Looking UP - Looking DOWN

 

Another Fun Collage Day

 

"MOTHERSHIP" (a working title at least)

Thanks for visiting my ART BLOG!!  If you scroll down one entry, at the bottom you'll find the first steps to the collage below.  I was intrigued by the concentric circles formed by splashes of raindrops and wanted to emulate that in collage. After collecting other oval/circular shapes an idea began to form. Once I found the image of swimmers (taken below the surface) the idea of "escape" solidified. Turning some of the oval shapes upside down, it began to look like a space ship....

INTERNATIONAL COLLAGE DAY 2025

 

 

Step by step collage by Lunel

 

Homage to Andy Goldsworthy

 Using one of Andy's ephemeral mud installations, I cut it out and surrounded it with collage shapes cut from complimentary colors using my flexible ruler.  Hey Andy, collage is ephemeral too! Thanks for the inspiration.

Collage with Scraps

After any collage is completed there's always a mess to clean up or to refile in folders marked "architecture," "anthropology," "science," or "archaeology," etc..  Finishing up the latest "roll of dice" collage during December, most of the left overs were still on the work table in January. But!!! They were so very pretty, I decided to use them to create a tiled abstract just using circles and squares.

Collage -- Practice, Patience, and PLAY!!

 

Experimenting Continues with "cut outs"

 

Deconstructing Monk

 What FUN!! One of my collage mantras is: invent a further step.  In other words, take what I've learned and stretch my skill by envisioning what else I could do to enhance my collage. Sometimes when something doesn't "work" the "failure" leads to more inventive solutions. One of the main aspects to my ascetic is combining apparent disparate themes and objects. Such was the case with these two photos by renowned contributors to National Geographic. (Apologies to them in advance -- I mean no disrespect by my creative alterations!)

When I initially saw the image of the monk traversing what appeared to be a life-less urban/industrial setting, I mused over how our perception of our environment changes because of our thinking -- a major component of Zen philosophy. The title for the collage emerged as I sought to weave a  "alternative view" into the grey architectural scene. Perhaps in the mind of the Monk he saw no disparity at all!

  

Mona Lisa and Jesus

 Continuing the adventure into cutting up "cut outs" and weaving images, I am documenting some of the steps of the process particularly as the possible iterations of each collage differ from one to another. Below are a few steps of the process during which I learned more about what works and where issues arise. The result was like a Tarot playing card with one image inverted. What may not be visible is the underlayer of a layer of mylar, that, when the collage is rotated, "flashes" between the interlocking woven images.

Tangles and Troubles of Triangles

You can see a better image of this Collage blog: April 2022

In 2022 (for International Collage Day) I created a geometric pattern of triangles and created one of my favorite collages called "Cosmic Dream." It was based on colors of one of our hybrid hibiscus called "Cosmic Dancer" whose colors are hot pink, gold and reds. I struggled (a lot) fitting pieces together and, in the end, needed to use thin black outline tape to cover boo-boos -- but even that "fix" ended up strongly featuring the triangle shapes.

 

Here's the final outcome of my attempt -- this time I didn't need to apply tape to cover mis-matched parts.

On the Horizons

Several recent collage projects have focused on cutting images horizontally, separating them, and using a mix-and-match technique to insert other images between them. There were 8 original images that I used in sections to create this new piece called "HORIZONS" because...it incorporates several views of horizons including Tibet, Europe, Alaska, Bryce Canyon and others. To emphasize the sections, I outlined the edges. I also included a more graphic experimental band in the middle using the same color tones that I felt suggested both the building structures and the unique geological formations.

Collage

As

Puzzle

Frequently, it seems, when people are putting a table-top puzzle together, they begin with "corners" or "edges" or, sometimes color.  When I create collage art, I rarely know what will go where. Some of my collages have only 2-3 pieces and I love that purity.  Here's an example.

It is also fun to "invent" ways of assembling images like the one I just finished this week.