SOPHISTICATED SURREALITY

It's hard to pull off a truly surrealistic collage these days (mostly they just look weirdly piecemeal or lame!) but artist Sammy Slabbinck uses vintage magazines from the 1950s-1970s to create intriguing environments in his work. And I think they look amazing, don't you? I particularly love the boxing ring one (sort of reminds me of this!) because the disjunction is both seamless and singularly odd.

Check out more of Slabbinck's work here and see a great article about him here.

CHARLES WILKIN

I am totally digging the mixed media collages of Charles Wilkin—bright, bold, colorful and just my style. See more of this goodness here and the rest of his work here.

(Hat tip to design work life)

IN THE CLASSROOM: BRITISH INVASION

Today I have a belated 'In the Classroom' to share with you . . .

In class last week we studied the photographs of David Bailey. Growing up poor in Leytonstone, Bailey worked a bunch of odd jobs as a teenager until he bought a second-hand camera during a stint in the army and viola! Inspiration. He was soon hired by the fashion photographer John French as an assistant. After several years learning the business from French, Bailey was hired as a staff photographer for British Vogue. He is credited with discovering the famous model Jean Shrimpton--a doe-like woman who would become his muse and favorite subject. Bailey is also known for bringing a pop aesthetic to fashion photography, shooting Shrimpton in front of street signs and advertisements. Read a great article about him here.

Richard Hamilton was working on a spread for Ark Magazine (a promotional publication for graphic design students at the Royal College of Art in London) when came up with this iconic collage "Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different So Appealing?" (1956). This collage launched him from painting to mixed media and became the epitome of pop art: a combination of mass-media culture and convenience with artistic practice. You can learn more about Richard Hamilton here.

LINER LOVE

For the past year or so I have been fascinated with the security patterns lining my bills and bank statements thanks to my dear friend (and fabulous former boss) Ceci Mendez.  One evening she kindly showed me her vast collection (she has been collecting envelopes for over a decade) which serves as her inspiration and becomes material for her beautiful envelope collages.  Unfortunately Ceci's portfolio is not up online, but you can read more about her from a past show on the Boston-based blog Big, Red & Shiny here.  You can also contact Ceci through the New Art Center website, an organization that benefits from her supreme wisdom and creativity every day, to find out more about her work (which also encompasses many other media).

(Collection of envelope patterns at top is from a Flickr set found here.  The bottom is image is a collage by Ceci Mendez featured here.)

Update: Reading Black*Eiffel's recent guest blog post on collecting produce stickers reminded me that Ceci also has a great collection of these as well!  She has the best eye for design . . .  I wish I had my own collection of these.  How lovely would they looked framed in a grid in your kitchen (which Ceci actually has, of course!)?

COLLAGE FOR A SUNNY DAY

A bright, beautiful collage for a bright beautiful day.  Buy it here through the Etsy store brandistrickland.