Creative Collaging
Creative Collaging
A Gallery of Mixed Media and Collage Art
Hello Collagers!
This week I am sharing an overview of larger collage and mixed-media work in a variety of styles. I hope this peek at work from my studio over the years will encourage further exploration of new materials and techniques, greater consideration of scale, and a willingness to create with whatever inspires you.
Sometimes the biggest hurdle to collaging and making art is the perceptions of skill and material that we bring to the table. (If you haven’t already) I want you to leave self-doubt behind and open yourself (and the papers, fibers, books, etc.) to the endless possibilities your various collection and discard piles can offer!
A Gallery of Collage & Mixed Media Art
As a part of a body of work I created in 2020 in the series, “Cellular Thoughts”, the piece “Making Room for the Discarded” encapsulated many of the ideas I was investigating with my art at the time. I was looking for shapes and materials that provided a sense of microbiology and other-worldliness while wanting to reduce waste by finding beauty and purpose in the knitted pieces I had used as collagraph printing plates in other work from the series, such as in this large 30x40-inch piece: “Finding Joy Beneath the Layers”.
My use of fiber in these pieces was inspired by my earlier attempts at combining fiber and painting practices in a more literal way, such as with the piece, “Near and Far”.
At the time, I was relearning how to knit with a group of friends - enjoying the process of learning different stitches and techniques. I had also just returned from traveling and was experimenting with a variety of printing techniques inspired by the photos and drawings from my trip. Cutting my monotype into sections and punching holes was a little scary at first, but these initial attempts at combining sources of joy and inspiration led me to such new and interesting places.
I soon found myself integrating fiber, paint, paper, and wax with more confidence and less inner criticism - unleashing a world I never knew existed, as with the mixed media piece above, “Eternity”, and the larger collage piece below, “Destiny Revealed”.
Since 2019, I have continued to explore materials and techniques while evolving my perceptions and growing my various skills and material sources.
Here are a few more collage styles with a variety of materials for you to consider…
From left to right, top down:
“Into This Good Night” | Mixed Media Acrylic and Paper Collage with Cross-Stitched Fibers | 2021
“Bird Watching” | Reverse Glass Oil Painting with Paper Collage | 2023
“A Foundation of Love” | Mixed Media Oil Paint with Paper and Ink Collage, Embroidered Fibers, and Metal T-Pins | 2023
“The Secret Life of Joy” | Mixed Media Oil Paint with Paper and Ink Collage and Embroidered Fibers | 2023
“A Good Time” | Vintage Collage - Postcards with Slow-stitched Fibers | 2023
“Collage Poem 22.03” | Mixed Media Collage using vintage material, copper, graphite, fiber, artist crayon, ink, and printmaking paper mounted on watercolor paper | 2022
“Nene’s Garden WIP” | Handmade Paper and Vintage Postcards mounted on Wax Coated Cheesecloth | 2022-
“Insecurities Revealed” | Digital Collage | 2020
“Contemplation” | Acrylic Paint on Paper, Recut and Collaged | 2019
As I take my collages into new and deliberately delicate and smaller-sized directions with the vintage materials I’ve acquired, I’m looking forward to the creative opportunities ahead - and continuing to share them with you here on Collage O!
~ Jennifer
Studio Terminology
Monotype and Monoprint: These terms are often defined as a single print taken from a design created in oil paint or printing ink on glass or metal. Current practices, however, differentiate these two terms - A monotype being created as a single image from a singular act; A monoprint being created with a base plate of a singular image that can be colored or altered to achieve multiple prints from the same etched (or similarly created) base.
Collograph: Similar to a Monoprint, a Colograph is created from a collage of materials with different textures adhered to a printing plate (often made with wood or cardboard) which provides raised surfaces on which to roll ink and press onto paper. Multiple prints can be achieved from the same plate.
Collage and Mixed Media: In my practice, I define collage as 2D Art using a variety of materials and techniques including paint, paper, ink, crayon, and printmaking to create an integrated collage on a flat surface. Minor fiber elements may also be included, but will mostly be acknowledged as “mixed media” or “mixed media collage” in my work.