Another Series

Random Thoughts

8 X 8 Collage

I found a package of clear stamps of these sketchy women in interesting poses and I incorporated them into some collage paper that I painted on brown paper. It's an easy way to put a figure or a portion of a figure into a collage. I got a little crazy that day and also sprayed the paper with Krylon Marbelizing Spray (that's how they spell it); some in white, some in black. It was great fun. I also tried some Krylon Glitter Blast. It's easy to get a little heavy handed with glitter, I discovered. The circles are punched out of a painted book page to indicate thoughts. All the papers are coated with acrylic and heat fused. Then they are coated with several layers of acrylic and acrylic UV varnish. The piece was entered into a Show titled Words and Images at our local art league. 

Day 9 Dancin" To the Music

Dancin' To the Music

Collage, 6 X 6

It was the acrylic transfer of the figure that inspired this one. I'm not sure where this figure came from but I've wanted to use it for a long time. It's such a simple graphic but looks so joyful it needed joyful colors and some playfulness. Nothing serious going on around here. 

I also learned a good lesson. The painted tissue, which is what the dancer is on, is very thin and fragile. When I put the dark shading on the collage I wipe it away with a baby wipe. On most papers I can get pretty vigorous with the wiping; not on the tissue. From now on the tissue gets and extra coat of gloss acrylic before the shading so won't get rubbed away. I had to do a little patching on this where I rubbed to vigorously. 

A friend contacted me and wanted to buy the collage "Night", so I have priced them at $40.00 each, unmounted, plus shipping. 

Thanks for all the wonderful comments! 

Day 6, Night

Night

Collage, 6 X 6

The inspiration for this was the title of a poem that I had torn off. I looked through my papers for something that was dark but interesting. I found this tissue that had been painted with a gloss medium and acrylic paint mixture. I chose pieces of that for the whole collage and added the calligraphy piece and a gold moon as the only other papers. It leaves a lot for the imagination to work on.

Oriental Papers

 

Oriental Expressions 1

Collage 3.5 X 4.5

I'm finally back to blogging after a very busy summer. We had 3 trips to Minnesota and one to Oregon and back. My suitcase really got a work out and so did I! 

A long time ago a friend who had lived in Japan gave me some scraps of decorative paper that she had used to cover boxes. They are quite beautiful and have been a treasure in my paper collection but it's time that they are used. So I coated some of them with gloss and have begun a series of collages with them. Since most of the pieces of paper are small, the collages will be small. This is my first which I mixed with hand painted tissue (the light red), marbled paper ( black) and security envelope (lower right corner). I'm enjoying the challenge of working with the colors and patterns in these papers.

Collage-o-rama

Going With the Flow 

Collage, 8 X 8

I've been on  quite a collage kick again lately. I'm surely addicted to the medium. I love working with the colors and patterns on the papers, the assembly, and making order out of what seems to be chaos. This was made with hand painted papers, text, stamped, and altered National Geographic papers. Out of my stacks of papers I pick two or three colors I want to work with, decide what kind of composition it will be, then I start tearing and placing papers until I get something I like. I didn't know it needed a fish until it was almost finished. This is stamped from my own hand carved fish stamp with copper acrylic on a thin paper. Next I wipe over the collage with acrylic paint and then wipe it off. This colors all the white edges of the papers and unifies the piece. If you enlarge the picture you should be able to make out fish images in the blue area above the stamped fish behind the net effect. They are all headed the same direction, going with the flow. The final step is to coat it with a UV varnish to preserve the colors. It can then be matted and framed or adhered to a gallery canvas or wood panel.