Monday, August 5, 2013

Mixed Media Collage Tutorial Hastypearl

Mixed Media Collage Tutorial Hastypearl

I had fun, on our recent vacation, with a picture that our kids sent us of our granddaughter, Katie.

I've had it for a while now, and as happens, when you give something time, a project will ALWAYS emerge!

When I'm doing a collage like this one, I like to start by spreading out papers that I think could work on my project.
This year, I shipped up ahead, a 12 lb. box of supplies. It's kind of a neat test, to see what you can get done without your whole studio of supplies to choose from!
While I Will use a cut edge, I often prefer tearing paper. I think it gives more texture and interest.
 
 

I bought a dictionary, circa 1984, right before vacation.
I tore some random pages out to take with me and kwinky dink, the word "Girl", was on one of the pages!
I placed it in a window of one of the background pages.
Sometimes, you have to have at least the major pieces ready, so that you can figure out placements.
 
I did a little gouache painting on Katie's t-shirt, but I left the rest black and white.
I loved the Graphics Fairy butterfly, but when I showed it to Katie on Skype yesterday...she didn't like it!
Oh, well. We're talking about a very precocious little girl:)  
 
 
One of my favorite finds when estate sale shopping, are women's sewing kits.
Especially from women, who lived through challenging economic days.
They saved Everything! 
A real bonus for me, are little nests of thread. I loved the colors in this bunch, and those are the colors that I used for the stripes in Katie's t-shirt.
At this point, I had the water colored background, but I wanted to soften things up, so I used a beautiful piece of textured tapestry upholstery fabric.
I eventually used a running stitch to hold it all together.

 
This piece will hang in our living room, so I kept our colors in mind when I selected the ribbons for a hanger.

 
Long before I finish a piece, I will get an idea for another project.
You can see in the picture below, on the right side, my next project starting to take shape.
I like to have lots of things going on at once.
It makes for a messy studio, but that's how it works best for me!
I can't really relate when I hear about artists who run out of ideas...I cant imagine that Ever happening to me:) 


In the end, I threaded some glass beads on some wire and twisted the wire around the ribbon hanger.
I also dotted the butterfly's abdomen with some tiny glass beads.
Finally, I glued some vintage hem tape to the piece, but left little openings, to slip in some dried flowers.

Our vacation cottage, had these great cut out windows going up the staircase, and I made a little gallery of the things that I made during the two weeks.
 
I had a great two weeks of creating. 
It's hard to have the same uninterrupted stretches of time, when you get back home and life's responsibilities resume.
 
For me, each of these projects are like a journal of my time, for each of our very special trips!
I'll be looking forward to that next perfect picture of Katie, for next summers project! 
 
I Hope you enjoyed seeing how one of my projects develops...
 
and that you are having wonderful days...Laura  

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