Piecings, continued

by Jo Reimer

These are more of the Piecings series of collage paintings I've been working on this week. I'm quite happy with a couple of them but not so much with others. I keep telling myself that this is just a start, that more and better work will come as I continue seeing what I can do with my palette of papers.

Orange, study
12 x 12" on panel

One thing that frustrates me has to do with how I work with my paper collection.

Most of my painted papers are in a big drawer in my work table. The drawer isn't full but it's cluttered and I've spent lots of frustrating time pawing through the paper, seeking just the right one. Sometimes it's color I'm hunting; sometimes it's visual texture or pattern. I'm not sure if I have too many papers or not enough variety.

Elizabeth Nelson sorts her painted papers in 9 see-through drawers, by color family. See her in action here.

Marge Malwitz sorts hers into flat cardboard boxes which she pulls from a cabinet.

I'm sure either system would work better for me than having everything in one big drawer.  I just need to make time to do the sorting and set up a system to keep it all under control. I put smaller bits in plastic boxes which I've dubbed "Compost" bins. That works well for smaller pieces or when I'm traveling... not so much for larger works such as I am aiming to do.

Purples, study
12 x 12 on panel

Split Complements, study
12 x 12 on panel

The following piece was done on a canvas board. The white paper and gold paper with grids is some I made myself. I laid linen thread between two sheets of tissue paper and then coated it carefully with gloss medium to seal the thread between the layers. This is NOT a favorite because I think the green paper strip is too wide but by the time I realized it the glue was well on its way to dry. It's a study and I learned from doing it.

Grid Study

12 x 16

How do you sort your collage papers?

Edge of Winter... collage painting

by Jo Reimer

Edge of Winter

9 x 12 collage

 

Although I've shot many dozen photographs at the Oregon Coast I added lots more to my collection last weekend. The light was incredible on a late winter afternoon. Here's what it looks like in my part of the world:

 

An Intro to Piecings... collage paintings

by Jo Reimer

Complements

I've been exploring another approach to collage, in a series I'm calling "Piecings". That's just what these collage paintings are... pieces of paper, most cut into geometric shapes and assembled, like when I made quilts from cut pieces of fabric. (This collage is 9 x 12".)

The focal strip was composed by creating a collage of long stripes which I then cut across the grain to create stripes of small rectangles.

Quilters often use a similar technique, especially within the Seminole Patchwork tradition where several stripes of colors are created and then cut apart and rearranged to create a pattern as shown here. The technique is thoroughly explained in The Complete Book of Seminole Patchwork, written by two friends of mine, Bev Rush and Lassie Wittman.

I seem most comfortable with pieces of color which I can move around to create a pleasing composition, rather than starting from scratch with a white substrate and an assortment of paints and brushes. Of course these papers started out white but first I had fun applying paint to paper, creating visual texture in a variety of ways. 

Another advantage of using some of the thinner papers I've prepared as well as washi, is that I can work with layering, like the blue area above which is a commercial thin "rice"paper layered over a paper which I painted with a grid, adding visual interest and complexity to a simple design.