OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN original paper collage


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Size & Details

Size & Details

Original paper collage featuring a great horned owl on a tree stump with mushroom and foliage, signed and dated by artist. Finished with Museum Plexi and frame. Ready to hang with wire on back.

  • Medium: vintage papers and acrylic on wood
  • Size: 41.75" H x 31.75" W (Framed)
  • Frame: hand-assembled weathered brown wood frame with Museum Plexi
  • Hardware: ready to hang with wire on back
Story

Story

He moved his hand to feel the edge of his hair but where his hand used to be, there were now... feathers? - Dolan Geiman

He got off work at the sawmill, climbed into the Pontiac. He sat there and drank a beer, admiring the key which was shaped like the head of an Indian Chief. He finished that one, popped the top on another one. It was raining. He put the key into the ignition and turned on the radio. He didn’t know the singer but she sounded like Loretta Lynn. Was it Loretta Lynn? The station was fuzzy but he liked how the sound came and went and he could hear snippets of her voice. He drove in the direction of home but halfway there decided to drive up the old logging road. He drove, drinking another beer. He felt warm and numb even though the air was cool, crisp. The rain slowed so he pulled onto a side road and turned off the car. He was sleepy.

As the rain stopped and the sun started to peek out from behind a gray whale of a cloud, he climbed out, grabbed another beer and started walking, going nowhere. He was humming the song from the radio. It has to be Loretta Lynn, he thought. The words were coming back to him.

Suddenly he slipped. Before he could get his hands out, he landed squarely, cracking his head on the edge of a stump. He must have blacked out because when he awoke he noticed the sun was hot on his face. His head still hurt so he moved his hand to feel the edge of his hair but where his hand used to be there were now…feathers? He looked around and found that his head just kept turning, almost all the way around. Moving both arms quickly, almost in a panic, he lifted himself off the ground. He landed back down with a thud on two chunky dinosaur-like feet with protruding claws. He opened his mouth to speak but only a hissssss came out, a guttural sound that was more like a barking dog than a voice. Bewildered, he sat, crouched, his newfound wings tucked into his sides. He blinked and looked at the surrounding tree stumps, ferns, rusted beer cans, mushrooms. His old two legged body was nowhere to be found. He would have to get used to his new feathered vehicle.

Limited Series

Limited Series

Each work in Dolan Geiman’s portfolio is unique and hand-crafted. Works indicated with “limited series” are reiterations of a recurring theme or concept.

A Certificate of Authenticity is available upon request.

  • Each piece in a limited series is created with an inimitable collection of found materials: no two are exactly alike, although they may look similar at a glance.
  • Details, colors, specific materials, typography and frame will differ from work to work.

Learn More

Dolan Geiman Paper Collages

Dolan's signature paper collage artwork celebrates America's West and Southwest. Color, composition, and detail come to life in hand-cut vintage materials, many salvaged in Dolan's cross-country travels.

Creating the original collage starts with a wood panel. Dolan pulls vintage sheet music from his vast collection and applies these to the wood, first with glue, then with a top layer of whitewash paint. In many prints, this background layer of sheet music peeks through.

Next, Dolan draws the outline for the original collage in graphite atop the sheet music.

Dolan returns to his extensive trove of collected papers – think magazines, antique textbooks, handwritten letters salvaged from abandoned farmsteads - and begins pulling the ideal colors for the piece. He cuts each piece of material by hand and carefully layers into the artwork. These collages are carefully crafted from thousands of small papers: no two are exactly alike.

Dolan's paper collages are finished in a handmade frame constructed from salvaged metal or a modern, minimal wood or metal frame.