Looking for the Cotton Candy Jellybean

Click Here to Purchase for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

This one came together like magic. I love it.

Funny Fish

Click Here to Purchase for $55 - 6x5in. - collage on illustration board

This was a fun one to make. A combination of my silly little drawings, and papers I made with acrylic paint, all collaged together.

The Essence of the Thing

Click Here to Purchase for $50 - 7x4in. - collage on illustration board

Abstract collage is such a wonderful counter to realism. For me anyway. There is no pressure to make it look real. There is no right or wrong. There is just pure instinctual response. The possibilities are endless.

Growth

Click Here to Purchase for $45 - 7x3in. - collage on illustration board

Another little abstract collage. For this one I started rolling and squeegeeing paint directly onto my illustration board, and then gluing paper on top of that. It was a fun change of pace.

Beach Day

Click Here to Purchase for $40 - 4x4in. - collage on illustration board

This one reminds me of being a kid at the beach, with the sun high in the sky, the water cool at your feet, the seagulls trying to get any morsel of food, and the inevitable sunburn.

Rat Race

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 6x4in. - collage on illustration board

I've always been attracted to pretty simple, graphic designs. For this one I decided to try just one "color," plus gray, black and white. I cut up some interesting shapes first, and then had fun fitting them together. The trick, I found, was cutting up far more shapes than I thought I'd need, and then having a lot to choose from.

Spa Day

 

Click Here to Buy for $35 - 3.5x3.5in. - collage on illustration board

This is my smallest collage yet. Though now that I'm thinking about it, it might be fun to make some really tiny ones. Hmmm... This is an older collage for me, but I think it's adorable.

If you look closely at my fingers in this next photo you'll see remnants of collage glue that is now a permanent feature.

Blowout

 

Click Here to Buy for $75 - 8x8in. - collage on illustration board

This is another little collage collection. Each of the 9 pieces is done on illustration board, and then glued to an 8x8in. piece of white matboard. It will fit perfectly into a standard 8x8in. frame. We thought about affixing each with thin velcro so the buyer could rearrange, but decided it might sag over time and get frustrating. Do you have an opinion? It might help me with future collections. Thanks!

Solving the Riddle

 

Click Here to Buy $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

Is it a bird? Is it a bug? What's the riddle? Will it get solved? I don't know but I love the colors.

Eager to Grow Up

Click Here to Buy for $40 - 4x4in. - collage on illustration board

This is a little one. It reminds me of how we want so bad to grow up, and then once it happens we dig our nails in to stop it going further. All in vain.

Doodling Around Broccoli

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

This one reminds me of being a kid and forced to eat broccoli. The only way it was ever ok was when it was smothered in the cheese sauce my mom made. Now I like it fine, but it's still better with cheese sauce.

The Power of Getting Lost

 

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

Here's a different kind of collage than most of my others. This kind is more time consuming. It went through many iterations before I landed on something that felt satisfying. It's more of a journey type of collage. I really like it.

Hook Line Sinker

Click Here to Buy for $60 - 6x6in. - collage on illustration board

It's fun coming up with little stories for my drawings. I've been experimenting with the order of things. Sometimes I come up with drawings first, sometimes in the middle of the collage, and sometimes after all the color goes down. For this one I did the fish first, then glued down some colors, then drew the plants, and the hook went in at the end. A little bit of everything.

Ghosts in the Machine

 

Click Here to Buy for $40 - 3.5x6in. - collage on illustration board

I have this idea for an online tutorial that would be called "Abstract Collage as Creative Therapy," specifically for us realism painters. Really I would love for it to be an actual in person workshop, someday, when my current health issue is resolved. Meanwhile I will enjoy the therapy for myself, and keep notes about it.

Invaders

Click Here to Buy for $45 - 6x3in. - collage on illustration board

Here's another little collage I've put together. I had fun with my india ink and a brush, making fat and thin lines in various shapes. I am partial to circles.

In other news, I have been tiptoeing back into oil painting and will probably have something to show you soon. : )

Sunset Off the Edge of the World

 

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

This is a particular favorite collage of mine and I can't tell you why. I love the combination of colors, textures - everything. I have many that don't work out, and those are the ones I don't show you.

City Bird

 

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

These little 5x5in. collages go well in a standard 8x8in. frame. I got this one from Amazon, and put a light gray sheet of paper behind the collage. (frame not included)

Frazzle

 

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

I collect images for inspiration on Pinterest, and  find myself very attracted to black and white images. So recently I did a lot of mark making with ink on white paper, and then cut up and collaged them together. It was really fun working with pure value for a minute.

Wonder

Click Here to Buy for $65 - 8x8in. - collage on illustration board

My husband kept telling me it would be cool to see groupings of my collages, but the how of it didn't click for me until recently. Each of these squares is collage on a 2x2in. piece of illustration board, and all 9 are mounted with archival PVA glue on a piece of white matte board. The whole thing can be placed into an 8x8in. frame, and is basically self-matted. I'm really happy with it! : )

Interference

Click Here to Buy for $50 - 5x5in. - collage on illustration board

When I first started doing collage I tended to use ALL the colors, every time. Now I often choose a particular color to kind of ... focus on, and then add more as needed. Sometimes I still end up with all the colors, but other times I find a harmony in just a few. These resonate with me strongly.