Collage
Collage, from the French, means to glue or stick together. An art form, usually visual, involves creating a new composition from other materials. The origins of collage can be traced back hundreds of years. It enjoyed popularity in the early 20th century as an art form of novelty and an inspiration to the pop artists that followed. It is a popular technique with modern artists working in both paper and digital media. The skill lies in choosing, composing and fixing appropriate material.
In the centre of the hall were two long tables covered in materials, tissue papers, coloured papers, photographs, patterned papers, postcards, stamps, cut-out figures, art magazines, a dictionary, an atlas,
First task was to choose four paper based materials and completely cover a square intuitively.
We would return to this throughout the day, adding to it, rearranging and refining. There were four processes in all and each step was photographed. This was the first time collaging for many and there were cries of "I don't know what I'm doing"
"Am I doing this right?" "How many colours can I use?"
The instructions were open to interpretation so that slightly different paths could be taken within the rules.
Second task was simply to have fun combining different paper based materials, putting animal heads on humans or human heads on animals, juxtapositioning things that would not usually be seen together or playing with perspective or relative sizes.
Collage is a great medium to encourage that inner child out to play. There were a few giggles around the room. At other times the room was silent, the group totally absorbed in the tasks, concentration written all over their faces.
We gathered briefly in a circle for lunch and chatter then we were eager to get back into the activities.
The third task was to depict a landscape, after looking at some examples from both amateur and professional artists, to demonstrate just how amazing some collage artists are.
We looked at some contemporary collage artist's websites and I recommended a couple of books.
The remainder of the day was for participants to explore the techniques we had already done or to experiment with some ideas of their own inspired by the artists we had looked at online.
The emphasis was on the process rather than the product, though there were some very pleasing results. Everybody fully engaged with the activities and thanked me for the day.
I'll be doing a collage day at The Maker's Mill in Keswick on Saturday the 13th of May. Checkout their website for details of how to book
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