Over the summer of 2024 I set about to make a collection of small collages. The aim was to use only what I had within my studio and a set of six beautiful handmade papers from my local art shop Calder Art Supplies. This is not an ad, I love this shop, it’s been part of my life from a young age so it was a nice process to create a collection where materials from the shop played such an integral part.
I often struggle with overwhelm when embarking on something new and time-sensitive. This collection was for Holmfirth Artweek so a very definite deadline was set. I overcame the overwhelm by setting the parameters of the materials and a conscious decision to enjoy the process and work on a small scale.
I have banks of materials just sitting in boxes tantalisingly around the studio waiting for me to cut and arrange into collages. I create surface textures and patterns by painting and printing onto card and use these to cut out silhouettes and shapes. I loved the layering of the more translucent handmade paper and how various effects are acheived by overlaying it onto some of the surface textures creating depth in the pieces. Colour and composition are vital in such simple papercut collages, this is what I tend to focus on and assemble lots of variations before finally using adhesive to finalise the piece.
I found the enjoyment far exceeded my expectations and it shows in the work, they feel cohesive and not overworked to me. What do you think?
Many of these mini collages with the circular mount are for sale right here on the website, I would love to know which ones speak to you and if you buy one, I’d love to see where it finally ends up. I might keep one or two myself as a reminder to just trust the process and enjoy it.