Really enjoying the current surge of collage work. The 'Lockdown Flower' series of collage pieces were very rewarding and an excellent way of keeping creatively busy during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, all the while learning techniques with an assortment of papers and glues. Part of the enjoyment was the unruly nature of the inks, papers and glues interacting and being 'alive' with different drying times or absorption, spitting off or soaking in the paint and inks.
There was a hit and miss rate, as there always is, but it was too uncertain and carried a strong likelihood of hours of work being dashed at any moment. So, without really thinking about it a new approach has developed naturally, one that allows me to compose and layer with more control...of course it's only an improvement, it can still go astray, I guess that is part of the process that one never wants to leave.
I like moving elements around, having time to tweak and shift the composition in search of that click when something feels balanced. Something that was lost with the frantic nature and uneasy feeling of the clock ticking in earlier approaches to collage.
In reflection what I did before was only part collage, it consisted of making multilayered pieces of paper, that only when printed, painted and drawn on found its subject or composition, whereas now, it is the pieces of paper being moved that creates the piece.
