Tag: Whimsical

I think many of us are searching for something in our lives. (And yes, as I’m writing this, the Eurythmics’ song is in my head.)

Perhaps the more serious you make the search, the less likely you are to find what you truly want.

That’s the message of this collage, and it’s another one I’m looking at, daily.

No doubt it sounds woo-woo, in a way, but I believe life operates along different frequencies.  If one is angry, they find things to be angry about. If you’re frantic, maybe you encounter more frustrations.

But, if you go into it like Alice, “curiouser and curiouser,” your sense of whimsy may lead you to a delightful range of experiences.

That’s the way I’m looking at life, right now.

And that’s what this collage says to me.

Size: 8.5″ x 11″

Materials: Poster board, torn magazine images and text, pen-and-ink accents, and Yes Paste.

A dog in a bow tie. A tux. A swimming pool. And then a classic grey-and-brown sitting room or parlour.

Those are the main elements in this mixed media collage.

I photographed this collage as I finished it, early this morning (in low light). The deep teal colors in the photo are far more vivid in real life. (The background was hand-painted, and the color is a mix of Yale blue and Dartmouth green… a nice, juicy – but sophisticated – dark teal.)

Mostly, I absolutely LOVE how my collages are moving in a fine art direction, and couldn’t wait to share it. The finished piece is 12″ x 12.5″.

This collage started as a jest, responding to Robert Presti’s joke’s about puppies in some of my collages. (Bob is a childhood friend from Belmont, Massachusetts.)

Then, as I collected elements that appealed to me, the collage took on fresh depth. I decided to make it a comment about disrupting staid boardrooms and others’ expectations.

Note: The cotton swabs at the left side of the photo are what I use to tidy glue and glitter paint when I apply them. My favorite magazines for collage are the same ones I read: Town & Country (American edition), Vanity Fair, Wired, English Home, Yankee, and National Geographic.

This collage also appears at my Aisling website for fellow mixed-media artists.

It started with a puppy’s cute face.

Then, because my humor is quirky, I realized the puppy’s face would fit perfectly on an Hermes ad from a British fashion magazine.

With a few added details, this torn-paper collage – the only one I created this past weekend – seemed complete.

Sometimes, the simplest collages are the most effective.

Play, and spread some cheer!

P.S. The support for this collage was painted green, and then applied a slightly sheer layer of iridescent teal blue. I’ll replace this photo with a better one, later, but – for now – it conveys the general idea behind this art.

(And yes, my husband quoted “Ghostbusters,” saying something like, “Okay, so she’s a dog.” Because his humor is quirky, too.)

Things I learned, creating this collage:

Simple can be fun. It’s far to easy for me to keep adding collage elements when the work might be better with a greater sense of space.

Using glue stick as the adhesive prevents more buckling and bubbling than gel medium, but the adhesion isn’t as consistent, especially as glue stick dries so quickly. And, once placed, the glue holds almost immediately, so fewer adjustments are possible.

But, for small collage elements, where I can place the piece lightly (and make minor adjustments) and then press it down, glue stick can be better than gel medium.