Sequence / collage work in progress

https://youtu.be/9ErEqHJ_DAc

Everyone is always intrigued with work in progress and the sequence of how a collage comes together, so thought I'd do a quick slide show documenting a recent work: "Honey," a 36 x 36" collage on wood panel. For whatever reason, this composition developed mostly from the center out toward the edges.I am working with found and salvaged papers, including chunks ripped from old art posters... so anything that appears painted is appropriated from the poster imagery. When using bits and pieces of other's artwork, I always try to rip/crop the elements in ways that take the color/texture completely out of their original context so that they become simply an ingredient to use in an entirely new composition.

Lately I've been trying to document work in progress on Instagram (along with other inspiration/adventures)... so if you are interested in how collages develop, please follow me there @janicemcdonaldart!

Spring sprouting green

I've been working on a series of collages for a 2015 exhibition where my work will be included with that of a group of contemporary botanical artists. My work surface is predominantly green these days, very spring-y! 

Waterfall, a composed landscape underway

View of the level three collage underway, a rocky scene with a waterfall. I've painted the edges of the cradled wood panels black so that some of my papers will wrap around the edge and expose a bit about the way the collage was assembled. And yes, I work with gallon-sized quantities of glue :)

Composed landscapes

Here I'm working mostly on the "above treeline" collage but sifting colors into piles for potential use in other pieces.

Collage work in progress… the usual paper mayhem ensues!

So I set to work. I had done very simple sketches of how the landing imagery would flow upward through the space. As you climbed the stairs, different views would present themselves. Beginning with level one, walking along a stream with broad views into the distance, level two at the edge of a forest, level three passing a waterfall, level four above treeline, and level five depicting the last few boulders at the peak with views of the sky and distant landforms.

Each collage would be composed of many pieces of paper ripped from magazines and repurposed to make new landscapes from my imagination. The studio quickly became filled with piles of sifted materials! These were more detailed and more realistic than any collages I've made in the past… they needed to be wildly interesting at nine times their original size so there was a constant concern about how they would translate once enlarged.