The Camel - Mixed Media Tapestry made from Upcycled Junk Mail -- "The Last Straw"

 The Last Straw.

It came to me in a dream. A lucid dream, where I was holding a baby camel. I laughed out loud, but stayed asleep. So vivid was this dream, that I immediately looked up the meaning of the dream.

The Last Straw

 

 

 Of course, a dream about a camel can be about endurance, long journeys, reaching goals, but it also can symbolize burdens. That resonated immediately... carrying too many problems on my shoulders, too many responsibilities, clinging to emotions instead of expressing them and releasing them.
WOW.
So profound... at this juncture of my life, I am thinking about these burdens, about letting go of emotional baggage, about the "things" that I've held on to for so long. 
A few things happened in my most innermost thoughts... more to do with people who I feel responsible for holding up, helping out, opinions I keep to myself, words not expressed...
And it was that dream that made me confront those thoughts, those plans, those unexpressed desires and pent up rage... and as I drove home from an acupuncture treatment, the words spilled out of my mouth. 
"That's the LAST STRAW!"
In my mind's eye was an image of a camel, standing in the desert, the heat of the sun radiating behind him, the blue sky around him. 
As with any composition, I start with a simple pencil drawing... and let my imagination go... let the impulse be the action... 
I keep junk mail, calendars, postcards, business cards, greeting cards, and other paper ephemera around. I use paper to create my compositions. 
After the pencil drawing, I began to paint. Just a bit... and began collecting, from boxes of paper, an assortment of photographs. Could be Drew Barrymore's pic on a Vanity Fair fly card, or a pic of someone's baby from a Christmas card... perhaps a photo of me, a greeting card's puppy dog or cartoon...a campaign postcard's featured candidate... and eureka, an enormous pile of photos cut into little squares. I used the squares to create the body of the camel. I created a coating mixed with some acrylic paint to soften the photos; some lighter, some darker, all a little hazy... and outlined the camel with black. 

What is the meaning of the people as camel? Well, they symbolize the past, the ghosts and traumas the myriad of experiences. They are not literal.

 
The background was also improvised, and became a sort-of tapestry / oriental rug / geometric design. 
I created it with squares, triangles, circles and flower designs.
 Junk mail, patterns, textures... from a huge variety of papers I've been hoarding.
As you see in the photos, my camel is hairy... furry? Made from variegated yarn in beige and brown tones, cut with tiny scissors and flung on a sticky surface.

 I added some rough ribbon tot he composition for a bridle, and created some tassels from yarn, ribbon and beads, added chains, bells and other decorative touches. 

Along the bottom are desert roses, also made from paper, which are a bit dimensional. These flowers are native to countries where camels are used as beasts of burden.

You may wonder why I do not attach large files or hi-res photos to these blogs. 
I have a reason. 
I have seen my work reproduced as prints at art fairs, and for sale as designs for other commercial products.
The process of creating is the necessity for me. Once I create a piece,
I no longer need to own it. I work out my issues and have all the self-talk while I am in the studio.
  After many weeks, I am done. This is truly a mixed-media work, a paper mosaic, a tapestry, a dream realized. A slight departure from 15+ years of paper mosaic portraits!
The camel is for sale, it is 36" high x 48" wide, on canvas. Please contact me if you are interested in owning this unusual work of art.

Oh Venice, you did it again...UPDATED 4/4/15

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES:

Third trip to Italy - this time I visited Rome, Cinqueterre, Mantua and Venice...and this time was the first time with my darling husband.

I was inspired EVERYWHERE, and wandering the streets [canals] and alleys of Venice always leads me to something that inspires me. Everything outside and inside. I have more ideas than hours in the day.

On our last day, we were off in a different direction when i came upon a gallery that took my breath away.

Too bad they were already closed, I might have tried to purchase everything. Yes, I took photos through the window. Naughty me. Look at Dusciana Bravura's amazing sculptures online. But...the wall of little square mosaics captured my attention.

Check these out! Of course, they are made from GLASS...I don't know if theyre grouted or fused or what... but they are meticulously made from glass tiles, mirrors, millifiore cane, maybe cermics?






I know how to create glass mosaics, but I work in paper. This display gave me an idea that I could incorporate [borrow...steal...?] into my work with junk mail and found objects.

So with proper PROPS to Dusciana Bravura... here's my venture into creating small pieces: on canvas - using/ upcycling a smattering of stuff I had on hand - in my many drawers of junk mail, Christmas cards, ceramic tiles, beads, crystals and jewels from my Grandmother and Mom's collection [they were jewelers in the 50's] mirrors, rhinestones, electronic parts, hardware [tacks, bolts, etc.]. souvenirs, wood, clock parts, napkin rings, glitter, glass beads, bobbins, plastic toys and more:

 Now I'm obsessed with making more! So far, I've made 16. They are 6x6", on thick canvas. They're painted all around with lace trim on the side... very shiny and no two are alike. They have a very high gloss coating. Here are some detail pics:

 

I have a few more ideas up my sleeve from that trip... 

For you non-creative types... LOOK AROUND YOU and you'll find a world of inspiration!

I'm calling this collection of little canvases "Miroir aux Alouettes"

Each piece has mirrors - round, tiny squares or larger ones. All of them include gold leafing and reflective materials. The term refers to traps used to catch larks. They had tiny mirrors on them, to attract the birds that like "shiny things!" All of the canvases are coated several times with a glossy medium; some have glitter, some are irridescent, some contain glass beads or other shiny lacquers. 

24 as of 4/7/2015

Please click HERE to view the collection on my site!

The oddly glowing and extravagantly bejeweled Blue Hippo of Luck and Love in Situ.

 

Imagine you are wandering on your own, contemplating your future when your reverie is interrupted by a huffling noise amid the nearby grasses. A grunting noise accompanied by that of squishing of muck and mire, green blades of grass moving to and fro. You explore further and come upon a clearing - a puddle of mud occupied by a single, blue hippopotamus.

This beast is not only of unusual color, but also covered in a pattern of sparkling jewels. He glitters in the sunlight, his eyes are shimmering sapphires. Typically, hippos are dangerous to humans, but this particular specimen is not. In fact, you have discovered a mystery, a good luck charm, an enchanted being with the power to distribute luck and love to those who find him by accident. For those who need a boost of luck, or a true love to arrive, you only need to find him.

Gaze upon him, then close your eyes and visualize that which will fulfill your heart's deepest wish. His power is yours for just a moment, as he will disappear as quickly as he arrived.

The Oddly Glowing and Extravagantly Bejeweled Blue Hippo of Luck and Love In Situ.

Sandhi Schimmel Gold's Blue Hippo

in si·tu

/in ˈsīto͞o,ˈsē-/

adverb & adjective

adverb: in situ; adjective: in situ; adverb: insitu

in its original place."mosaics and frescoes have been left in situ"

in position. "her guests were all in situ"

Copyright 2015 Sandhi Schimmel Gold - Schimmel Art. Made from upcycled/recycled/repurposed junk mail and other paper that would otherwise go to waste - on canvas - using only non-toxic materials. Covered with repurposed "jewels," rhinestones and sparkling lacquer.

 

10 years in the making - HARAJUKU Girls Kawaii! Style...

Something like...oh, ten years ago Gwen Stefani's song Harajuku Girls came out. I liked the song, the album, and thought the styles the Harajuku girls developed was so much fun! I never forgot it.

Here's a pic of Gwen with a few of the girls... and here's a LINK to the song on YouTube.

 I had a dream about a year ago... in it, I was creating these ridiculous necklaces featuring plastic babies, that were flocked. I searched high and low for the right size babies, bought 'em, painted 'em, flocked 'em. They're still in my studio waiting for a place to go.

I rediscovered Harajuku girls again... and there are a LOT of different styles. I like the Kawaii style that includes a lot of toys, baby colors, and ornaments. Here are some samples of what's happening in 2014:


Cute, right? I love the sparkles, the Hello Kitty look, the bright colored hair... so I decided to create a portrait of some Harajuku girls using upcycled items. I collected a lot of used things from thrift stores... barrettes, yarn, buttons, toys, jewelry, glittery things... and then started drawing, painting and cutting paper.

I made some changes along the way - in color scheme and a few other things...my motto is "The Impulse is the Action!" I put some red and white rays in the back to simulate the Japanese flag... everything else is from my imagination and inspiration.

first sketch

The paper I used is in my studio...a collection Holiday cards, packaging, postcards, business cards, menus, calendars, training manuals, trade magazine covers, catalogs, business cards, tags, etc. I save everything. All the paper used in the background is Christmas cards, or paper with metallic. Every single piece is cut by hand and glued on to the painting -I created- on canvas.
I cover all of the painting with paper... and the only paint at the end is used on the eyes.

Paper part done!

After I finished the paper mosaic, I added a little blush [yeah, real makeup] to the "girls" to tint the paper! I sealed the composition with a non-toxic gloss lacquer. Ah...but I wasn't done yet.

I assembled all those thrift store toys, jewels, etc. to add to the portrait. I know - the girls are flat, and the toys are dimensional. I HAD TO follow through with my vision. I attached, using glue, thread and fishing line... a variety of "stuff."
I even took some of those babies, painted on some pajamas, flocked them with irridescent glitter and coated them... drilled holes into them and made them into a necklace!

plastic babies in their glitter onsies

I cut slits into the canvas to attach hair clips, a crown and earrings. There are jewels, a doll, a pony, hello kitty eraser, a baby pull toy, more weird plastic babies, teddy bears, buttons, and other jewelry.
I was going to use lavender yarn for hair, but it didn't lay right.
At the very end, I touched up the eyes, adding just a bit of paint. The finished piece is 30x40" unframed, but edges are finished. You can see it "in person" in Miami in December at the Spectrum Art Fair. For information on how to get tickets to the oepning, send an email.

Yeah, it took 10 years for a song to make it to my easel, and to finally get some babies on a necklace!
Thanks for reading!

"LUNA" a Pareidolic Portrait [what's Pareidolia?]

This is "Luna," a new mixed media portrait.

 Materials are: Junk Mail, Acrylic Paint, Glitter, Textured Glazes.

Pareidolia is the experience of “seeing” something in a stimulus or an object that’s simply vague and random. An example is the Shroud of Turin. Remember when you were a child lying on your back in the grass, watching the clouds go by and you saw a bunny or a castle in the sky, or the man [or woman] in the moon? Or the Madonna on a piece of toast, or a cluster of cactus? Maybe you've even heard messages when records are played in reverse [number nine? number nine?].

Carl Sagan believed that the ability to recognize faces from a distance or in poor visibility was an important survival technique. While this instinct enables humans to instantly judge whether an oncoming person is a friend or foe, Sagan noted that it could result in some misinterpretation of random images or patterns of light and shade as being faces.
Leonardo da Vinci wrote about pareidolia as an artistic device. "If you look at any walls spotted with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones, if you are about to invent some scene you will be able to see in it a resemblance to various different landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, wide valleys, and various groups of hills."

So often, people compare my work to those photo mosaics they've seen at Disneyland or in magazines... an image made up of thousands of photographs created in a computer.

Photo Mosaic at Disney

In fact, many people believe I use some sort of computer program to create my work. I'd like to say that no... I actually DRAW...PAINT...CUT...GLUE... using nothing more hi-tech than pencil, brush, scissors and sometimes and exacto knife.

So, I decided to tackle one of the most common Pareidolic images, the man in the moon... but I love women's faces better...

It's only a Paper Moon

I began by creating a monochromatic background and crescent moon in large squares - if you look closely, you'll see movie tickets [Knight & Day how apropo], greeting cards, advertisements, invitations, fly cards, postcards and photographs. Yes, I have a room full of paper. I save everything. I recycle everything. It took HOURS to cut and sort by tone all of those pieces! I reversed the progression on the moon.  It's only a Paper Moon!

Then the painting of Luna took shape... I kept to a somewhat monochromatic color scheme, only adding a bit of pink paper to the lips and greige shades for the hair.

Luna before the asteroids...

A Crater!

I was pretty happy when I got there, but never leaving well enough alone, I grabbed palette knives, brushes, glitter, gravel, textured gels and my own fingers to create peaks, valleys, craters and rocky textures.
This changed the perfectly flat "collage" into a textured moonscape. Now my woman in the moon looked like she was ON the moon!

This portrait, one of many in my collection of paper mosaic portraits is 30x40" on 1" museum wrapped canvas. Edges are painted black. Wired, ready to hang!

See more here: Schimmel Art Web Site

Aurelia - Golden Girl

My Golden Girl... Aurelia

Despite the similar features to a somewhat familiar face...my portrait of Aurelia is NOT an actress. The inspiration was drawn from a photo of a captivating brunette in a crisp white blouse.

I'm first to admit I appropriate images seen in advertisement... images of beauty as defined by society. I take those images and re-make them - re-invent - re-interpret the shapes, planes and curves of a face... and make something completely new.

Although it is difficult to tell, the entire piece is gold. Hundreds of pieces of hand cut and hand affixed "mosaic" pieces - of paper. White and cream pieces of junk mail, greeting cards, holiday cards accented with foil embellishments... golden pieces, bronze, and deep browns with accents of gold. The background is painted in gold and bronze.

16x20" on canvas.  Aurelia \a(u)-re-lia\ as a girl's name is pronounced aw-REEL-yah. It is of Latin origin, and the meaning of Aurelia is "golden".

"Peor es Nada"

So - who are you - the product of your DNA or who society labels you as?

This is a new, original mosaic portrait I created in my "True, the Looking Glass" series.

In 1835, a schooner named “Peor es Nada” left one of the Channel Islands after gathering the the last of the surviving natives, the Nicoleño people. One woman was left behind. The accounts of the reason vary - perhaps her baby was not on board, or she went back to the village for a prized possession. Did she jump ship or just not make it in time? A storm arose, she had not returned and the ship sailed back to the coast of California.

Over the next 20 years, this Nicoleño woman lived alone on the island. She learned to make baskets from wild grasses, to fish, to hunt seal and otter and built a dwelling from old whale bones. She sewed herself a garment from cormorant feathers and seal sinew. She survived inclement weather, fought off wild dogs and alluded hunters and hostile visitors to the island.

Meanwhile, her people were sent the San Gabriel Mission in California, and she was all but forgotten.  Her people were absorbed into California and all aspects of their culture and language disappeared.

Eventually, Captain George Nidever landed on San Nicolas Island in 1853 and found the lost woman. She boarded his ship with her bone needles and a basket, wearing the feather garment [and not much else!]. She was taken to the mission in Santa Barbara.

Now, she was a ward of the Nidever family and the Mission. No one could understand her language, including Chumash Indians from other Channel Islands.

The lost woman was given a new identity - new clothes, a new name, a new religion - she was baptized Juana Maria [even though she did not understand what that meant] and something else - foods she was unfamiliar with. This new diet quickly made her ill and she died within seven weeks of her “rescue.” She was buried in an unmarked grave, used for "Indians."

The phrase “Peor es Nada” can be translated as “Better than Nothing” or “Worse than Nothing” - This portrait is my loose interpretation of this story of lost identity - the two faces of the woman - the ward of the glittering church with a fresh new identity - and the brave, wild native woman adorned in cormorant feathers. I’ll let you decide which interpretation of the phrase works best.

The medium used - recycled paper, paint, feathers, jewels and yarn. On canvas: 24x36” Due to the delicate nature of the medium, it must be framed behind glass. Please contact me for pricing.

If this story sounds familiar, a fictionalized version was captured in the book Island of the Blue Dolphins  and later into a film of the same name. If you have children, it is a wonderful, well-written story, albeit frightening for little ones.

The “truer” story of the woman can be found here.

My Dinner with a Super Model!

How does an unknown Virginia-based artist end up having dinner with a super model 

and her boyfriend at Cipriani in New York City?

Faire* question.

Answer: Kismet

and to modernize this charming word in familiar terms - FATE.

But, let's also recognize the significance of the internet in this story.

Some time in 2010, yours truly perused the Neiman Marcus fall catalog. Came across a photo of a beautiful young lady and ripped it out. 

Put it in a drawer full of inspiration - magazine pages, photographs, and many other images. Popular culture, fashion, beauty - yes, these are my references. It might not be an accepted or respected resource material, but it's my artistic vision to recreate one image of beauty from another:

"My work reflects our society's obsession with beauty through advertising - and the endless images that bombard us daily. It is a purposeful intermix of images derived from advertising and thousands of incongruent pieces - images and text - from advertising that arrives through my mailbox. Assembled like a mosaic; the junk mail paper tiles create an entirely new image - an eclectic and tactile portrait reworked in my imagination, utilizing materials that would otherwise go to waste."

At the right moment, I pulled out that photo and created a painting on canvas. The image is a jumping-off point. It is only a sketch, and then I make up a story as I go along. I often don't know who the model is, unless it is a celebrity... As I created this piece, I realized this beautiful young woman reminded me the serene beauty, sexiness and confidence of a young Catherine Deneuve in the film Belle de Jour. The colors I chose became a 60's pop scheme reminiscent of the time of the film...and the title "Faire" is one word from the some phrase I translated from French - "Do I remind you of someone else?"

 

The composition is mixed media - a paper mosaic. All of the pieces of paper were hand-cut pieces of junk mail, or paper that would go to waste. The background includes scraps of scrapbook paper that a friend was going to throw away! I don't color the paper - that is the color of the material - it might be a magazine fly card, a postcard, advertising, catalog cover, menu...anything. I save everything paper to upcycle/recycle/repurpose into my art.

The piece was shown in NYC at Art Expo, and afterwards was sent to Translations Gallery in Denver - one of the galleries that represents my work.

If you know me, you know I post images on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, I blog, I send out emails. I can't help it, my background is in marketing, and I don't just make art, I do whatever I can to get it into the hands of the collector who I made the art for...

finding that person is the challenge for the artist, the gallerist, the collector!

Екатеринбу́рг is somewhere in the Ural mountains in Russia. An artist there saw a blog which featured my work. She followed the link to my site and realized the subject of one of my pieces, "Faire" looked a lot her friend, Masha. She sent Masha a link to the blog - who followed it to my web site. She and her boyfriend, Adis were certain "Faire" was indeed Masha Philippova!

That night, they called the phone number on my web site. Adis told me he thought I created a piece of art of his girlfriend. I felt a bit awkward, I didn't know where the conversation was going. We talked for a bit, in the meantime I was scouring the internet for photos to confirm Masha was Faire. Adis wanted us to meet, but of course, we're in Virginia, he and Masha are in NYC. He would have loved to have a reproduction of the piece - BIG.

However, my husband Norm and I were headed to NY in just a couple of weeks. I thought I would see if I could get the original piece from the gallery to take to NY. 

The next day, I called the gallery in Denver. "Sandhi, great news - I just sold one of your pieces!' Judy told me. "Which one," I asked. "Faire." Uh-oh. Yes, that is great...and the timing couldn't be stranger!

I created a reproduction on canvas - as large as possible. We took our trip to New York [we were going on a pilgrimage to see Ronnie Earl play at BB King's in Times Square anyway]. Adis invited us to Cipriani [you know, like Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy...where W Somerset Maugham [my favorite author] and Hemingway used to drink!].

We had a lovely dinner, the four of us talking, eating and laughing - thinking of how impossible the circumstances were to bring us together. Adis is charming and dynamic. I spent a lot of time looking at Masha's incredibly beautiful face, and there was much mutual admiration around the table. I am hoping we can meet again and work together showing and sharing my work with the world!

In the meantime, I signed the reproduction of "Faire" on the bar, and we went our separate ways...for now. 

And that's how this [temporarily] [hopefully] unknown artist had dinner with a super model!

Rollercoaster Redux

I create art from all sorts of twisted inspiration. I see an image, it starts going where it's going and I follow it.  The impulse is the action.

I have an affinity for music, and sometimes a simple song inspires me, but then the materials at hand take me somewhere else, and then...I take off in another direction. 

Sweet Honey Rox...before

A few years ago, I created an image of a fabulous diva inspired by an Ohio Players album cover. Boy, am I giving away my age. Anyway, I remember this gorgeous black woman pouring honey all over herself - and so gave my subject golden skin and 

Sweet Honey Rox for a title...

{there she is on the right with her arm up in the air}

The Ohio Players were famous for the FUNK and a song called Love Rollercoaster. Click on it to hear it on UTube.

And, for racy album covers...nudity...bondage...honey.

I was in Pittsburgh in January. I visited the Warhol museum. I was really moved by Andy's early work - illustrations, cards, advertisements, shoes, fairies, etc. 

There was one piece I loved - darn, all I wrote down was this note - "GOLD DOILIES." 

And, I wrote Sweet Honey Rox on it too. 

Well, I can't share the Warhol with you...but I came home and got me some GOLD DOILIES...and my scissors...and glue... and whaddya know. Sweet Honey Redux.

Now that I looked them up,I realize the image I was thinking was my inspiration was actually a series of Ohio Players album covers... Ecstasy, Pleasure, Pain and Honey [featuring Sweet Sticky Thing].

So, here is my funky and fly Sweet Honey Rox Redux

...with thanks to the Ohio Players and Andy Warhol. 

Somewhere in the 70's, they both got under my skin and in my grey cells. Let me know what you think. And check out the DOILY details!

doily detail!

Inspiration...the memory of an album cover, coupled with a visit to a museum, a beautiful woman, an emotion and a couple of hands holding scissors and glue.