The Question

This is the last in my series of red collages for the month of July.

I like how this one turned out, because I had been struggling with the composition. It wasn't until I decided to shift everything just so, that it all turned out. Don't you love happy accidents?

Next month, stayed tuned for a new theme...

Red Hearts

My latest collage in red was quite a challenge. But not for the reasons you may assume.

Instead, it was simply that I have so few scraps of red and they are all pretty much the same shade of red. Then I realized that most shades of red are the same, because it they were any lighter then they would be pink or orange!

So, I had a brilliant idea to break up all the reds so the collage didn't appear, well monochromatic. I took a piece of tissue paper and glued it to the top of my all-red collage composition. Then I used a gel medium to adhere it so that it became transparent in spots. I must say that I am pleased with the result and think this may be favorite red collage so far!

Cherry Red

This is my latest "red" collage. I combined 2 different shades of red paper and separated them with a torn piece of cherry printed paper. I thought the apple was a nice touch that added a visual contrast to the piece.

On a side note, is it me or is red one of the most difficult colors to capture digitally?

Red Hot

It’s the six month mark for my collage challenge. I am half way done and still have a half a year to go. This month, instead of just showing you the collage I created, I am also going to give you a glimpse into my creative ideas for the rest of the month.

I bet you can guess from the title what this month’s theme is. If you said, “the color red,” then good for you! You got it right. For the rest of the month, I’ll be focusing on all things red.

But first, I had to go through all of my scraps and images to collect everything and anything that contained a shade of red. Then, I assembled them all together to get a feel for the color palate.

For this first collage, I was really drawn to the scraps that I had used a punch on, because I liked the way they could overlap but also show some white space. Then I put the image of the phone in, and more punched out scraps. It didn’t seem completely finished, so I added the ladybugs as an after thought and am pleased how it all turned out. What do you think??

Beach Time

It's the first {official} day of summer, and I am celebrating. While we have had a lovely spring here so far, summer means that the really warm days are ahead of us. And of course, what better way to enjoy them than with a trip to the beach?

This collage offers such an escape. The two shades of orange set against the sea shells for me signify none other than a blissful summer day in the sun.

What represents summer for you??

New Month, New Collage

So after finishing up a month of flowers, I’ve decided to focus the month of June on another warm weather favorite of mine: the beach.

I’ve professed my love for the beach elsewhere on this blog so will refrain from doing so again.

This collage has a range of blues in it. I started with the center image of the wave and found other shades and textures of blue to complement it. I think the tonality of the piece turned out quite nice.

Spring Lilies

Wow! I am getting good at these quick collages. This one took less time than the last one. I had this image of the yellow lilies and found the back of a handmade paper card.

I cut the paper to fit my sketchbook, glued it down and then affixed the flower image to the top and viola a completed collage. I hate to think that this quickness (or efficiency) in collage creating is a metaphor for how fast the month is going, but well it might be true….

May Flowers

Ok, so I am guessing you’ve figured out the theme for May – flowers! Although, I realize I tend to use them already a lot in my work, I still wanted to dedicate the month of the May to them.

Normally, here in the Midwest, May IS the month when flowers appear. But with the unexpected (and much appreciated) early spring we had here this year, the flowers were all in bloom last month. I am not complaining though because then it will make the summer seem longer too.

So here is my first ode to the flower. I started with an image I’ve had in my collection for years and have tried to incorporate into something, anything. I was happy that my intuition took over this afternoon while creating this collage. Instantly, after rediscovering this lovely bouquet image, I placed some bright turquoise paper, then some cloud paper and knew I needed a hint of yellow and viola found this interestingly odd shaped one. I think this may be one of the fastest collages I’ve put together in a long while. Enjoy!