Heh. Maybe not.
Sadly but predictably, a crisis kept Emmler from yesterday's Art Date. Ass't Man came on his own, and we drank beer, and he sketched while I collaged. It was great to chat & art outside of work.
I. Be the Authority You Wish to See in the World
Mostly, we bitched about discussed work.
Big Boss had told Ass't Man (AM) that Mr Furniture and I were the 2 employees who wouldn't accept authority.
Ha, what a compliment!
I told AM that I'm proud to be in the same category as Mr Furniture! He's my age, a fabric-collage artist who wears Black Panther patches (the political party, not the comic book hero).
AM agreed it was an awesome group of two, and mourned that he himself is such a people-pleaser.
Nothing wrong with pleasing people, I said, but you can't please Big Boss except by never, ever challenging him. And that's not a win for anyone (not even, ultimately, Big Boss himself).
I accept authority, but it has to BE authority.
(When I was a teenager in the 1970s, I wore a button that said QUESTION AUTHORITY.
It didn't say destroy authority.)
Now I might say, Study to BE an Authority.
Like, I'm not just making stuff up in BOOK's.
Well, yeah, I am... but also I follow retail bookstore news--e.g., that Barnes & Noble article I linked to yesterday--and I read about booksellers & libraries.
No one at work reads anything except the Bible and murder mysteries. So, no, yeah--I don't consider them authorities.
I always do feel very nervous when I challenge supposed authority, though. I'm sorry that it's not become easy, emotionally, but I do it anyway if I have to.
Mostly, I just try to fly below the radar.
II. My Collages
BELOW: Annunciation with Cherries on Top
Ass't Man who trained as a graphic designer, gave me tips on making my cuts smoother, but...
1. I don't want to bother, and
2. I don't want my collages to look like they're Photoshopped. Digital photography, online, tends to smooths-out cuts and seams, so I like the choppy aesthetic--it's clearly hand done.
BELOW: Chipmunk Shepherd Finds the Lost Lamb.
(I brightened the lamb with an acrylic pen because the old holy card was so soft and faded. But, ergh, the lamb's a bit at the wrong angle. Can I blame the beer?)
If I'm disrespectful, it's on purpose.
To me, these are playful, loving images--what's better than a saint parfait with a cherry on top?