FROZEN SHADOWS by db Waterman

The frozen shadows cast by the trees
lie still as ghosts in the morning freeze
shrinking against the rising dawn
their misty spirits above my lawn
A wisp of wind carries them aside
in search of shadows for them to hide
until the dark whence they return
to their haunting beds to adjourn
and come the morn they stretch their hands
across the static frozen land
then up the alley and across the grass
tapping their fingers on my window glass
the dancing figures perform a ball
has skeletons upon my wall
like nightmares from my childhood born ; Poem by Joe Gallagher

All of my artworks are inspired by weathered walls with posters, peeling paint and all kinds of things in dilapidation.
I try to create something new, something beautiful with these elements.
This particular artwork is part of the Collages series. These collages are built up with all kinds of pictures, photos and images that I have collected over the years.
I assemble original photography, assorted papers, acrylics, oil, charcoal, ink and pencil in my works. Having always loved the appearance of weathered walls plastered with peeling paint and old posters, I revive this aesthetic with hopefully a keen and professional eye.

This artwork is offered by db Waterman

I remembered that as a young girl I so much liked to cut images from magazines to paste them into school agendas, scrapbooks and even on my bedroom door. Add to this the fascination I always had for walls filled with old posters, flaking paint, scrappy billboards and weathered paint, it opened an unexpected door for completely new opportunities. Completely unintended I found a new way of working, I felt pleasurably and comfortably at home in. What started out as copying old walls with worn out posters has grown into many series of new visual storytelling. Not simply just eclecticism, but bringing together many seemingly incoherent story lines into one completely new story, my own personal story. Initially it lacked the one thing that is important to me, the transparency that normally only is possible with the use of watercolor. The unforgiving layering of transparent watercolors is a challenge I would not want to miss and after a lot of trial and error I finally succeeded in getting the collages as transparent as a watercolor. Every layer of paper, oil, acrylic, pencil, crayon, ballpoint, watercolor, ink, charcoal and whatever else I use, remains visible in the artwork. You can imagine it made me feel the queen of the ball !

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• All artworks by db Waterman
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