Gayle Gerson : Artist » figures

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.

Family

ggerson — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:50:28 +0000

I did this collage to see if I could successfully do portrait collages. This piece depicts my son and his family. I incorporated my grand-daughter’s artwork, my son’s artwork, many photos of the family at various points in their lives. The reference for this was a photo from a holiday card.

Meta Muse

ggerson — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 22:42:59 +0000

I struggled with this “made up” portrait until I decided to overlay a manipulated photo of the Mona Lisa printed on transparent vellum on top of the face. So this piece is a homage to Leonardo DaVinci in a round about way. There are at least nine layers of collage pieces in most of this piece.
It is in the collection of one of my artist friends, Dianna Fritzler.

The Capitalist

ggerson — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:27:24 +0000

This is an example of a portrait collage that I did as a demonstration. I shot a photo of my husband at his desk and did the collage based on that photo and my long-time experience of looking at his face. It is done with found papers and tissue and washi papers on his face. It is hanging in his office.

But I Like To Sit With My Back To It

admin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:58:51 +0000

This collage was done from a life drawing session. I did the drawing of the woman with a pointed dowel and India ink and then embellished with painted paper and found papers. The title refers to Gertrude Stein’s quote which I am paraphrasing; “I like a good view, but I like to sit with my back to it”.