douglas brent smith

 Make Waves - collage by douglas brent smith, 19890601 Oddities Unexplained: This collage, created June 1, 1989, appears on page 249 (with the back-side of the page simply the title) of journal #25. Communication, and the following poem, "Waves" was written on June 30, 1990 (more than a year later) and appears on page 251 of the same journal. I think how something like that happens is that there was a time when I created collages in my journals deep within the pages, long before the journal writing caught up. Plus, this particular journal took longer than usual to write. Does it matter? Not much. But, there you have it. Here's the poem: Waves everything on the surface develops a skin of its own unexamined, unrevealed, unkissed by the sun and then something falls with the  unrelenting force of gravity and breaks that surface bearing a new moment which  makes waves ohmyohmyohmyohmyohmy holycowholycowholycowholycow... but then the waves dissipate and the skin of the surface

  How Was Your Vacation? - collage by douglas brent smith, 29 May 1989.  Did you go to exotic locales? How was the weather? My dad went 19 years in a row (and maybe more) without ever taking a vacation. Instead, he used the money from continuing to work to support the family. You probably experienced some sacrifices in your family, too. Are you grateful for the things that those who came before you did for you and yours? It's so easy to forget big things we should be grateful for. Let's give thanks for them now. Oh, and would you like to go on vacation in the location of this collage? - dbS - 

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

 The Scientific Method - collage by douglas brent smith Magazine pictures, paper, and glue. Carefully they view the evidence. It is only in this moment that any of this comes together. The placement is precise, the conclusions uncertain. "Do you see what I see?" "I do not know what you see." "You are looking right at it." 'I see my view, you see yours." "What is she doing?" "Examining the evidence. She's using the scientific method." "How do you know?" "I read her log." - dbS -

  What The Cats Discovered - digital collage by douglas brent smith, 2 March 2024 With glue and paper, once you've set the glue you either live with it, tear it off, or paste something over it. That makes the work exacting and a bit risky. With a digital collage, such as this one, you can change your mind and simply iterate. That's fun, too. There could be an endless series of versions of the same picture that is not the same picture.  I don't necessarily want that, but I wasn't sure I was satisfied with the first version (above) so here are some alternatives. The What the Cats Discovered Remix, or More of What The Cats Discovered: More of What The Cats Discovered (Outside Remix) - douglas brent smith 2 March 2024 ore of What The Cats Discovered, Inside Remix, douglas brent smith 2 March 2024 What one do you like the best?  I promise that I will NOT do this with every collage. Tonight, it was fun.

  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?

  "Time For Another Episode...Dream Collage 87" collage by douglas brent smith, 26 December 1987 It feels like winter has always been my most productive collage season. It started in college when I'd use much of my semester break drinking Dr. Pepper, eating hot dogs and baked beans, and making collages. The Dr. Pepper was yummy but destroyed one of my teeth and nearly destroyed them all. Switching to black coffee (oh, and brushing my teeth!) came to the rescue. I'm not sure why this collage has such a long title. I don't think there are 86 other "dream collages" sequenced in the catalogue. Clearly, it refers to the year in some amusing way. Here we see the casual disregard of an ominously dangerous insect-like critter -- headed for havoc. So often though, we can be oddly calm just before all trouble breaks loose. The gentleman in the lower left corner has an answer for you on the line, if you're willing to reverse the charges. - dbS -

  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.

  A Full Moon Wasn't The Half of It -- collage by douglas brent smith, 1986

  A Day At The Beach - Digital collage by douglas brent smith, 22 January 2024

  Getting Started Is The Rough Part - collage by douglas brent smith 26 December 1987

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

Egg On A Walk At Koranda Palace - mixed media sketch by douglas brent smith, 26 December 1987  

What if absolute truth is relative? -- doug smith