Koi pond w lily pads, collage

 This torn paper collage looks like stained glass with the brilliant colors and black outlines.    It is my new favorite.  All papers are from magazines, mostly advertising.   

Mixed media group - torn paper collage

At our last meeting we decided we would do another collage each one doing our own. I thought I would be able to try a very simple collage with large blocks of muted colors. But when one of the gals brought fashion magazines with really good color on the advertisements, I just had to use those bright colors on the glossy paper. I didn't really have a subject in mind, but after looking at the scrap I'd torn up they  seemed to evoke food images, or fruit. So I ended up doing tablescape of mixed fruit. Here it is.

Maybe in future I can curb my enthusiasm for bright colors and do a sudbdued meditative collage piece.

Mixed media group collaborative collage

Marilyn, one of our long time group members suggested we do a collaborative collage.  I was delighted, as I do very little collage work any more, and its a wonderful opportunity to share supplies and have some fun.    We passed watercolor sheets around the table, glued a few pieces on and then passed them on again and again until ultimately it came back to the originator. Five of us worked on each one.  Thanks gals.  I love mine. 

We were so into our composing and gluing it was often silent at the work table.   Very unusual for our chatty group.  LOL.

Catching up in the art world

Time has been zooming by without my posts, so let me tell you what's been happening here. Our mixed media art group met and discussed our plans for the coming year. Ideas were aplenty to get us started. We had 19 people there and it was way too crowded to do anything but talk. We also had show and tell, but with that many people, it was difficult to get around the table , and then we didn't get to see things up close or to handle things and ask more questions. Several of our regulars were not there - and if they had come we would be in danger of squishing each other around the long tables. It was a good meeting though and we got to see some of our members who we had not seen in awhile. It was wonderful to see them. We have some good things planned for the next meetings, and we'll just wait and see how the crowding goes. I think we will have to cap our membership for the time being so we can accommodate those that are already signed on. Who would have thought we'd find so many interested and interesting people to make art with.

Earlier that week a few of us went to see a demo by artist Lynn Slade, who does beautiful collage/paintings with washi paper and watercolor. Lots of layers, and interesting textures are created. She dyes her own washi so she gets beautiful subtle tones and variations. Her work can be seen at www.lsladeart.com

Yesterday Patti Wallace gave another workshop on torn paper collages, using magazine images. I'd been playing around with them for the last week and was ready to sit down and try something new with them. What I chose to do was work sort of mono chromatically. Previously I had been working with bright, intense colors. I found a picture in one of the magazines I took to tear up which inspired me to do a woodsy scene with a path running into the woods. I'll pst pics soon. The fish lady is one I did based on a charcoal study I did some months ago. I did the collage last week.

I've also been working on post cards, of course. Valentines for friends and for some swaps I signed on to do. Of course, I made them with dog themes. I was so anxious to get them out in the mail, I forgot to scan or photograph them. Today I need to work on fabric post cards for one of the groups. Next week at our mixed media group, we will be working on our own projects with the theme of love, romance and hearts. I need to figure out what to take to that meeting.

Torn paper collage - portrait

The other day when I sketched the gal for the painting, I did a second sketch. I thought I would paint it, but then got inspired by an email from the Lodi group to do a torn paper collage with the sketch as the base.

Here's what I did, using only fashion magazines, one Smithsonian, and a glue stick. It took a lot longer than I expected it would, but I have never worked from a sketch with torn paper. When I put it online I will see if I still like it, or if I'll see things I want to change.