Collage exploration #1

Series: Collage exploration #1

Ages ago I bought some pre-cut mounts in three different sizes and, while I’ve used a handful of the larger two sizes, I’ve been stumped for a use for the smallest ones. The outer dimensions are a reasonable 5″×7″ but a 1″ border means that the aperture is only 3″×5″ and that feels a little skinny even for most of the colouring I do.

As I mentioned when I posted my scrap collage, I’ve been wanting to explore collage more and I realised that using these mounts to frame mini collages would stop me from overreaching and trying to create larger pieces. Working at this scale would give me the opportunity to play with different styles, complete each one relatively quickly, and hopefully not get frustrated with it.

I did think about committing to doing one every day, or working towards a fixed number, but then I remembered that I hate artificial deadlines and, more often than not, they just make me stressed and then I abandon the project completely. So, no targets, just exploration.

For this first one, I started off with no plan, I just shuffled through my stash of papers cut mostly from magazines until I found some that felt interesting. I found some others that fitted with the simple orange and grey colour scheme that had developed and then simply played around with them until the lines and blocks came together in a pleasing arrangement.