Welcome to my blog as I share my thoughts, techniques, and creative experiences assembling paper collage art.

Collage:
Collage is a technique of composing a work of art by pasting on a surface various materials not normally associated with one another. The technique can be applied to any material. I have developed my collage art with paper.

Inspiration of Style:
I could describe my artwork as scenic paper collage. I use 'scenic' in the sense of "pertaining to the stage or to scenery, representing a scene or action." My interest in movies and theatrical art show through the designs of my collages. The collages, with their usual black backgrounds, are like bright movie images in a dark theater. Often the designs are referential to cinemascope movie screens, or are arranged on a base or platform that is like a theatrical stage.

The following are some artistic influences on my work:
Movie posters
Disney animation
Theatrical design
Architecture
Paintings
Surrealism

Artists whose aesthetic has influenced my work:
Gerald Brom
Salvador Dali
Frank Frazetta
Basil Gogos
Christian Riese Lassen
Michael Parkes

Collecting Images :
For a collage to develop, usable material is needed. In my case, the material will be printed images on paper, usually in color. I most often find images in magazines, books, calendars, greeting cards, or any quality paper source with interesting images. From these sources, I remove the images I think will be useful. I keep a collection of images cut and ready to use before I begin a collage. That saves time spent looking for usable images during the collage construction. I keep images separated by type and collected in large envelopes. I have envelopes for Landscapes, Flowers, Trees, Human Figures, Animals, Water, Sky, Buildings, Wood, and Stone.

Cutting Images:
Within a single picture there are many elements, some or most I have no use for. There may be only one image from a picture I wish to collect, be it an entire human figure, or only the fold of a scarf. Other pictures may have a number of images I wish to collect. Each image will be trimmed from the rest of the scene. Each image will be filed into its appropriate envelope.

Cutting out the images can present difficult decisions. When trimming an object from the rest of the scene, should a thin border be left outlining the object, or should it be trimmed as close to the object's mass as possible? If an object is not fully represented, and has pieces missing because printing or another object is hiding part of it, is there a way to cut out the object so that the missing part is less noticeable? Sometimes the opposite is true; I will intentionally eliminate part of an object. Half the time an object is collected not for the object itself, but for the material it is made of, or some other characteristic that can be used.

Waste and Recycling:
I always recycle the unused paper trimmings that collect as I work on a collage. In its own way, the collage itself is a recycling process.

Starting a Collage:
I usually begin by finding two or more images that combine in an interesting way. Their combination may present a visual paradox or irony, or they may combine into a surprising color, texture, or shape contrast. Maybe two combined pieces evoke a visual theme. Any of these first combines may be the starting point around which a collage can develop. I usually do not begin with a theme in mind. I primarily approach collage as a design using space, color, texture, balance, and lighting as its constructs. If the pieces are combined in a psychologically sound arrangement, a theme will emerge.

One of the most important abilities in creating successful collages in my opinion, is the ability to change my original idea, not holding too determinedly to the vision I began with if in the construction of the collage I observe that the pieces themselves have presented me with new ideas that substantially change or compound the original idea and broaden it in the process. I have come to use the initial idea as only a starting point, knowing that it will morph into something different and unexpected along the way. Maybe more than anything, collage construction is a process of discovery for me. The completed product is never known until it is completed. The challenge is recognizing the justified detours, and foreseeing which developments will work against the design, and foreseeing them, avoid them. Perhaps an object will combine perfectly because of its color, texture, and shape. But perhaps the object is laden with associative connotations that will lead to misreading its purpose in the design. An automobile may be just what I need, but to use an ambulance for it may alter the perception of the collage because of the strong associations that come with an ambulance. It may detract from my purpose. Whenever a piece diverts from an overall design and/or theme, regardless how well it fits in the small are it will occupy, the piece should be discarded – at least from the present collage. It might serve perfectly for a future collage.

Placement:
The placement of each piece within a collage is important as a building block. No single piece should direct attention to itself out of proportion of that piece's importance to the balance and theme of the design. Some pieces will be emphasized. Most pieces are supportive, and must be assembled so that all will blend into the other and not obstruct focal points. An observer's line of vision should be guided. Vision should move from line, to color, to shape, being visually enriched along the way. All visual fields should have bridges one to the other. There should be no uncomfortable gaps or visual cul de sacs. If there is a sudden cut-off, drop-off, or empty space, it should be thematically and visually justified.

When searching for a piece I try to keep foremost in mind what I intend the piece to bring to the design. I choose the piece for the effect I want it to have more than for its shape or image. Should the piece present an impression of solidity? Or should it have shadow and angles to give the illusion of depth or pathway? If the piece presents the illusion of an entrance into another area, does that support the overall design and theme, or does it detract from the intended point? Every piece is carefully judged for its own qualities, plus how well it fits and blends with other pieces it will be among.

For me, the visual effect, and the manner of achieving that effect through intermingling of color, shape, and images, is more important than a message.

Limitations:
Although inventiveness can create any image desired through collage, material is required from which to build. Perhaps somewhat more than other forms of art, collage requires an assortment of material to choose from. The material need not be perfect and ready for use from the start. Every piece will need to be trimmed and often reshaped during the trimming so that it will best serve my purpose. To create the illusion of realism, I try to use pieces that are sized for the proper perspective.

Aim:
To design a scene, create an atmosphere, and imply a story or theme through the co-mingling of images.

Typically, all parts of the collage develop together. I will concentrate on one section for a period, collecting pieces, trimming them, trying different placements for them, leaving some, removing others, and getting more ideas for further development. I leave that section in order to work on another section for a while. I don't concentrate on, or complete, any major section before all sections are well developed. I assemble the collage as a whole, keeping an eye on the overall shape and design as it broadens and fills.

Philosophy:
Without implying a school of thought, by philosophy I do propose there is an underlying value or perspective in my approach to collage. It is centered in both the value of recycling, and a post-modern outlook that believes all ideas and discovery, all ages and representations, can be merged for a newer, enlivened view of the familiar changed.

Gluing:
Assembling the collage is only half the job. The pieces that compose the collage must be joined to create one unified assemblage. Every exposed edge of each piece requires gluing.

Gluing is not a mechanical process. It requires creativity in strategy, mental engagement, and physical dexterity. Sometimes I use three fingers of one hand to lift edges while the other hand applied glue to a fourth piece under them all. It's complex, and requires a method. First, as I'm working on the collage, when a number of pieces come together and I decide to keep them as they are arranged, I will apply the first sparse application of glue. I minimally glue each piece to every other piece that it touches. A light touch of glue in one spot will suffice temporarily, and will hold the arrangement together delicately. I can continue working on the collage with less fear that an accidental bump will knock the pieces apart. A slight jar to the board that the pieces are arranged on can cause them to shift, and lose the precise placement of the pieces. It is very difficult to rearrange the jostled pieces back to their exact positions as before. Exact positioning is the key to a collage's effect.

I continue the minimal gluing of pieces until I have reached a point of near completion. Sections that I feel are completed with no plans to change I start to completely glue. I use small water color brushes to apply an adequate amount of paper cement.

The gluing stage is more than the application of glue. There is a planned method for completing it. Planning will help avoid one of the most serious mistakes of wrinkling. Care must be taken that each piece's position is flat and unforced. I glue according to the natural flow or lay of the pieces. I use many layers of overlapping pieces. I glue top to bottom until all have been glued to one another. Then I continue to move throughout the collage, making sure all pieces are laying flat and relaxed before gluing them into position. The gluing process is admittedly tedious. But during the gluing process a very exciting transformation takes place as the collage is glue. I am the only one privileged to witness the transformation. The collage becomes one scene instead of many separate pieces. Even more exciting, the scene becomes more illusory s the pieces become one. The more the collage is glued, and the pieces blend together, the more dept and perspective the collage presents. It's like pixel dots combing into a detailed image where the dots are lost in the overall image.

When the collage design has been completely glued, the collage can be lifted and held as a single piece of paper. The collage can then be carefully turned over to lay on its face. This allows me to glue the loose edges of the back side of the collage. These edges do not need to be glued as thoroughly as the front side's. The purpose of gluing the back side is to secure any loose edges that might buckle or in some way obstruct the precise and precarious placement of the collage when it comes time to glue it to a back board for exhibition. Loose edges on the back side can also be dealt with by trimming them away. Correcting the loose edges of the back side can alslo reveal front side edges that I may have missed.

After all the pieces have been glued on both the front and back sides, the collage is nearly completed. I then go over the entire front of the collage, and, using a soft cloth, carefully wipe away the dried glue that is still left at the edges. Different glues react differently in use. the excess of paper cement can be easily wiped clean.

The final step is to glue the completed collage to a backboard so that it can be stood upright and exhibited to others. I use a spray adhesive that is appropriate for art prints. The process is simple, but difficult with large collages, and accident-prone with all regardless of size. It consists of laying the collage face down so that the back side can be spray glued. Then the collage must be lifted. The collage is turned face up, and the glue-coated back side is lowered to the backboard, and placed in the exact position on the board that is best for viewing. Sometimes with large collages assistance is needed. In order to perfect the difficult maneuver, it is necessary for me to rehears the move and placement several times without glue to familiarize myself with it. Once the collage has been placed onto the backboard, I press it and smooth it with cloth to secure it and be sure that every surface is touching the backboard, and is gluing to it. After that has been done the collage is completed.

Titling:
Titling the collage is sometimes difficult. The title will come to me only after studying the collage, and interpreting it for myself. Sometimes the title is thematic. Other times I will use a descriptive title that pertains to the visual elements rather than to the theme. On a few occasions I have distinguished collages by a number, as in "Illusion #1" and "Illusion #2". I sometimes manipulate words in a fashion that the collage manipulates images, as in the title, "No Place Like Homily". Other times I will play with similar sounding words, as when a collage of sentimental souvenirs was named "Sedimental Things". I will sometimes create new words, as in the last example, and when I combined "ecology" and "eulogy" to title a collage "Eculogy".

Counting the Pieces:
Once I finish a collage, I always count the pieces I've used. Most of my collages have over 100 pieces composing each one. Some have over 200. I have used as many as 540 pieces in one collage that measures 45" x 33".

I am unsure how interested others are in the number of pieces that make up a collage. Some have been interested, and others have not been. For that reason I do not usually include that information on the title cards at exhibitions.