. I hope to, someday in the distance, see you again. See how you have developed into a successful young lady. And watch you walk with confidence, strength, and beauty into your future. I wish you everything the world has to offer and hope you receive it. I will always miss you, and of course I love you very much. Best of luck my little girl.

Love

“Daddy”

Time 'tick' 'tick'

TIME SCAPE

Time is an interesting element in our lives as human beings. It can be used as a punishment (prison), used as a pleasure (vacation), used as a measure (work week), or even used as a threat (you have 6 months to live). Whatever it is used for, it will never stop, and never reset. Its unforgiving in that way. There is no pause, rewind, and fast forward. There is just time with no concluded end

When young time seems endless; open to new possibilities and hopes. The sun seems to never set and new horizons seem to grow almost in an instant. There is no value put on time at this age because it seems so endless. When age starts to show its ugly head, time seems to go by faster leaving you wanting more but not able to accomplish it within the quicksand’s of the hourglass. No matter how hard you try things begin to slip out of your grasp, you fall behind, your list become smaller because the longer lists from before are no longer attainable. The older we get the even more quick time seems to pass by. Instead of hours missed it becomes days, weeks, months and even years. We forget and the pass erases all existence of the events. Maybe this is why legacy is so important to most people. Why having a clean image is more important than being honest and true, no matter how horrible the truth. Why are our lives set up with such a parameter. Is it so we value time and thus live, if so than why do we as humans not see the value of time till in most cases it’s passed us by. Is this the cruel reality of time’s plan to make us aware late in life of our wastefulness of it.

I’d like to think that time somehow continues after death. But being realistic there is probably a slim chance of this. I like to think I’m going to be more then fertilizer in my absence but until that day comes I will never know, and of course I’m not too much a gambler with common ideas that are supported by no evidence. So in retrospect I will wait to explore that avenue and see what it brings. For now I chase time, trying to catch as much of it as possible and harvest as much of it as I can. Spend as much of it with family and friends, and as little of it with doubt and depression. It’s way too short to waste on simple thing like that and I’m way to busy looking at the better things in life.

Think Pozitive ….. 5

WAR DESIGN

WAR DESIGN  2009

Warhol’s film “Blow Job” spoke of a principle of early Soviet film theory, the “Kuleshov effect,” in which shots taken on different meaning depending on their juxtaposition with other images. Does this concept along with extra images form an alternative meaning? Does the use of the term “The End” or the image of an abstract tank form a military or war like design?

 

Though this piece would be apropo to what is going on in the Soviet Union right now.....cheers.....