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.

National Collage Show debuts online

Fun and inspiring to peruse if you are a collage fan... the 26th Annual National Collage Society Show is now available for viewing online.

I'm happy to have my work, "Potential," included in the exhibition this year. (Detail from "Potential" shown below.)

To read a related post, and see full view of "Potential," click here. Further details on my website.

"Gone to the dogs" pet portrait collage

Above is a recent collage, more whimsical than most!Based on positive response from a recent pet portrait commission for a veterinary hospital, I've started a new series called "Poundlings," harkening back to my ongoing Foundlings series (mostly found faces).All the collages in this series will ultimately need adoption and I feel the eventual owner(s) should name these creatures so, for now, despite the fact that several "perfect" names have occurred to me, this canine is fondly referred to as Poundling 2.I'm happy to announce that Poundling 2 is included in a juried exhibit, "Gone to the Dogs 2," at Niza Knoll Gallery, opening Friday, October 15th from 5-8pm. The gallery is located at 915 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, Colorado. The show will be up through November 13th and a portion of the proceeds benefit the MaxFund.The background is made of "pet for sale" want ads, tinted with acrylic paint, while the dog is composed of elements from contemporary magazines. The collage is 14 x 11" on hardboard panel, plus framing (not shown).

"Potential" in National Collage Society's annual exhibit

Happy to hear that my collage, "Potential," has been juried into the National Collage Society's 26th Annual Juried Exhibit!

For the first time, the exhibit "Green & Global" will be online with no need to ship work to a gallery or museum. The notification included the statistic that 211 artists submitted a total of 412 entries... 32 entered with slides and 380 submitted digital image. (Slides are obviously becoming a thing of the past when it comes to art presentation!)

I'm curious about how many entries were juried in... since wall space was not an issue! The exhibit will be available online for a year beginning November 1st. I'll be sure to post a link when the exhibition website goes live.

(Addendum: This exhibition is now available for online viewing here.)