Canvas to the Imagination

I put the finishing touches on my Sketchbook Project pages yesterday. I am pleased with how it’s all come together. It was a good place to explore new ideas around paper cutting and collage, and the whole thing has inspired new work. That’s exactly what a sketchbook is for.

The theme I chose to work with was Thread and Surface. My original intention was to sew thread throughout the book once the paper cuts and collage were finished but I decided it wasn’t necessary. The thread is the less literal part of the theme, while I definitely played around with the surface of the pages, by cutting parts away and layering them with papers. There are threads of the same shape used in each pair of paper cuts and collage to tie the compositions together.

I chose to do a text-based paper cut for the cover using the same blue paper found inside the sketchbook. I started cutting the words freehand, didn’t like the results, then switched to using a font printed on white paper as a template. The results were much tidier.

Each paper cut is paired with a collage, and the two interact in different ways depending on which way you have the page turned. The paper cut either overlays the collage creating an additional surface or it pairs beside it as a diptych.

All of the collages were created with the same materials: security envelopes, book page scraps, a bird, and red paper. There are eight collages and eight paper cuts throughout the book.

I really enjoyed working on this small project. I’m a little sad to be sending it off to Brooklyn after all the hard work, but it’s a good lesson in letting go.

I’m still a week behind on sharing new work, but my excuse this time is vacation. Boris and I were on Pender Island with friends for five nights and it was a glorious getaway for all those involved. I debating doing a big of blogging while I was there, but I preferred having a laptop-free break.

The base for this collage is the cover of a wooden cake box originally from a Hotel in Germany. I picked it up at Value Village and am saving the rest of the box for a future mixed media piece.

With the hummingbirds I decided to make yet further explorations into creating what I wanted by cutting the shapes from paper. This time the usual clouds, but also leaves, branches, and a nest for Mrs. Hummingbird. The wood was first layered with strips of sewing pattern paper to tone down, but not hide the existing text.

I left the original metal hardware on the box lid, as you can see at the corners and part of the latch on the bottom edge. I like trying to incorporate as much of the original details of these found materials as I can. I hope I can source more wooden boxes from Value Village before I run out of what I have.

Materials used: wooden box lid, security envelopes, book page scraps, sewing pattern paper, and paper birds.

This is the second upcycled collage I completed last week. It was very satisfying to sit down for the day and come away with two completed collages. You should’ve seen the HUGE mess in the studio when I was finished.

Normally with the books I use in my altered book work the cover of the books ends up hidden away. This one was much too nice to not feature in a composition and so it’s ended up as the background for this collage.

I chose the crane for this because it was the first thing I came across when I opened the bird encyclopedia to select a bird. It seemed like the perfect one to go with the colours and flower motif. I decided to continue with the paper waves because the crane is also a wading bird.

I sorted through the pile of saved envelopes looking for something that would go well with the patterns on the cover but wasn’t the usual blues of security envelopes. I found one with this grey pattern that feels very Japanese, and it ended up being the perfect thing.

Materials used: book cover, thread, paper bird, book page scraps, security envelopes, and gel medium.