Mixed media paper collage – Summerhouse Art

Another Six Little Abstract Paper Collages

Posted on October 23, 2020October 23, 2020 by Helen

Today I’m posting another set of six small abstract collages that I’ve been creating lately. I’m quite enjoying working on these, finally finding a use for all those scraps of tissue and painted paper. Some of these have as an element, scraps from photographs of the seed pods of a wild sweet pea that comes up in our garden every year. I’d taken the photos into Photoshop and upped the contrast and created some interesting lines and textures. Now was my chance to use them. Others have scraps of sewing pattern tissue, just for the lines and colour.

Small Abstract Paper collage, Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com — Small abstract collage, mixed media with tissue, pencil crayon, ink pen, various saved and painted papers, 5 x 5.5 inches, Helen Bushell

The fun thing with creating these is the layering of colour, textures and lines, each piled on the other. I work from one composition to the other, loosely and intuitively. I enjoy taking my time, pondering, and often trying the same scrap in each composition, until I find the one where it fits perfectly. Once I have it all laid out as I want, I take quick photos to remind me of where everything went before I go back and slowly fasten each layer down with matte medium onto acid free mixed media paper. It’s quite the process!

Each collage is quite small, only about 5.5 x 5.75 inches or approx 13×14 cm. I think they tend to have a cohesiveness and would look quite good in groups. I hope to have all of them posted eventually on our Etsy shop FoundMadeArt soon. They’re sold unframed, priced at $60 each and we offer free shipping too.

Working on a new set now, so more to come! The next set looks to be quite different in composition so far. Experimenting again….

Another set of Small Abstract Collages

Posted on October 13, 2020October 13, 2020 by Helen

I’m back in my studio, creating a new set of collages and I’m finding it very interesting and fun. They don’t happen really quickly, they take time and lots of pondering of each little composition. Today, I’m posting another 6 paper collages with another 6 still to come. This set is again very colourful. I do like lots of colour. The surfaces are a collection of painted papers, very colourful tissue, bits of pattern papers and even some seeds. The images of seeds are from photos of seeds in our garden. I had a bit of fun taking those photos and manipulating them to high contrast images which ended up being a nice source of texture in the collages. These collages are built up in layers, each layer attached with matte medium onto the paper and then onto the next layer. I will be posting these as well on our Etsy shop FoundMadeArt. They are priced quite affordably and we also offer Free Shipping anywhere. I’m hoping they find homes either alone or in groups.

So, here is my second set of abstract collages. I haven’t given them titles. I like the idea that each one is left to be interpreted by the viewer.

Abstract Paper collage, Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com — Small abstract collage, mixed media with tissue, pencil crayon, ink pen, various saved and painted papers, fennel seed photo copy 5 x 5.5 inches, Helen Bushell

Next Installment of My New Paper Collages

Posted on October 8, 2020October 8, 2020 by Helen

I was expecting to post the next sets of collages much sooner, but, due to a few health problems, NOT COVID, thank goodness, I had to delay. So although these collages have been done for a while now, there was a lot of scanning and preparation to deal with before I could finally post.

I have also taken a big step, for me, and decided to put the collages in our Etsy shop FoundMadeArt! I’m hoping they’ll fall nicely into that “affordable art” niche, something colourful and small to jazz up someone’s walls. I’ve kept them priced quite inexpensively ($60 Cdn), for a one-of-a-kind art work, and hope that they’ll make a nice gift for someone else or just for yourself. We all need a little treat, right? Although they are being sold unframed, here is a little example of one framed. We love to find frames at thrift stores and really encourage everyone to try that too. Great recycling! We’ll be adding more as we go along.

Framed small Abstract Collage by Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com — Small Abstract Paper Collage,5x 5.5 inches (approx 13 x 14 cm)created with paper, tissue, paint, pencil crayon. Helen Bushell

The next batch of 6 collages are again very small, just image size 5 x 5.5 inches (approx 13 x 14 cm), and would work quite nicely framed and hung in groups too. Each composition is created with layers of paper, tissue, painted paper, black and white prints of seeds from the garden like cardoon or sweet pea, even fennel seeds. In some, there is even a bit of tissue from patterns for sewing. Nothing wasted around here…