Collages

I have been on a mission to read some of my many art and craft books and take inspiration from them!   So I have recently been making collages following the prompts from the Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman.  

These four were my first challenge - to make some small 5 minute collages. 

I used some old wine labels as the starting point and was very careful to stop when I reached the allotted time.  This was difficult to do given my propensity for  often over egging the creative cake!  

 

The second challenge was to make a collage using layers of white (no time limits any more I'm glad to say).

 I'm not sure if it's finished but I feel if I add anything more I'll regret it!

And a shot of an unusually (for me) very untidy desk - collage scraps are currently scattered everywhere - they are usually stored in folders depending on colour or subject, but they have got a little out of control!  And I have treated myself to three new soft rubber brayers - they are homeless at the moment so a little bit of re-arranging is needed to squeeze them into a drawer somewhere!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW

Cyanotype printing

 I have been busy collecting the last of the summer blooms and foliage from the garden, and preserving them for cyanotype printing by pressing them.  In contrast to my husband who is head vegetable gardener I am particularly thrilled with the leaves that have been half eaten by pests or struck with disease - the little holes and nibbled and curled bits add so much more to the print in my opinion!

These prints show Brambles, Raspberry leaves, weeds and Tamarisk, and the last two photos show the Tamarisk print before and after rinsing out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 Minute Collages and WOYWW

  This week I've been sorting through art and craft books - some need to go but I have a few that I am keen to read and use as inspiration, so to start me off I have been following the prompts in The Collage Workbook by Randel Plowman.  The first task was to make some 5 minute collages - quite difficult for me as I work very slowly!  However I gathered 'stuff' together - colours that are out of my comfort zone, ephemera that I don't know why I've been keeping, and washi tapes that haven't seen the light of day for years.  I gave myself 20 minutes to make all 4 rather than work on one at a time - I am half way through and should be able to  complete the other 10 minutes by the end of today!  

 I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.