Ingredients:
assorted decorated papers, silver bric-a-brac, white mizhuki
cord
Lessons Learned:
1) Make pattern pieces from sturdy posterboard not just
tracing paper.
2) Number and label the pieces carefully to help keep things
organized.
3) Find a way to temporarily keep pieces in position before
gluing.
Process:
One day last week I cleaned off the kitchen counter, filled
up a shoebox with paints and texture pieces and brushes and
all kinds of medium, covered the counter with freezer wrap,
and spent the afternoon decorating paper with my 11 year old
son.
I used
Mead sketch paper to paint on. I'm sure there's better
quality paper for this purpose out there, but that was all I
had on hand, and since I was feeling inpired, I used it. I
knew I wanted to make a pure collage to go in the "Winter"
section of the book, so I only brought out paints that fit
my theme: different shades of white, silvers, and
black.
I had so much fun,
and so did my son. We played for a couple of hours.
(Click
here for close-up pictures of the papers I created along with directions
for how to make them.).
I based the structure
of this piece on the quilting book
Ghost
Layers and Color Washes
by Katie Pasquini Masopust. I had originally read about how to adapt
this method of quilting to paper in an article written by Rona Chumbook,
which appeared in
Somerset
Studio, Jan./Feb. 2002.
The
idea is to make three layers of design: the base, the ghost,
and the color wash. These are layered on top of each other
and each piece is given a designated shade of fabric to
create a very colorful piece that has a lot of movement in
it. I feel like I did a pretty good job on my first try, and
even though it's a challenging process, I'm sure the next
time will be easier and will look better.
There
were some places where my paper didn't match up exactly
right, so I camoflauged those areas with mizhuki cord and
silver bric-a-brac.
I
collaged onto premium ink jet paper, and when I was finished
and the piece had thoroughly dried, I marked the center on
the back with pencil, and carefully folded it in half. I put
double stick tape on the back and then adhered it into the
book, being careful to tuck the center fold into the gutter
as far as possible. What you see in the picture at the top
of the page is what the collage looked like before being put
into the book. I thought it would be easier to scan that
way.
Although
that one piece of paper in the middle looks tannish, it's
really silver. In addition to the decorated papers I made,
there is also an assortment of store bought papers and a
napkin that I got in a swap. The papers are all different
shades of white, silver, and gray. The scan doesn't do
justice to the shimmer of the metallics and the sparkle of
the PearlEx and glitter. You'll have to come visit me and
see it in person!
Reflections:
I decided to alternate pages of just art and pages with
text, just to stretch myself a little. I really feel that my
altered books are like artist journals for me where I get to
try new things. I think that I might take a break from the
book after I'm done with "Winter," and try a larger scale
collage with the Ghost Layers and Color Washes
technique.
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