100 Days of Collage: Days 21-40

The 100 Day Project continues! For 100 days, I am doing a small collage, 8.5 x 5.5 inches, in a wire-bound sketchbook.

Why? Because:

I want to.
It takes discipline and follow-through, which are habits I want to foster.
I love working in a series – doing lots of things on a theme. I feel like it really pushes me to think through the activity and stretch myself.
Giving myself constraints on size, time, design, and materials is both challenging and exciting.

Some days I sit down and look at the blank page and my mind goes equally blank. But when I trust in the process, pick up paper scraps, and begin arranging them on the page, an image comes together.

In Days 21-40, I have found myself not working in a straight line. Meaning, one day doesn’t flow into the other logically. These days tend to jump around: one day has dark colors; the next has light colors. One day is serious, the next silly.

I think the lack of flow has been caused by hosting events at my studio. Each time I do a class or collage party, I have to clean up my studio and put away my supplies. When I reset after the event, different papers come back out. Different stash to choose from.

I am still trying to keep each day’s work to 30 minutes or less, so fewer of them have stitching. Stitching takes time. Pieces that have stitching take as much as 2 hours. I haven’t always had that much time lately.

I have been busy preparing for shows lately, too, so the big artwork has had to take precedence. I am still making time for this project, but it has had to fit in to my schedule.

Collage Adhesives

In the past few weeks, people have asked what adhesive I use. Mod Podge, they ask? No, not usually. I have it and use it occasionally, but rarely for art projects. More for craft projects.

Instead, I use mostly the two items pictured here: Liquitex Matte Gel and Aleen’s Collage Pauge.

Liquitex Matte Gel: it’s thick! The consistency of mayonnaise. Papers go down smoothly. The finish is clear and matte. Because I often paint paper with acrylic paints, I feel like this medium is compatible with my paints. I use this with all my large artwork and many of the small pieces. LOVE this stuff. I little goes a LONG way.
Aleen’s Collage Pauge: thinner, the consistency of glue. I use the matte version which has a slight sheen. It dries quickly and holds well. It’s slightly less expensive than the matte gel.

If you want to keep up with the action as it happens, visit me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/lifeneedsart/.