When Rafi and Klee Studios announced the theme for the next exhibit at The Exchange in Oil City, I wasn’t sure I could produce something that would fit in. The title of the exhibit was Neon Nostalgia.
There wasn’t a whole lot in nature that was neon. There were the bioluminescence jack-o-lantern mushrooms. I have tried for photos, but they have never worked out. I sent the husband out in search of neon orange paint in an attempt to create a painting of some jack-o-lantern mushrooms. However, I lacked time and inspiration for such a piece.
So, I focused on colorful lighting of LED dog collars. The original collars were a string of fairy lights in colored tubing. Most of them failed to recharge after years of no usage. A quick search of the internet came up with collars that could change color and featured more durable collars. The new collars were quite colorful with an array of settings. They were quite large, too.
One night all four dogs, bloodhounds Jeb and Clem and Saint Bernards Gus and Buckley all donned lighted colors. Gus’ color was blue and due to a leg issue, he didn’t move much. In addition, his large neck scruff hid a lot of the light. Meanwhile, Jeb, Clem and Buckley continued to romp around in the dark.
Clem was purple and Buckley and Jeb switched between red and green. The collars were just draped over their heads, so they often fell off. I would scoop them up and then track down the unlit canine.
This was after I had to shoo several deer out of the field before the hounds were released. Otherwise, there would have been just several streaks of light disappearing into the darkness. I took the most colorful photo and framed it to a 12 x 16 print. It is $50 and is on display during the Neon Nostalgia exhibit happening now at The Exchange in Oil City.
As for my second piece I decided on the greener side of things. Many of the things I see under the microscope glow green. Or rather it appears that way since there is a bright light behind them. I decided to cut out some diatoms and desmids from their backgrounds. I them cut and paste them with computer software onto a colored background. Again, using the software I painstakingly rotated and arranged them into a mandala shape. It was difficult to get everything lined up. Each little green design was a layer all to itself that could be manipulated. Sometimes I would grab the wrong boundary box, and the wrong picture would get rotated.
Items would be out of alignment, and it was a challenge to get everything where I wanted it. Is it perfect? No, that’s why it’s called art. Still, I enjoyed the outcome. Glowing Green is a 16 x 16 photo printed on canvas. The cost is $50.
I experimented with other mandalas with photos from the microscope.
Then I found a Facebook Group for Nature Mandalas and Land Art. I was hooked. I ran out to gather as many colorful leaves as I could and made an arrangement.
I was happy with the first arrangement, but not so much with my second. However, I can’t wait until my flowers bloom again to try it with them as a medium.
Meanwhile, the Neon Nostalgia show continues until Dec. 8. I attended the opening and there were some awesome pieces there. Many were celebrating the colors of nature as well.
