Hello, welcome to the collage exchange. We set up this page for participants of the online collage workshop to have a place to ask questions, share insights, and comment on the experience of doing
collage. In this format I can respond to you and also share
challenges and perceptions that I have. I am looking forward to meeting you here.
#2
deborah harris(Monday, 30 November 2020 19:19)
One of the participants mentioned to me how difficult it is to cut into such beautiful
images of paintings. I understand it can be intimidating so for myself I see it that the paintings are communicating with each other from distant times and places and they have a way of meeting
though our intervention, we are able to witness the way that they literally touch each other. This is part of the process of choosing the images we are sending to you, a shared palette is the most
easily recognizable. The content of the paintings can be very different but when the colours are the same it seems easier for them to talk.
A question you may ask yourself to begin the process,- what in one painting wants to enter into another. The best that can happen is that we intensify our seeing and
therefore appreciation of what the artist was able to accomplish while taking risks to express something uniquely our own.
Please do not hesitate to write whatever comes up for you. And thank you again for
your willingness to participate in this with us.
d
#3
deborah(Tuesday, 01 December 2020 09:55)
When you finish writing your message first push the white box above the send icon and then push send.
#4
Kathryn Cramer(Wednesday, 02 December 2020 11:04)
I thought about the difficulty of cutting up the paintings. So I took pictures with my phone before I started.
I emailed my collage from the most recent sending to Eron yesterday.
#5
Kathryn Cramer(Wednesday, 02 December 2020 11:09)
I resent my submission to the correct email address just now.
#6
Kathryn Cramer(Wednesday, 02 December 2020 12:55)
How I did mine was that I took the most abstract, the Picasso, and used that as blocking for elements from the least abstract, the Van Veen, what I thought of as a disabstraction process, and I
worked from there. (For what it's worth, I think that both the Picasso and the de Kooning are abstractions of houses.)
#7
wendy weaver(Wednesday, 02 December 2020 14:18)
Just commenting on the pleasure of being united this way, sharing art, colours, ideas. Thanks
#8
Jill(Wednesday, 02 December 2020 17:49)
Hi d,
I have been surprised by how the Online Workshop is so different from being together in the physical space at the gallery. It is equally spiritual but I am enjoying a deeper connection to the images
through this new program. I love being challenged in with this format as it disrupts my own rituals and processes. I am growing here. The posted collages are really wonderful. Looking forward to
seeing and sending more. xo j
#9
deborah(Thursday, 03 December 2020 11:05)
Hi Jill. It's great to know that you are out there and in here.
I realize that the shared images pose another challenge but I think that they also bring
us together in a way that would be impossible if we were all just doing our own thing.
Of course there is no strict rule that you must only use these images but being able to
recognize those same elements in each others work is the connecting link. It is also
always so surprising to see the same image used in such different (and sometimes similar) ways.
#10
Jill(Thursday, 03 December 2020 14:46)
Ah ha - yes, it is very facinating how some similar themes emerge eventhough we are all apart and producing a unique work with the pieces. We truly are all connected by the images. Love it!
#11
deborah(Sunday, 06 December 2020 10:50)
Happy Sunday. I wanted to say, probably unnecessarily, that after doing the first and
perhaps second collage using the copies, that there will be smaller and smaller fragments that are less recognizable as to what their origin is. It seems that these pieces allow for even more freedom
and surprise. So I suggest that you keep and collect these
no matter how small and keep going til you run out.
#12
Jill(Tuesday, 08 December 2020 03:42)
Hi all,
It is such a joy to receive your envelopes via physical mail. The anticipation, followed then by their arrival is so satisfying. The postage stamps and stickers are sneaking their way into the
collages as they are as as much a part of the experience as the rich images enclosed within.
xo Jill
#13
d(Tuesday, 08 December 2020 12:41)
Hello. I wanted to say that in order to have the comment boxes we had to sacrifice
the possibility of simply clicking on the images to makes them bigger. However,
if you hold down the Ctrl button on the lower left of your computer and click on
the plus key you can magnify the images to 300%.
all the better to see you with
#14
Paul Foster0(Tuesday, 08 December 2020 20:01)
Amazed at all the various solutions and combinations. Such beautiful images to work with and such beautiful images resulting from the collision of images, our minds, thoughts and visual habits. I'm
truly impressed by the different solutions that are so beautiful and haunting. thanks fellow collagists.
#15
Jill(Tuesday, 08 December 2020 21:11)
Well said Paul.
#16
Eron Boyd(Wednesday, 09 December 2020 10:32)
I feel blessed to be able to work with all in this venue. It was disheartening to not have collage
workshops at the gallery for such a long time. Now that we have this grand space to meet provides me both comfort and wonder.
Using the shared images seems to offer a quality of being in a shared physical space, even though we are not!
I am very grateful to work with all the collagists old and new. I am also grateful to view so many beautiful variations using the same theme.
#17
Vivian(Wednesday, 09 December 2020 10:32)
These are great!! I'm really impressed with ALL of them. What a wonderful response and what variety. Thanks so much!!!
#18
Sae(Wednesday, 09 December 2020 15:46)
Because the material itself is masterpieces, it doesn't matter how I cut, the pieces are rich and beautiful. It gives me wide opening.
Somehow I feel more freedom when there are more limits.
#19
deborah(Tuesday, 15 December 2020 10:49)
I just want to say that I hope you continue to visit the workshop page as we are
adding to the images as they come in to us almost everyday a new arrival.
#20
d(Tuesday, 15 December 2020 10:51)
Also you could let us know here when you receive your next envelope. We just sent them out on Friday.
#21
d(Friday, 18 December 2020 10:40)
I want to acknowledge all of the different responses to the material. Some participants have added paint and other collage elements and the results are very inspired.
Collage as a medium is very diverse and expansive. In the exercise that we are doing with the three or four images of paintings it is much more limited but I would like participants to perhaps assume
that everything they require to express themselves can be found in the images. It is sort of like 'fake it til you make it'. You may doubt that this is true but if you agree to it may become
possible.
So the question is what can you do with the material provided? This is an experiment and the results can be observed by all of us on the collage workshop page and discussed in this forum. Whatever
else you are inspired to do with your
piece after this is a further bonus.
#22
Sae(Friday, 18 December 2020 10:55)
Hello!
It is not easy to write the process of making collages... it's even difficult to see it as I'm doing it. But it would be exciting to know peoples process.
#23
Victoria(Friday, 18 December 2020 15:02)
I am really enjoying these collages. I have just completed my second. I love what Jill said above about using the postage stamp as it is part of the experience.
Making these collages has been such a pleasant process. I work quietly, and move the pieces around so many times before I commit to their location. Being alone while I work I have no one to ask which
arrangement is the best. I just have to pick one. Thank you all for sharing your works.
#24
Sara(Friday, 18 December 2020 15:25)
Much appreciated the opportunity of partaking in a "group" work. Always a challenge to look beyond the shape/form/image, in front and make it my own, I observed the images for few days and played
with possible transformations; until one day after a meditation ... no thoughts, just do , took over.
And without filtering or judging, I accepted the results. Enjoy see others collages as a caleidoscope of human creativity.
#25
zan(Friday, 18 December 2020 16:11)
Its such a pleasure to witness so many intruiging compelling and witty variations coming out of a small stamped envelope --I have missed the inspiration of working in a group. Thanks, Arcturus
friends, for bringing us back together; a centre in the storm.
zan
#26
Vivian Felsen(Monday, 21 December 2020 13:56)
Here are some remarks.
This collage project is a lifeline for me. First of all, it is so great to know that you and Eron are going to see these, as well as the others who are part of this project. It makes collaging by
myself seem purposeful and meaningful. Secondly, I can’t wait to see what other people have done with the same images. I have deliberately not checked the Arcturus website so that I can be
surprised in the end.
The latest group of collages (I just sent back 7 this morning) was the least appealing to me of all the groups. Therefore I am even more curious to see what the others have done. Though I have found
each group of paintings sent previously to have its own particular challenges and difficulties, this group was very different. I was not drawn to any of the paintings.
The shapes in the Picasso were made up of smaller flat shapes which were very fractured and repetitive. Its strong colours took over the colours of the other two paintings. The Renaissance piece had
few distinct figures, none of which were ones I could relate to, the colours were so depressing, and it had few interesting architectural elements. The shapes in Klee also did not seem to provide any
figures or environments I wanted to work with. Basically, there were few gestures, either in the subject matter or in the compositions, which inspired me.
However, these paintings were useful in that they made me realize how important figures are to me in collage, not necessarily obvious figures, but elements that are suggestive of the figure or a
face, whether animal or human or make-believe. I could find nothing in this group out of which I could successfully create my own imaginary creatures, even though you’ll see that I tried to create
3 of them in one of the collages.
That being said, I was able to construct 7 collages! But I can’t say I “love†any of them. I think I ended up with so many because I just kept cutting up the prints in the hope of making some
wonderful discovery.
On the other hand, I still thoroughly enjoyed the process of producing these collages. I was very tired Saturday evening when I began working on them . I could hardly stay awake. But once I got
absorbed in the collages, I was suddenly wide awake and energized for a couple of hours. I found this amazing, and an important lesson.
Would enjoy a discussion with you about the importance of gesture.
#27
Eron Boyd(Tuesday, 22 December 2020 10:59)
Vivian, I have yet to see the seven images that you found in session 3 images, but I also produced more images than I expected. When I looked at the images, I, in theory, did not see much territory I
could cover, so I was both surprised and satisfied.
#28
Jay Hodgson(Wednesday, 23 December 2020 08:40)
I received my package just now. This will be fun!
#29
Carole Aida(Wednesday, 30 December 2020 08:03)
First of all a big thank you to everyone at Gallery Arcturus for hosting this project. It's exciting to receive the prints in the mail and discover what we have to work with. I'm happy to know that
my work will be seen by those who first got me started on collage. I am now obsessed with making collages. It has been a source of great joy during this very challenging year.
Like Vivian, I was a bit stymied with the second group of prints but once I started really looking at the Picasso image I saw whimsical shapes and my "menagerie" came together very quickly. It took a
bit longer to find inspiration for the second collage but I'm happy with how it turned out in the end.
It's great to see what others create with the same images. Sometimes we "see" the same thing and there are recurring themes, then others come up with something so unexpected! It's always a wonderful
surprise. I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the last mailing and look forward to receiving the next!
Stay safe everyone. Best wishes for a very Happy New Year and may 2021 be brighter for us all!
#30
Jay Hodgson(Monday, 11 January 2021 09:35)
I just finished my first collage and found it interesting how the Picasso dominated my mindset as I was working, even though Klee is by far the more "favoured" for me. There is something very
domineering about the P man's work, I find -- for better or worse. But what a blast this was. I'll be posting shortly.
#31
Sallie Lyons(Tuesday, 12 January 2021 11:49)
just took a look at the latest collages. as usual they were amazing. such a good way to see into someone else's perspective and choices while having mine stimulated and surprised :)
have attached the 2nd one i did (more or less a 'chance' effort of the scraps that found their way onto the page w/o much intervention from me other than glueing then down.
sort of like the 70's modern dance movement where codified choreography was challenged with 'chance dance' - initiated my american Merce Cunningham. he would choreograph a series of complex dance
phrases (he eschewed theme including emotional interpretation and music as a source) that the company would learn. then each performance the dancers would choose a set number of cards with the phrase
noted and perform them simultaneously, in that order to the music of john cage (made independently from merce).
the serendipitous interaction of performers in time and space would become the 'collage'
#32
deborah(Saturday, 16 January 2021 11:53)
In comment #21, I wrote about attempting to use the material given almost exclusively. While the challenge of limitation is a great stimulus and I would say necessity to creativity I believe we
should make use of what we have at hand in our
own environment, each of us has ease with different materials. In the workshops at the gallery we did not bring in other medium. Collage has an immediacy,
something with depth and detail can emerge quicker and with much less mess and destruction, (paint can create chaos). But now we are all at home so whatever these images and shared engagement can
inspire so much the better. We are all learning from seeing each others work, recognizing fragments that we have become familiar with reappearing in such unimaginable ways. Let's just see where it
takes us.
#33
Sae(Saturday, 16 January 2021 17:03)
The transition from “ wanting something new and different” to
“ explore with what I have” was a big leap for me. I still go between these two places. But it is really exciting to know that There are unlimited possibilities in limited material. I can see that
when I see everyone’s work!
Write a comment
deborah harris (Wednesday, 25 November 2020 15:59)
Hello, welcome to the collage exchange. We set up this page for participants of the online collage workshop to have a place to ask questions, share insights, and comment on the experience of doing collage. In this format I can respond to you and also share
challenges and perceptions that I have. I am looking forward to meeting you here.
deborah harris (Monday, 30 November 2020 19:19)
One of the participants mentioned to me how difficult it is to cut into such beautiful
images of paintings. I understand it can be intimidating so for myself I see it that the paintings are communicating with each other from distant times and places and they have a way of meeting though our intervention, we are able to witness the way that they literally touch each other. This is part of the process of choosing the images we are sending to you, a shared palette is the most easily recognizable. The content of the paintings can be very different but when the colours are the same it seems easier for them to talk.
A question you may ask yourself to begin the process,- what in one painting wants to enter into another. The best that can happen is that we intensify our seeing and
therefore appreciation of what the artist was able to accomplish while taking risks to express something uniquely our own.
Please do not hesitate to write whatever comes up for you. And thank you again for
your willingness to participate in this with us.
d
deborah (Tuesday, 01 December 2020 09:55)
When you finish writing your message first push the white box above the send icon and then push send.
Kathryn Cramer (Wednesday, 02 December 2020 11:04)
I thought about the difficulty of cutting up the paintings. So I took pictures with my phone before I started.
I emailed my collage from the most recent sending to Eron yesterday.
Kathryn Cramer (Wednesday, 02 December 2020 11:09)
I resent my submission to the correct email address just now.
Kathryn Cramer (Wednesday, 02 December 2020 12:55)
How I did mine was that I took the most abstract, the Picasso, and used that as blocking for elements from the least abstract, the Van Veen, what I thought of as a disabstraction process, and I worked from there. (For what it's worth, I think that both the Picasso and the de Kooning are abstractions of houses.)
wendy weaver (Wednesday, 02 December 2020 14:18)
Just commenting on the pleasure of being united this way, sharing art, colours, ideas. Thanks
Jill (Wednesday, 02 December 2020 17:49)
Hi d,
I have been surprised by how the Online Workshop is so different from being together in the physical space at the gallery. It is equally spiritual but I am enjoying a deeper connection to the images through this new program. I love being challenged in with this format as it disrupts my own rituals and processes. I am growing here. The posted collages are really wonderful. Looking forward to seeing and sending more. xo j
deborah (Thursday, 03 December 2020 11:05)
Hi Jill. It's great to know that you are out there and in here.
I realize that the shared images pose another challenge but I think that they also bring
us together in a way that would be impossible if we were all just doing our own thing.
Of course there is no strict rule that you must only use these images but being able to
recognize those same elements in each others work is the connecting link. It is also
always so surprising to see the same image used in such different (and sometimes similar) ways.
Jill (Thursday, 03 December 2020 14:46)
Ah ha - yes, it is very facinating how some similar themes emerge eventhough we are all apart and producing a unique work with the pieces. We truly are all connected by the images. Love it!
deborah (Sunday, 06 December 2020 10:50)
Happy Sunday. I wanted to say, probably unnecessarily, that after doing the first and
perhaps second collage using the copies, that there will be smaller and smaller fragments that are less recognizable as to what their origin is. It seems that these pieces allow for even more freedom and surprise. So I suggest that you keep and collect these
no matter how small and keep going til you run out.
Jill (Tuesday, 08 December 2020 03:42)
Hi all,
It is such a joy to receive your envelopes via physical mail. The anticipation, followed then by their arrival is so satisfying. The postage stamps and stickers are sneaking their way into the collages as they are as as much a part of the experience as the rich images enclosed within.
xo Jill
d (Tuesday, 08 December 2020 12:41)
Hello. I wanted to say that in order to have the comment boxes we had to sacrifice
the possibility of simply clicking on the images to makes them bigger. However,
if you hold down the Ctrl button on the lower left of your computer and click on
the plus key you can magnify the images to 300%.
all the better to see you with
Paul Foster0 (Tuesday, 08 December 2020 20:01)
Amazed at all the various solutions and combinations. Such beautiful images to work with and such beautiful images resulting from the collision of images, our minds, thoughts and visual habits. I'm truly impressed by the different solutions that are so beautiful and haunting. thanks fellow collagists.
Jill (Tuesday, 08 December 2020 21:11)
Well said Paul.
Eron Boyd (Wednesday, 09 December 2020 10:32)
I feel blessed to be able to work with all in this venue. It was disheartening to not have collage
workshops at the gallery for such a long time. Now that we have this grand space to meet provides me both comfort and wonder.
Using the shared images seems to offer a quality of being in a shared physical space, even though we are not!
I am very grateful to work with all the collagists old and new. I am also grateful to view so many beautiful variations using the same theme.
Vivian (Wednesday, 09 December 2020 10:32)
These are great!! I'm really impressed with ALL of them. What a wonderful response and what variety. Thanks so much!!!
Sae (Wednesday, 09 December 2020 15:46)
Because the material itself is masterpieces, it doesn't matter how I cut, the pieces are rich and beautiful. It gives me wide opening.
Somehow I feel more freedom when there are more limits.
deborah (Tuesday, 15 December 2020 10:49)
I just want to say that I hope you continue to visit the workshop page as we are
adding to the images as they come in to us almost everyday a new arrival.
d (Tuesday, 15 December 2020 10:51)
Also you could let us know here when you receive your next envelope. We just sent them out on Friday.
d (Friday, 18 December 2020 10:40)
I want to acknowledge all of the different responses to the material. Some participants have added paint and other collage elements and the results are very inspired.
Collage as a medium is very diverse and expansive. In the exercise that we are doing with the three or four images of paintings it is much more limited but I would like participants to perhaps assume that everything they require to express themselves can be found in the images. It is sort of like 'fake it til you make it'. You may doubt that this is true but if you agree to it may become possible.
So the question is what can you do with the material provided? This is an experiment and the results can be observed by all of us on the collage workshop page and discussed in this forum. Whatever else you are inspired to do with your
piece after this is a further bonus.
Sae (Friday, 18 December 2020 10:55)
Hello!
It is not easy to write the process of making collages... it's even difficult to see it as I'm doing it. But it would be exciting to know peoples process.
Victoria (Friday, 18 December 2020 15:02)
I am really enjoying these collages. I have just completed my second. I love what Jill said above about using the postage stamp as it is part of the experience.
Making these collages has been such a pleasant process. I work quietly, and move the pieces around so many times before I commit to their location. Being alone while I work I have no one to ask which arrangement is the best. I just have to pick one. Thank you all for sharing your works.
Sara (Friday, 18 December 2020 15:25)
Much appreciated the opportunity of partaking in a "group" work. Always a challenge to look beyond the shape/form/image, in front and make it my own, I observed the images for few days and played with possible transformations; until one day after a meditation ... no thoughts, just do , took over.
And without filtering or judging, I accepted the results. Enjoy see others collages as a caleidoscope of human creativity.
zan (Friday, 18 December 2020 16:11)
Its such a pleasure to witness so many intruiging compelling and witty variations coming out of a small stamped envelope --I have missed the inspiration of working in a group. Thanks, Arcturus friends, for bringing us back together; a centre in the storm.
zan
Vivian Felsen (Monday, 21 December 2020 13:56)
Here are some remarks.
This collage project is a lifeline for me. First of all, it is so great to know that you and Eron are going to see these, as well as the others who are part of this project. It makes collaging by myself seem purposeful and meaningful. Secondly, I can’t wait to see what other people have done with the same images. I have deliberately not checked the Arcturus website so that I can be surprised in the end.
The latest group of collages (I just sent back 7 this morning) was the least appealing to me of all the groups. Therefore I am even more curious to see what the others have done. Though I have found each group of paintings sent previously to have its own particular challenges and difficulties, this group was very different. I was not drawn to any of the paintings.
The shapes in the Picasso were made up of smaller flat shapes which were very fractured and repetitive. Its strong colours took over the colours of the other two paintings. The Renaissance piece had few distinct figures, none of which were ones I could relate to, the colours were so depressing, and it had few interesting architectural elements. The shapes in Klee also did not seem to provide any figures or environments I wanted to work with. Basically, there were few gestures, either in the subject matter or in the compositions, which inspired me.
However, these paintings were useful in that they made me realize how important figures are to me in collage, not necessarily obvious figures, but elements that are suggestive of the figure or a face, whether animal or human or make-believe. I could find nothing in this group out of which I could successfully create my own imaginary creatures, even though you’ll see that I tried to create 3 of them in one of the collages.
That being said, I was able to construct 7 collages! But I can’t say I “love†any of them. I think I ended up with so many because I just kept cutting up the prints in the hope of making some wonderful discovery.
On the other hand, I still thoroughly enjoyed the process of producing these collages. I was very tired Saturday evening when I began working on them . I could hardly stay awake. But once I got absorbed in the collages, I was suddenly wide awake and energized for a couple of hours. I found this amazing, and an important lesson.
Would enjoy a discussion with you about the importance of gesture.
Eron Boyd (Tuesday, 22 December 2020 10:59)
Vivian, I have yet to see the seven images that you found in session 3 images, but I also produced more images than I expected. When I looked at the images, I, in theory, did not see much territory I could cover, so I was both surprised and satisfied.
Jay Hodgson (Wednesday, 23 December 2020 08:40)
I received my package just now. This will be fun!
Carole Aida (Wednesday, 30 December 2020 08:03)
First of all a big thank you to everyone at Gallery Arcturus for hosting this project. It's exciting to receive the prints in the mail and discover what we have to work with. I'm happy to know that my work will be seen by those who first got me started on collage. I am now obsessed with making collages. It has been a source of great joy during this very challenging year.
Like Vivian, I was a bit stymied with the second group of prints but once I started really looking at the Picasso image I saw whimsical shapes and my "menagerie" came together very quickly. It took a bit longer to find inspiration for the second collage but I'm happy with how it turned out in the end.
It's great to see what others create with the same images. Sometimes we "see" the same thing and there are recurring themes, then others come up with something so unexpected! It's always a wonderful surprise. I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the last mailing and look forward to receiving the next!
Stay safe everyone. Best wishes for a very Happy New Year and may 2021 be brighter for us all!
Jay Hodgson (Monday, 11 January 2021 09:35)
I just finished my first collage and found it interesting how the Picasso dominated my mindset as I was working, even though Klee is by far the more "favoured" for me. There is something very domineering about the P man's work, I find -- for better or worse. But what a blast this was. I'll be posting shortly.
Sallie Lyons (Tuesday, 12 January 2021 11:49)
just took a look at the latest collages. as usual they were amazing. such a good way to see into someone else's perspective and choices while having mine stimulated and surprised :)
have attached the 2nd one i did (more or less a 'chance' effort of the scraps that found their way onto the page w/o much intervention from me other than glueing then down.
sort of like the 70's modern dance movement where codified choreography was challenged with 'chance dance' - initiated my american Merce Cunningham. he would choreograph a series of complex dance phrases (he eschewed theme including emotional interpretation and music as a source) that the company would learn. then each performance the dancers would choose a set number of cards with the phrase noted and perform them simultaneously, in that order to the music of john cage (made independently from merce).
the serendipitous interaction of performers in time and space would become the 'collage'
deborah (Saturday, 16 January 2021 11:53)
In comment #21, I wrote about attempting to use the material given almost exclusively. While the challenge of limitation is a great stimulus and I would say necessity to creativity I believe we should make use of what we have at hand in our
own environment, each of us has ease with different materials. In the workshops at the gallery we did not bring in other medium. Collage has an immediacy,
something with depth and detail can emerge quicker and with much less mess and destruction, (paint can create chaos). But now we are all at home so whatever these images and shared engagement can inspire so much the better. We are all learning from seeing each others work, recognizing fragments that we have become familiar with reappearing in such unimaginable ways. Let's just see where it takes us.
Sae (Saturday, 16 January 2021 17:03)
The transition from “ wanting something new and different” to
“ explore with what I have” was a big leap for me. I still go between these two places. But it is really exciting to know that There are unlimited possibilities in limited material. I can see that when I see everyone’s work!