I have recently enjoyed working in collage as a way of recycling and recombining the bits and pieces of our lives into a new form conveying new meaning. The collage artist treasures the qualities of materials, and the eye continually searches for possibilities in papers, objects, or images that can be used in unexpected ways. As we are living in a society that is striving to become paperless, some of these materials are threatened to extinction, making them even more cherished.

One becomes a collector-- finding value in both the cast off items as well as the treasures in the clutter of our lives. There is satisfaction in organizing this ephemera as well as in the delight at seeing an unexpected outcome.

Within this exhibit the work takes many forms using various metaphors. The theme “Homage Collage” provides a way to celebrate and pay tribute to loved ones through photographs and other memorabilia. Travel collages weave together souvenirs and images. Musical experiences are portrayed through tickets to events. Twigs collected on mountain walks are worked into a nature series. Newspaper snippets create a social commentary on the loss of one’s home in “Foreclosure.” Stamps and pens represent the demise of letter writing in “A Lost Art.” Images of ice cream recall the pleasures of childhood and a simpler time. Keys are used to unlock meaning, to link to the past, and to open new doors.

In creating collage one can be challenged to introduce elements of the past into a modern art form or to reflect on the experiences of the present in a deeply personal way.

Time Is On Your Side
by Mary Daudelin
March 1, 2013 - April 30, 2013

My name is Mary Daudelin and I'm a painter. Not an artist – but a painter. If you were to meet me on the street and ask me, “Who are you?”, I would be more apt to answer you, “Math major and computer geek”. That's how I see myself. That's who I am inherently.

I'll be turning 60 this year and didn't start painting until my 40's. I had decided to enroll my daughter into Chris Didomizio's Old World Art class for some extracurricular activity to keep her busy. She said the only way she was going was if I went with her. Chris, being the person that he is, said I could stay with her as long as I did the exercises along with everyone else. So I bought some pencils and pastels and thought, “only for my daughter would I do this – I haven't an artistic bone in this body”.

Well, the way Chris teaches evidently caught hold of me, because when my daughter dropped out six weeks later, I was hooked and have been coloring, drawing, painting and occasionally water-coloring off and on ever since. He opened a whole new world to me that I didn't know existed. I had my first art show at Smyrna Library in the late 90's. I showed what I had at the time of my pencils and pastels. He strong-armed me into the oils class one day and I went kicking and screaming to Binder's to get the tubes/brushes/canvases he had on his list. I really didn't want to paint in oils – they scared me – and I loved pencils and pastels – you could erase the mistakes. Oh well, he knew best and I fell in love with oils and the Old World Master's techniques w/glazing that he taught us.

Anyway – he taught us using the Masters' as example. If we could learn to reproduce or get a feel as to what they had done, then it couldn't do anything but help us create better pictures of our own. I'm just now getting to where I paint what I want. The mistakes that you see here are all mine - the ones that work and you really like are probably the ones that follow the rules and the techniques that Chris has taught me . . .

Painting has been a life saver these past years – I've gone from working full-time for various communication's companies, getting my Master's overseas, being 'retired' when the economy took its dip, taking care of a mother through cancer treatments and then Alzheimer's, going through a recurrence of cancer myself, losing my two dogs of 16 years and, blessedly, having a new grand-baby! Being able to paint has seen me through these times and has transported me to a different place when I needed to escape.

I hope you enjoy them. If you want me to paint you up anything, give me a call. I tend to paint and give away to family and friends – but you can always become a friend if you can't afford the prices. Or better yet, learn how to paint yourself. Chris still is teaching after all these years, albeit over in Dunwoody and no longer in Vinings.I'll let you know if I ever get to the stage that I consider myself an artist - if that day ever comes, you'll be able to find me here at the library, yet again.

Photography
by Diane Watson
May 1, 2013 - June 30, 2013

Diane Watson is an award-winning photographer from Duluth, Georgia and from the World. Diane has spent much of her career (starting at age 8) shooting travel photographs which document the contrasts between people and their environment. She is always in search of hidden gems and funky images. Her photos have captured the beautiful and not so beautiful on five continents.

Being a survivor of Hurricane Andrew, Diane offers her services as a photo inventory specialist for home and business owners. She is currently writing a book which will help home owners and small businesses avoid a financial disaster after a natural disaster.

The images of Cambodia in this exhibit were taken in January 2012. Cambodia is a nation attempting to recover from the devastation of the Pol Pot Regime. These photographs capture the contrasts between the very rich and the desperately poor. The Cambodian people are beautiful in spirit, and always greet you with a bright smile no matter what their circumstances.

Also included in this exhibit are images from the Atlanta Botanical Garden as well as photographs of Dale Chihuly’s colorful glass sculptures in the Seattle Center.

Please enjoy the bright and colorful images from Diane Watson!

Contact Diane at dkwphotos@gmail.com or 770-309-4924

Photography
by Susannah Masarie
July 1, 2013 - August 31, 2013

Susannah Masarie is an artist who's medium is photography. Susannah has a love for the great outdoors. She feels that an appreciation of nature is important to the conservation of the earth. She uses photography to capture the little details of nature that are easily overlooked. Her love of nature started from growing up in North Carolina and having had many opportunities to experience the natural world. She has traveled and photographed in many of the United States and six other countries.

Susannah first became interested in photography when she took photography classes in high school. She graduated from Appalachian State University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Technology, with a photography concentration. Her work has been shown in galleries, restaurants and coffee shops, used for multiple websites, and several publications.

Susannah is currently working on archiving her past photographic work, and looking for ways to do more with her photography.

Watercolors
by Betty Derrick
September 1, 2013 - October 31, 2013

Drawing and painting have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Greenville SC but moved to Governor's Island at the tip of Manhattan when I was in third grade. To pass the drab winter months so foreign to a Southern child living temporarily in New York, my mother enrolled me in an art class taught by a Pratt Institute graduate student. I still have a picture I painted in the class--a portrait of a bruised and battered prizefighter. I continue to wonder where I (an eight-year old) found my subject and what attracted me. It is the constant wonder of creativity that has kept me painting off and on all these years.

I paint in watercolor. I love the light, the transparency and the serendipities which spring from knowing how to manage the paint and control the brush. Many artists hate the unforgiving nature of watercolor (mistakes cannot be painted over) while I love the risk
and adventure. This is a contrast to my normal personality and perhaps that is the appeal. I try to find abstract forms across objects and movement in still life. I paint a variety of subjects from whimsical to traditional.

I graduated from Agnes Scott College where I studied with Ferdinand Warren (AWS). I have also studied with Charles Reid and Atlantans Dolores Kennedy and Ben Smith. My work has been accepted into many juried shows and is held in private and corporate collections.

Illustrations In Graphite, Pen & Ink
by Bill Needs
November 1, 2013 to January 2, 2014

A resident of Marietta for nearly 40 years, Bill Needs followed an unusual route into the field of art. A few years after retiring from a career in Vocational
Rehabilitation, curiosity prompted him to enroll in a drawing course at Kennesaw State University, (OLLI) Continuing Education. With no prior interest in art, that brief exposure to the creative powers of a pencil and pen revealed a hidden talent! For over five years, Bill has continued to experiment and expand his artistic perceptions with these simple tools. His art is eclectic ...

-rendering precise architectural lines to describe buildings and monuments;
-capturing motion and mood of weather upon landscapes and seascapes;
-reflecting a range of human emotion in faces, postures and interacting cultures,
-sculpting memory-evoking images of and bonds with animals and pets;
-even offering whimsical views of Marietta’s fabled icon, the “Big Chicken”.

Bill’s art has been featured in local juried exhibitions at Marietta Art Museum, Acworth’s Gallery 4463, and Kennesaw’s Smith Gilbert Gardens. He created
poignant illustrations to supplement love poems authored by Dr. Bruce Gillett in Quarter Peeled Oranges; cover illustration to the historical treatment of letters from civil war soldiers interred at Marietta’s National Cemetery, titled Rest Brave Comrades – Your Work is Done, published by historian Brad Quinlin; and more.