"Monarch Madness" Collage

My art studio is named Scraps. I create collage art from recycled magazines. Being an artist is my third career. After 20 years as a Presbyterian pastor and 22 years teaching theatre to high school students, I retired to take up the career I imagined as a boy. I've been creating Scraps art for over 35 years for family and friends, and I've made random sales on a sporadic basis, but now I want to share my art with a larger audience. As a first step I opened a studio/gallery in downtown Fresno to create a dedicated space for my creative endeavors. My second step is entering the world of online art sales.

My taste is eclectic and I enjoy finding beauty in a wide range of subject matter. I work with repurposed scraps of color and texture. My palette is created as I rip through many magazines at a time, surrounding myself with stacks of pages that find their way into file folders. Originally I worked only with torn scraps. Eventually I allowed myself the use of scissors, especially in human forms. At times the scrap I think I need is impossible to find. Improvisation then becomes the name of the game. Sometimes the best effects are the result of happy accidents.

I enjoy incorporating recognizable images into my collages. Have fun playing “Where’s Waldo?” Enjoy the big picture, but often you need to take a closer look to discover what’s hidden.