Channeling ~ WIP

I'm almost done with this latest collage. There's still a little tweaking to be done. It was inspired by the man made channel (aka Pine River) in my own town. It connects Lake Michigan with Round Lake creating a safe harbor for ships and boats. I've taken photos along the way to create a work in progress beginning with the very first sketches. Most of the papers are homemade including blue crystalline paper for my lake water. The rest are magazine pages and a few prints I made from images I found online.

Harbor Town

SOLD

The title of this new collage is Harbor Town. It was inspired by another artist's work actually. I came across a collage while surfing on the 'net' that was full of rectangles and triangles and lots of red, white and blue. I immediately thought of the harbor in my own home town. Charlevoix is a popular summer tourist destination and is loved by natives and tourists alike who own boats because of it's beautiful natural harbor which can be accessed via a short channel and a trip under a draw bridge.

This collage is more representational that my others although I tried to make sure there was just enough wabi sabi to keep it interesting. Yes I learned a new phrase...wabi sabi. 

Ummm...looks like I need to touch those wave crests with some white paint. They look a little yellow on screen.

One Moon / Two Flowers

I don't think this one is complete. It needs something more. I'm just not sure what yet.

A funky little piece.When I added the crystalline paper onto a black background it looked quite dramatic. Btw, the colors are off in this image. It couldn't be helped.

Yes, two new collages. One a concept piece, the other about color. The concept was hatched during a recent cold snap in the area. Someone predicted it would end when the cold Moon had passed. If you live in a northern region you know what that means. Those hard moons and clear night skies that herald a frost. The second collage was about color and letting go. Let the piece drive itself. I gathered bits and scraps of harmonious colored papers and started gluing them down with no plan of action beforehand. When completed it made me think of two flowers in a vase.

Abstract is an interesting way to approach art. On one hand it's freeing because nothing has to look like anything if you don't wish it. No details to fuss over unless you wish it. Sometimes I'm finding too much freedom can be quite scary.

Crocus Collage

I just put the finishing touches on my latest collage and managed to take some decent photos even though it's so gloomy here. This one was an experiment. I got an idea in my head and decided to give it a whirl. I wanted the crocus to look delicate so I made some crystalline paper without color. This time I coated both sides of the tissue paper with gloss medium and it made it much sturdier. When the paper was completely dry I used a couple of stencils to add the poke-a-dots. I had started out by rolling on black acrylic paint over the entire surface of my paper aka substrate. Then I created my background with torn paper collage. For the blooms I painted each petal with white acrylic paint and gave them all a coat of gloss medium so I could add color with alcohol ink. I wanted the color layer underneath the surface. The crystalline paper was added after color was applied petal by petal and when that was dry I used sepia fluid acrylic to outline everything. I will say it looks great at a distance but appears kind of dirty up close due to the addition of the sepia acrylic. I do love the outlined look, though.