Collage has become one of my things!!! Now that I have a pretty extensive collection of beautiful papers it has dominated my work time in the studio. My good friend, Molly, also likes to do collage so we got together yesterday to play. One of our topics of conversation during the six hours we worked on these was....do people really understand how much time it takes to do one of these?? We decided..probably not.
First, you have to have the papers. Now, you can make them like I have done for my Power Women or you can buy them as you come across them, or you can have another art buddy with such a stash that it is unbelievable who gives you samples. This process of accumulating papers takes time and money. I have been building my stash for several years now.
Second, you have to have a design that you really like that you think will work with collage. Then you find your base paper....I have been using watercolor paper but yesterday tried the black bristol board which is going to be dynamite!
Now, transfer your design to your base...how does one do that on black...I wonder??
It is pretty simple on the white s I have a light box so I can trace it.
Fourth, the hard part.....find the papers you want to work with. This is a big mess and took me two hours yesterday. Having lots to chose from is a blessing and a curse....finding just the right ones is very important and then...which look best next to one another. It is much faster for me to just mix paint!!!
Fifth, make a pattern sheet from tracing paper and start cutting out the shapes from the papers. Yesterday, I heard a lot of "Have you glued anything down yet?" My answer,"No." Not until I had all the pieces and had arranged and rearranged and changed the order and position several times was I ready to glue it down!!!
Sixth, started attaching to the base. Here you have more choices..what adhesive do I use wit this paper on this background....thereare loads of choices. This process took about an hour after spending 5 hours getting ready for it. Now, I have two pear collages that are ready to be finished with the final details....leaves and yarn..flick paint???
Seventh, finishing details...mat...frame???
It's a process folks....and this is a very simple design....Molly's birds take forever as she cuts out each individual feather from a different paper. The advantage is that we can have very nice prints made or cards made from this design, so it can be available in several formats for the upcoming Studio Tour in May.
Happy Day...May and Spring!
