Painted Paper for Collage

Samples of new painted papers

As I was organizing a dark corner of my studio closet last week I found a couple of big sheets of white paper that was wrinkled and slightly dirty. 

Not being one to toss good paper I laid the largest sheet out on my big table and proceeded to apply color... watercolor and acrylic sprays and watered down fluid acrylics applied with a sponge were my main colors. Then I grabbed a small squirt bottle of black Bob Ross gesso and made a bunch of marks on the colorful paper. I like this gesso for drawing because of its runny consistancy, almost like yogurt after its been stirred.

The next sunny day I set up outside with the paper, some spray paint, and a handful of stencils and added another layer of paint and patterns.

Once dry I tore the paper into random sizes for use as collage.

The process of painting my own papers is very satisfying, much more so than using commercial papers, no matter how pretty. These personal papers give my work an added layer of authencity, sort of like the knitter who likes to spin her own wool from sheep she's raised, though perhaps that's carrying the analolgy a bit far. And best of all, I find that the process of transforming simple white paper into a thing of beauty acts as a trigger, creating an urge to work on days when motivation is a no-show in my studio.