Originals

THIS QUIET PLACE FOREVER original paper collage


Join our monthly email newsletter.

You'll get early access to new work and enjoy subscriber-only discounts & giveaways.

SEE AVAILABLE WORKS

Ask a Question

Size & Details

Size & Details

Somewhere – where meadows meet foothills and dark night skies meet mountaintops – a noble emperor wanders, a watchful eye on the horizon and a careful purpose in his step. This mountain modern exploration of traditional wildlife-in-landscape art combines Dolan’s mastery of contemporary paper collage with exacting techniques in acrylic paint. Each scrap of paper featured throughout was pulled from an antique textbook, vintage magazine advertisement and long-forgotten newsprint, given new life here as this stoic bison and his epic mountainscape surrounds.

  • Medium: vintage papers and acrylic on wood
  • Size: 52" H x 68" W (framed)
  • Frame: hand-painted wood frame in gold finish with Museum Plexi
  • Hardware: ready to hang with D-rings on back
Process

Process

Dolan Geiman’s original paper collages are often crafted around signature motifs; customarily, his favorite creatures from the natural world. A new spin on a classic Geiman character – the bison – Rest Not, Western Herald (Wildflowers) deposits this shaggy fellow into new pastures: modernized with a jet-black landscape and sky, highlighted with puffy clouds and bright bursts of high plains flora.

To create this bold work, Dolan first applied a thick of layer of dark acrylic to a wooden panel; atop this, in light pencil, he drew the bison’s outline and the first glimpses of flowers.

Then, to the stacks and stacks of drawers lining his collage studio! From this carefully sorted collection, Dolan extracted sheets of music, vintage magazine advertisements, long-forgotten envelopes with hand-inked addresses, and labels from packaging not produced in decades.

Snipping each piece by hand and carefully layering into the outlined shapes, bison and flowers and sprigs of spring came into view, forming a striking image against a stark background, interspersed with tiny details from bygone days. You may notice the technical drawings and sewing patterns layered into clouds and mountains.

This intricate work offers a nuanced and ever-evolving viewing experience, as tiny treasures and big stories peek through, revealing themselves with each new glance.

process
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.