The Collage Begins
I was having trouble with tone in my Shar scenes, they seemed to be so blah, so I decided it was collage time. I gathered papers in colors that had more of the vibe I was looking for, found three Christmas ornaments I could turn into the Three, and then threw in a bunch of other stuff, too, some of which is here:
And then I put together the base of the collage, a step temple against a blue sky and white sand, with a tile floor that I’m going to try to talk Krissie and Lani into putting in the storeroom. Maybe linoleum.
It’s just the background, it’ll be full of the stuff by the time I’m through, but it gives me a much better feel for Shar’s story, bright and rich with dark undertones at the bottom. Since this is my collage, it’ll concentrate on Shar and Kami, but there’ll be lots of Daisy and Abby in there, too. I think just seeing the colors and playing the music will help me keep it light.
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Pretty. I love those papers.
Jenny - it’s beautiful! You are amazing. We’ll have to talk about the linoleum, though. I like the stone floor.
I love it! I am not allowed in art supply stores anymore without a spotter, ‘cuz I’m liable to spend every cent I own on the cool sheets of paper. It’s so easy. One of these, and one of these, and…Right.
Anyway, you got the blue and white bags at World Market, didn’t you? I know this because I manage one in Indiana. We don’t currently have anything Mesopotamian-ish, but I’ll let you know if something turns up. One never knows.
It’s going to be interesting to watch your collage process. Thanks for sharing.
Yep, the bags were from World Market; good eye! I bought little twisty top picks because I think I can turn them into torches. But yes, you were woefully short on Mesopotamian artifacts. And they’re so hot right now, too.
Well, maybe they’ll be hot if we ever get D&G finished and published.
I’m telling you, Lani, linoleum in the temple would be FUNNY. It’s a JOKE. Sort of like Jonestown. With practical flooring. And then later, we could have Kami make Mina pull it all up . . .
If you ever
finish and publish D&G, I will personally beseige the corporate office until they relent and decide to carry not only the book, but some Mesopotamian artifacts….Like a replica of the stone god bas relief, for example…I know my work environment would be much more pleasant because of it.
I agree, linoleum in the temple would be funny. I’m not even going to touch the “sort of like Jonestown” comment. I’m pretty sure Lani will cover that. Plus, I really like the idea of Kami making Mina pull it up. In fact, really, after all of this time, a lot of the temple has to have been “redecorated.” Kami would certainly make it her secondary mission to restore it to it’s former glory. The possibilities are endless.
Okay, enough procrastinating…Must. Keep. Packing. Blech.
Linoleum in the stone temple would be funny. It’s not the funny I’m arguing against so much as the fact that it’s one more detail we have to explain, and I’m at the point where my mind is starting to spin. Hey - when did I become the wet blanket here? That’s not my role. I’m the silly court jester pushing the jokes. What happened?
And Courtney - Jonestown WAS funny. I mean, not the massacre, but the joke. Funny, funny stuff.
Lani-(she says in a whisper, so no one else will hear) I am one of the few, the proud (okay, maybe not proud), who agree with you that the Jonestown joke is funny. It’s just that, every time the subject is broached, the screaming from Ohio (and several other parts, I might add), takes awhile to subside.
Go drink some Kool-Aid. Your inner jester will reappear. You might even find your inner peach.
Really, I’m going back to packing now. Blech.
If she had inner peach, she’s be all over pink checked linoleum in the temple.
Sigh.
Why not pink checked marble?
Or, to be more authentic, pink limestone and red basalt?
Better yet, you can have pink checked linoleum, which is torn up to reveal pink checked limestone, somewhat pitted, looking like discolored cherries.
Humor. Har.
So Jenny, do you have a nice display area for all these wonderful collages? I have to admit, I love them, but they confuse me utterly until you explain them. Like “bright and cheerful but dark underneath”. I can totally see it now that you point it out, but otherwise I would have been thinking “shiny!” And that’s as far as it would go. (Technically, “matte!”) But I love reading your explanations of the collages.
The Gotteib Archival Library at BU in Boston keeps collections of auxiliary notes and things for famous people in the media, and occasionally has these fabulous open bar shindigs with one of the people whose stuff is there giving a talk. And they serve bite sized beef wellington appetizers and crustless sandwiches with this open bar. (Anyone from boston? You should go. It’s worth the yearly fee.) Anyhow, I can totally see your collection of collages and collaboration notes being housed in such a place. Sue Grafton’s stuff is there, for one.
And I could dig the linoleum. There was a period, we’ll call it the 50s to the 70s, shall we? where everything got linoleum on it no matter how beautiful the underlayment. Ooh, and you could put in bad lighting too, which doesn’t work necessitating the torches, from the same bad reno. Or not. I’ll read it either way. But I’ll still chuckle at the idea of linoleum covering the temple floor.
People who “update” a temple with tiki torch lighting wouldn’t put in pink-checked lino. Maybe some faux-limestone peel & stick lino…
But I agree about everything in that certain period getting lino-ed. (Have you seen those linoleum backsplashes from those “I Have the Country’s Ugliest Kitchen” shows? {shudder})
Originally, the torches were real torches, but our mystery collaborator said, “My character is not going into a dark room where there are torches plus they’d freak the dogs out.” So then we changed it to Jamie going to K-mart and getting cheapo electric tiki torches. I think they just take too much explaining, but I also think by the end of the book we’ll have worked out what this place looks like and have a better grasp on Kami who’d have decided what lighting went where.
So I’m not fighting that fight yet. Don’t tell Lani.
Cary - I haven’t seen the show, but I had the linoleum backsplashes. In fact, I had a bathroom once with linoleum all the way up the walls (right up there with Theresa’s carpeted walls, probably). VERY ugly.
Not all “renovations”, especially at institutions, take place in one big event (though administrators and other muckety-mucks are more likely to get the whole show done over). It could easily have been a piece-by-piece thing, reflecting the attitudes of different powers-that-were. Or there could’ve been a sale.
Is it just me or do your collages keep getting bigger?
As a child I used to steal the hard styrofoam segments that computer parts, monitors, etc., came packed in - I’d turn them into little archaeological excavations complete with altars and secret passages to underground ritual chambers. Properly painted the texture looks nicely shadowed and pitted like old limestone. Modern computers and bits are more regular in size, so you don’t often luck out and find a lot of interesting bumps and chunks, but depending on how extensive your collage gets that might be a good place to look for some additional temple flooring/walls/stuff.
It’s just you, DUG. The backing is always the same size foam core board, and it’s big, but it’s been the same on all the collage except for Mare, Bet Me, and Hot Toy. Bet Me and Hot Toy were done in shadow boxes, so they were small because of that, and Mare started with an easel frame and grew out and up from there, so it’s about 3/4 this size. But all of the novel collages start with that big piece of foam core. I’d say it’s about 20″ x 30″ but I’m too lazy to measure.
Oh Yes, you’re right (well duh, of course you are, they are your collages after all) Have just seen the Agnes one on Argh.
BIG!
You know, I look at the collage, and think about how important the sky can be to some stories. And it struck me that the sky is blue and clear in Ohio, and that’s the way I think of Mesopotamia, too.
And then all the comments are about flooring. (-: Not in the zeitgeist today, I guess.
But, wouldn’t shag carpeting and dark wood paneling, maybe with a zebra rug, be a gas and a half? Someone tried to turn the storeroom into a den? 70s style?
I remember at the school newspaper, I convinced them to bring in this old ratty couch for behind the arts & entertainment desk. It turned into quite a home away from home. Why wouldn’t a curator of some sort maybe want to turn a storeroom into a hideaway . . . or love nest?
Just chatting aimlessly. Looks great!
I found out that southern Ohio and the place in Turkey that I put Kami’s city are on the same longitude. Or latitude. The lines that go across, they’re on the same one. Of course there are a lot of other factors but I think that’s pretty cool.
Sorry if I’m going over old ground, but I went to the British Museum on Friday, and it seems to have quite a bit on Mesapotamia -
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/middle_east/room_56_mesopotamia.aspx
and
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/middle_east/room_55_mesopotamia.aspx
I can go back and take some pics to send you if you think it would be any help.
You went to the British Museum???? You saw the Queen of the Night relief!!! That’s what I based Kami’s relief on. I love that relief.
I have the book on it, so plenty of pix, but if I ever get back to London, I’m spending at least an hour in front of that relief, it’s so amazing.
Jealous here.
[...] posted the beginning of the collage when I was trying to capture the feel of the book, but we’re writing this so fast now that [...]