"Choosing the Rose" a Collage

I have recently figured out that having two studios can be a bit confusing. For instance, one thing I've had problems with is when do I work on fabrics and when do I paint? Are the 'ingredients' here, or are they there? It has become quite obvious to me...after dwelling on it a bit...that fabrics are for the home studio and paint is for the downtown studio. Being easily confused....this seems to make things work better for me and I think I'll stick to this idea.

Just in the last few days, I have finished three pieces while working at the studio downtown. As you have already figured out...I can't seem to do anything quickly....so I'm not even going to get into how long it took me to finish these....just know it takes me longer than it probably takes anyone...I can be so slow! Anyway, they were great fun!

I've chosen to tell you about one of the pieces....."Choosing the Rose." To create it, I used paint, water soluble oil pastels, a black pencil, vintage pattern pieces, lace, copyright free clipart, scrapbooking paper, paper napkins, and phrases cut from a vintage book. (Oh yes, I can now spend HOURS cutting out phrases from books and setting them together in various ways....who knew this could be such FUN?) I am NOT a painter, of course, but since the other three artists, with work spaces in the studio, DO paint...creating a collage makes me feel as if I am a part of what they do. It works!

One little tidbit about two of these collages that you might be interested in. They were done on canvas board. I've discovered I don't care for canvas board. I wanted to frame these collages and could not find a frame that would hold a 9" x 12" canvas board. What to do?? I remembered that I saw a neat way to frame pieces in Claudine Hellmuth's book "Collage Discovery Workshop." So, I thought this would be a great way to frame these pieces. One problem...they are THIN. Not to be defeated, I decided to glue the collaged canvas board to a stretched canvas...and then, I could go about framing the piece as Claudine instructs in her book. The frame is actually nailed into the canvas as you construct it. As you can see, it worked as you end up with a pretty cool frame, made especially for your original piece of art. And, it was FUN!!! You can purchase Claudine's book at amazon. com. You may also visit Claudine at her blog, HERE.

This was a wonderful project to do at the downtown studio...and I plan on doing more. If you like them, please give me a word of encouragement...everyone needs them, you know. And, because I really loved searching for the words/phrases from the vintage books...here is what I chose for this particular collage:

"Choosing the Rose
The bright moment flew on
Amid illumined gardens rich with summer."

I love that I could find these three lines separate from each other and now they are living well together on my simple collage. Take care out there...stay cool. pat