by found stains
About to throw out this dirty stained strip of paper, I looked closer and became quite intrigued by the marks which look as if made by a brush in an artist’s hand. About 5.5 x 27.5 cm (2″ x 11″), it’s too wide to show well here, so I’ve cropped some details to show below.
I may be strange, but I think these are beautiful! Hmm, how might I use them?
Added 28th July: a suddenly recalled and found related object
July 26, 2014 in Found Objects, Photoworks by Marja-Leena
I look forward to seeing how you will use them.
Dolores, I see possibilities in using the piece in collage work with other scraps and materials as well as some paint. Or in a digital collage that might become a print. For now, it’s percolating in my memory bank and digital files waiting for that ‘aha’ moment when it’s just what I need.
Rather than being strange I’d say you’re gifted with the ability of finding beauty in the everyday objects most people would miss. This really is a lovely piece in whole and in segments. The funny thing is I’m not even quite sure what it is I’m seeing – paint, tears that show the table it’s resting on? The simple fact you’ve drawn attention to something so intriguing in a common piece of scrapped paper is a blessing.
Susan, thanks for your very kind words. As a long time reader and friend, you know my habits well, especially how I often look very closely at objects at my feet.
What you are seeing is a piece of paper that is a bit torn, curled and stained by moisture and with some paint or glue on it. The black area is from leaving the scanner lid up, as I very frequently do with objects that are not completely flat. That black also serves as a kind of frame.
These serendipitous noticings are just what are needed as ingredients I find. Happy percolation!
Thanks! I’m pinning this up on my studio wall so it will not be forgotten.
Until I look more often and find something else, I see it as a border top of wall near ceiling of a coffee shop.
Ellena, yes, I can see that it looks rather like one of those wallpaper borders. Even the colour of the ‘paint’ is coffee-and-cream to go with the cafe theme.
I’ve never seen,or should I say, noticed, such forms before.
Hattie, your comment makes me think of a favourite story of mine from many years ago when we made our first visit to our dear friends’ cottage on Hornby Island. As we walked along the rocky shore near their place, I was excitedly taking many photos of the unusual rock formations. E expressed surprise at what I SAW there that she had not really noticed. That is the artist’s eye, but I felt like I had also helped her to look closer too, at what she was passing over in frequent walks.
Yes, you’ve done that for me, too.
On another topic, I’m sad that I won’t get to visit you or any of my blogger friends on this trip after all. I don’t have much control over what’s happening right now. But you are in my thoughts for sure!
Hattie, I’m sorry that we weren’t able to meet the last time you were here and now you won’t be back after all. I’m glad you had a great time on Saltspring Island. I’m sure we’ll meet again on another of your trips in the future. Thanks for thinking of me!
You are all about seeing–you have a kind of discernment that is unusual and curious. Like that way of being!
Marly, thank you and yes, I too see that in myself. I think it is the artist’s eye… as I wrote in the above comment in reply to Hattie.
I was going to say the same Ellena’s comment. I see this strip of paper as a beautiful wall decoration. You could use wallpaper paste to fix it to any part of a wall in your home and then varnish the surface of the paper with a matt varnish to protect it. It’s an art-object in itself, one of your many discoveries.
Natalie, I’m so glad you see this as a beautiful art object. I haven’t decided where I will use this but it’s safely pinned on my studio wall as a reminder. Maybe it will become a part of that wall using your suggestions, thank you!
Looks very Japanese somehow!
Oh! I do see what you mean, how interesting, dear R.