The fish are copies of 19th century zoological illustrations.
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Mixed media collage, 9″ x 12″
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Category Archives: Collage
New beeswax collage
The fish are color copies of 19th-century zoological illustrations (copyright free), which I altered in Photoshop to an indigo-and-white color scheme. First, change to Sepia (found on the Hue/Saturation menu). Then use the “Invert” command (on the Adjustments menu) to change to indigo. Saturation can be adjusted after that to your liking.)
FIshes & Coral beeswax collage on canvas, 8″ x 8″
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Also, just for fun — here’s a scribble drawn on a tablet. I find scribbling so freeing, relaxing, and playful. Don’t do it often enough! It gets creative juices flowing.
More beeswax collage
I’m finding this to be a delightful medium to work with. The melted beeswax (I use a small crockpot) gives off a wonderful scent. The collage has a gentle glow and subtle depth and softness. The fish (copyright-free images) were printed on a color copier (inkjet prints do not work with this method).
Coin Lost in the River, No. 2 ( a Zen koan) beeswax collage on canvas, 8″ x 10″
Beeswax Collage
I took a class this past Sunday at Kala Institute in Berkeley where I learned the wonderful process of using beeswax to make collages on canvas. The teacher, Elaine Chu, was great! She is offering this class again in Feb. 2018 at the San Francisco Center for the Book: https://sfcb.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=3005
You can see some of Elaine’s artwork here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/egchuhandcrafted
I made two collages in the class and a third one yesterday:
Fishes & Fork 8.5″ x 10.5″
Rain Poem by Daito Kokushi, Japanese Zen Master (5.5″ x 7.125″)
Coin Lost in the River (Zen koan) 8″ x 10″
Paste paper
Recently a wonderful artist, Susan Johnson, whose studio is near mine, taught me how to make paste paper. This process, developed by bookbinders over 400 years ago , uses pigmented starch paste to make decorative paper. We used Elmer’s Art Paste, acrylic paints, and drawing paper. It’s a lot of fun and makes you feel like you’re 7 years old again! These make great covers and endpapers for handmade books, and are also wonderful for collage, wrapping paper, etc. Can’t wait to make more!
There are lots of instructions to be found online. Here is one link: Cornell Book Arts
