sometimes there's a better way

While gathering completed works for the Hillsboro library show I put my hand on a collage that needed help. I liked the concept and most of the details but the design of the flower and the title weren't right.

Red Flower

So I fixed it. And changed it's name. Now I like it.

Red Hot Mama

Jo Reimer's collages will be shown at the Hillsboro Main Library, 2850 NE Brookwood Pkwy, Hillsboro, OR 97124 throughout the months of May and June during library hours. You're invited to an artists reception in the Board Room on the second floor, Saturday May 16 between 2 and 4.

What's Going On?

by Jo Reimer

What's Going On?

 This piece is 30" x 10", collage on canvas.

Strips of words, painted papers and a few appropriated images from current publications show the chaos of society... the layers of conversation, opinions, stress, and moments of calm which reflect today's life. 

I used acrylic medium to adhere the papers to canvas which had been coated with heavy gel medium. I went back in with a tacking iron to make sure all was firmly glued in place.

Available Work

Writing on the Wall... collage

by Jo Reimer

Writing on the Wall
10" x 30" x 1"
Collage on Cradled Canvas

Since I've stockpiled a number of cradled canvases I decided to experiment with presenting collages on the canvas even though I prefer a smooth surface for collage since the papers are more likely to form a strong bond.

The first step was to add a smooth coating of gesso and then a coat of gel medium to prepare the surface. The gel medium ensures that areas which don't immediately bond can be fixed later by ironing that area. The heat melts the medium on the substrate as well as the medium on back of the papers, sealing them together forever. I only needed to do that in one area across the bottom.

I drew the shape of the canvas onto my paint table paper and designed the compositon in that area rather than working directly on top of the canvas.

The paper in the middle area is what I call "writing that can't be read", sort of code writing. This was done by a friend and photocopied onto washi paper.

I love collage!

Available Work

Line after line

Some mornings I come into the studio without a single idea about what I will do next. Today was like that. I was determined to paint something; I just didn't know what that something would be, so rather than start with a fresh scary white canvas I pulled out three 8 x 10 canvases that I started working on last summer. The colors were okay but did little to jog my creativity so I mixed a dab of chromium oxide green acrylic into a dollop of titanium white and brushed that lightly onto each canvas, barely covering the color beneath.

Before the paint had a chance to dry I dragged a palette knife through the paint to draw lines in the wet paint, revealing a bit of what's underneath. The lines in each piece are different, some just straight lines, some grids. I chose to continue on just one today... adding a block of letters front and center and then some bits torn from rice paper which are decidedly Asian but I don't know what country. Then I added a border of blue and some soft highlights around the edges and called it good.



I'll get to the other canvases another day.