Author: Karen (19 Articles)

Karen Rester's art comes form the world around her. Karen loves working in collage, acrylic, mixed media and weaving on her loom.

The world of collage is like an amusement park, there is something for everyone. I don’t think any other creative medium is as accessible to people of all ages and skill levels as Collage. It is friendly and non-intimidating to a beginner and opens up a whole new world for the experienced artist. I love working with paper, magazines, found items, you name it, they have all been a part of one of my composition or another over the years. In my opinion, there is no limit to the enormous expressive potential when doing Collage.

When I am creating a picture, it is like a treasure hunt looking for just the right piece to fit. You have the ability to change the whole look of the design by adding a different color form paper or add a found object and make a statement! Some artists say that a collage is never really finished. The pieces can be shifted, added to, removed, glued down, covered over or torn off. That makes it great for someone starting out.

You can begin with simple materials and techniques, use bristol board, canvas board or illustration board as your base. Pick a theme, that is, a main idea that will unify your Collage. It can be anything that reflects your interests, fashion, show biz, sports, family, pets and so on. Start collecting odds and ends, such as photos, mementos, magazine pictures and wrapping paper that relate to your theme. Just let yourself go, don’t worry about artistic concepts in the beginning. You can paint your background using Acrylic paints or glue paper down. White glue or acrylic medium work well to glue things down. Mod Podge is fantastic, it will hold down all kinds of things. Arrange the pieces on the base support without gluing them down. Move the pieces on the base until you find the arrangement you like. Once you have the “look” you want, begin gluing the pieces down. Starting with the big pieces first, use an old paintbrush to spread the glue over the entire back of each picture. Press each piece firmly onto the base, smoothing the pieces from the center out. Make sure you get the picture as smooth as possible. If you do get air bubbles, use a small straight pin to prick the bubble and release the air. There you have it, you have created your very first collage!

Breaking with tradition is what makes collage a great way to challenge yourself as an artist. It challenges you and stimulates your creativity. You can even recycle trash into your art objects and make environmental statement.

Many art critics say that “collage is the single most revolutionary artistic innovation in this century and as an art form it is uniquely a twentieth-century phenomenon with the capacity to dominate visual art in the twenty-first century”. I believe this is true. There is so much that can be done with this medium. The sky is the limit!