This piece is one of many versions of this linoleum block print I did for the 2012 Hand Prints show:

A friend of mine had a lot of fun taking it and coloring on it to create three collaborative pieces as well:

And lastly, I recently used them in different pieces for my December 2013 solo show:

The Sleep of Reason on Society6||Redbubble

Ergo Sum

In other words, those mudpuppies really got around! I’m not sure when I first hit upon the idea of using my own art as collage to make new pieces, but I’m currently using the same approach on my Kaguya Hime piece in progress. Part of a totally unrelated piece (Moonlit Night, in fact!) is supplying the huge swollen moon behind the princess.

I personally like finding new ways to use different elements I’ve made that lend themselves to replication (mainly my digital and block prints) because that way, as an artist I still have the option of finding a better way to finish a work of art. If something I made doesn’t stand out in its original setting but later becomes much more successful in a completely different context, I feel very gratified. I have also done this with very old art, using amateur monoprints as effective and vibrant backgrounds for newer, more skilled block prints or incorporating crude paintings from my youth into new collage art.

How do you feel about re-using a piece of art or making series based on many variations of an element you’ve created?