Gayle Gerson : Artist » collage experimental

Om Mountain

ggerson — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:35:05 +0000

I started this layered landscape collage in a workshop some time ago. It languished under one of my panes of glass on my work table (to keep it flat). I needed a few new pieces to hang at Grand Junction’s City Hall this summer and this fit into a frame I had, so I completed it this week. It was one of my series of soft colored fantasy landscapes based on my surroundings in Western Colorado.
This piece is 21 inches high by 14 inches wide. It is $600.00 framed.

Greetings From The Web

ggerson — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:25:24 +0000

This is the postcard (4×6 inches) that I entered in the National Collage Society postcard show in 2009. I was scrolling through my art folder today and really liked the way it looked. Hence, I am posting it. I did it as an assignment I gave one of my classes at the Art Center to do a postcard only in black and white, concentrating on values and shapes.

Palisade Patchwork

ggerson — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:31:17 +0000

I finished this piece for the Art Center’s Annual Art Auction. Each year this fund-raiser is held in Grand Junction at our Art Center to raise much needed funds for the organization’s art and education programming.
It is a collage on cradled wood board, 22 inches wide by 36 inches long. The retail price is $1800.00. My reserve at the auction is $900.00
This piece of art depicts Mt. Garfield, the shale mountain that overlooks Palisade, Colorado and the entire Grand Valley. I used grocery store newspaper inserts with photos of fruit and other promotional material about the Grand Valley as a base. That bottom layer is covered with painted tissue paper, paint and other random materials. I give the whole piece two or three coats of UV varnish as a final protective layer.
Update: This piece sold at the auction for $1300.00

Three Martini Lunch

ggerson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:20:07 +0000

This painting started out as a response to a challenge posed by this year’s program for the Rocky Mountain Collage Society. We were asked to bring a black and white collage to our November meeting. I collaged a random selection of black and white collage pieces onto a piece of yupo. I then began to try to find a good abstract design in the chaos by unifying and blocking out. It just didn’t come together so I decided to do a grid design and depict flower pots which was a challenge in itself because I depend so much on color. Well, I began to like the characters forming in each pot and it ended up as a watermedia-over-collage piece. I call it “Three Martini Lunch” because of the martini glass shape on the left with the black circle that cries out “olive”. I guess I should call it “Nine Martini Lunch”, but I don’t like to promote that much over-imbibing.
In March 2010, it was juried into the Rockies West National Juried Exhibition and won a merchandise award.
This painting is 26×20 inches, unframed, and is for sale for $800.00

Mt. Garfield Area Map

ggerson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:43:37 +0000

This collage is done on a 40 inch by 30 inch wrapped canvas and is the second in a series of Mt. Garfield (the iconic hill of the Bookcliffs near Grand Junction). It was chosen to represent Southwestern Colorado in the Creative Capitol Series sponsored by the Colorado Council on the Arts and is currently hanging at Denver International Airport. It will move to the capitol building in Denver in December. This piece has sold.

Blue and Yellow

ggerson — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:55:26 +0000

Another still life with sunflowers which is a theme I keep coming back to. It must be the spirit of Vincent Van Gogh in my studio influencing me. This is a collage using a wonderful piece of yellow dot paper (the dots are bits of wax) that my friends brought back to me from Santa Fe. I must use it sparingly because it tends to call attention to itself.
This painting is For Sale for $650.00. This piece sold in June 2010.

Blues Connections

ggerson — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:45:09 +0000

I did this collage as a sequel to Havana Serenade. I was intrigued by the theme of musicians and wanted to see if I could keep on making meaningful art based on this theme. It just evolved from no particular source material. Although, I must cite the work of Romare Bearden as my inspiration.
This piece is For Sale.

Update: This piece is no longer available.

Buffalo Gal

ggerson — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:35:20 +0000

This was a commission that I did for a good friend who is a dedicated horsewoman. I used pictures of horses to depict her long curly hair. This was done from a photo reference.

Collage Self Portrait Number One

ggerson — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:32:01 +0000

My first attempt at a self portrait in collage came as the result of an assignment that I gave one of my collage classes at the Art Center. It was juried into the First Frontier Collage Society National Show in 2005. I did another collage self portrait in 2009 which is included in the profile section of this website.

Complementary Lady

ggerson — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:12:40 +0000

Well, this collage has an interesting history. It started out as a watercolor of a seabed–fairly abstract. As such it was juried into a local exhibition of “contemporary” art. It hung around my studio for a while. Then I discovered a new technique in a workshop I attended with Joanne Ruggles. It involves drawing with sticks and India Ink on top of prepared grounds. I eyed that old watercolor and decided it would make an excellent ground for a figure drawing.
This piece was purchased by a woman as a gift for her husband who was recovering from a serious illness.