The Alphabet Series

Last year I gave an educational Halloween performance for little kids at the nature preserve. I dressed up as a spider (called myself Spinderella) and did my routine for 26 different groups over the course of one day. I had anticipated about 6 groups. Yikes! By the time I got to the letter "G" I was doing a pretty good job as a friendly ambassador for the often misunderstood arachnids. 

Often (in art and in life) I don't know when to stop and can get carried away. Layers in a mixed media piece can sometimes start slipping and sliding all the way into the trash. A visit to the beach without a bathing suit or a towel can turn into a similarly impulsive and sloshy experience. A dose of structure can be good, so can planning. In this spirit I decided to I decided to challenge myself to make a series of collages with a lot of white space: 26 of them. This is "B". 

A Collage Inspired by a Cleaning Product?

Yes!  Yesterday I wrote about the altered collage papers I created using National Geographic magazines and Citrasolv cleaner. I also included a link to the company's website with instructions because this is a super fun, simple, eco friendly process with many creative possibilities.

This process is perfect for people who enjoy serendipity. Its difficult to control and predict the exact results but that's really the wonderful part about it. While the Citrasolv altered pages are beautiful on their own, I decided to challenge myself by using them to create a series of collages.

My first attempt was really busy and just didn't work, but I saw one small square within it that did. Then I decided I needed to keep the structure very simple to feature these beautiful new papers.

Citrasolv Altered Collage Pages

I'd much rather craft than cook. I think its a lot more fun to repurpose kitchen appliances and products for creative pursuits. I have a duplicate collection household appliances just for crafting: a pasta machine and toaster oven for polymer clay, a crock pot for melting beeswax, a heated buffet tray for Polaroid transfers, an iron for bonding mixed media and and a blender for making paper. 

Then there are the multi purpose kitchen wraps: I use freezer paper for mixed media and wax paper to press my collages in books to flatten them while not sticking to the pages. I use plastic wrap for creating texture in paint. I've used bleach for making patterns on fabric. When I heard of using the product Citrasolv for creating altered mixed media pages I was excited to try it. The Citrasolv company actually has a excellent tutorial for using their products on their website. 

Here are a few examples of altered National Geographic pages I created using this technique. I love the mysterious marbleized quality. I almost don't want to cut them up, but that's exactly what I'm going to do right now. I'll be posting my results here tomorrow. 

Faux Encaustic Technique Using Tissue Paper & Gel Medium

I wish I had taken a series of photos as I was building this collage (note to self: do that next time!) but I can tell you how I did it.

Layer 1: I printed a picture of the plant (left) on a piece of ledger paper. This already gave the piece the illusion of 2 layers. On the right third I pasted down a piece of gold paper with lettering already on it. I have found that a metallic layer really helps give an illusion of depth. 

Layer 2: I scanned and copied an old letter on to tracing paper and pasted it down using using Matte Gel Medium. I flattened it with a brayer. 

Layer 3: I added some bright pink acrylic paint.

Layer 4: I added a piece of polka dot silk fabric with more gel medium.

Layer 5: I added pieces a vintage French verb circular chart, also printed on tracing paper and pasted it down with Matte Gel Medium.

Those are the simple steps I used to create this faux encaustic technique. I rolled the whole piece with a brayer to flatten then placed in a heavy book between two pieces of wax paper to made sure I didn't get "the wrinkles".

"The wrinkles" are a problem if you don't have some way of pressing your damp finished collage. Luckily if you make a collage small enough you can press it in a book between two layers of wax paper and you will have a nice flat finished piece. 

I was so inspired by this project that I would like to try a layered collage using a traditional encaustic technique. 

Accidental Collage Texture

I usually keep my process very simple when I create collages. I basically use scissors and a glue stick. My little trick to avoid wrinkles is to place each collage between pieces of wax paper and under a stack of books for a week.

This week I tried a new technique that uses gel medium and an iron to fuse the papers together. The process is explained in detail on this website.

This is how I did it:

1. Use gloss (not matte) gel medium to coat the front of your base paper (either card stock or watercolor paper).

2. Choose glossy magazine images and coat both sides with gel medium. Allow to dry thoroughly!

3. Cut and arrange your images on your base paper. When you are happy with the arrangement cover with a piece of freezer paper (shiny side down) and iron on hot. Make sure the steam is off.

4. Voila! You have a fused collage!

I am an impatient artist so I didn't let the gel medium dry thoroughly. I rushed through it and ended up with a crackled distressed look -- The ink on the magazine ironed off on to my freezer paper. Luckily I was pleased and intrigued with the results. Once I uploaded this photo Google Auto Awesome made it even more awesome by giving it the snow globe treatment. Mistakes are so darn fun sometimes!

The collage on the left also buckled because I was impatient but as often happens with "mistakes" ...  I got a good idea. I'm going to transfer this image onto silk to emphasize the watery ephemeral feeling.