Featured Artist Stacy “Crowgirl” Spangler

Digital artist Stacy “Crowgirl” Spangler creates collages using vintage photographs, hand-painted watercolor textures and other images. Visit her website to see more of her artwork.

 

The Secret Architecture of Her Heart

“The Secret Architecture of Her Heart” Digital Collage, Various Sizes

 

Like most artists, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to make art; to imagine something and to bring it into being. And as with most artists, there has always been a gap between my vision and my ability to make it real. One of the reasons I love collage so much is because it creates the smallest distance between the ideas and what I can do with them.

 

Alone With Her Egrets

“Alone With Her Egrets” Digital Collage, Various Sizes

 

In August of 2014, I set a challenge for myself: to make one collage a day for the entire month. After a few days, I started working digitally, finding that the medium relieved so many of the anxieties I felt about gluing things down.

 

The Painter Dreams of Spring

“The Painter Dreams of Spring” Digital Collage, Various Sizes

 

I have to admit, when it comes to collage, I might be just a little afraid of commitment! Working with traditional materials, every choice shuts down every other possibility. Working digitally, all the doors stay open. I like that.

 

Her Majesty

“Her Majesty” Digital Collage, Various Sizes

 

At the end of that first month, I wanted to go on exploring the medium; to take it as far as possible, and I’m still doing it. I use Photoshop and other digital tools to remix a variety of elements–vintage photographs and other images in the public domain, my own photography and that of friends, hand-painted watercolor textures and more–all of which are blended together to create unique images and illustrations.

 

Visible Light

“Visible Light” Digital Collage, Various Sizes

 

I’ve always been inspired by collage and mixed-media artists. I love the way we take all kinds of disparate images to make something new.

 

Nest of Dreams

“Nest of Dreams” Digital Collage, Various Sizes

 

One of my goals as an artist is to bring new life to old or forgotten images, to bring them together in such a way as to make the viewer smile or even laugh. Collage is a visual language. I speak it with a digital accent.

 

Her Journey

“Her Journey” Digital Collage, Various Sizes

 

My educational background is in anthropology and graphic design. My anthropology degree, earned in 2002, gave me a wider view of the world than I’d ever thought possible. My design degree, completed in 2010, showed me how to bring my own visions into being and to be a part of the great stream of art and culture that surrounds us.

 

Astride a Rooster Rampant

“Astride a Rooster Rampant” Digital Collage, Various Sizes

 

Making art is revealing. When I make art, I’ve found that I’m not only revealing my inner landscapes to the world in general, but I’m also revealing them to myself.

 

Patron of Things Lost and Stolen

“Patron of Things Lost and Stolen” Digital Collage, Various Sizes

 

Over the last year, I’ve been delighted to discover the places where my art comes from; a world of starlight and flowers and feathers, a world where people and animals form mysterious partnerships and almost everyone and everything has wings and can fly.

 

Sarah Contemplates

“Sarah Contemplates” Digital Collage, Various Sizes

 

I’ve explored just how deep some of my obsessions run, and have been overjoyed to find how many people share them with me.

 

Artist Stacy “Crowgirl” Spangler invites you to follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr.

 

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Comments

  1. Stacy..
    Your work is absolutely mesmerizing, unique. What wonderful stories these pieces tell.
    Congratulations!

    • Thank you very much, Roberta! Personally, I really love artwork that hints at or tells a story. It helps me to engage with a piece when I start thinking of everything that happened before the moment in time that the piece captures, or everything that happens next.

  2. Beautiful work, Stacy. Moody, mystical, evocative – just lovely.

    • Dorothy, thank you so much! Very often I’m going for something atmospheric, and all the kind words you’ve used to describe my work show that I’m succeeding. Thanks again!

  3. Maddie Marlor says

    I love this style of art it is absolutely gorgeous. Her Journey is a trip to look at it. There are so many things going on but it still has certain elements your eye is drawn to. Sarah Contemplates is the same way. The background is vibrant but she still stands out a great amount. Very very interesting art, and very intriguing to look at.

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