New Website!

Redesigning my website has been on my to-do list for a long time, and now it's finally done! Visit www.thecolortree.net to see the finished product. It's all done in Blogger, and boy did I have to jump through hoops to get it (close to) the way I want! For the record, here are a bunch of links I found very useful:

• Static front page


• Navigation tabs


• Three-column footer


• Selective display of Blogger widgets

The reason I'm doing this now is to highlight a new series of paper-based inkjet mobiles that I'm working on. These are made from giclee prints of my digital photomontages that are cut apart and then shaped. The paper is a heavy fine art watercolor cotton rag, and it is naturally curled from being rolled on a spindle. That curvature gives me sculptural interest for free, and it also allows me to join several strips together into more complex pieces.


The paper can only be printed on one side, so on the reverse, I draw maps in pencil or india ink. I also throw in some aluminum pieces with maps for textural variation.


I like the contrast between the colorful, "manufactured" prints on one side and the monochromatic, hand-produced drawings on the other. I am also enjoying working with paper, which I find more expressive than metal, both because of its flexibility and because it is inherently ephemeral. I think paper gives my new mobiles a delicate and luxurious quality that is almost nostalgic -- a throwback to a pre-digital age.