Marlene Struss - Painter

My first abstract collages made from magazine paper actually adorned small pieces of venetian blinds that I put hooks on and called earrings and tried to sell at the Santa Barbara Beach Show.  Color and design became a pleasant obsession, and the urge to work larger grew stronger until I abandoned the failing earring business and got serious about doing large substantial artworks. 

I called the new collages "photage" to distinguish them from the traditional concept of collage, which was not considered a serious art form in those days by many gallery owners. 

​

Photage was not only a dramatic change from the angst-laden artwork of my early years, but a turning point in many other ways, including the beginning of self-employment, and a time that I became much more involved in the arts community and the quest for success.