tinned fish and cut paper

Sacha and I have been eating a lot of fish lately. Specifically tinned fish. More specifically the various mackerel and sardines and squid from Jose Gourmet, and the smoked trout from Trader Joes. I found the trout from Trader Joes via a friend who used to carry cans of the stuff on our long bike rides together. The Jose Gourmet is another thing entirely. We find that at one cafe on Moyamensing Street in South Philadelphia, and we buy it the way I buy books because of the cover and wine for the label. I almost never know what i’m getting, but it looks so good. So far this has worked out well for us.

I know there are many other tinned fishes to ingest out there, and over time I suppose we’ll get to them. Maybe i’ll look into what’s “good” and what’s not so good before laying down my money for these items. But more than likely i’ll just pick out my favorite designs and follow the same road we’ve been on for a few months now.

With all this in mind, i’ve been aiming to make some collages and drawings inspired by these tins. Today is Sacha’s birthday, and I used that as an excuse to work up a small collage for her. I sketched the idea out last week, then cut some thin birch plywood in a shape that I hope evokes the tin. The fish are made from a few old newspapers and magazines (an old Popular Woodworking from the 1050s, and a Life magazine that featured the marriage of Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly). The salmon-colored color field is acrylic paint. We’ll hang it in the kitchen. And i’ll make a larger version next of one or three fish.