Porter Mill 2nd annual Holiday Show!

Porter Mill Gallery will have a holiday show with work on sale! I will have two collages on display so check it out!

Learn more on the official Blog:
Studios Porter Mill Blog

Small Windows Series

These are 10 out of the 15 collages I've made for this specific format I call Small Windows.

"Small Windows is an ongoing series of mixed media collage within a small scale. Collecting all forms of paper such as envelopes, articles, as well as aged and battered paper, I am then able to compose abstract pieces that react to color, form, light and texture. The idea behind Small Windows is to evoke a sense of intimacy and personality; a window of personal reflection and memory. I think of these collages like small instances in life such as a conversation in passing with an old friend or finding something sentimental from my past. Though banal these occurrences may be I find ways to create a visual representation of consciousness in an abstract dialogue. These colors or images are composed abstractly to reflect my detail of things I find on the streets or buried in a collection of old paper to then create a nonobjective flow of consciousness into a series of small compositions."

All sizes are 4 1/2 by 3 inches

Sparrow

In Time

Commons

Down the Hallway

Steps by Night 

Steps by Day

Recollection

A Room Once Familiar to Me

Sunset by the Bay

The First One

Zullo Gallery’s 18th Annual Juried Exhibition

"Then I realized where I was going..." 8x 8 in.

This piece was chosen for the Zullo Gallery’s 18th Annual Juried Exhibition, displayed through September 15 - November 4, 2012 in Medfield, MA. Hope you can get a chance to see it! 

Here are some minimalist collages, using as few of pieces in one composition.

"The floor plan" 8" x 8"

"Beverly Alley" 4 1/2" x 3"

Finally more images!

"Then I realized where I was going..." 8 x 8 inches

"Things are progressing" 7 x 6 inches

"I wasn't expecting to find you here" 12 x 9 3/8 inches

"Traveler looking for something new" 9 3/8 x 7 3/8 inches

Well like I said, here are some new posts. Here are more of these cubist collages I've done since spring. These images are a little more accurate with color since I was able to balance the light correctly and not have it too hot (probably would be good to get in touch with another photographer). I've also decided to add captions to show the title and size for convenience. There's more to come!

Purchasing Prints!

I'm very excited to say that there are now prints available for sale with society6! This is a great way to own a print of my work as easy as clicking your mouse, check out the link and see what I have posted. There are different sizes to choose from small 8 x 10 inches to gallery size prints, enjoy!

Brett Mason society6 page:
http://society6.com/BrettMason

This is just another update, the top one is a collage dealing with tan and gray pallet. The bottom piece is from my series done with japanese paper. This was the second piece I've done in the series, however I was suggested by Tim Harney, a former teacher at Montserrat, suggested that I should have a consistent scale of collages. I would continue with this series until I run out of paper as a goal.

Just keeping updated with the blog, I've been caught up with finishing up school the time being. I will be doing a drawing demo tomorrow at the Artragous! art auction. See art blog for detail.

This is the first circle collage piece I've done, which is about 13 inches in diameter. It was challenging at first because of the fact I wanted to keep a perfect circle therefore I cut pieces that conformed along the edges. I'm working on a triptych at the time being for my final project in my collage projects course and hoping they're as strong, if not stronger, than the first piece I've done.

This is from my advanced life drawing class from last year. I've had this buried within a bunch other work and haven't really done anything with it. People tend to be intrigued by this piece from some reason, though I do believe it was an interesting way of drawing the figure with collage elements. It isn't exactly my favorite, but it is worth showing.

This is part of my circles series that I've been developing ever since the first large one I've ever done. They are constructed in the same manner as my ovals, only they are circles. These are from the smaller ones, roughly 4 inches in diameter, this I made into a diptych. This diptych format occurred by happenstance since I made one circle outline and simply forgot about it. But when it reemerged I noticed that there was just enough room to add another circle that would then make an interesting connection between the two. Its important for me to bring the 'happenstance' to mind because that is how I process my collages when I work in the beginning. I lay down pieces depending on color and percentages with the white background, then begin to play off of other found pieces that correspond with other shapes, whether I'm playing off of other pieces according to line, shape, color, etc.

I juxtaposed these collages intentionally. With the exception that they have a different color formula and size [the top being larger than the bottom] they have different spacial qualities. The top for how I see it has a Cubist space with diagonal, pattern, and edge shifts that allows you to move your eye around the fragmented image. Whereas the bottom has a flatness and color play that Hofmann created in his abstract paintings. Will Barnet, who happens to be a Beverly native, always felt strong about creating flatness in his work which comes from his inspiration to Indian miniatures. Though these artists are painters they work in the same tradition as collage and vice versa. It is interesting to see how flatness and color play a major role for developing paintings, whether it is abstract or reality. That is what fascinates me when developing collage, it even allows to me to see invention of space and mood in my paintings. I think it's important for any painter to at least be familiar with collage and understand its history, but that's my opinion.

Second post of collages, simply to have more than two pieces up. These are smaller ones that I've done. There are from some pieces that are composed to have a play with flatness in space.

Here are the first collages to post. These are the first oval pieces I've done so far, I was able to maintain the shape by tracing with an old photography boarder so whenever I laid a piece down around the edges I would cut along those edges. The bottom piece will be at the Beverly High School Alumni show coming up in May along with two abstract paintings, one in watercolor and the other with acrylic.

Welcome!

Welcome to my collage blog, where you will find current updates about my collages as well as any postings that talk about my work. Here is where you will be able to view my recent work and get an idea of how I construct my collages. Essentially this is the image resource for anyone who is unable or yet to see what I do. This may also be a source to contact me for any further information, whether it'd be comments, exhibitions, etc. This is my first blog ever posted for my artwork so I hope this will be useful to some who are interested in what I do, enjoy!

-Brett Mason