necklace of stars

Originally when I started working on this piece I had something different in mind to do with it. I had the background with the stars and that was going to be just a small part of a larger idea at the time. But I had reached a point with working with these stellar and planet pages that I was rather tired of them. These pages came out of some old National Geographic magazines. I was starting to hit that dreaded "block" that sometimes happens and it feels like you get stuck in quicksand and try as hard as you might you make no progress. It can be a frustrating thing to deal with.
One of my favorite collage artists is Chery Baird. She makes some amazing abstract pieces that are truly unique. Her work has been seen worldwide and she lives right here in Atlanta, Georgia. I have had the pleasure of meeting her and she is truly one nicest people I have met. She made a statement one time that has stuck in my head for years and took me awhile to really understand what she meant. She said that if you are not frustrated in the studio then something is wrong. She meant that you have to be constantly trying new things and not get into a habit so that creativity will suffer. Frustration will make you think out of the box or make you think in a different direction. That one idea has helped me on a scale that is hard to explain.
The above piece came out of some frustration. My original idea was not going to work and I was not wanting to use this image. I have boxes of left over pieces of paper from other collage work I have made. I seldom throw anything away. So one day I took these scraps of paper and spread every single one on the floor and just stared at them for the better part of a day in between drinking a couple of beers and a few cigars. Finally I stared long enough to come come up with this piece. Turns out the sage advice of Chery was right yet again. Thanks Chery.