Colin Talcroft, Artist

It's already early 2021 and I’ve not posted any art work here since June of last year. I've not been entirely idle, but I have been working at a very slow pace recently, having finished a total of only six pieces last year and I've posted only three of those pieces so far. In an attempt to start catching up, I post two pieces from July last year. Untitled Collage No. 221 (Santa Rosa). July 16, 2020. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, graphite, collage. Image size: 34.4 x 25....3cm (13.5 x 9.3 inches). Matted to 24 x 20 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on reverse. Untitled Collage No. 222 (Santa Rosa). July 18, 2020. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, collage. Image size: 10.7 x 14.3cm (4.2 x 5.6 inches). Matted to 11 x 14 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on reverse. Click on the images for larger views. For more of my abstract monotype collage work, visit my website. https://ctalcroft.wixsite.com/collage-site

Sharing this: "The Rijksmuseum has made 709,000 works available online for free" https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/rijksstudio

Bubbles forming on the bottom of a dark pan set on the stove to boil. Looked like art to me. Serendipitous art. Click on the image for a larger view. For more unintended art, see my blog Serendipitous Art. http://serendipitousart.blogspot.com/

Here's a link to an interesting online exhibit of prints on the theme of the American city, featuring views of Cleveland, New York, Chicago, Duluth, Philadelphia, and other cities, mostly early 20th century. https://catherineburns.com/spirit/#1

Shafts of light reflecting off a car parked in the driveway and shining through blinds left this pattern on the ceiling. Ephemeral, unintended art. Click on the image for a larger view. For more unintended art, see my blog Serendipitous Art. http://serendipitousart.blogspot.com/

A recent collage. We’re already half way through 2020 and I’ve finished only three pieces so far this year that I’ve thought worth keeping. While volume of production isn’t and never has been much of a concern of mine, it does feel good to be working steadily and producing satisfying work at a regular pace. This year has been a struggle on many fronts, creating art among them. The work I’ve done so far this year has been slow in coming and has not come with ease, but, I suppo...se the important thing is to keep at it. I’m a firm believer in the idea that good work comes from the process, that no amount of planning ahead, at least in my case, is ever of much value. I start with one idea and before long that idea has vanished and something quite different is in front of me and seemingly pulling the strings. I content myself by knowing that I always retain the power of final judgment, that it is I who decides whether what emerges is worth presenting to the world or not. This is Untitled Collage No. 220 (Santa Rosa). April 10, 2020. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, found paper (handwritten music, postage stamps, wine label), collage. Image size: 19.9 X 12.1cm (7.8 x 4.8 inches). Matted to 20 x 16 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on reverse. Click on the image for a larger view. For more of my abstract monotype collage work, visit my website. https://ctalcroft.wixsite.com/collage-site

The last collage I made in 2019 was this one, Untitled Collage No. 219 (Santa Rosa), a small piece, as usual using monotyped papers of my own creation. October 16, 2019. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, collage. Image size: 11.2 x 11.2cm (4.4 x 4.4 inches). Matted to 11 x 14 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse. For more of my abstract monotype collage work, visit my website. https://ctalcroft.wixsite.com/collage-site

Serendipitous Art: The scratched bottom of a blue plastic cooler overturned in the driveway looked like art to me. Serendipitous art.

Catching up on posting art I'm making. I've been in a lull for several months--partly because of a new job, partly because I simply needed a break, and then the virus hit. This is one from the latter part of 2019. Untitled Collage No. 218 (Santa Rosa). Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, collage. October 12, 2019. Image size 12.4 x 12.0cm (4.9 x 4.7 inches). Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on reverse. Small and simple, but this has become a favorite. For more of my abstract monotype collage work, visit my website. https://ctalcroft.wixsite.com/collage-site

Went skiing last weekend for the first time in years. Comes back right away--like riding a bike, as they say. Good to get a physical workout, and the scenery is beautiful at Lake Tahoe. This is my favorite photo from the short trip. I'm thinking it might make a good negative for a cyanotype print, which would look something like the digital facsimile below (the upper image).

Another fairly recent collage. This one is Untitled Collage No. 217 (Santa Rosa). September 24, 2019. Image size: 15.0 x 13.5cm (5.9 x 5.3 inches). Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, collage. Matted to 20 x 16 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse.

Attempting to get caught up posting new work: This is Untitled Collage No. 216 (Santa Rosa). September 5, 2019. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, found paper, fragment of bark cloth, collage. Image size: 20.0 x 11.3cm (7.9 x 4.4 inches). Matted to 20 x 16 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse.

My pace of working has slowed greatly this year. I've made about one new collage a month in 2019, while I was making about one a week the year before. Quality is, of course, more important than quantity, but the more you make, the more you evolve, and it felt good to be working at what felt like a steady and sustainable pace. Changes in my regular (non-art) work schedule and a certain feeling that I needed a break have been factors, but did have some new work to show during Art Trails this year, which ended last weekend. This is a piece from April, but one I haven't posted here before. Untitled Collage No. 215 (Santa Rosa). Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, graphite, collage. Image size 28.3 x 36.9cm (10.9 x 14.8in). Matted to 20 x 24 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse.

TOMORROW and Sunday. Art Trails 2019second weekend. Looking forward to seeing some of my friends.

At this time of year, a shaft of sunlight comes through a gap in the front porch at around 4PM. Yesterday, three pears happened to be sitting on the windowsill that that shaft of light illuminates.

At the opening reception for Art Trails 2019, Sebastopol Center for the Arts. The small framed piece is one of my collages. Open Studios weekends are October 12-13 and October 19-20.

ART TRAILS 2019: Art Trails is approaching. I'll be showing new work again this year in my home during the two middle weekends of October from 10:00AM to 5:00PM all four days (October 12-13 and October 19-20). If you're in the area, come by and see what I've been up to. This year, I'm studio No. 18. Preview show opening is this Friday, September 27 from 6:00PM to 9:00PM at The Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA.

After an intense period of collage-making that lasted almost five years, from the middle of 2014 to the end of 2018, I've been in a lull lately, my time taken up by practicalities such as making a living, and with the urge to create collages somewhat dampened by a feeling that it's time for something new. A period of work on cyanotypes ended (for the time being--I will get back to cyanotype) in frustration; cyanotype is a trickier process than one is often led to believe. Tha...t said, I've not been entirely inactive in 2019. Here is Untitled Collage No. 215 (Santa Rosa), made back in February. I'd neglected to post it here. Acrylic on paper, acrylic monotype, found paper handwritten music), collage. 27.8 x 37.3cm (10.8 x 14.8in). Matted to 20 x 24 inches. Signed on the mat. Signed and dated on the reverse. With the 2019 Art Trails open studio event looming (October 1213 and 1920), I've been working a bit again in the past few weeks. More to come soon.... To see more of my collage work and some of my abstract photography, visit my website at: https://ctalcroft.wixsite.com/collage-site

I have work in a photography show opening tomorrow night (Monday, August 5, 2019) at the Rohnert Park Public Library. I'm showing selections from my Museum Shadows Series. Opening reception from 6:00PM to 7:30PM. If you're in the area, drop by. https://sonomacounty.libcal.com/event/5484703