Collage Landscapes
i started using collage as a way to explore texture and materials in my painting. I am always looking for a way to add depth and interest, and find that using mixed media gives better results than acrylic on its own.
But once I started looking into painting with paper, or collage painting, I found a world of possibilities. From tissue paper scraps to magazine offcuts, seed packets, old dress patterns, sheet music and more, these everyday materials were being incorporated into my landscapes and sketches, sometimes to be covered up, other times telling a story through the layers. "Wild Gardens" is the first collection of collage paintings, and the start of many more.
Through collage and inspired by the landscapes of England and Wales, I can play with the landscape with childlike wonder, experimenting with shape and colour in a new, tactile medium that feels less serious than painting, but produces sublime results.
Why Paint With Collage?
I chose to explore a more mixed media style due to the imperfect, fragile nature of the subjects I am painting.
Like the delicate, tiny squares of fabric and torn scraps of tissue paper, seedlings are fragile. Petals and stems can be bent, warped and twisted by the wind or humidity. Imperfections exist, individuality is everywhere and nature is better at this than any of us.
Through a process of layering, I start with an underpainting in acrylic. This will be almost completely covered, but gives me a chance to explore some shapes, colours and just get myself warmed up. The next step is placing the first larger shapes of collage, often without much of a plan except for the colour choices. Then it's a slow process of building, constructing, then subtracting, refining, pulling back some layers and building on top of others with acrylic paint, pastels, mixed media - you name it - to draw out my focal points.
The Collage Process - Painting with Paper
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