Collage studio views: small support prep

A gallery gift shop has asked for some original "Poundling" pet collages to display and I'm out of inventory. Here are some images of how I begin the process.I use pre-gessoed 5 x 7 x 1/8" panels. I begin by covering them completely with a patterned background. Here I'm using "pet for sale" want ads and musical scores from books the library has de-acquisitioned. I create the background look by painting generously with acrylic and rubbing much of it away with a rag for a tinted look. I can add layer upon layer until I get the desired effect.All kinds of lids and containers are recycled for mixing paints. Notice the tray repurposed from a recent Whole Foods sushi lunch!The first photo is of the plain boards. I use that giant glass ashtray to hold glue/medium. It's deep, heavy enough that it doesn't move around, and the cigarette indentations hold a brush beautifully!The second image shows the background layers of papers drying after being glued down. The final photo is of the newly tinted backgrounds drying atop random jars in the studio. I'll add photos of the resulting collages in a future post.

Bursting out

Tumultuous waves of paper... I've been intrigued this winter with the walls of tissue-texture that form the background for the window displays at the Anthropologie store and finally got around to snapping a few photos. They may be snowflake references, or blossoms. Whatever, they are beautiful forms and make a surprisingly elegant and tactile background. On close inspection, the components remind me of the bright tissue paper flowers we made as kids, although the range of neutrals to white colors used and the sophistication of the cut designs is very different. Just gorgeous.

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." — Anais Nin

Second in recent collage series, "Time and Balance 2"

Second in the latest series of Time and Balance experiments, the collage is 10 x 20 x 1," composed of contemporary papers and recycled imagery adhered to a cradled wood panel. This piece also uses timecards as backgrounds, described in previous post. Looking back I now see that this collage, with its round shapes, probably also influenced "Juggling."

First in recent collage series, "Time and Balance 1"

First in the latest series of Time and  Balance experiments, this collage is 10 x 20 x 1", composed of contemporary papers, recycled imagery, and ribbon on a cradled wood panel. This piece uses the timecards as backgrounds, described in previous post.