From the Experimental Archive -

"Paper Blizzard"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY
digital collage by Mick Mather

While reviewing some old work I stumbled into some old files of experimental works that came about while working out and stretching with some filters that were - and still are - a bit of a trial. As with anything new, the goal is to get the software to do specific results of my own choosing as opposed to whatever comes out. At the time, I was stumped with this particular piece even though excited with the result and a possible new direction. The only thing left to do was come up with a title ... well, aside from rediscovering it of course. :)

NEW from The Memory Series -

"Memory of Betty"
digital collage by Mick Mather

It's been a while since I made an addition to this series of work and I've had this piece in the files for a few weeks already, wondering where to go with it. Last week I re-sized everything and ran it through another series of layers and filters and, voila! Even so, it languished while I attempted to make up my mind over its fate. It fits quite comfortably in this series actually, even though it took me a long time to figure that out.

Illustration Friday: The Blues -

"The Blues"
digital collage by Mick Mather

One might think that this week's theme at Illustration Friday - The Blues - would be limited to the musical style or the depressed emotional condition. If so, those of you who know me a little might already be wondering what I'll come up with. For starters, I went down the path of what we call the "service uniform". An interesting trip, too, as it includes Military and Police uniforms as well as the lowly blue work clothes peculiar to service station attendants and other "blue collar" (can you imagine the stretch it took to come up with that one?) manufacturing jobs. I wasn't finding what I wanted along those lines so I changed course and went looking for "blue chip stock" listings. Tonight's post is one such graph of the top ten Blue Chip Gainers for a particular period along with the old India Building that housed the turn-of-the-19th century Stock Exchange and the W. R. Grace Company. After layering, manipulating and the usual hi jinx performed here at the Secret Visual Laboratory, this rather abstract looking piece is the result. So sorry to run off like this - my broker is on the phone! :)

Thursday Challenge: Reflection -

"In the Showroom Window"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

I've been ready for this theme, reflection, for quite a few weeks. I've been taking a lot of photographs that feature reflected imagery in a variety of forms so when this week's Thursday Challenge came along tonight's post was practically done before I could snap the shutter again! A minimal bit of manipulation was used to enhance the already present reflections of reflections. All I have to say fits into a single word - sweet!

Mighty white -

"The Tennis Skirt"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I like tennis. I was a middle of the road contender in high school - meaning that no special strategy was required to humiliate me. No need to kiss a point just inside the back line or to smash right while twisting the racket slightly, sending the shot zinging past to the left over my opposite shoulder. Nope, put it straight down the centerline and send me careening into the clay nose first! Anyway, whichever side of the net you're on, there's something about the outfits that always appealed to me. Fore! Oops, that's another set of duds entirely I think! :D

NEW from The Papers Series -

"Fatal Crash #2"
digital collage by Mick Mather

It seems like a lot longer to me but the truth of it is that I posted "Fatal Crash #1" just over a month ago. I'm not going to go into the details of the piece, follow the link back if you're interested in getting the story. At the time, I promised to show this version and here we have it. Between now and then, a new series of work has decidedly been born - more work to follow as I feel my way through this combination of traditional torn paper collage and digital manipulation.

Moody Monday: Fragrant -

"Delightful and Fragrant Memories"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather
- original photograph by Mary Stebbins Taitt -

"She took a stroll down to the sea after leaving the Doctor's office. Hopeful and expectant months of questioned fertility had been rewarded. Fruitful, bumped, productive at last, she trod happily along the sandy path. All along the way every perfume - of the sea and of wildflowers, of the lilac and the fir - held back its own bouquet so that even the longing shadows could celebrate the fragrant news." - a flicktion by Mick Mather

Another lazy Sunday -

"A Single Flash of Club Kid Fame"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I've been away much of the day and I'm all in! I've been playing around with this image for the last few days and I think that I have it where I want it. There's no important connection, no metaphor or statement being made here beyond the "gone in a flash" moments of youth that seem so important at the time. In many ways, I suppose that they really are important pieces of the puzzle we call the formative years.

A Vision and a little bit of Visioning -

"The Public Sculpture"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

This post is all about a public sculpture series that I've spoken of briefly before. At this stage there are five designs on the drawing table - one of which nearly squeaked past The Totem Project panel in the last RFP round at the end of July. Apparently, my support material offered too many choices and the group much preferred two other designs over the one proposed. I'll choose one of those and re-submit for the October round. Anyway, while it's always a treat to have one of the fairer sex included, this piece is all about the original sculpture - superimposed just to the right of the tree. My goal is to have all five (perhaps more!) in this series placed around the City. :)

Illustration Friday: Juggle -

"Selfportrait of the Artist During the Cold War"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"An audience with the Russian Premier was said to be difficult and only a chance, public encounter was likely to be the seed to success. When it actually happened that a concerned citizen was allowed a few minutes of international dialog the opportunity was not wasted. Nikita was not amused with the point-counterpoint regarding the constant juggle of good and evil - spheres of influence better known as the balance of power." - a flicktion by Mick Mather

Thursday Challenge: Purple -

"Deep Purple"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather
- original photograph by Ann Ballard -

As always, Thursday Challenge is a fun exercise for me in any number of ways. This week the theme, purple, lent itself to a photograph of a field of lowers taken by my good friend, Ann Ballard. When they flew in, over the email transom, the accompanying note made reference to the fact that "these photographs aren't very good." Hogwash! In the age of photo editors and scads of cool manipulation software, there's no such thing. Well, must dash, the rest of the week is packed with art talks, openings, a conceptual public art piece (more about that later perhaps) and a luncheon.

Giddyup! -

"White Hat"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Once again I was really just playing around, letting things happen as they sometimes will, and tonight's post fell right together. Most of what's happening here was an exercise in textures, especially the background. Anyway, I'm off and away on a secret mission ... that's correct! A need to know covert operation and details may or may not be forthcoming! :)

From the reading room -

"Near the Skirt of the Island"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- created with typoGenerator -

This post came straight out of a novel, Perelandra, by C. S. Lewis. As can be discovered by following the link, this is the second book in his Space Trilogy. Today, Lewis is probably much better known for his children's book series, The Chronicles of Narnia. I didn't find this read particularly spellbinding although the struggle between the main character and the devil toward the latter third of the story came somewhat close to, what is for me, a page turner. The first book in the series, Out of the Silent Planet, was dry white toast, yet I struggled through it. The last of the trilogy, That Hideous Strength, is finally something I've settled into with excitement although it remains to prove itself over the next 300 or so pages. In any case, these books, not unlike the Harry Potter Series in style, are written for the English tongue and ear and may not be for everyone's taste. So, taking a breath as I wend my way, taking the long way home, the title of this evening's post is one of the lines from Perelandra that struck me between the eyes as I read it, reread and went back three or four times to read it again. Into the typoGenerator it went, finally, and here you have it.

Moody Monday: Sugary -

"Sugary"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

Just as the title of tonight's post says, "Sugary" is the weekly theme at Moody Monday. I couldn't resist putting up this shot of a sweet, smooth and satisfying whiskey manhattan - sipped slowly while watching the sun go down over Big Moose Lake in The Adirondacks. Sugary? The memory certainly is! :)

Play: a forgotten component of work? -

"Ghost Writer"
digital collage by Mick Mather

As I've been speaking about for over a week, the end of summer has been spent in hour after hour of play in the secret visual laboratory. Pushing the limits of old filters or mixing things up with new ones has been the key minus any worry over how things will turn out in the end. That sort of freedom, almost always for me, results in a happy accident or two and, of course, that's the whole point. It's a bit like scribbling aimlessly in a sketchbook with a pencil until something begins to emerge. Well, enough chatter ... it's still playtime! :D

New filters from an old editor -

"Walking Toward the Light"
digital collage by Mick Mather

One of the photo editors here at the Secret Visual Laboratory has had it's uses over the years. I rarely bother with the preset filters to be found there but, lately, I've been playing around and have discovered some limited uses for a few of them. Tonight's post is a good example of what I mean and the particular pose of the figure combined with a few layers of further manipulation resulted in the title at the end of it all. Anyway, time for a short nap before heading out to Joe's Pasta Garage in Skaneateles, New York for a 5:00pm dinner along with a short walk across the street to The Lucas Gallery to meet and greet Wendy Harris.

Illustration Friday: Wedding -

"A Perfect Wedding"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather
- original photo by Mary Stebbins Taitt -

"...at first, Midge was basking in the glow of this perfect morning together with Ted. She laid aside the book of love poems, certain that a breakthrough regarding his inability to commit was imminent, but wasn't happy when he finally spoke of its perfect blend of style and content. It wasn't quite the wedding that she had envisioned..." - a flicktion by Mick Mather

Thursday Challenge: School -

"Up the Down Staircase"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY

digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

My addition to this week's Thursday Challenge for the theme of school is this photograph of the main staircase at Syracuse University Downtown in The Warehouse. The building is an old storage warehouse, previously owned by the Dunk and Bright Furniture Company, that was purchased by Syracuse University and rehabbed to house the School of Architecture, The College of Visual and Performing Arts, The Goldring Arts Journalism Program as well as The Warehouse Gallery and the Community Art Wing where there are computer labs, meeting rooms, The Link Gallery and a wonderful cafe serving some of the best stir fry downtown. That concludes my little plug for the 800-pound gorilla - since I do staff an office over there a few days a week I suppose it's just and fitting to mention it. :)

Simple Simon -

"The Lawn Chairs"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

In keeping with my recent return to simplicity, here's another image in that loose, sketch-like style. You can see the original photograph and get a bit more information about the history of this piece here. That said, summer is almost over and my schedule at the office is, once again, filling itself with more evening meetings than I ever thought I'd have to attend. Not a complaint mind you, but it will surely be taking much time away from my activities here. Fair warning to my good blog friends that, if it seems like I'm not around as much as before, it isn't personal nor permanent! :)

Sketches and studies and drawing effects -

"The Photo Op"
digital collage by Mick Mather

For the past week or so I've gone back to a simpler, sketchier and more loosely drawn style of manipulation. I don't suppose there's any great purpose for these works but it's vastly helpful for my own vision to simplify things for a while. To let it go, to loosen up, not worrying so much over hard and fast detail is the assigned task for me. I've always been fascinated by the sketchbook drawings of other artists and getting things down quickly, gestural, intuitively and simplified is a place we all need to revisit - more often we think.

Moody Monday: Ugly -

"The Grotesque Hand Puppet"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

This week's theme at Moody Monday? Ugly is the word ... and, as I turned this over in my mind, I remember shooting a series of images of some old toys that I've kept in a small, wooden box for almost 30 years now! Tonight's image is one and this post from last month is another. Enjoy!

Are you ready for some football?

"The Golden Peach"
erasercut by Mick Mather

I think I mentioned something about posting a few of my block-relief prints last week. Well, here we have a portrait of the lovely Donna Lee. She and I were great mailart pals back in the late 1980's and into the 90's. We almost met one cool, Spring evening in Omaha, Nebraska but alas, it was not meant to be - yours truly, who had been working on his travel calendar for months simply screwed up the arrival date by a full 24 hours! Anyway, her handle in those haughty days of art exchanges via the mail, was The Golden Peach. Now, I really must go, the NFL Season has begun and I have much to do to get everything situated for as many of the 3 available games as I can handle!

One more for HPY -

"The HPY House Project"

digital collage by Mick Mather
- base image layer by typoGenerator -

The House Project was officially closed by HPY on Thursday. This morning, via Collage Clearinghouse, I stumbled into this wonderful project, White on White, curated by The International Museum of Collage, Assemblage and Construction. There's a lot of terrific work over there, including "White on White Words" by Debra Dresler, where the five words in this post first caught my eye. As I read them, my thinking immediately went to HPY and her houses and I couldn't resist running things through my new, most fave gadget, typoGenerator! To complete the collage I added the five white words in another font that I like along with a small house plan. If you ever get ambitious enough to create a little book, HPY, perhaps this might be the cover. :D

Illustration Friday: Momentum -

"In His Favorite Blue Shirt"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

"...the decision to leave him arrived on the heels of a grim vision of their future together. She headed for the door, donning his favorite, blue shirt. Wearing it gave her more than enough momentum to escape his sphere of influence..." - a flicktion by Mick Mather

Thursday Challenge: Outside -

"Outside"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

Aside from the fact that this Thursday Challenge theme, outside, drives the subject matter, I'm not really here. I'm in a meeting and then to an art opening at The Delavan Art Gallery. My good friends Michael Berman and John Dowling will have a number of pieces there and I'm looking forward to seeing some new work. If things go according to plan, I'll talk way too much and look way too little ... hopefully with some cheap, red wine to go along with it. :D

Back to school -

"She's Not There #45"
digital collage by Mick Mather

In tonight's post I hark back to that time when my printmaking was literally hands-on for the 20+ years spent cutting linoleum and erasers using the block-relief method. For those who don't know, this entails drawing on the block and then cutting away the negative spaces, leaving the image in relief. Ink is then rolled onto the block, paper laid atop of it and through hand pressure, using a wooden spoon, a barren or a press, the image is transferred ... but, I digress. While the image seen here tonight is digital, it has that old school, block-relief print look about it and much of my work from those days looked a lot like this.

It's a bird - it's a plane!

"Wishing For X-Ray Vision"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I was just doodling 'n noodling around the other night when this crazy idea began to take shape. I swear, it went off and away all by itself ... kind'a, sort'a, maybe. With apologies to The Kent's and what must have been a mystifying, adolescent awakening for young Clark, here's tonight's post. As for me? Yet another nutty week of playing catch up at the office with a full calendar through to the weekend. The holiday was great but no good deed goes unpunished! :)

Moody Monday: Posh -

"Island Posh"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY
photograph by Mick Mather

Today is Labor Day - a holiday for most of us in the United States. I have nothing planned and it's a beautiful, sunny, cool and breezy Summer day. So, up goes this untouched photograph for the weekly theme - posh - at Moody Monday. I really can't stay for tea, there's a hammock outside with my name on it! :D

Still goofing around -

"Fashionably Green"
$50 Unframed - LUCAS GALLERY
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

I'm still taking advantage of this long weekend to settle into the secret visual laboratory and play a little bit more. I've used a lot of that playtime pushing the limits of some of the filters that I don't use very often - although lately, the reverse has been true. Anyway, this is a photograph with no additional elements added beyond the various filtered and manipulated layers. In the end, this reminded me of a nature center where I used to walk about 3 days per week, including snowshoes during the winter months breaking trail through 2 or 3 feet of snow some mornings.

Goofing off -

"Walk Like An Egyptian"
digital collage by Mick Mather

I've been surfing, playing and generally doing whatever I want as the mood strikes me. A very relaxing day if I say so myself and I really need this. I've had to go back into the files for an image to post and this is it. I trust that you'll like it. :)