Shadows, Monuments and Pillars

On Friday, my AP Studio Art students and I took a field trip to some great Cleveland locales. I took these shots at Lakeview Cemetary.

Here's a few pics, I like the juxtaposition of the tree and the massive grave obelisk (I guess it is an obelisk or a huge grave marker.) 

I had some fun with shadows inside the Garfield Monument.

Birds. It always comes back to birds.

So, there isn't a title for this collage yet.

There is an Art show sponsored by our local park district using the theme "discARTed" as its basis for all entries.
The show was a motivation to finish what was started some time ago. I pulled out all of my collage stuff (lots and lots, eek...!)and was able to wrap this piece up.

It is about birds. The background uses part of a 1955 National Geographic article about a trip some ornithologists took to Papua, New Guinea, which turned out to be dangerous when they encountered the native people. Along with the danger, they were educated about a people who were a 'dying culture' The imagery features birds.
I'm seeking a parallel between dying cultures and species loss. But also, noting where we (the human race)have contributed to these losses.
I've got a couple of other collages/assemblages happening, with the same themes. It'll be tough to decide what to enter, since I can only enter two works.

The Barn got in the Way

These poor Yellow Rumped Warblers flew into our barn/studio sometime overnight. We found them on the floor near the sliding glass doors this morning. There is a large barn door entrance on the front of the barn where they flew in. We covered the entrance so this doesn't happen again.

As I laid them to rest in a bed of pine needles and covering them in maple leaves, I could hear and see Yellow Rumped Warblers flitting in the tree branches above.

The Eternal Collage

An eternal collage and I think I like it............
This piece (12 x 12 masonite panel) was started at least two years ago. Over time it has gone through several changes some subtle, some drastic.
It started as a demo piece for one of my AP Studio Art classes. I was messin' around with surface textures by using gesso in various ways; along with incorporating fabric and plastic wrap to show ways to build up a surface. From there we began collaging.
There was a point when I absolutely loved this piece, then I decided to make some changes. Ha. It went downhill.
I set it aside for a long while.
Picked it up a few months ago, worked back into it. Kept it around the studio, stared at it.
A few nights ago I added color and pattern. Its brighter than it was and I think I like it.