More About Collage

Nita Leland’s ‘New Collage Techniques’ book has a lot of good information in the ‘Getting Started’ section. The information included preparing the papers and the supports for collage. More often than not, we worry about acid-free glues, sprays, etc., but fail to think about the papers and ephemera we are using. Nita suggests we use a ph pen, found in art supply and craft stores, to test them. If the papers fail the test, we can spray them with Krylon Make It Acid Free® or encase them in acrylic medium. Artist Jonathan Talbot uses the encased technique for his collages. This involves coating both sides of the papers. When they are dry, he uses a sealing iron to adhere the collage papers to the support. This is all a little too labor intensive for me. I have collages I made over 15 years ago and they appear to be the same as they were when I created them. I did use acrylic medium for the glue and the top coat when I finished so maybe that was the reason they remained the same.

The collage I am showing is one I started in an introductory class offered at the Spruill Center for the Arts, located in Dunwoody, Georgia. Contemporary artist and teacher, Chery Baird, had boxes of the most unusual papers. Some she bought, others she altered herself. Digging through these papers was a treat in itself. Chery said she plans to write a book about altering papers for collage. I look forward to it. Chery’s two-day workshop will be held on October 15^th.  Click here for details.

Chery was kind enough to let me bring some of her papers home to finish the couple I started. Chery uses ‘Yes’ glue for her collages. This glue is not acrylic base so it can be reactivated when wet. This is great for changing pieces around. I did put a final matte acrylic varnish on top to keep it stable. I am not sure that Chery would do this, as it was not mentioned in the class.

I would love to hear about your experience with using non-archival papers and the type of adhesive you use.

Collage Book and Creativity Workshop Contest

I am very excited as two of the three books I won in the August Creativity Workshop Contest arrived! The one I am reading now is 'New Creative Collage Techniques: A step-by-step guide to making original art using paper, color and texture ,60 projects 62 artists ' The 60 projects in the book a beginning collagist will find invaluable as it covers basic collage techniques to assemblage and other mixed media. As a mixed media artist, over the years, I have dabbled in just about every technique in the book. However, I did find a couple of techniques I had forgotten, and I am feeling inspired to revisit collage.

Creativity Workshop has another contest for watercolor artists, and the entry date ends October 15^th. I encourage anyone who has a talent for painting negative space in watercolor to enter. Click here to read all about it.

The comfort of the familiar.

One of my birthday gifts, instead of the recliner, which I returned, may be an upgrade to my old Painter3 program. I started out using Painter before Photoshop, but never got very far with it. At the time printer’s print resolution was so poor I could not see the point of fooling with it. I was too busy with painting art for shows and my agent's clients. Because of my brief professional affair with photography, I was determined to learn Photoshop, and I never thought about Painter again.

Surfing YouTube for new Photoshop techniques, I discovered the Painter12 video above. I was intrigued and downloaded a trial program. It is different from Painter3 and even more complicated. I tried referring to my old Painter books to navigate it, but the changes are not making that easy. This past week I just kicked back in my 'old recliner' (yes, the new one did not work out. It was really too short for my lanky legs). I have been watching videos at the Corel® site and on You Tube. The videos gave my corporal tunneled hands a rest, but my eyes and brain are stressed to the max!

My conclusion is Photoshop has the edge on some of the actions. Both programs, however, have techniques that the other seems unable to do without being a master of the programs. For that reason, Painter users often rely on Photoshop. I am wondering if Painter for me will go the way of the new recliner and rejected in favor of the comfort of the familiar.

Remembering

                                      "Remembering"                                                                               Eva Macie©

I created this digital collage in memory of those who lost their lives in the 9/11 tragedy. In addition, we must not forget the lives that were lost, and continue to be lost or injured, in the horrible wars that have resulted from this event. I wish they could be equally compensated for all they and their families continue to endure.

I created this collage in Photoshop from a photo of an angel statue and a Citra Solv® manipulated page from a National Geographic® magazine.

I’ve Been Citra Solved!

I have been chosen for the Citra Solv® Artist of the Month!  When they asked me for a photo, I almost declined the honor. The last photo taken of me was at my grandson’s graduation, and I was in shock to see how the years are showing.  My son agreed to take one of me  in front of a large abstract diptych I painted a few years ago.  Using Photoshop®, I layered the photo with a Citra Solved National Geographic® page and some freehand graffiti. I told the folks at CS that, “I now think the photo represents who I really am, someone with layers of paint, styles and time.”

The timing was great for this award as my birthday is on the 8^th of this month. My other gift that is arriving on that day is from me to me, a woman’s recliner. It has taken me a long time to find one small enough to fit in my bedroom and still fit my lanky body. The one I have is over 30 years old. It has been reupholstered, patched and slip covered to the point that is almost impossible to deal with anymore. However, it is like an old friend who has offered me comfort and place for afternoon naps for so long that putting her on the curb is not something I will enjoy doing. It is almost a metaphor for me.