We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Frank Whipple a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Frank, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I’ve been interested in creativity from very early childhood, surrounded by family members who were in the arts as musicians, writers, and painters, and enjoying that atmosphere which seemed so natural to me and full of interesting people who were their friends and colleagues. Growing up in the Hollywood area also allowed for a focus on these pursuits as that creative energy was so pervasive and created a stimulating environment, although I can’t say I was very serious or disciplined in my teen and early adult years, though I did some painting and drawing and was passionate about playing guitar for quite a few years, and had quite a few musically inclined and artistically talented friends during that time.
It’s funny in a way that I eventually came back around to making collage pieces, as I did have a wide range of straight jobs through my 20s and 30s, and for about 40 years have made a sort of living by way of scouting for old books and a variety of antique and collectible objects, offering them for sale to bookstores (when those still existed), other dealers, and also on the internet and at flea markets around Southern California. This pursuit allowed me to accumulate a nice inventory of paper materials, ephemera of a beautiful variety that I’ve made use of in my hand cut collage works for about 30 years now.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
In a sort of roundabout way I began making collages as a result of exposure to the craft in the works of other artist friends and acquaintances who were producing some very charming and intriguing work, and after having spent a few years attempting to learn drawing and painting skills, and with only limited success, I went ahead and tried the cut and paste technique, and thanks to the encouragement and positive feedback of a few individuals with whom I shared the initial results, developed more confidence in myself using this medium.
I don’t know if my approach necessarily sets me apart from others who are making collage, as I have found that the individual styles of many different artists and craftsmen to be very evocative, each in their own way, and what works well for me might not be quite the right recipe for someone else’s hands.
What I am interested in accomplishing is work that appears to represent an entirely new and separate image than those individual elements that went into the composition, and rendered with as much finesse and precision as I’m able to bring to the project.
It’s also nice to include a bit of humor when possible and fitting, and in that respect I have noted that at times my pieces do incorporate a sort of cartoonish look at least in part. I suppose it is an effort at some contrast and balance to the sometimes darker nature of my subjects, as a significant body of my work has been a bit on the nightmarish side, or so it strikes me, and I do have a holdover love of monster and science fiction related films and books, from my earliest memories.
Often times I also find that working with old paper and related materials, with the wonderful if relatively primitive printing techniques and color separation, offers a means of transportation back to earlier times, and likewise the ability to look at these gorgeous old examples of text and imagery is a luxury that can’t be matched by most of what I’m likely to encounter in the digital world, as vast and spectacular as it may be. The moods that can sweep over me while in the process of reviewing and selecting materials to work from are so unpredictable and kind of dreamlike, at times magnetizing my attention, and when things are going well in the making, while in a sort of trance, I’m really excited to be able to come up with connections between disparate bits and pieces that, when cut and cropped just a certain way allow me to evoke at least a semblance of the enchanting moods that propel me forward, despite what can also sometimes be a tedious and patience-trying exercise.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Social media has been very useful to me in many instances, as I’ve been able to contact such an assortment of creative people around the world whose paths I would’ve not otherwise likely crossed. Almost each and every one of the folks in the arts that I’ve reached out to has been very generous in responding and carrying on a conversation, sometimes for quite a few years now. I’ve even been fortunate enough to be contacted by folks on a few occasions, really strangers to me until that occurrence, who had been introduced to me by way of a mutual friend, and subsequently been afforded the opportunity to participate in shows of my work both in Southern California and around the country, and have been included in some other publications also by word of mouth.
It’s been a lovely experience to be able to follow and communicate with several creative individuals whom I’ve long admired for their work, and again, whom I very likely never would’ve had the good fortune to meet up with in person.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I don’t know that I would characterize it as a goal or mission particularly, but I do hope to improve my ability to communicate with others about those things that I think matter, although it is sometimes elusive to myself just what those things might be. I guess that is part of the ephemeral nature of our so-called modern world, which includes such an ever present surrounding of alienated and alienating personalities, and with the constantly multiplying sources of information and misinformation, it seems unlikely that much more clarity will result in my lifetime.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.frankwhipple3collage.com
- Instagram: @frankwhipple3
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frank.whipple.5
- Youtube: frank whipple collage – https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=OXZgWAUmGj0