Happy not-everybody-watches-the-superbowl day. I’ve had a great afternoon in the studio collaging.

This abstract collage came together In some interesting ways. (Earlier this afternoon I did not expect that. It had me stumped.) I’ve written before how much I love abstract compositions, and how challenging they are for me. I learn a lot from working through the process.

Here’s the piece I’m working on. It’s not done, but it’s close. For now we’ll name it teal-violet-rust composition. It fits a 16 x 20 mat 20x24 framed size.

Here are some close-ups to show the things I am finding interesting.

Movement – I am pleased with getting some sense of rhythm and movement in this composition. The circle shapes top left appear to descend. The three red bars being set at angles creates a dance-like relationship between the three. And the grassy shapes in the violet section have implied direction too.

Layers – peeking through.  This section shows layers created in several ways. The rust-colored piece is actually printed with rust on a sheer polyester. Because the fabric is not opaque, and the pigments Is only partially opaque, what’s behind the rust section shows through.  The violet ovals and the teal circles interact in a different way. The teal ovals are monotype printed on rice paper. I collaged them down first. Then the violet ovals went on top. Like the rust, these are printed on sheer polyester. So, they are partially transparent. Additionally, I manually cut out some of the ovals on the sheer fabric to make a hole for a few teal circles to show through completely.

Edges of the composition – this section is the top left. I keep my mat handy as I compose to see how the images will fit within the final presentation. Sometimes, allowing a little bit of the image to extend off the edge adds an interesting element to the composition. It adds to the movement, I think, when a portion seems to enter the picture from off the edge.

(Tidbit: For many years I worked in commercial printing. In a printed piece, when the image goes off the edge of the paper it’s called a bleed. With years of paper design inside me, I still think of these places as bleed areas. I printing, you can’t actually print the ink off the edge. To create a bleed, the piece is printed on a large sheet and then cut down to final size.)

I hope your Sunday found you happily occupied… by football or artwork or something else that you love doing.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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