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 8, Cool In Blue

 

Cool In Blue

Collage, 6 X 6

The swirly blue paper is a copy of some paper that a friend brought to me from Italy. I can't bear to tear it up so I copied it on my printer so that I would feel OK using it. The green corners are altered magazine pages, the solid blue is painted and glazed tissue and the script is printed tissue paper, another favorite.

Thanks to everyone who has made comments on my earlier posts. They are appreciated!

Day 7 Gold Hills

Gold Hills

Collage 6 X 6

The inspiration for this piece was the yellow gold paper. It's a hand molded paper that was originally white and I painted it with quinacridone gold, one of my favorite colors. I really like all the texture in that paper! The blue, green and cream papers are commercially printed and the brown is a packaging paper. I find that I'm saving just about everything. Soon I'll need a warehouse. It's so much fun to have a variety of papers to work with. All of them have been coated on both sides with acrylic gloss medium and heat fused to a piece of 140# paper. All my collages can be framed, fused to gallery wrapped canvas or a cradled board. They are sealed with UV varnish.

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.

Day 5 Nevermore

Nevermore

Collage 6 x 6

This collage and I made friends right away. It was one of those pieces that went together easily and told me what was needed. Some days I think there really is such a thing as a "muse". When finished, it made me think of the poem I learned in childhood; I don't remember much but the line, "Quoth the raven, nevermore". Was it Edgar Allen Poe? I think it was rather dark and spooky. Nothing spooky about this guy, he just likes saying, "Nevermore."

The collage is made from hand painted papers, altered magazine pages, printed papers and stamped paper coated with acrylic and heat fused. Finally, coated with UV varnish.

Day 4, Fleur de Lis

Fleur de Lis

Collage/Mixed Media 6 X 6

This little collage and I aren't friends yet. I'm a not sure about it because it feels unfinished. I'm thinking the fleur de lis needs to be black which will be hard to do because it is already fastened to the collage. I like the color combinations with the neutral grey in the middle, the strings from the string paper is interesting, perhaps they need trimming; but once I do that I can't go back. Maybe it needs more circles.

These are all the questions I ask myself before I let go of a piece I am working on. Some of them almost fly together and are done before I know it, others seem to take awhile; just like any other piece of art whether it's a painting or a drawing. These little daily works are good practice for me, I'm loving giving myself permission to make one every day. 

I used hand painted paper and tissue, printed envelope, altered magazine and a copy of Italian marbled paper. They have been coated with gloss medium, fused to a watercolor substrate and coated with UV varnish ready to frame.

Day 3, Grow An Old Friend

Grow An Old Friend

Collage/Mixed Media 6 X 6 

As I look through my collection of papers I look for things that spark the ideas that will make up the collage. One of my papers has different sayings about friends and friendships. This one was the spark I needed for another collage. "It takes a long time to grow and old friend." What else takes a long time to grow but a tree? Not only does it take a long time, for both but also patience, nurturing, and the investment  of  resources. Some of my old friends are still in my life, strong and steadfast as a tree. We've grown together and weathered storms and seasons. I am grateful.

I used altered magazine pages and printed papers fused to 140 lb. watercolor paper; all sealed with acrylic gloss medium and UV varnish ready for a frame.