I’ve slowly been adding some of my recent paper collages into our shop FoundMadeArt on Etsy. So I thought why not feature my little gallery in our shop. Each is a small abstract on paper, each very colourful and also quite affordable with free shipping to boot! It’s kind of fun for me to see them all displayed in one place. And there’s more to come. click the pic to go to our shop on Etsy.
As I work on new collages, I like to experiment a bit, with colours, composition and even the kind of glue. So far, all the collages have been on paper and adhered with Gel Medium. I also enjoy finding other collage artists on youtube and began to do a bit of research into what they were using for glue. One artist that was really interesting and doing fantastic work is 104 years of age! In the video she was in her 90’s,going strong and actually working on the floor of her attic studio. Beautiful work! You must look her up if you haven’t seen her work yet…Eunice Parsons. Very inspiring!
As I watched her arrange and re-arrange her torn bits of old posters and magazines, I happened to notice when she got to gluing down, she used a glue called “Yes”. So I went right out and found some at our local art supply and started experimenting with that. It’s sort of like the glue from a glue stick, but acid free, and comes in a jar. Eunice used a brush to apply it but I found spreading it with old gift cards worked quite well.
Here are my latest efforts. The first three have a colour theme, with yellow-orange and teal blue predominant.
But the last two are much more jewel coloured, teal, magenta and black and white. As with all the paper collages so far, many will be posted on our Etsy shop FoundMadeArt. My next collages are started, but again, something different, on cradled wood panels and will be done again using gel medium.
The beauty of being an artist is that I’m rarely bored. There’s always something to try, something to research, something to mess around with. It can make having to stay home in a pandemic and perhaps suffering from what I like to call “the-four-wall-bouncies” quite a bit easier. I can divert my attention and get into a meditative space in my studio. Making the paper collages has been a great diversion and an excuse to try out ideas, and see where they lead.
This next set is a little odd. I’ve been finding that each of these sets is sort of like a little series but this time 5 of the 6 collages are in variations of the same colours.
And one, totally different. The odd one out, just seemed to come together immediately or close to….
The other five all have elements in common, either the colour, mostly turqoise and orange, or textures or just the “feel”. These collages didn’t come together easily. In fact , I pushed bits and pieces around over a few days. And then, voila, one day I walked into the studio, moved a few pieces around and hey, all of them seemed to get to the finish point. These will be on our Etsy shop, FoundMadeArt, eventually. Still catching up there. They are priced at $60 each and we do offer Free Shipping.
I’m already working on the next set on paper. And I’m planning to do some on small cradled panels and also some small stretched canvases. Got it all ready to go.
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.
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….
