douglas brent smith

  Worldview Built In a Day - collage by douglas brent smith, 3 January 1988

  The Deal - collage by douglas brent smith, 21 November 1988. "What's the deal?" "You tell me." "Is he selling that giant bowl? "What if it's not a bowl?" "I think that it's a bowl." "Why would he be selling it? Unless it's more than a bowl." "Do we know for sure that he's selling it?" "No." "Then what's the deal?" Sometimes I strain to understand something and fail. It doesn't make me strop trying to understand it, I just don't get anywhere. What's the deal with that? Other times, things are so elegantly simple that I understand them right away. Or, at least think that I do.  How do we know for sure? -- dbS  - 

 Dreaming of Mineral Wealth - collage by douglas brent smith, 21 November 1988.

  Check Your Pockets for the Key - collage by douglas brent smith, 21 November 1988, paper, magazine pictures, glue.

  Worldview Built In A Day With Fire - collage by douglas brent smith, 3 January 1988 Something about this collage causes me to page quickly past it, yet if I spend more time absorbed in it there is more to see. I pondered cropping it. I cut out dozens of pieces of pictures that could go in with it, but found it hard to obscure the central image. Worldview? Examination? Built in a day?  The hints of mixed media with the pen lines were attempts to draw it all together. Did it work?

  Do you think that artists have their own personal favorites among the works that they create? While they are all our "babies" (not really, but there's the expression...) and we are usually pleased with the finished product, some sit better than others. I like this collage. I've used it in many contexts as a featured illustration because it makes me smile. Growing up, I remember when TV stations would leave the air at night and the last thing on the screen would be a test pattern. Sometimes it had (for some reason) a picture of a Native American in the pattern, and sometimes it didn't. This was, of course, before color TV.  I call this "The Eyes Have It". There may be other versions of it (maybe with more eyes) and there may not be. Things get lost, things get (gasp!) destroyed.  I hope you like it. I sure do. The Eyes Have It - collage by douglas brent smith, paper, magazine images, Elmer's Glue, 22 February 1988.

The Hurricane Hour - collage by douglas brent smith, 3 January 1988.

  From Each Hand Until The End -- collage by douglas brent smith, 1988