Back in the year 2000 (remember when nearly everyone wrote “year 2000” – was it just too flabbergasting to accept 2000 standing alone?)
I made three small collages that illustrate my creative process.

It’s nearly the same, every time. I begin by sifting through the raw materials. Inevitably reach a point where either abundance or a frustrating lack freaks me out. Then slowly but surely move into certainty – and the wonderful point of completing a new piece.

Yesterday, I had a tight deadline for applying to a show at 440 Gallery, in Brooklyn. It’s a lovely artist-run collective, and the theme of their upcoming exhibit is “Text.” There wasn’t any question about starting with new scans of the creative-process collages, which meant taking the framing apart, but that’s OK.

Then the search for new resources began, and the hard part about that was limiting the choices. This session features some exciting elements: cardboard from 1937; the page from an old (circa late 1980s) photo album that fell apart; spray paint on dot-matrix printer paper; and, of course, the original Sift, Freak, and Reap.

The morning after was cool and gray, with a delightful soft-spring misty rain. Setting the green of May into luscious relief. In June, I’ll find out whether the new images are accepted for the show. Meanwhile, I think they’re ideal for the newest Revelations and hope you’ll enjoy the fruits of the calm that comes after the freakout.

Original artwork and text by Catherine Rutgers © 2011