Excited About Collage

I'm excited by the new series of classes I'm leading at The Village Gallery. Please join me for a day to PLAY with paper and glue.

On June 3 and July 8 we'll think about LANDSCAPE as we work and on June 17 the topic is using STENCILS in your paintings...

...and we'll talk about BEGINNING. Whether you're new to collage or an old hand, how to begin is always the first question. We'll tackle that head on.


Each class runs from 9 am until 1 pm. The fee is $75. The Supply List is detailed on the gallery website.

Register at the The Village Gallery by phone —503-644-8001 or through the gallery website here.

Post any questions or comments below in the comment box.

Collage around a drawing

Thursday was a bit bittersweet... after a month on the walls of the Village Gallery I took down the twelve pieces of the Color Wheel exhibition. Sales were sweet. Comments and visits from friends were welcome. The entire experience helped me grow as an artist and gave me much needed encouragement to forge onward.

So what was bitter about it? Putting the work away. Not being able to walk into the gallery and see the colorful display. There's something so special about seeing an entire body of work hanging on a gallery wall.  The People's Choice was Orange with Blue, seen on the upper left of the photo below.

My friend Roz Stendahl just posted a fun exercise on Facebook about building a collage around a drawing. See it here. Roz continually comes up with great ideas for drawing and for a collage artist this project is sure a keeper... and one I wanted to share immediately with you. If you try it please send me a jpg and I'll send it onward to Roz.

Now excuse me while I go play in the studio.

We All Love A Good Story.

Art usually has a story to tell. You know that, don’t you? The artist paints, the musician plays or sings, the actor plays a part.  The audience listens, watches, appreciates… and sometimes participates.  Communication.

An early morning conversation with some art buddies segued into the idea of using story-telling as a way of helping the viewer understand the work whether it’s realistic or non-representational. I’ve noticed during open studios how the conversation frequently leads to me telling the story behind a piece that interests a visitor. 

Here's a story for you....

 

HOMEWARD BOUND  12 x 12"  NFS

This collage painting is called Homeward Bound and the story around it goes something like this: 

"The woman is my mother when she was about 18 and Dad was falling in love with her. 

255 was my phone number! Yes, I’m that old. 

The bridge is similar to one that my father forced me to drive across when I was learning that skill. It had wooden planks placed wheel width apart and I had to practice keeping the tires on the planks (or crash into the river below, so I thought). Yikes.

The two men in the rowboat represent my father and brother… and me. Dad loved for us to go fishing with him; he made us row while he fished.  

The handwriting is from a letter from my dear sister-in-law."

I think that because of this good story I could have sold this piece several times, but it’s not for sale for that same reason. It reminds me that my heart will ever be Homeward Bound.

Pull out some of your paintings and see if you can make up a story about it. The story could be about the content, the images. Or maybe it's about the process of painting it. Maybe the story is pure fiction but fits the painting. It could be the title, a short story.

Write the story, put it in an envelope and tape the envelope to the back of the painting for a buyer or your heirs to find someday. If it’s headed to a gallery you might make the story part of the label or contained in the artist statement.  We all love a good story.  

So....please tell me a story by leaving it in the comment section below. 

When Push Comes to Shove....

...... I can do whatever it takes…. 

….and does it ever feel good to finish the hard thing, which this time was making the artwork for a show at The Village Gallery in March. 

I did the serious planning and a bit of work in December and as soon as the holidays were behind me I geared up, and yesterday I was able to take the finished work to be photographed. Whew!  Twelve rather complex collages in 6 weeks is a personal record.

I’m proud of the work I’ve done and am excited to see it all hanging.  I hope you who live in the area will come see the show between March 3 and 30, 2019. Maybe you’ll find something that’s just right for a wall in your own home.

 

"ORANGE WITH BLUE AND GREEN"   $375

You know I love color and have had extensive training in using color. Having taught the standard color wheel I know that many people find it difficult to actually use the color wheel when making their art. So… I decided to make twelve 12” x 12” collage paintings with each one based on one of the colors in the color wheel to show you how it might be done. I made the primary-color pieces first, complemented with black and white. Then I made the secondary and tertiary versions, some accented with its complement (opposite color on the color wheel) or with its split complement. The results are an interesting grouping.

Here's a peek at my process for "Purple":

Let me tell you.... It took lots of head-scratching to decide what I think of as purple. Does it lean toward blue or toward red? Is it violet, periwinkle, blueberry.  Oh my. I pulled out my drawer of purple painted papers and chose a variety of papers to audition for this piece.  

More head-scratching let me to narrowing down the selection to these pieces to use as the first layers. This is what it looked like laid out and photographed as a 12" square-ish shape.

"PURPLE"   $375

More decisions, more auditioning, more papers, some marks and stenciling led me to this this finished work. 

You're welcome to copy the following list of my processes if it will help you in your own art making.

COLLAGE PROCESS

• Build the background with paper and paint
• Add images, photographs, marks, stencils and stamps
• Seal with gloss medium
• Add photo transfers, if desired.
• Make more marks. Add glazes.
• Seal again with gloss medium, or with matte medium if you prefer a matte surface.
• Photograph.
• Finish the edges of the cradle, if using.
• Frame the work.
• Sign on the front and on the back
• Add to your inventory, with pricing.

Hillsboro Farmers Market Entry

Hillsboro Farmers Market.  16x20".  Collage

I delivered this piece today, one of the 12 Finalists for Picture Hillsboro.  This is a competition to select one painting to be purchased and reproduced as giclee prints which the mayor will give visiting dignitaries and when he visits foreign governments. 

Boy, do I hope I win! But then, I've already won, haven't I? I'm so very thankful to have made the cut.

All 12 Finalists' paintings will be presented at the Hillsboro City Council meeting on February 6 an the final selection will be presented on March 6.  I plan to attend, yes I do! 

Jo

The Artist and Social Media

Disclaimer: I'm no computer expert.

• I learned to type in a back room behind my high school library on a manual typewriter and at best I hit 46 words/minute and haven't improved. 
• My fingers work slowly and that's a fact. 
• I bought my first computer in the late 80's. 
• My blog is 8 years old. 
• My Facebook account is about 5.
• Pinterest is my good friend.
•  Instagram: whoa, I'm still learning. 
• My etsy store is empty. 
• And I don't have a real website and don't plan to change.

What I do know is how to use my computer to learn stuff and share my art and ideas. Self-taught.

I have learned SO much by searching the artistic corners of the internet. There are some amazing sources out there and all one has to do it google a word or phrase or ask a question and you get hundreds of answers.

Here on my blog, over in the right side column, you'll find lists of collections of artists whose work I find helpful and links to their blogs or websites. Painters, sketchers, collage artists... those are my peeps.

I've just spent an hour checking out all the links so that clicking on any of them will take you to a special place and a talented and hard-working artist. Go look.  I plan to add a bunch more, especially in the areas of sketching and collage. There are lots of amazing people that have come to my attention.

Here's one of my daily collages but the disclaimer on this one is that I worked on it over about 4 days time, a bit at a time, because I had little time for art making over the weekend.

SEED PODS. 7.5 square. paper on paper

"Seed Pods" was made with 6 pieces of paper: one photograph, a magazine page where I used solvent to dissolve the ink, text printed backwards, 2 purchased handmade papers, and inked tracing paper.

Collage Plus Photography

Daily Collages:

I've been posting recent daily collages over on Instagram. Hop on over there and follow me if you wish. 

In last week's series I worked on 7 1/2" watercolor paper* starting with a tiny photograph from a grouping I printed at a drugstore where you can print several shots on one print.  I drew a loose grid on the paper, glued a photo where I wanted the center of interest, and proceeded to extend the content of the photograph outwards from there.

This is similar to the photo I chose for "Running Toward Home", a herd of horses in a pasture at SunRiver, Oregon.  And here is the finished collage:
 

TEARING 7 1/2" SQUARES":Watercolor paper in either 140# or 300# weight is a favorite substrate for my collages. It comes in sheets that measure 21+" x 30". This size can be folded or measured and torn into 7 1/2" squares with no waste. I keep a stack of these squares on hand. 

Here's how I get 12 squares out of one sheet of 22 x 30" paper with no waste...

• Fold in half along the 30" length and tear or cut along the fold, yielding 2 pieces that are 22 x 15. 
• Fold each in half and cut along the fold. You'll now have four strips measuring roughly 22 x 7 1/2.
• Now take each of these strips and measure and mark 7 1/2" and cut off this square.
• Fold the remaining strip in half and cut along the fold giving you two more 7 1/2" squares of paper. 
• I know 22 doesn't divide evenly by 3 but for my purposes, it's good enough to fudge a bit.
• Repeat with all the paper strips and you'll end up with 12 rough-cut squares.

Catching up in the studio

Feathering My Nest

I took an unintended sabbatical from this blog in 2017 but have good intentions to pick up where I left off.

2017 was not a good year in my house, hence little time or inclination to write to all you lovely people. I’ve enjoyed the best health in many years but no so my husband. He’s suffering from several compression fractures in his back and with chronic back problems there’s not much hope for much improvement. We manage, though, and mostly stay upbeat through it all.

Art-making has taken a bit of a back seat but creativity has not. Our September 2016 move into a smaller home sent me into a long period of being creative about how I feathered my new nest.. I dearly love this smaller studio.

As I was downsizing my studio I made some hard decisions. Goodbye to oil paint and bars, encaustic, pastels, and all but the simplest bookmaking. Supplies for knitting, fancy sewing, quilting, crochet, beading, dyeing, screen printing, embroidery, 2/3 of my library, and much more that I don’t want to remember were donated or sold. I decided that since I have many more years behind me than in front of me I will concentrate on my main loves: collage, sketching with ink and watercolor, acrylic painting, and simple sewing. Those choices have proven to be so good, so right.

As I told you, my studio was once a master bedroom. I store large canvases in the soaking tub.

One small closet holds my clothes and shoes and the other one is for storing supplementary art supplies.

Two cabinets contain collage materials with two of the drawers reserved for thread and interfacing.

My old wire basket unit is my colored paper palette and several 12x12 totes house the collage compost. And yes, I set up a reading corner with the bookcase and recliner positioned in a corner window looking out on the backyard.

My corner desk is bracketed by tables, one for sewing and paperwork and the other for drawing and sit-down collage.

 I have a tall Ikea table for collage and for cutting fabric, with a lower pull-out table underneath.

So you see I’m all set.

 During January I plan to make one collage every day. So far so good and here are a couple of the finished ones, both 7.5" square.

MAX tracks at 10th and Morrison

Running For Home

As for my art practice in general, I’m backing off from art as business. All that marketing is in the rear view mirror. That’s not to say that I will say no to opportunities to show or sell my work… not at all! I’ve submitted two large collages to a local competition, have rejoined a local gallery, and am ruminating about ways to sell online. Making a collage every day means the work will stack up and my small house doesn’t have enough wall space for it all. I’ll let you know when I have work to sell.

I'd sure appreciate any comment or hello or feedback you'd like to leave, even if it's just to let me know you're still out there and you care about reading One A Day.

JO

My new Blogger address is  https://joreimer.blogspot.com.

Andy Warhol and Bright Line Eating

Jagger by Warhol. Portland Art Museum.

I resisted going to the Andy Warhol exhibition but my daughter's invitation was too appealing, especially being able to share it with three grandkids. I'm SO glad to have seen this surprisingly moving exhibit of amazing art.


The entry was wallpapered with prints of headlines from the 60s and 70s, times I lived through that moved me to tears, such as the iconic photos of the motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated, photos of  the Kennedy brothers, Rights Bill signed into Law, Men Walk on the Moon.

So powerful!

And then the show itself which was skillfully mounted. At the time they were made Warhol's prints didn't appeal to me, but now! Now I can see and understand that his work added much to the visual history of the latter part of the century with powerful, impactful yet simple works that tell about time in a way that words cannot.

The Electric Chair by Warhol

I  still don't like most of Warhol's work, but this show was magnificent, even the grouping of his Electric Chair series. Most are only two colors which gives me an idea for a collage... not of the Electric Chair, but of using such powerful colors together.  I can see a series of collages based on his use of color, somewhat like Leslie Saeta is doing in her 30 Day Challenge where her inspiration is Joanna Gaines homes in the TV show Fixer Upper.


In fact, I got several ideas for collage from this show, especially from the works which feature bold drawings on top of collaged papers such as this series of portraits:

That's my redhead standing in front of Mick. She's a fan.




Bright Line Eating



And on another topic, entirely off-topic as far as ART is concerned but which will interest some of you.... I have released 59 pounds and have reached my goal of living in a right-sized body. I'm easing into maintenance and am holding my weight within a pound or two.  Boy, do I feel good! It's such fun to shop thrift stores and sales racks, on the hunt for small sizes.  



Bright Line Eating did it for me.  I began this journey on Dec. 29, 2015 and reached goal weight in the fall. I'm a slow loser. One of my friends has lost 66 pounds in 5 months!  I tried to do it on my own, following the FAA diet plan, but soon figured out that I needed to know more so I signed up for the March 2016 Bootcamp.



If you're interested, the next BLE BootCamp starts this month. The price is nearly half that of previous BootCamps. If you click on this link you'll get access to the Food Freedom Quiz and then receive further invitations to view 3 more videos in the series that explain this method of weight loss.  It's not for everyone. In fact, it's probably not for most people, but for me it worked. I'm a food addict, addicted to sugar and flour. This program removes all sugars and flours from the diet... not easy at first, but like weening off any addiction it gets easier.with time.  



Here's the link: 
http://bit.ly/2j2If1B



Jo

Go to Your Studio and Make Stuff

One A Day collage: "Phone 3211"  9x12 sketch

Last month I taught a class called The Creative Process and during that class I stressed the value of a daily practice. That's why I started this blog, One A Day, about five years ago. I committed to make a small collage every day as a way of entering the studio, a warm-up practice. And I did just that for a long time but then gradually blogging daily crept off my radar until lately I've been mostly absent from this blog.

It isn't intentional. I haven't given up making things. It's just that my interest shifted and writing didn't serve me as well.  I've been giving that some thought, and I'm anxious to hold myself accountable to my loyal readers, so here I am again, telling you that I intend to be more regular with my online musings.

GO TO YOUR STUDIO AND MAKE STUFF

One thing I talked about with my students was the value of setting up some sort of "entering the studio" practice. It could be anything they choose to do that fits easily into their life: sketching, sorting paper, moving paint on paper, small collages, journaling.  The purpose is to get the creative juices flowing. No pianist enters the concert hall without warming up. No pitcher steps onto the mound without throwing lots of balls on the sidelines. I can't expect to make a good drawing without first making some marks on paper to limber up my fingers, wrist, elbow and shoulder and get my right brain involved in making stuff.

Since I work primarily in collage it makes sense to work with my materials and tools a bit before I tackle the serious work. I believe that any artist worth the name will keep some sort of sketchbook so that's what I do. I have lots of sketchbooks, some for drawing, some for journaling about what goes on in my studio, but for my collage warmups I work in one primary sketchbook, a 9x12 Canson XL Mix Media spiral bound book. It accepts acrylic, watercolor, glue, and ink without buckling and it's not expensive so I'm not scared of making ugly mistakes. Collage is forgiving. If the work is really ugly I simply gesso over it or add another layer of paper and no one's the wiser.

I'll follow the example of one of my teachers, Joan Schulz, who dedicates a small area of her studio to her first-thing collage making, small postcards.  In my First-Thing area is my sketchbook, a glue stick, a small box of colorful paper bits, and a pair of scissors.  I set my timer for 15 minutes and get to work.

What's your warm-up practice? How do its benefits show up in your work? I've love to have you tell other readers what you do to get going when you enter your studio. Simply click on Comment below and share your experience, please.

Jo

Urban Sunset

Jo Reimer.  Urban Sunset.  24x30".  Collage

It's not at all obvious but this piece started out with an under-painting of orange, magenta and yellow and somewhere along the way all the yellow was covered up except for that tiny bit in the lower right corner. That yellow presented quite a struggle to me because the papers I covered up were quite beautiful. Precious, even. The last of the lot.  Gone.

When a paper or a painting or even a passage is considered to be too precious to cover over it can become a stumbling block to creativity. It certainly was for me, and for the longest time I couldn't move on. The original direction of the colors in this piece was simply too close, too boring, too analagous.  What did the work need, I asked myself.  Gray maybe. A city is mostly concrete, after all.  So out came the collection of gray paper to cover those four corners. And there it lay for a few days while I gathered the courage to cover up all that lovely yellow. 

The lines of magenta on top of the brightest orange were done with a stencil which I took with me the day I painted at the Glencoe HS Art Week  last month.  I wanted to repeat the shapes in the stencil so I held it in place on top of some of the gray area and dabbed on some white paint and then added shadow, working with pencil and thinned down paint until I had it just right. 

The figures in the cityscape are all me. Shadow photographs printed onto painted papers and added as collage elements.

Urban Sunset is on view in the current show at Oregon Society of Artists.

More Little Jo Stories

Little Jo Rides Again...

Little Jo and Her Dolly

You've seen Little Jo before. I used her photos several years ago when I first stated making a collage a day and I ran across some of her prints while preparing for Collage BootCamp which will be this coming Saturday, March 12.  (There are still a few spaces, if you can join us. Click here for more information.)

One doesn't usually find much use for childhood photos, but I'm having such fun with mine. These Little Jo photos are of me at 2-4 years of age, taken by my dad who loved me with his camera, for which I'm grateful.

Now I'm at it again. I won two canvases for the Village Gallery of Arts May show, Art Adoption, and bought two more and am running with the Little Jo theme. 

Little Jo and Her New Trike

Two of the collage processes I teach in my one-day collage class, BootCamp, are used in all four collage paintings which are made on the cradled canvas. The background was built up first, using the inside of security envelopes. I didn't really think much about what I was doing once I chose and trimmed the papers to size.

After the background dried the front and sides got an isolation coat and then I started playing with scraps of brightly colored papers that contrast strongly against the gray ground. 

Little Jo and Jimbo

I call this type of composition, Layer Cake. It's one I teach in BootCamp, where you make a cattywampus paper layer cake. Little Jo was added here and there and then I spent a satisfying evening doing lots of line-work.  I don't think they're quite done but that's okay because they'll hang around the studio for two months before I have to send them out into the world and I'm sure I'll figure out something else to do to them.

Little Jo Joins the Party

I'll remind you about the VGA show later on in April. There will be 180 6x6" artworks on canvas available at bargain basement prices of $25-$50. It's a benefit for the gallery. Long lines form at the door the morning of May 3 at 10am so come early.

Jo Reimer's Collage Adventures, classes at Village Gallery

 

Baby Brother ***

JO REIMER'S COLLAGE ADVENTURES

I'm looking forward to upcoming classes at the Village Gallery in Cedar Mill. One-day classes/workdays seem to work out best for most busy people, as do weekends.  Each Saturday class runs from 9:30-3:00 and is $90. To sign up for classes please stop by the gallery which is at the east end of the library building in Cedar Mill, or download a registration form HERE. The classroom is small and classes are limited to 10 students.

BOOTCAMP
Saturday March 12
    
.... an introductory workshop for beginners to the art of collage.  You’ll learn about supports, papers, adhesives, tools, and simple composition. There will be several demonstrations of the various techniques throughout the day, and you’ll have time to make several experimental collage paintings in your sketchbook.  Classes will be small so there’s plenty of time for one on one attention. 

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

 Saturday, April 16

Beginning and advanced artists alike will benefit from this hands-on class filled with discussions and demonstrations as we explore basic composition for collage. You’ll receive a prototype of my patent-pending Design Wheel and learn about the elements and principles of design and how to make them work for you as you build interesting collages. We’ll develop a collection of Design Templates and experiment with working with Layers. The skills you learn are applicable both to collage and to painting.

PRINT AND PLAY

Saturday, April 23

 

Roll up your sleeves and prepare to get your hands dirty as we dig into creating unique collage papers.  We’ll learn simple printmaking using the Gelli-Plate; we’ll make Magic Paper; create unusual stamps, work with stencils, and more. Prepare for a hard day of fun and take away lots of beautiful papers and collage sketches in your studio journal, prototypes for future collages or paintings.

***

Baby Brother is a sketch I did as a demo for a BootCamp. I started by building a neutral background, then stacking rectangles, sort of like making a layer cake, on which I added a favorite image of myself as a snotty little 3 year old holding my competition, a new baby brother.