Studio Closeup #30

Sometimes I like doing just straight up collages. These are a few I did back in 2012 that sort of jump started the diorama making for The Museum Series. Lots of new work currently in progress and that’s where I got lost today which was a really good thing for me. Please enjoy some oldies but goodies!

Art blog 30 A
"Dolphin Wreath"- 2012 Collage
Art blog 30 B
"The Elephant In The Room" - 2012 Collage
Art blog 30 C
"Good Companion" - 2012 Collage

Read more

Music Mondays: Carolaoke Song #28

It’s another Music Monday over here at carolkroll.com! I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Yes, I can tell spring is in the air. Early spring is not my favorite season. I usually get migraines, can feel everyone bursting at the seams to wear no clothes outside, and I personally have to stifle or channel the mania I feel welling up all through March and April in a productive way or it won’t be a good scene. These are things I’ve learned (the hard way) on this journey.

Speaking of spring, today’s Carolaoke selection is a song I used to have on repeat while I’d ride my bike during the sunrise. I couldn’t get enough of it. Or sunrises. This year, I have big plans for my bike come (real) spring. That’s all anyone needs to know right now including myself.

The bah-bah-bah harmony towards the end really bothers me in this karaoke track, but I didn’t feel like reinventing the wheel today to fix it. Someone is singing an anti-harmony inside that harmony. I hear it and it bothers me to my core. Speaking of me, this song is at the very bottom of my range and I know I have some more work to do vocally with this tune. But scratch tracks are like gesture drawings, quick snapshots of where you're currently at, and you only get better by doing more of them.

Please enjoy my scratch track version of the Plain White T’s, “Rhythm of Love”.

Read more

Freaky Fridays #5

Today’s installment of Freaky Friday goes WAY back, as in 44 years WAY back to kindergarten. My parents saved my elementary school papers and gifted them to me a couple years back. It’s a really weird experience to revisit your five year old self. Lots of crazy shit in that box, some of it I remember making; some of it completely foreign to me and I think that’s the weirdest part. Having no memory at all of what I’m looking at, that I made.

I found this alphabet “thing” tucked inside a kindergarten pamphlet my mom had kept when I first started school and thought I’d share a couple photos of where my head was at in 1977-1978.

Like I said, lots of crazy shit inside that box so expect some other things to make an appearance here for future Freaky Fridays. I promise to make it fun at least.

Freak fri J
Legendary elementary school papers box.
Freak fri K
Me with my mom at my Grandma Richards house. I remember those paints.
Freak fri E
Pamphlet propaganda from the 1970's.
Freak fri L
My five year old take on the alphabet.
Freak fri A
Freak fri B
Freak fri C
Freak fri D
Freak fri F
Freak fri G
Freak fri H
Freak fri I

Read more

Studio Closeup #29

Today’s studio closeup is in the bird category, a new piece from The Museum Series. The bird image inside the diorama is from a sticker seal book from the 1960’s and the background for this diorama is patterned origami paper with sticks from the front yard.

I have collected quite a few of these old school sticker/seal books with a good deal of them purchased from Racine Nelson’s Dime Store in the early 1990s. There are a lot of intricate illustrations in those little packs and I wanted to give them a proper home. I’ve included a photo of these old sticker/seal sets to give you an idea of what I’m talking about. They make excellent diorama subjects.

Please enjoy!

Title: The Museum Series: Scarlet Tanager
Year: 2021
Media: Acrylic Paint, Paper Diorama and Collage on Wood Panel
Total Dimension: 6" x 6" (1.5" Cradle)

Art blog 29 A
Art blog 29 B
Art blog 29 C

Read more

Music Mondays: Carolaoke Song #27

I have another Patsy Cline tune for this week’s Music Monday. I remember seeing the Patsy Cline movie and loving it. Actually, I love Music-mentaries of all kinds and have an unhealthy love for “The Temptations” mini-series which I own on DVD. I guess it’s time to purchase the digital version and while I’m at it, I’m thinking of researching if the Patsy Cline movie exists digitally in these modern times. Those movies are always super inspiring to watch.

Please enjoy my scratch track Carolaoke version of Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight” and please keep well.

Read more