Everyone is born with creativity. But those people who appear to be super creative have a secret. They know that creativity has to be developed and exercised to come easily. I am on a quest to immerse myself in creativity of all kinds. I hope you will join me!

 Today we had collage class in Girl World.  I had so much fun that I forgot I wanted to take pictures! I only remembered long enough to get a couple. Sigh.


It was my mission for class to come up with some different ways to make visual texture and layering with paint. We had several cool techniques that worked well.  This was one of my experiments. Last night, I found these wood scraps. They were cut off the top of table legs. I cannot even remember what I did with the table legs. Not important.  


So, I glued some chunky yarn to one side of the wood.  Yeah, well, I had no glue at hand when I did this, so I used dimensional paint, it just happened to be gold glitter.  Why not? It worked great.


 To use it, we painted the yarn, and printed it on the paper/canvas.


 Like.  Right? You could make this in all kinds of patterns.  It boggles... and inspires. The experiment was a success.


 So, here are some pics of projects in process. Each student worked on a canvas and a watercolor paper journal. This is the front cover of a journal. A hole was made to show the art inside. Love it.


 Greens for the background. Love how she added texture by sponging over a piece of cutout scrapbook paper. Nice.


 This is my canvas. At this stage, it had layers added, layers subtracted, and different layers added. Sometimes it takes a while to find my happy place.


 Lettering in the journal. She was very brave in lettering freehand.  Looks great!



Finished canvas: paint and paper. Don't the birds make you smile?


I had a great time watching everyone else take their Vitamin C!

 Having built up a little collage confidence from my collage exercise last week, I made one for a gift yesterday. It's a little larger, and I added some dimensional bits.


The background. This is three colors: burnt umber, off white, and purple.

Starting to add layers.


These dots are printed with bubble wrap dipped in paint.  I ended up with tiny bits of other colors in the dot because I used a piece of bubble wrap that had been used before. The previous colors, even though they were dry, came off on the canvas with the new, wet paint. Love it. In person, it is very nice.

In one corner, I laid down two chipboard pieces and sponged over them in a darker color.


The cross was made with flexible modeling paste. It can be applied right to the canvas.  But, I made the cross shape on a stencil blank and peeled it off when it was dry.  Be advised, the stuff takes a really long time to dry. Just slather it on with a palette knife and set it aside for a couple days. Then, peel it off the stencil and glue it to the canvas.


Paint right over the modeling paste.

Tomorrow evening, I am invited to attend a Chinese Banquet and Tea Ceremony. It is a wedding reception. I am intrigued and excited. 


I love this special tradition for the bride.  I don't think I have any Chinese blood in my family line but maybe...... During the banquet, we all give her jewelry!  Yes. We all put in on her and she wears it all. What could be cooler than that, I ask you?


She is delicate and I have never seen her wear big honkin' stuff like I do, so I put three small beads that I made, on a little chain. 


Can't wait to see all the stuff she gets! What a fabulous tradition. It almost makes me think about getting married again.  


Take your Vitamin C!

This class is suitable for all levels, from beginner to accomplished.  You will learn several techniques and then work with those you like to make a collage (or two!)

No need to bring anything along, unless you have something you would really like to incorporate in your work.  If you live in the area, just come, hang out, collage!

It was originally named mortarboard because of its resemblance to the tool that bricklayers and plasterers use to hold the mortar.  Weirdly enough, this tool is not called a mortarboard. It is called a hawk.  That one, I cannot explain.

Mortarboard. Use the word in a sentence today and impress your friends.

And take your Vitamin C!

• make 6 collages on canvas board ( I had two sizes)
• use only paint and paper
• get finished today

 Step 2/layer 2: more paint that adds texture.

 Step 3/layer 3: a paper focal. I tore the pieces of paper into shapes and glued them down.

 Last step: details add a final layer.  Painted words, outlining, accenting.




So, the background I liked the most turned out to be the collage I like the least. And the background I was unsure of turned out to make me happy.  That's how it goes.  They are not great, but not bad for a couple hours' work.

It was a good exercise.

Take your Vitamin C and give yourself a creative challenge!