Mail Art - Introduction to Collage

Happiness

friends and art supplies

This weekend I taught Mail Art at my studio in Lowell. It’s a playful day of paper collage, designed for beginners or anyone interested in a carefree afternoon of art.

This groups’ talent and bravery was inspiring.

We started by tearing out magazine pages, to create a mini-stash of images and text. Next we painted junk papers with acrylic. This step was a real surprise to my students, so lots of discoveries and questions.

After a lunch, we reviewed collage basics and they began their personal work. We were working small, but they amazed me and themselves with the complexity of imagery created.

Several pieces were good enough that framing was in order. An alternative to shipping it off as a card. So added a talk on how to save and reproduce your work to share it. So much easier now than when I started a million years ago.

The goal: a foundation for creative work at home. They succeeded.

Unexpected Journey

Future Past

Artistic company can work like critical mass. Thank you to my students in this spring’s Expressive Collage at Arlington Center for the Arts. Together we created a room that embraced creation. Music in the background. Supplies spread out. Ideas shared. On my table: papers the colors of sky and fire, plus text and pages from an old book. The rhythm of time together each week meant progress for all our work.

Do you like to work alongside others? Do you prefer privacy when you create?