Mini-Collage Series

Here is a fun little exercise I do to get in the mode of working fluidly, without hesitation or angst. It is really simple, but the key is to do it in quantity. I make these little cut-paper collages on 4.5"x6" pieces of bristol. Each collage has three shapes in three different colors.

After I have made loads of them, I crop some of them, and add a little line and pattern detail. It is fun, relaxing, and gets me out of thinking mode and into a visual groove.

I will be offering an online class on the Mini-Collage, but for now, here is an overview of the process:

Here are some of the little collage pieces:

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Series As Process

I am teaching my Series As Process workshop at Madeline Island School of the Arts in July.  Focusing on a group of paintings, rather than one painting at a time, is very freeing in many ways.  If "creating a series" sounds intimidating at all - as it does to me: it conjures pressure to finish a number of paintings so that they all hang together - consider "working in series" as a process.  It is the process of keeping multiple paintings in the works at once, so you don't get stuck on just one.  It gives you a way to move forward and gain momentum, and get OUT of the habit of becoming stuck.

I've talked about a recent series here and here. 

Here is part of a recent series of Big Fat Art pieces.  They are each 19.5"x25.5"

What makes them a series?  It's an attitude I brought to the work as I worked on these and others over the same period of time.  More finished pieces came out of this, but many many more of them are still in the works.  I like having a lot of works in process so I have room to play!

Three more  in the same size as above, that emerged from a process of working on multiples.  These are brand new (and photographed in bad lighting with my iPad, not professionally done) and I am excited to continue in this direction.

Below are some of my 4"x4" pieces from 2013 - 2015.  I've grouped them in "sub-series", as I generally worked on them in groups of six to eight at a time, but I consider the whole project as one series.  It is based solely on the size, so I was free to explore any content within that format.

See details and register for my Series As Process workshop here.
Thanks for visiting!