Ephemera, Ephemera, Ephemera

I like the word "ephemera". It sounds mysterious and mercurial and not at all like the bulging box of vintage paper pamphlets, handbills, tickets, package labels and posters, etc. that I have collected in various stages of decay! I have used a lot of it in collages but have always wanted to make some compositions on canvas using just the papers without embellishment as an archival project. So when I glued down my first attempt on a 24/12 piece I was dismayed at how uneven it looked without anything to "rein" it in. I tried some aging techniques to make it more uniform, but it was still missing something. I wanted a figure, but not just any figure. I wanted something that would speak to the melancholy of the memorabilia. Something vintage but timeless too. I went through a ton of art books until I finally found a cover photo of Dora Maar. She was perfect!
(Dora Maar was an established photographer and painter who was the muse/inspiration for many of Picasso's paintings, most notably his "Weeping Woman" series and "Guernica". They lived together for a number of years.


Here is a detail. I used the palette from the background colors.


Here is the book cover. I love this photo. Sitting next to a very "comfortable" looking Picasso, she seems a million miles away. I love her hair, her blouse, her skirt, and the shoes! Gorgeous platform sandals! There is definitely a story here and this beautifully illustrated book tells it all!

I will probably give the ephemeral compositions another go. But I'm happy with my first, and where it took me.