Spa Day

 

Click Here to Buy for $35 - 3.5x3.5in. - collage on illustration board

This is my smallest collage yet. Though now that I'm thinking about it, it might be fun to make some really tiny ones. Hmmm... This is an older collage for me, but I think it's adorable.

If you look closely at my fingers in this next photo you'll see remnants of collage glue that is now a permanent feature.

Blowout

 

Click Here to Buy for $75 - 8x8in. - collage on illustration board

This is another little collage collection. Each of the 9 pieces is done on illustration board, and then glued to an 8x8in. piece of white matboard. It will fit perfectly into a standard 8x8in. frame. We thought about affixing each with thin velcro so the buyer could rearrange, but decided it might sag over time and get frustrating. Do you have an opinion? It might help me with future collections. Thanks!

Solving the Riddle

 

Click Here to Buy $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

Is it a bird? Is it a bug? What's the riddle? Will it get solved? I don't know but I love the colors.

Eager to Grow Up

Click Here to Buy for $40 - 4x4in. - collage on illustration board

This is a little one. It reminds me of how we want so bad to grow up, and then once it happens we dig our nails in to stop it going further. All in vain.

Doodling Around Broccoli

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

This one reminds me of being a kid and forced to eat broccoli. The only way it was ever ok was when it was smothered in the cheese sauce my mom made. Now I like it fine, but it's still better with cheese sauce.

The Power of Getting Lost

 

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

Here's a different kind of collage than most of my others. This kind is more time consuming. It went through many iterations before I landed on something that felt satisfying. It's more of a journey type of collage. I really like it.

Hook Line Sinker

Click Here to Buy for $60 - 6x6in. - collage on illustration board

It's fun coming up with little stories for my drawings. I've been experimenting with the order of things. Sometimes I come up with drawings first, sometimes in the middle of the collage, and sometimes after all the color goes down. For this one I did the fish first, then glued down some colors, then drew the plants, and the hook went in at the end. A little bit of everything.

Ghosts in the Machine

 

Click Here to Buy for $40 - 3.5x6in. - collage on illustration board

I have this idea for an online tutorial that would be called "Abstract Collage as Creative Therapy," specifically for us realism painters. Really I would love for it to be an actual in person workshop, someday, when my current health issue is resolved. Meanwhile I will enjoy the therapy for myself, and keep notes about it.

Invaders

Click Here to Buy for $45 - 6x3in. - collage on illustration board

Here's another little collage I've put together. I had fun with my india ink and a brush, making fat and thin lines in various shapes. I am partial to circles.

In other news, I have been tiptoeing back into oil painting and will probably have something to show you soon. : )

Sunset Off the Edge of the World

 

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

This is a particular favorite collage of mine and I can't tell you why. I love the combination of colors, textures - everything. I have many that don't work out, and those are the ones I don't show you.

City Bird

 

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

These little 5x5in. collages go well in a standard 8x8in. frame. I got this one from Amazon, and put a light gray sheet of paper behind the collage. (frame not included)

Frazzle

 

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

I collect images for inspiration on Pinterest, and  find myself very attracted to black and white images. So recently I did a lot of mark making with ink on white paper, and then cut up and collaged them together. It was really fun working with pure value for a minute.

Wonder

Click Here to Buy for $65 - 8x8in. - collage on illustration board

My husband kept telling me it would be cool to see groupings of my collages, but the how of it didn't click for me until recently. Each of these squares is collage on a 2x2in. piece of illustration board, and all 9 are mounted with archival PVA glue on a piece of white matte board. The whole thing can be placed into an 8x8in. frame, and is basically self-matted. I'm really happy with it! : )

Interference

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

When I first started doing collage I tended to use ALL the colors, every time. Now I often choose a particular color to kind of ... focus on, and then add more as needed. Sometimes I still end up with all the colors, but other times I find a harmony in just a few. These resonate with me strongly.

Blowin' in the Wind

 

Click Here to Buy for $30 - 3.5x3.5in. - collage on illustration board

This abstract plant shape is one that I really like for some reason. You'll see it again in other collages.

Fish Dreams

Click Here to Buy for $35 - 4x4in. - collage on illustration board

Since I was little I have been doodling little things like this. I even had a brief cartoon strip in the school paper. But while I am silly, I am not funny. Now I think I have finally discovered the perfect venue for my silliness. : )

Color Jam

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

My process for collage is very different than painting. I don't usually begin with any preconceived notions or plans. I just pick a color, any color, cut a shape, and glue it down. There is no wrong answer. After that I am just reacting by instinct to whatever is there. I keep working until it feels done. Sometimes it takes an hour, and sometimes it takes days. Sometimes a piece feels done and I never touch it again, and sometimes I come back over and over for weeks. Collage to me feels like creative therapy.

Spring

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

Another spring themed collage. I hand make all the paper with acrylic paint and (usually) a gelli plate. The little drawings I do with ink and a brush, or pens. The text is random that I print out with cool fonts I find. Recently I discovered that google has a whole bunch of extra fonts that you can search through and add for your use in google docs!

Strange Dreams

Click Here to Buy for $40 - 5x3in. - collage on illustration board

Here's another little collage while I wait to remember how to paint. My husband and I take a long walk most days, and I have particularly enjoyed watching spring happen this year. I am inspired by all the new buds and leaves. Here's an abstracted version.

Chickadee

 

Click Here to Buy for $35 - 4x4in. - mixed media on illustration board

Lately I had the idea to make little drawings and add them to my collages. I bought myself some good, waterproof pens of varying sizes, and jumped in. Right before this I spent a couple of weeks making little paper mache birds, just for fun, so I guess I've got birds on my mind.