Artist’s Family « Collage Your World

Lynne Cohen: Artist & Friend

Lynne Cohen, Photographer

These past few years I’ve been blogging about a friend and mentor who had cancer. Last spring photographer Lynne Cohen died after a lengthy and ferocious battle with lung cancer. I say ferocious because although she was given a very short time to live she found ways to beat the […]

Dreams of Paper Houses

Sandra Mirabelli (Ottawa Public Art Program Coordinator), Kristina Frangione (Assistant) pose alongside the C4 Cabinet, CCCC Project, Hintonburg Community Centre, 2009 (Photo: Lorraine Victor)

As a child I loved miniature doll houses. A friend of mine had a beautiful three-story one filled with exquisite tiny objects. I could only dream of having one […]

Lessons of the Heart

Last summer I found myself drawn to the symbol of the heart. While sifting through fragments, I was captivated by a drawing of an anatomical heart in Gray’s Anatomy; I decided that I’d like to use it to speak of the recent pain and loss I’d suffered. I put it aside hoping to find […]

Awakening the Secret Garden within

… I told the interviewer, I believed stories are found things, like fossils in the ground, he said that he didn’t believe me. I replied that this was fine, as long as he believed that I believe it. And I do. Stories aren’t souvenir tee-shirts or GameBoys. Stories are relics, part of undiscovered pre-existing […]

Part II: The Fabric & Patterns of Everyday Life

November/December 2013 issue, Selvege. A favourite fabric-related magazine of mine… see link at end of this article

Developing a Secret Code…

In Part I of this blog article, you learned of my fascination for fabric pattern prints and textures found in fashion magazines and my childhood home. While I noted, I used […]

Part I: The Fabric & Patterns of Everyday Life

When I first began visual journaling, working with magazine fragments of fabric patterns really began to interest me. I remember a friend pointing out how cool it was that a character I’d collaged was wearing “hound’s tooth”. I had no idea what she was talking about, so I Googled it. Although I was familiar […]

In Memoriam: Norm Prest

Michelle Casey, “The Sound of Silence”, Collage/mixed media Journal page, 8.5 x 6 inches, 2010. This image was scanned and printed by Norm Prest… such a beautiful sample of our collaborative efforts…

During the last month, I’ve lost two dear friends… my Uncle Doug and my scanning and printing technician, Norman Prest. Both […]

My Uncle’s Collage: A Life in a Heartbeat

Detail of my uncle’s photo collage. Top left and four images to the right are of Doug; the one on the bottom right is his mom.

Sometimes the impetus for a collage comes from my need to elaborate on a character who’s currently affecting my life. Since February I’ve been dealing with a […]

Reflections: Choosing Characters for My Visual Journal Pages

During my first “Pieces of Me” exhibition, a visitor enquired where I was in my journal pages. “I kept looking for you!” she said. I told her I was there almost everywhere in them… in fact, many female figures whether they be young or old, carried some aspect I wished to embody. Thus far, […]

Exploring My Family Curse

The top portion of “The Curse” (Michelle Casey, Collage, July 2013)… veering away from the rectangular format this piece’s outer elements defines its shape.

These past couple of weeks, I’ve been working on a collage about my family curse. If you’ve been following my blog lately, you’ll know about this and the three […]