The small works viewed here evolved over time from their initial beginnings. The TENDER MERCIES Series (and these are a few of the many in this continuing series) began as larger monoprints, which over the years were cut into smaller parts and enriched by the addition of collaged commercial papers. Their size is the appeal: a large image in a small format.
COLD MOUNTAIN began as a collage, then several years later deepened when cyanotype was applied to parts of it, adding a mysterious mist to the original imagery.
The WHEN OR WHERE Series also began as collages then slowly resolved into something quite different by painting and glazing over the original collage. Then when adding a black line to delineate the original glued pieces of collage paper and allowing some of its imagery to show through the paint, the the initial intention of the work totally changed.
My visual intention in all my work, including the box assemblages (see cblackwellart.com) is grounded in Jasper John's admonition, "take an object, do something to it. Do something else to it."
