Zeitgeist by Serena BartonSerena's art is very literary, probably owing to the minimum four books a week reading habit, which doesn't include the art books and research for a current series of paintings. And I have it on good authority that book every other day pattern is during the busy times. She has been known to have periods of consuming a book a day.
The art shown on DIY Alert! is a good overview of Serena's work. The leading painting (above) has potential as the protagonist in a story. I like her use of colors and strong characterization. In this particular piece, I also like that the time period is a little ambiguous. Because I know Serena, I know the actual time period of the piece. But when I strip that knowledge, this person could be at various points in history.
Serena also uses a lot of writing in her mixed media, collage, and assemblage pieces. Well, and in her paintings. Sometimes she hand-writes a letter or a phrase in another language, sometimes she uses pieces of a book, sheet music, copies of a letter, and so on - bringing visual art and written art together.
She also creates altered books and offers workshops and classes in their creation. Using the book as the foundation, she builds stories in 3D and layers, textures, and cuts away to create a new story based on the old one. There is a picture of one of her altered books near the bottom of the article. Just those two pages from that altered book could be a starting place for a new story or poem.
This is a nice article about a talented artist. And, yes, I am bragging just a little.
