Phyllis Garrison

The Essence of the Artist Collaged Phyllis Garrison

This is an irreverent look at the art that will amuse, inform and perhaps whet the reader's appetite for a closer acquaintance with the subjects. It is an art/art history/how-to-collage book. The character, the essence, of individual artists is featured and captured in images created entirely by the author with colored papers, from their eyelashes to their signature. The artists included in this book are for the most part typically found in traditional Art History books; however some are either little known or not deemed "fine" artists, but have special meaning for this artist and the reasons are described. A brief biography of each includes the life and death dates, nationality, and interesting and sometimes little known facts of the subject art. Interspersed in the text are explanations of how or why a particular image was created; whether to emphasize a method employed, a specific area, a facet of the person, or simply the kind of paper or adhesive that was used. Besides learning a little of the lives of artists that are featured, readers will acquire a thumbnail sketch of the craft of collage or even the art of portraiture by studying the artist whose essence was reflected, and maybe pique their interest to conduct a more in-depth investigation on their own.