Bird In The Hand

Bird In The Hand 

Collage, 6 X 6

I left some of the strings from the string paper on the collage. When the collage is mounted on a panel they will add some interest to the piece. The string paper is made by layering string in between two pieces of tissue paper and then coating with diluted acrylic and gloss medium. 

Bird In The Hand

(detail)

Collage 6 X 6

This shows the collage a little larger for detail. It's made of a combination of hand made papers, magazine pages that have been altered and commercial papers. Everything has been coated with

acrylic gloss medium and heat fused to 140# paper. I plan to mount it on a wood panel but it could be matted and framed as well. I think I'm going to have some fun with this bored looking lady holding different objects,quite a few things come to mind. Do you have a suggestion? Make a comment below. Thanks for taking time to read my blog.

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 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 25- Sea Grapes

Sea Grape

Collage, 5.5 X 7.5

The sea grape is one of my favorite Florida plants. The smooth, round, leaves change colors from reddish to shinny green and back to a deep red and brown. In the spring there are long clusters of small white flowers that mature as a grape like cluster of fruit. They get eaten by the wild life before I even get a chance at them. I'm told they make a good jelly. The downside to them is that they grow at an alarming rate and must be trimmed often if you don't want them to take over. 

This collage was made from painted tissue paper for the background and the leaves, stems and berries were made from altered and painted magazine pages. They are heat fused to 140 lb. watercolor paper and finally coated with UV varnish. 

Day 21 Copper Canyon

Copper Canyon

Collage 5.5 X 7.5

Twenty one days down, nine to go! I'm really glad that I'm keeping up with this challenge. I feel like I've grown and I've gotten a lot of good ideas for future work, both in collage and in painting. I think I'll be incorporating some of these designs in my watercolor work and into larger collages. This collage has copper acrylic on it to blend with the peachy color scheme. I've worked in a horizontal format this time instead of vertical, I need to switch it up now and then. The papers are all altered and painted magazine pages. I really like all the textures and colors I can get working with these pages.

I just got home yesterday from the Florida Watercolor Society and I feel energized by all the creative "juices" that were flowing all week end. We saw some marvelous artist demonstrations, took lots of pictures and notes to keep the information fresh in our minds. The trade show was terrific and the vendors had artists doing demonstrations in their areas, too. Lots to see and take in. I wasn't going to buy anything but that resolve cracked when I saw that there were Gelli Plates for sale. I've wanted one for a long time but didn't want to pay shipping on top of the price. So, now I'm the proud owner of a Gelli Plate and I'm sure I'll have fun experimenting with that.

Day 11 One of My Favorite Subjects

Paris In The Fall

Collage, 10 X 10

Yes, I admit it, I'm one of those people who loves Paris. Something draws us back to that city again and again. I can stay a few days and I'm satisfied, although I often wonder what it would be like to be able to stay for a month and really be able to explore in a leisurely fashion. Our first trip to Paris was billed as a Christmas shopping trip, three days in Paris, three in London in November. We just got a taste and knew we had to go back even though we had a tiny hotel room, it was expensive, confusing, cold and rainy. We since have been back spring, summer and fall, each time to a different neighborhood. It's a wonderful city to explore, there seems to be no end to the interesting new place you can find each time. 

This collage is made with stamped and painted tissue, altered magazine pages, printed pages and acrylic paint. 

Day 10 One Third of the Way!

Lariats

Collage 10 X 10

This collage was made from altered magazine pages, hand painted paper and tissue, printed paper and acrylic paint. It has lots of texture that can't be appreciated in a photo. When you get into making collages you start to save interesting papers. The red in this piece was from an envelope of unusual paper that was sent from India. The hand made papers often hold memories of when and where they were made and who was there creating with you. Making a collage, like painting a painting, carries a piece of the artist in it. 

Day 9 Getting Bigger

Petroglyph

Collage 10 X 10

I've been saving this one because I wanted to show the smaller ones first. This whole piece is done with pages from the National Geographic that were altered with the Citrasolv. The organic quality of the pages lend themselves to a landscape format and with the layers I thought it looked like the side of a cliff. I found this giraffe transfer in my stash that just seemed to be waiting to be put on this piece. Is that serendipity or what? 

For those who are kind enough to leave comments, I'm sorry that I've had to reinstate the comment puzzle thing. I found that I had hundreds of spam comments in my spam box which I was unaware of until I stumbled upon it while looking for something else. I do love the comments and appreciate the time it takes for you to leave them. 

Day Eight, Before and After

Landscape, Day 8

Heron Lake, Day 8-revised

Collage, 4.5 X 6.5 in 8 X 10 mat

As I looked at this collage I felt that it needed something. So, I looked through my images for image transfer and thought the heron was just the thing. The size and scale was right and it fit the feel of the piece. To transfer an image I coated the printed image with several coats of gloss or gel medium and allowed it to dry. I cut it as close to the image as I could, placed it face down on my artwork and fused it with the iron. Then I rubbed the excess paper off with a small, damp cloth. What is left is the printed image on the layer of medium minus the paper. I first learned about the process in a Golden Paints workshop, I think they have tutorials on line if you want to know more. Just search "acrylic transfers".

Day 7 Abstract Collage

Writing On the Wall

Collage 4.5 X 6.5

I have one week down and three to go! I hope we all make it to the end. This collage is made up of altered magazine pages, stained tissue and printed tissue. All of it has been coated with gloss medium and heat fused, then sealed with gloss medium and UV varnish. I love this process because you can design your collage and fuse it without taking it all apart to glue the individual pieces down. Once you arrange it, it's practically done. I like the limited palette on this one; red, black and gray are always a good combination. Did you know the phrase "The writing on the wall" comes from a story in the Old Testament? You'll find the story in the book of Daniel, chapter 5. It's quite interesting. 

Day 6, Autumn Day Collage

Autumn Day

Collage, 7.5 X 5.5

The next few day's collages are a bit bigger, they fit in an 8 X 10 mat for framing. This one, with the orange and green made me think of the early days of fall when some of the leaves have turned and some have kept their green for just a little longer. The papers are painted tissue, water stained tissue, and an altered magazine page. Acrylic paint is lightly wiped on and wiped off in places to bring the piece together, then it is coated with gloss medium.  

Day 4, 30 In 30 Challenge, Postcard Collages

Caravan

Collage 4 X 5.5

This collage came together when I was looking for a piece of orange to place in my collage. I spotted this orange with camels on the back of some prepared paper  that had not been affected by the Citrasolv. I like to put in something that is objective now an then and people really like to see something recognizable in an otherwise abstract piece. I have gotten a very positive response to this collage and I think that's why. All the rest of the papers in this collage were magazine pages that were altered with Citrasolv and coated with gloss medium, then heat fused.

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.