ABCs of Art - Collage and ATCs

A B Cs of ART

This week starts a long look at the Cs of art. First up is COLLAGE - my absolute favourite.

There is no wrong or right, there are so many materials that can be used and so many effects that can be created.

I have a number of books that I have used and still refer to:

"Collage Discovery Workshop" by Claudine Hellmuth ( a new acquisition)

"Creative Collage Techniques" by Nita Leland and Virginia Lee Williams (an old fav.)

"Handmade Paper Collage" by Dawn Ackerman

Creating the full moon dreamboards each month with Jamie Ridler uses collage. It can be as simple as finding magazine images and gluing them on a background in a meaningful array to the artist. Many collage artists use mixed media in their works which can be very detailed.

I use collage a lot with children and they usually enjoy the process. Some useful exercises I have done with them include:

1. doing a colour collage - to find the different shades and tints of a chosen colour.

2. at the beginning of the year doing a me collage of things they like and enjoy

3. using bold colours to create a Matisse-inspired collage (their favourite)

Many artists use collage in their work: Wikipedia provides a list and gallery. Some of my favourites are:

Picasso, Matisse, Max Ernst, Robert Rauschenberg, Romare Bearden (as well as the above 3 artists).

Creating art journals has been a new experience for me this past year and I use a lot of collage. There is still so much to explore in creating these journals. There are many places online that offer courses and workshops in visual journalling. Several of my favourite places to go are:

Collage Diva/True North Arts with Kathryn Antyr

Creative Every Day with Leah Piken Kolidas

Jamie Ridler Studios (home of the full moon dreamboards)

Violette (from whom I won her awesome book "Journal Bliss")

The Art Studio (which I just discovered today!)

I know there are many other places - maybe you could let me know!

Right now I am working on collages for the "Deck of Me" challenge and vision cards (as described by Jamie Ridler). Both have been enjoyable but I still have more work to do!

Week 1 - Goals and Word of intention Card

Week 2 - Favourite Quote (2 of them! - I have decided to create vision cards with favourite cards as well)

I am also using collage elements in some of the ATCs I created this week.

Anatomical Heart swap:

Hearts with Wings swap:

I know I will continue to collage. I love the mess of it at times but there is something about seeing your vision take shape.

Next week - more of C - as I focus on Colour and Composition.