31 - Colors in Burano

Colors in Burano

An original collage

8 x 8 inches (20.3 x 20.3 cm)

$42.00 SOLD

You may have been wondering when the collages I mentioned at the beginning of October were going to begin showing up. Sitting down with enough time/mental space to create one is something I have been looking forward to all month . . . or, more precisely, for the past year. In fact, the business I was originally planning to start was to be called ‘12 x 12’, and built on the concept of offering twelve collages each month. I realized at some point that I didn’t want to limit what I could offer—though I did know that paper would play a central role—and so, from this initial idea, PaperSynthesis slowly began to take shape.

For months, I have been putting papers into piles according to which collage I envisioned them being part of. Anchoring the collection of papers that has become Colors in Burano was a photograph I took on my first visit to the little Venetian island four years ago (please see the image at lower right). I had borrowed my Mother’s camera because my battery was depleted, and when I saw this photo of the reflections/colorful boats, I was grateful I had that option to fall back on—this is my all-time favorite of the many canal shots I’ve taken. For the collage, the photo has been ‘de-constructed’, i.e. divided into individual squares, and then rearranged among solid colors of Canson & Fabriano, various metallic papers, and marbled & other decorative papers. The collage is organized on a grid—a design element that I find very inspiring (and which led me to the idea of using a calendar as a way to present the items for PaperSynthesis a day at a time).

Colors in Burano is collaged upon a sturdy 3.5 mm wood- & paper-fiber substrate that has first been covered with decorative paper (to ‘finish’ the edges). The collage is titled & signed on the back, and can be matted/framed or displayed as is. Click on images for larger/other views.

31 - Colors in Burano - 8 x 8 Collage

Much of the work I do at the studio table is very precise,

involving a metal T-square, X-Acto knife, triangles,

ruler, bone folder, awl, glue, etc. Even with this collage,

I found myself relying on many of the usual tools as I

prepared to make it. But once I began to assemble the

collage, it was wonderful to work with the matte medium

(which acts a both a glue & a sealer) . . . it’s semi-messy,

but incredibly forgiving, and this freedom was a welcome

change. (Plus I always love using a brush to ‘paint’

anything, even glue.) Still, reverting to what must be an

underlying desire for order, I couldn’t resist adding strips