Welcome!

This body of work began sometime in the mid 1990's, as an experiment, seeing if I could adhere a dress to a canvas and create a painting over all the textures. "Dress painting" is a term I came up with to explain these when I simply couldn't think of anything better. Over the years they have evolved, with new elements of collage being added. Dress patterns, photographs, and embroidery all appear from time to time, as well as lino block prints, rubber stamps and gold leaf. I will use this space to explore the beginnings of this series, as well as showing my latest work. If the piece is available for sale you'll find the price at the bottom. Free shipping in the U.S. Contact me at kallencole@aol.com to purchase.

Would you like to see my full website? Head over to KathrineAllenColeman.com

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The first post.


How do you start a blog? I mean your first post, it seems like it should be grand, or at least noteworthy. Well, the best thing I could come up with is to start with...

In The Beginning...but it's not really, it was a few years after the beginning, but let's start here, just for grins.

This little piece is, if my memory serves me correctly, (and often it does not), the first multi-colored lino block print I'd ever done. It is tiny, 3" x 4" I think. It is dated 1994, 16 whole years ago. It is also one of the first pieces I'd ever sold, it was an edition of 6, and this is the only one I have left. But as far as beginnings go, I think this is also the first time I used a dress for imagery, something which has turned into a full time obsession.

Why a dress? I am constantly asked this, why not a pair of bluejeans, or a man's shirt?

Because.

Because dresses are little wads of memories, they can be memories of the occasion it was worn to. Or of how it was purchased, it doesn't even have to have been worn to have a story to tell. The dress hanging in the closet unworn to a canceled date has power.

So the dress is where I begin my story, the first piece in the puzzle of building a character. And the best part is when you look at the painting and see yourself.

No comments:

Post a Comment