CollageLAB

Lab 5 - CORREGATED SUBSTRATES

 
REUSE...REDUCE.....RECYCLE - nothing could be more accessible today than corrugated cardboard...it's everywhere and oh what fun it is to play with.  Here's an opportunity to be green in your work.  Also....this particular technique translates well for kids.  Good rainy day kind of thing.

In the lab, we explore different ways to treat the surface of the cardboard.  In this little venture I actually played with making forms from the cardboard.  While doing this I thought how much fun it would be to create a green christmas tree this year with kids using all recycled and re-purposed items...yet another path to follow.

Time to gather the materials....as you can see, pretty basic items.  The bird is a chipboard form from MAYA ROAD, but you can use anything, including just a sketch, to create your starting point.

 
  Trace or draw your form onto your cardboard....

cut out the form or forms..... 

add some detail.......you can get much more complex than this, I try to keep it short for examples.

cut and tear the surface of the cardboard.....refer to book for specific instructions.

In this particular example, I'm using a wash (40 water 60 paint), robin's egg blue craft paint to coat the surfaces.  I ended up with 4 coats, letting each one dry before adding another.

Next...TISSUE PAPER.  I chose a light apple green color.  (NOTE* If you are doing this with kids on the spur of the moment and don't have Matte Medium, just water down some good old Elmer's white glue for the project.  ALSO...another opportunity to reuse tissue wrapping paper with patterns on it!!)

Give the surface of your painted form a good coat of Matte Medium.......

 

.....lay your tissue down on top and smooth out with your hands.  Push lightly into the recesses but not all of the way.  OR.....play with it...push all the way down on some and not on others...poke holes.  EXPERIMENT!!

Tear the damp edges of the tissue and smooth to the back of the piece.

Next I tried writing on the tissue before using it.  In this instance, I sat quietly for a moment and thought about home.....then just started some stream of conscientiousness writing about home and what it meant to me.  Don't worry about making it pretty...it's about content not appearances.  Just remember it's important to use a waterproof pen or other mark maker.  Otherwise when you are using the heavy coats of Matte Medium, the writing will bleed....which you might or might not want.  Choose your mark making tools wisely!

New forms....I'm building a card board house using the same steps as the birds with a little twist because I want this to be 3 dimensional rather than 2 dimensional.

To put it all together I taped the inside of the walls together to hold them steady then added unwritten on  tissue over top of the surface to hold the walls and roof together on the outside.

All of this from a simple little piece of cardboard...imagine the possibilities.  I'd love to see what YOU make using these techniques....please send me some photos to post!!

Off now to help a friend open their house for the summer season.....let the wild rumpus begin, the longer daylight is here and there is more time for art!

Learning About Limitations....an "Aside" Lab

We bring you a minor interruption to the CollageLAB schedule.......

So this weeks "lab" is a little side step from the book but still a lesson to be found in here somewhere.  My husband (Lowell) and I traveled to South Carolina this past weekend from Massachusetts to attend the graduation of the middle child (Jenna) at CCU.  It was an amazing way to spend the mother's day weekend, surrounded by all of my children and their significant others and extended family as we all proudly watched Bean as she is known to us, walk the walk of Magna Cum Laude on Saturday morning under the blue skies of coastal South Carolina.  The afternoon was a flurry of celebratory lunch, laughter, jokes,  packing boxes and cars full of the school experience then off to watch the CCU baseball team (4th in the nation) bring home yet another big win this season.  Being the baseball family that we are, it was the perfect end to the perfect day. 

 Mother's Day was spent with my kids on the beach, eating (way to much) and really, just being together before we all popped back in the cars and headed up the coast again to our various locations, (West VA, PA, MA and CT).  I couldn't have asked for anything more.  A short introduction to my family (sans "the boyz")

     [me, Leila, Rian, Paul, Jesse, Jenna, Corey & Lowell]

On Tuesday after depositing the newly graduated daughter's belongings (along with her and her fiance, Paul) at their new home in CT, where Jenna started graduate school yesterday.  All the time I'm wondering why is she pushing herself, why not take a break and enjoy the summer?

Apparently, apples (or nuts as my children like to say) don't fall far from the tree.  Last night when I got home from work at 6:30 I realized that I had the following on my plate for the evening; Lab work and post blog, make the four new pillows for the couch so that they match the party decor for Sunday's graduation party, clean my apartment (where we live in Nantucket),  laundry and pack for my trip down to PA after work today.

This is on the heels of leaving work last Thursday night (the 5th), hopping the ferry to the mainland and driving to PA, arriving at midnight, then hopping in the car Friday morning and driving the 10 hours to SC.  7:30 am arrive at graduation, have a great weekend with family, hop back in the car at 7:30 am to drive to PA, pet the dogs and remind them who I am, sleep, hop back in the car and drive back to MA, hop on a plane because I missed the ferry (hazards of living 30 miles out to sea)....back to work at 6:30 am Weds morning and working 3 12 hour days because when you work for a landscaping company in the spring that's what we do....and now, I am headed back down to PA after work to throw a party at our home in PA on Sunday to celebrate the graduation.

Somewhere in my brain I thought I could do it all.  Obviously, my limitations have been breached and choices have to be made.  I am not offering this up as an excuse as to why the lab isn't posted today.  There is no excuse...I simply planned poorly and put too much on my plate, for that I apologize.

The difference is, instead of stressing out and feeling guilty about it, I thought as I was sewing pillows and washing clothes last night that there is a lesson in all of this. 

We all fill our lives with obligations and commitments and set ourselves up to disappoint and be disappointed by doing so when we over extend ourselves and breach our limitations.  We WANT to do it all...there is some driving need in women to "do it all".  Especially women of our generation(s).  The supermom who works full time and still takes care of the needs of the family and still "has a life".

Where do we find time for what we want and what's important to us?.  The truth is, it's all important, the family, the work, ourselves and the art.  For me, the art is what enables me to get through all the rest of it with energy and care....it's the carrot that I dangle in front of me.

 
With all of this in mind, I am looking forward to the weekend of more graduation flurry but selfishly, I am looking forward to returning to Nantucket on Monday and settling back into my simpler life of work and art and my boyz (Lowie and the dogs)....a quiet rhythm found that will encourage and stroke the muse within.  By not posting my lab as planned, I haven't killed anyone, this isn't brain surgery so I figured out that I need to be kinder to myself and more tolerant of my shortcomings when they surface.  In other words, be as understanding to me as I am to others.  So, that is the lab for this week....Find ways to forgive yourself, make room for the important things and know that as long as you're happy and loving those around you to the best of your ability it's okay not to do it all.

In the meantime....please remember to post a comment to last week's lab to be eligible to receive the Budda piece.  AND don't forget about your ATCs....would love to start posting them soon.  That quiet rhythm didn't last too long did it?

Lab 4 WASHES

 
Good morning!  It's an exciting weekend coming up in the Shay household....the whole family is off to South Carolina first thing in the morning to witness the graduation walk of the middle child on Saturday, then it's a whirlwind 3 weeks of moving her from SC to Connecticut to start graduate school on June 1.   When I awoke this morning I was feeling like I needed to clone myself to get everything done that needs to get done between family, work and art.  Looks as though those thoughts found their way into my work today, which often happens!

So....to the lesson at hand...WASHES!  In the book the lab outlines 9 different ways to approach doing washes.  Here, in this little experiment, we are working with two simple washes; 1) acrylic paint wash (two colors) and 2) a sepia ink wash.  To make a wash, simply dilute your paint or ink with water.  The ratio of water to medium depends on how strong you want your color.  The focus in our exploration will be less about the washes and technique and more about what you use under them.

Gather up your materials.  Now please don't think that I am telling you to run out and buy all of this....to the contrary, please use what ever you have on hand in your own work space.  It doesn't even have to be what I have used in these examples....REALLY....just whatever you have on hand.  The idea is to see how the washes, both acrylic paint and ink respond to what you are putting them over.

I started with mat board cut into 2.5 x 3.5 inches (ATC size) and a carved stamp from my stash.  My little goddess has been with me for over 10 years and I love using her.  Noted on the back of each card is the medium used to stamp with and the type of wash that was used over top for later reference.  I am way to forgetful in my advanced years to remember tomorrow let alone weeks from now what I did. 

 
Starting with your first medium (in this case, GESSO), load your stamp or object by spreading the medium out on a palette. Press your stamp or object into the medium on the palette.  Make sure you have complete coverage.

Stamp your board. (You could also paint your board or ink your board before starting and have more results to compare and think about.)

Continue stamping your image onto your boards with your different mediums and let dry.  NOTE:  Make sure to clean off your stamp or object between each printing for cleaner results.  It would also be fun to try NOT cleaning it off to see what happens.  There is always another road to travel!!!

It's interesting to observe the different textures and how they respond to being stamped with.

 

Clear Tar Gel is really fun to use for watermarking and faux embossing....

 

All stamped, DRY and ready to wash....

I chose to spray my washes but they can also be brushed on......

 
The first round results.....washed with coat one of acrylic paint (turquoise).  Note how the different types of mat board respond differently to the paint wash as well as the medium.

 
step two.....peach wash over turquoise

Now for the Sepia ink wash trials....wow....that's pretty purple isn't it?

 
The color really surprised me.....I've never used this particular ink before diluted.  I'm hoping it will tone itself down when it dries.

 
It did (whew)...the purplie pink went away and the russet hues appeared.   One last look at the final results...not bad for a quick little experiment and certainly has me thinking about some interesting ways to use some mediums (like the Clear Tar Gel) that I hadn't thought of before.

I created a photo album that has close ups of all the individual pieces and what I used so check it out for a closer look.

NOW....for the CALL FOR ART!!  We've worked our way through the first chapter so now it's time for a little reward. 

1)  It's time for another giveaway.  Be sure to make a comment to this post to be eligible.  I am going to give away the BUDDA (Where I Find My Peace) that I did in Lab 3.

2)  It's also time for and ATC exchange.  Here's how to play.  Use any technique or techniques in chapter ONE to create 5 ATCs.  Send them to me and I will exchange them for 5 in return and will post ALL of them in a photo album here on the blog.  Follow these simple instructions:

Send me 5 ATCs (again, using any technique or techniques from Chapter ONE.  They must all be originals (no copies) and please use mat board or card board as your base.  On the back tell us what you did to get the results you got.  The whole purpose of this exchange is to share information with one another and to learn from each others experiments. 

     Mail them to me:

BEE SHAY  2 GREGLEN AVE PMB 324  NANTUCKET MA  02554 by JUNE 10.  I will scan and post all ATCs received on the 11th and send your new ATCs back to you at that time.

Okay...the music has started and it's time to dance....see you soon!

Lab 3: DIFFUSING IMAGERY

In the book the suggested method of diffusion is to use gesso.  In this experiment, we are going to use tissue paper and a little japanese lace paper (one of my FAVORITE collage papers). This method is not going to be for just the background...we're going to do the whole collage using diffusion methods.   Let's begin!!

 
Gather your materials....I started with a photo taken in my friend Shelley's backyard in March.  Printed it out on an ink jet printer, let it dry for two days (if you're in a hurry you can print and spray with Workable Fixative to keep it from running).  Adhere the print to cardboard or mat board...or even watercolor paper.  It just needs to be a firm surface to work on.

Start with a sheet of light color tissue (in this case robin's egg blue) that covers the whole image and extends a bit beyond the borders.  Lay down a generous coat of matte medium, then lay down the tissue paper and using a flat brush, coat on top of the tissue with more matte medium.  Take note that some places on the image will come back up and others will not.  This will depend on the wetness of the matte medium under the tissue...the wetter the area the more of the original image that will show.

don't fret too much about little wrinkles and be careful not to tear the tissue.  Wet paper is always fragile.  Now that that whole piece is diffused it's time to add the "details" but still using the same method.  Here we're using a punch to create a similar shape in the original image.

 

Observe below, the circles of tissue are added in rows, again taking the placement, although different in scale, from the original.
 
Continue adding shapes until you achieve the desired effect.

A closer look.....

Shifting gears, use the Japanese lace paper over the background areas.  Again, the matte medium will "melt" the lightweight paper.  The wetter the surface before the paper is laid down, the more of it that will disappear.

Work your way around the piece until you are happy with the resulting image.  Don't be afraid to overlap this paper onto your central image or focal point.  That in fact will help to join the areas in a related fashion.

Another favorite toy comes out of the toy box....PanPastels!!  Check them out if you haven't already.

Use the pans to enhance shadows and add tints of color.......

Continue adding color until you are happy with the results.  Below, I have added a contrasting border of red to the piece and added hints of red here and there within the piece to relate to the red edging.

Once happy, a light coat or two of Workable Fixative will seal the pan pastels but still allow for continuing to work if I change my mind and want to add anything else.

One more look at the original....

and the resulting collage piece.

Now it's your turn.  Choose a photo you want to work with and play with the tissue!!    Don't forget to send me photos of your work so I can post them....everyone has been so shy so either you're just reading and not working or don't want to share.  PLEASE...come on and jump in here...send me photos of what you're doing so we can all see.

More later this week...I'll be posting a collage postcard exchange to play in!!

So long for now.....
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Learning Curve......

Imagine my surprise when I opened my email this evening and there is an email from a disapointed blog follower asking me if I was okay.....I hadn't posted Lab 3 and she was concerned that something had gone wrong because there was just plain nothing new.  Thank you so, for your concern...and yes, something went wrong....I haven't quite gotten a handle on how to set delayed postings for this new blog!!  So, yet again, technical difficulties (of a third kind) but I'm here to say Lab 3 is now up and available....let me know your comments and feedback!!   I've learned my lesson....I'll be checking in on Friday mornings too from now on!! WITHOUT FURTHER ADO......Lab 3 - Diffusing Imagery.