The story behind the collage:
1) The man pictured, my maternal grandfather, was a skilled and creative carpenter...hence the segment of a carpenter’s folding ruler.
2) He turned 22 during his first year of marriage to my grandmother, Ella. Notice the numbers on the ruler.
3) I was 22 when he died.
4) He died the week I was registering for classes for my first semester of Graduate School in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of South Carolina. I would be specializing in Micropaleontology, the study of microfossils.
5) The predominant pattern in the collage is an enlarged photocopy of the fossil Baculites...it was a, geologically speaking, short lived creature in the fossil record that makes a good index fossil...a marker (ruler) of time.
6) Baculites was a highly sutured and nearly straight version of an ammonite...a predecessor to the coiled ammonite we are most familiar with today (and often depicted in my collage work). A small cut and polished ammonite is affixed next to my Grandfather’s shoulder in the photo.
7) My middle name came from my grandfather...Arthur. My ancestor, my namesake, and my creative link in the family.
High Flow Acrylics were used to stain the image transfer on canvas as well as the black and white photocopy used as the background. There are several coats of MSA Spray Varnish. 4” x 6” on .5” thick gatorboard. E6000 was used to affix the ruler and ammonite. This was, in part, a test of materials…but I like the way the 4 elements connect to a personal story.
