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.

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.

Painting Collage Papers. a tutorial

 

Ironing painted paper

My friend laughs at me for ironing my papers. But ironing them makes the paper flatten back out after they're painted and they're easier to store and use.

I spent an evening recently painting some papers in the color range that I need for a planned collage. It takes time to do paint my own papers to build my palette but it's necessary for my process and lots of fun. 

Painted Papers, ready to use in collage

Here's one of the methods I use to prepare some of my painted papers.

I start with plain white paper: blank copier paper and paper from laser printers (not ink jets), washi, printmaking papers, art tissue, tracing paper, pages torn from discarded books, and music  from old song books and hymnals, pages torn from old phone books and dictionaries. Just about any papers can be used except for cheap papers that fall apart in water (toilet paper, paper towels, regular tissue paper, tissues). I've saved some of the colorful paper towels that I use in the studio but rarely do I use them because of the rougher texture, though some people use these with great success.
 
 I use watery mixtures of acrylic pigments including fluid acrylics, acrylic inks, and airbrush acrylic (aka Golden's Hi-Flow).

And here's how it works for me:
 Mix the pigment with water, about 1:4. about 1-2 oz total should do the trick. Wear rubber gloves.

• Work on a large tray of some sort. I use several old school lunchroom trays.
• Place white paper on a sheet of plastic and get it fairly wet by spraying with water.
• Using a pipette or straw or brush drop the color onto the paper, spraying and brushing to encourage the paint to flow over the paper. I like random rather than all over solid color.
• Cover this paper with another sheet of plastic. Repeat the above steps. Repeat and repeat, building up the layers of paper and plastic.
• Set aside for several hours or overnight to allow the colored pigments to flow over the paper, to settle in creases, to form patterns of color.
• Before unwrapping the papers/plastic spread out large sheets of plastic over floors and furniture on which to set your painted papers for drying.
• Wear rubber gloves.
• Peel each sheet of paper off the plastic and set over on your drying surface. If there's pigment left on the plastic you can blot it up with another piece of absorbent white paper such as washi.
• Once all the paper has been transferred to the drying surface it's a waiting game. The paper dries very quickly outdoors in warm weather but it takes overnight to dry indoors in winter.

 Ironing has been completed and paper is ready to use.

If you, dear reader, make some papers using this method, please send me a photo so I can brag on you.

Jo Reimer: Excellence in Craftsmanship

IMBALANCE

Perhaps I should change the name of this blog since my posting schedule has certainly not been One A Day.  But really, I never intended to post daily, just to be creative daily, and most days I am, even if it's creating an interesting meal or flower arrangement instead of a work of art. And that daily commitment to creativity through this blog has made a difference in my approach to being creative. I'll continue writing about my days, if only for a personal record.

Imbalance is a small piece, 6 x 6" on cradled panel, composed mainly with pages from old National Geographic magazines treated with CitraSolve. The solvent dissolves the printing inks giving unusual and unexpected, unplanned results. I've used these papers for several collages and like them quite a bit because the paper doesn't wrinkle like some of the thinner papers I sometimes use. 

In my work I aim for excellence in craftsmanship. That comes from my background with fabric and thread and tying up any loose ends so the result doesn't have that "loving hands at home" look. Is that the difference between art and fine art? Excellence in the creating?  I want the work to be well made, the labor to look effortless, for the buyer to know that they've purchased something of value.

200 For Under $200

GENTLE PERSUASION by Jo Reimer

I'm delivering three new collages to Oregon Society of Artists today to be in their November show called 200 FOR UNDER $200.  It pains me a bit to let these go for so little but I'm committed.

The rules for this exhibit are interesting. The artist buys three 12" x 12" deep-cradled panels from the gallery which serves as the entry fee. Make the art on the panels and return the finished work. I think all the pieces will be hung so it will be a mixed bag.

APPROACHING STILLNESS by Jo Reimer

These new works feature more of my self-generated papers as well as a few solid colors from commercial sources such as the black in the upper right corner. I know it reads as blue, but it's really black. Other papers include magazine pages that I altered with an orange solvent.

PARALLEL PASSAGES by Jo Reimer

Once the papers were firmly adhered to the substrate and coated with a layer of medium I applied layers of cold wax to protect the work and give the surface a soft glow. The sides were left natural, protected by layers of wax.

As I said, the works are under priced but once I started working on the panels, pursuing a new idea which led to something new, I realized that this was about something more important to me, a suggestion for a new direction. I'm eager to work larger.

In my next post I'll show you the four similar pieces that will be delivered to Cannon Beach Gallery later in the week.

Blog Hop for Artists

Paintings in process in my studio

So what's a Blog Hop? It's a way to introduce new artists and their blogs to my readers.

My friend Ruth Armitage invited me to participate and directed me to answer some questions about my work. I'm happy to oblige. Thanks, Ruth.

Ruth is an energetic and creative woman who specializes in painting in watermedia. Many who live in the Northwest will recognize Ruth's early watercolor work with its focus on family photographs. She's currently working on colorful watermedia paintings that are abstractions of her memories of the family farm. When I study her large paintings I recognize fields, streams, roads, clusters of farm buildings, crop circles and so much more. She's added acrylic paint to her tool kit along with stencils and stamps and the results are amazing and are garnering her national awards and recognition. See her work here: Ruth Armitage.

Here are my answers to some rather tough questions:

How does my creating process work?

            I start work by writing. I enter my studio and go either to my computer or to my easy chair, pick up a journal and start writing, thinking about what I intend to do that day. I state my intention for the day’s work and even if I don’t stick to my first intention it still gives me a starting point. I find it’s easiest to work in series and I have several going at once… maps, family history, faith are a few series ideas on a list I made several years ago. I enjoy designing interesting composition and sometimes work on a series of non-representational pieces using papers I’ve created.

            Once in a while I need to build up my stash of collage papers so I clear off my big design table, get out different types of white paper and watermedia paint and have fun painting the papers using many different methods of surface design I learned or developed over the years of working as a textile artist. I also generate papers using stencils and stamps and simple printing techniques. The resulting papers feature unique colors, combinations, visual textures, and patterns that are unavailable elsewhere. That’s why I call myself a “collage painter”. I paint with papers I’ve created.

Painted paper file

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

            Unlike most collage artists I rarely use appropriated images in my work. It’s easy to get into trouble when using images torn from books and magazines and the resulting work tends to seem rather impersonal. I’ve lived a long time, (I’m in my mid-70s), and my life has been interesting enough that I have lots of memories of travel and experiences that produce all the stories I need to create a body of personal work. Memories are the stuff I build on, making my work unique to me. I have a strong background in design and color and am a stickler for producing pieces which are structured on good design. After decades of working with paper, paint, and textiles I find that composition seems to happen naturally, almost without thought.

What am I working on?

            This summer I’m concentrating on drawing. I believe that good drawing skills empower an artist to make better work no matter what her/his preferred genre. I enrolled in the first session of Sketchbook Skool which started in April, and am now working on the second session. I’ve become obsessed with daily drawing and my skills are improving.

Drawing - Watercolor Table

            At the same time I’m working on a series of collages which feature my big collection of old road maps, mostly of the sort that were free at gas stations all across the country. I also use AAA maps and maps collected on foreign travels. I cut the maps into strips, tear them into sections (often along the original folds line where they naturally tear), combine them with painted papers, or use the pattern of lines within a map as the inspiration for a painting.

Shredded maps and spray inks

 And now to introduce you to the three artists who've agreed to join me on this blog hop:

1.  Judy Wise: Though I haven't actually met Judy I've followed her blog for years, having seen her incredible art journals on line. Judy is an amazing woman who works primarily in encaustic and is known for her book, Plaster Studio which was published by North Light, as well as several ebooks available on her blog and website. Judy teaches both locally and internationally in Australia, Bali, and Mexico. 

2.  Barbara Loyd: I met Barbara in Athens, Greece when an art tour group met for three weeks of painting in the Greek Isles. I knew nothing about watercolor or painting and Barb knew everything. I was in awe of the skillful way she mixed color, and I'm continually amazed about her deep knowledge of color and paint. Her blog, Color in our World, is all about color, its history and its use. She taught art for many years in the Texas school system where she now lives surrounded by fields of blue bonnets. 

3.  Annie Salness: Annie is my neighbor although we hadn't met until last year when we were introduced by a mutual friend, Carol Marine. Annie has painted for years but had a major setback when a stroke left her partially paralyzed on her right side. But nothing slows Annie down for long; she taught herself to paint with her left hand and kept right on painting.  People who know her work can see no difference in her skills. She loves to paint people's pets and also enjoys commissions.

I could tell you more about these three remarkable women but the ball is now in their court and I'll leave it to them to tell you more about their own work.

Haystack Rock and other recent collages

Haystack Rock

Haystack Rock is located off shore of the seaside village of Cannon Beach in NW Oregon. The groupings of rock which commands the attention of visitors is quite accessible at low tide and is a popular attraction for children and their parents who love exploring the tide pools at its base. 

Our family spends lots of time in this lovely spot and images of Haystack fill my photo files. It seemed appropriate to see how I might build a collage that incorporates my photos and uses some of my painted papers. The collage is 9 x 12".

Brother Oak

Brother Oak, 9x12, features my photo of an oak tree that grows alongside a small family cemetery on a hillside outside Magazine, Arkansas. The wintertime photo was a rather blah wintertime photo so I 'colorized' it with a wash of blue and added some green to the grass.

I continue drawing in my sketchbook, motivated by the excellent teachers of the first semester of Sketchbook Skool. It has the result of encouraging me to draw every day, sometimes with tools such as colored pencils that are uncomfortable to me. I'd rather slop around paint than sit tediously layering color with pencils. But I intend to try it all and see what I can add to my skill set, and hope in the process to develop better hand-eye coordination and ability to draw what I see.  Here's today's drawing: 

Morning Coffee

Dreamtime Garden

Dreamtime Garden by Jo Reimer

Collage Painting. 11 x 14 on cradled panel.

Though I haven't been posting much recently I have been working steadily on a variety of works, mostly collages that I've created using papers I've painted for that purpose. 

I've been thinking a lot about why I find it most comfortable to work this way and have concluded that it has to do with my background in textiles. 

• I am adapt at cutting fabric and piecing it together to make garments, home decor, and quilts. 
• I have a strong background in hand and machine embroidery, designing the work and stitching in fine detail. 
• I've done lots of applique which is defined as stitching small pieces of fabric to larger pieces. 
• I'm comfortable with moving fabric and paper around, creating pleasing arrangements that can be adjusted before adhering them in place permanently. 
• It's easy for me to compose with bits and pieces of colored papers but not so easy to arrive at a pleasing painting using only paint and a brush, and at my stage in life I don't want to spend the time and focus that's necessary to develop another skill. 

However, I do love the process of painting, of applying paint to paper with all sorts of applicators such as brush, stick, sponge, cloth, spray, dripping, dyeing and so on. So I spend time now and then painting papers to give it surface texture and pattern and then use the accumulation of papers to make my collage paintings.  This works for me.

How about you? How did you get to where you are? How did your interests form? I'd love to hear.

 

Jo Reimer: Torn Paper Collage... trying a new method

FERMENTING FRIENDS

 

 

 

 

 Fermenting Friends is 9 x 12" on panel.

I challenged myself to try a new-to-me collage method, this one perfected by my friend Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson. Like me, Elizabeth paints her own collage papers with acrylics. See a short article about her in the current issue of The Artist's Magazine, April 2014. This article also features two other collage artists, Cathy M Woo and Laura Lein-Svencner

My paper stash contained all I need. What's different is that this method starts with a drawing on a strong substrate which is then painted before the collage process begins. Then various papers were torn into bits and pieces and glued in place, paying more attention to value than to color.

Elizabeth offers a DVD and a downloadable PDF of her process. See her website and gallery here.

I started with a photograph of a wine bottle from my friends private label, making the drawing part rather easy, even though I added a second bottle and glass to the original composition. This was a hostess gift for friends we visited recently in Arizona, a trip that enabled us to completely miss a major snow event in Portland.

Then yesterday I made a second torn paper collage, working from a quick stylized drawing. It's becoming a bit easier to work this way, but I suspect that this won't become much more comfortable to me and I'll revert to my old way of working.

RED FLOWER

Red Flower is 12 x 12 on cradled canvas.

Thanks, Elizabeth, for giving me the go ahead to try your methods.

Limited materials, limited palette

 

Songs of the Soldiers
Jo Reimer
Collage on Paper
7.5" x 7.5"

 On a recent week at the coast I determined to limit my art supplies and took only a small box of compost with an assortment of black and white and a limited palette of colored papers and supports. It was a good decision that forced me to seek variety within limits. I learned that it's possible to do satisfactory work with limited means and is an appealing challenge.

The name of the above small collage came from a piece of sheet music with my uncle's signature, dated 1918-19. Keith lost one arm as a teenager and couldn't serve in WWI but he loved to sing and I can imagine him thinking about those at war as he sang the songs that were currently popular... "Over Here" and "Over There" among them. The picture of the baseball player also was from that era.

Red Maple - Late Fall
Jo Reimer
Collage on Paper
12" x 12"

Red Maple - Late Fall is the main work I intended to do that week, an abstraction of the colors I saw from my front door, taken from this photograph:

Then I got out some paint (still the same color palette) and did a quick painting, remembering some recent weather:

Unsettled
Jo Reimer
Acrylic on Paper
9" x 12"

Then back to the collage box for the next piece:

Under the Clouds
Jo Reimer
Collage on Paper
9" x 12"

All these papers were ones I previously painted or dyed except for the brown, upper right corner.

And this is the final one in the series:

Teatro
Jo Reimer
Collage on paper
9" x 12"

 

Subject Matter

Road Runner
Jo Reimer
6" x 6"
Collage on canvas board

I've been thinking about non-representational and abstract art where the underlying design has no subject other than the design elements of the painting or collage. I like to work this way because of my design background and love of color, but when there's nothing else going for it, when there's no focal point - center of interest - subject matter, it's difficult for the observer or customer to relate to the work.

I remember standing behind two women at my first solo show years ago when I worked in embroidery. They were carefully observing a piece that I was quite fond of but which wasn't easy to define without an explanation. One said to the other, "It's really nice, but what the hell is it?"

Good question. One I need to ask myself more often. What IS this piece about?

Take the collage above, Road Runner.  I made the piece yesterday and liked where it was going, with the sky blue background, the map bits, and the orange stripes which indicate tracks in a red dirt road, but what is it about?  It's certainly not finished. So this morning I started asking questions: who's on the road? What do I hear? What do I see when I'm out in blue sky country (Oklahoma in this case)? Birds, of course.  The subject quickly became clear and I found a stencil from Diane Ericson which worked perfectly.  The working title for a few minutes was Bird on Blue but as I was typing this post it came to me that Road Runner was much more to the point.

And the collage now has a focus, a story, a subject, a name... and it's finished.  Now it needs a buyer.  It can be yours for $50 postpaid.

Titles

Interplay
by Jo Reimer
7.5 x 7.5"
Collage on paper

We're home from a visit in Texas with old friends and while I did manage to draw every day I have done little since returning home to good weather and large weeds. Now I'm back to my rather loose attempt to make time every day for art, even if it's something small such as the above collage or smaller greeting card sized pieces or a drawing in my sketchbook. I'm making no excuses. I like working small and finishing fast.

Collage suits me. I've done this sort of work for so long now that it feels like coming home when I sit down to my table and sort through bits of color and pattern, looking for just the right pieces of painted papers to puzzle together.

But I do have a painting that's percolating in my mind. It might be called 10 Days in Texas. Or maybe not. It might turn out to be something un-nameable.  When that happens I go through my lists of names and titles, or even consult the dictionary until I find a word that fits.

Some people are so good with titles. One such artist and wordsmith, the printmaker Anne Moore who uses titles like Approaching Stillness, Driving Force, and Interplay. I'd love to get into her head to see how she comes up with such appropriate ones. Does the work come first or does the work follow the title?

How do YOU come up with your good titles? I'm searching for a better way.

Faded Glory

Faded Glory
Collage on Board
16 x 16"

Collage Made From Compost



In the Garden
Collage on paper
8x8"
 

My boxes of compost are my most cherished art supply. I've talked before about how I build compost out of colored papers of all kinds and that I call it compost because as I dig through the piles of papers and stir up the mix new and exciting color combinations and compositions happen naturally.  That's what happened here.


The bright orange is the substrate which I painted by smooshing acrylic paint around on the surface. There's a bit of paper napkin, a photograph of maple leaves, a magazine image, and a color copied strip from an old painting. Simple items and a combination of stripes result in a happy piece.

Then there's this one.



Chaos
Collage on Paper
8 x 8"

It's a similar layout and color combination but to my eyes it isn't as successful as the first one, but who am I to criticize it? I'm always critical of my own work; there's always something that could be improved, especially that strip of orange up the middle.

Let's analye it according to the elements and principles of design:

• Line: vertical and diagonal suggest movement.
• Texture: visual texture of printed vs plain vs translucent invites touch.
• Color: Complementary violet and yellow with an accent of blue green.
• Composition: Cruciform
• Balance: yes, in all directions
• Value: ah, there's my problem with the orange strip. It tipped the scale of value toward equal balance of value. Without the orange strip the dark areas dominate and composition is better. But I just couldn't leave well enough alone.
• Repetition: There's plenty of repetition within each color family as well as repetition of line.
• Contrast: yep, lots of that.
• Dominance, unity, harmony: check.

The list is longer but these will do for today.

Do you ever pull out your list of elements and principles and use them to check your work? I find it's helpful when I'm puzzled about why a piece leaves me with a negative feeling.



Prairie Grass - Oklahoma

Prairie Grass - Oklahoma
collage on paper
16 x 20"

Although my focus has been elsewhere lately I'm still managing some studio time, working on the mapping series of collage paintings.

My husband and I met in college, in Stillwater, OK. He was raised in southwestern Oklahoma and after college we lived and worked in the state until moving to Oregon. Being from Arkansas I knew little about Oklahoma history and the required coursework about my adopted state was fascinating.

I read tales of the five civilized tribes, early white settlers, the Sooners who jumped into the land rush too soon, and of womens struggles to make a home on the prairie where conditions were harsh. Many, including my husbands relatives, scraped back the prairie grasses and dug homes into the red soil, using what precious wood they could find to build the upper walls, roof and door on their dugout home.

The Oklahoma prairie was beautiful before the farmers settled the land and changed the landscape forever. The grasses were tall, the skies vast, the bison plentiful. Some settlers recognized the value of the prairie grass as cattle feed but much of it was plowed and planted with crops, contributing to the horrors of the Dust Bowl era.  Now several land conservancy groups are returning portions of the land to its natural state.

There are incredible photographs of prairie grass online here.

As I thought about images of Oklahoma the most striking to me are those of grass and giant blue skies. The thin slices of paper which indicate prairie grass are proportionally too wide for the scale of the composition, indicating the immensitiy of the prairie. My art is about my emotionalal response to the location, not a photo-realistic representation. There's a dichotomy here of nature vs. present day infrastructure, a land which only 100 years ago was prairie and bison and is now criss-crossed with highways and dotted with cities. The prairies are growing back and the bison are thriving on preserves. It's about time.

Garden in Bloom

by Jo Reimer

Garden in Bloom
30" x 22"
Collage Painting on Paper

Set a sheet of white paper on the table with the tools of your trade arranged within easy reach and paint all day. Cover the results with a coat of gesso and start over. Repeat 3 more times. Decide that this one won't be a masterpiece but it WILL be a fine birthday present for an appreciative granddaughter.

I struggled with this sheet of 300# watercolor paper for several days and nothing I did seemed to work. Finally I decided that some of the lines looked a bit like stems and some of the circles looked like flowers. A friend advised turning back to collage, so this is what resulted. It might be done. I might draw on top of it. I might move on.

detail

Seeking Levels

by Jo Reimer

At the Edge of the Earth
11" x 30"
Collage on paper

Getting horizontal and vertical lines straight is a challenge, when you're aiming for straight and true.

Once this piece was completed I discovered that the stitched line, while straight, wasn't plumb with the top and bottom. Big oops. The only solution at this point was to trim the sides slightly to bring everything into alignment. I've done this before and I'll probably make the same mistake again but now that I'm aware of why I keep doing it I'll take steps to avoid the issue.

"How?", you ask.

1. I'll use my T-square more often and make little pencil marks here and there  as I work to assure things line up instead of eyeballing it.
2. Since I work flat I'll frequently pin the collage to the design wall or put it on the easel to check that things are straight.
3. I'll avoid working with absolute parallels... loosen up.
4. I'll use more slightly off-kilter edges... on purpose.

So, now that that's settled, here are some detail shots and an explanation, for those who are interested in the process:

At the Edge of the Earth, detail

This collage was done on half a sheet of watercolor paper, Fabriano Artistico 140#. I used a section of one of my small paintings  as the focal area and adhered it with soft gel medium and weighted it until dry. Then I started adding paint.

I wanted texture at the bottom and chose to use some paint spattered paper towels. I didn't like the results but was committed so I troweled a couple of layers of gel medium over that section, letting each layer dry between coats. Then I worked into the space with several different earthy sandy colors plus white until I had the visual texture I needed. That process is easier using a scraper and a sponge rather than a brush.

Next came the sky area. I flooded the space with cobalt blue acrylic, thinned with Golden glazing liquid, and squished plastic wrap on top and left that to dry for several hours. This technique always results in something wonderful but unpredictable.

I needed contrast and a repetition of black line, hence the stitching. The piece was so thick by this time that I had to use an awl to punch holes for my needle.

And still the piece needed more. Aha... text. I composed a paragraph about standing at the edge of the ocean and practiced writing it on tissue with various pens and auditioning the look of it on the painting without committing pen to painting. but I didn't like the look. So, I headed to the computer and generated the text and printed it out on a thin, cream-colored washi paper and glued that down. While it was wet I flooded more matte medium over the washi to help it sink into the work. The paper isn't perfectly hidden but is fairly un-noticeable unless you're looking closely.

Girl to 5-F, collage

by Jo Reimer

The Girl to 5-F
11.5 X 30"
collage on heavy paper

Following a troubling discussion about human trafficking I spent a good part of the next day thinking about this abhorant practice, imagining myself in the shoes of a woman caught up in this trade. This piece is the result.

Girl to 5-F, detail

There are ways out and people who are working to combat the practice but it feels like a drop in the bucket... so alien to the culture in which I live. I thank God for my life and beg for mercy for those who are mired in it.  Read here about organizations which strive to combat human trafficking.

The collage papers used in "Girl to 5-F" are representative: decay, filth, sin, loss, oppression, desire, need, hopelessness...  hidden underneath a beautiful facade.  There are floor numbers, windows and doors, a man on the phone, a woman climbing the stairs...  hidden and implied meaning.

Not all art is beautiful or about beautiful things.

First Sign of Spring


by Jo Reimer



"First Sign of Spring"
Collage
20" x 20"

It's interesting to see where my "Piecings" and "Slices" series are taking me. I think it's actually one series. There's no direct painting on this piece; it's made up of slices of other paintings that weren't worthy in themselves but as an assembly of parts the whole has become quite strong.

I find myself struggling with establishing a process for these pieces, mostly having to do with mounting. I've been working mostly on 140# watercolor paper as a substrate which starts to buckle as layers are joined, and then wrestling with the completed work to attach it to a firm support... so I'm finding ways to reduce the buckling in the beginning. Using a stronger support is one way to keep the work flat, adhering the base paper to mat board or acid free foamcore or even wood panels. I think there'll be fewer struggles if I start with a firm substrate, glue the base papers to that and then continue to layer whatever papers I need for the collage. I could start with 300# paper or illustration board or heavy Yupo, all of which hold their shape well.

I'm open to suggestions.