Studio Sunday Collage and Journaling

It's the perfect weekend to stay inside and get creative here.  No sun, lots of rain, no distractions.  I wanted to share my easy way for making a new journal.  Every time (well almost) I stop at Michael's craft store (which is conveniently located next to Staples) I pick up a pad of watercolor paper either 9 x 12" or the larger size 15".  I immediately go next door to Staples, rip all the pages off the pad and have them punch and bind one edge with the GBC plastic spine.


These are great because you can take them off and put them back on without the aid of the machine to do it.  This offers you the most flexibility when working on a single page.  If you are like me and you don't like to work in a bound book that is hard to manipulate (especially if using screen printing or stenciling techniques) I have the option with this type of journal.


With the larger pages, you have even more flexibility in creating your own size pages.  On this one I have folded the cover and back pages inside about 5".  Then on every page inside, I have folded them to one side or the other in different widths.  This is simply because as I add artwork to my journal, when it is opened, you can see different things on the different pages peeking out from one another.


Here, I played on the inside cover and you can see how the front cover wraps around .  I am also using these wrapped pages to create mini folders or to secure other things within the journal.  The pic below is the journal back which is also folded in.


I wanted to share this because I'm finding it very fulfilling to create collages using my own imagery and planning for re-use.  If you are familiar with Traci Bautista, she creates a lot of what she calls "masterboards" which she then repurposes into her art in different ways.  This is how I am using my collages.


It is good to create collages for multiple uses.  Before you take that collage and continue to develop the surface, take pictures of it or scan it to save the image in your computer for future use.  You can go crazy with the hue and saturation settings, blending modes, and filters and lots of other things as long as you have that original image captured.


Then you can experiment with brushes and masks to create an entirely different look and feel from your collage pages.  Never underestimate the opportunity to REPURPOSE your art!!!


This final image is comparable to a monoprint using as mask with additional texture built into the background.  I would consider this a "digital monoprint" and it started with one of the collage pages above.  

When I think about it, I am still using my artwork in the same way that I wrote about in my very first article in Quilting Arts Magazine in 2008.  At every step of creating, I scanned the image into the computer and printed it out to continue working on it.  Every time something was added creating a significant change in the artwork, I would scan it in.  If I wasn't happy with one direction I took in developing that piece of artwork, I simply printed it again from the stage I wanted to start from.  I haven't decided whether to finish one of these images on fabric or on paper.  This bird is really calling for stitch and beading!!!

Comments

elle said…
Brilliant! This is exactly what I think I want to do. Hmm, I need a town day. And soon! Happy Sunday, Margi!
HollyM said…
I love rainy days when I can stay inside and create. It's cloudy but breezy here, so my husband helped me weed the back garden and mulch it. It would have taken me a couple of weeks.
What a great idea for the journal. I've been using the same method with graph paper and prints of my work tomake gifts gor my quilting friends.
What a great idea for a journal. I should go visit my local Staples and tell them to build a Michael's next door. We don't have one at all :(
Margaret, every time I read your post, I get thrilled! What a great idea on the binding process; thanks for sharing that. Your processes are so exciting, as well as inspiring, but I need more time!!! There is much to learn, and that, I find is fascinating!
Adrian said…
Very clever idea about the binding. Working a page on a nice flat surface and lots of room is so much easier than a bound book page. And, scanning it becomes a breeze. Clever, clever girl.
Thanks!