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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

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 15th 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.

12 comments:

  1. Interesting papers and patterns, Eva. I see an angular face profile... am I suppose to?! When I do collage I always use tacky glue, it says it's acid free, and gel medium for a top coat, except now I use encaustic medium with my wax work.

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  2. No Robin, it wasn't meant to be a face, just another abstract. But now that you mentioned it, I see it too. Oh well....
    Thanks for your input. I have used tacky glue too, especially when something wouldn't stick.

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  3. I use YES glue but mostly medium for collage. I've never been interested in acid free papers and I do cover most work with medium. I know gallery representation asks these questions but I'm no longer in that arena.
    I like this collage...the colors and shapes!It must have been fun choosing from another pile of papers!

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  4. Thanks you Mary Ann for your input. believe you are in the company of a lot of people including me at times. I try to be conscientious about things I offer for sale, but sometimes creativity trumps that.

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  5. I have never tried a collage and I am certainly impressed and inspired by what you create..have to try it out soon!

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  6. Thanks Padmaja, you are so talented I am sure you would create lovely collages

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  7. Hi Eva. I've used glue sticks on ATCs and coated them with gel medium. On my large collages I use gel mediums but have experimented with acrylic iridescent pearl (Stevenson) as a final coating. Tacky glue is another one I've used when using fabric on a collage.
    It must have been fun using paper from someone else's collection!

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  8. Hi Carole. Thanks for all the good information.The Stevenson acrylic is a new one for me. Yes, it was fun digging in her scraps of unusual papers.

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  9. Eva, you might not be able to get Stevenson paint as it is made in Canada. I'm sure Golden or Liquitex carries an iridescent pearl (off white) also.

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  10. Thank you Carole. I do have some iridescent paints. I just had not heard of Stevenson. BTW I've enjoyed your blog :O)

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  11. When collaging using an acrylic medium, I now use the gel form of it (matte gel for example).
    This reduces wrinkling and bubbles - the wetter the paper, the more wrinkling, expansion and problem getting the bubbles out.

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  12. Thanks Tackad! I have used gel medium too and it works great. I just enjoyed being able to reactive the 'Yes' glue if I needed to make a change. I appreciate your comments.

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