Making Collage Papers: two approaches

Over the years I have taken mixed-media workshops with Kate Strickland of Hudson, Christina Lovisa of Ottawa, Diane St-Georges of Valleyfield, and Pat Dews from New York. Last year I took an on-line class with Jane Davies, and one of the exercises in that class was the production of a stock of "collage papers". These are useful to have on hand when you just want to add a pop of colour or texture when producing a mixed-media painting.

White gesso is applied to drawing paper with a brush or credit card and, while it is still wet, a stamp or stencil is pressed into the gesso to form a texture. Alternatives include bubble wrap, scraping with a comb, or scribbling with a stylus. Once the gesso is dry, paint thinned with glazing medium is applied with a brush or credit card, highlighting the texture. Or you can apply regular-strength paint, wiping it with a wet paper towel to reveal the texture beneath. 

Here's an example of how textured collage paper can be used in a mixed-media painting. This is something I produced last summer in my workshop with Pat Dews.

blue and orange textured collage papers
contribute to this composition

Another approach is a technique I learned from Diane St-Georges. This involves painting onto semi-transparent "deli paper" and allowing the paint to dry. When the painted deli paper is collaged into a mixed-media work with gel medium, the paper itself becomes transparent, leaving just the painted texture. You can opt to lay down a base layer of white or black paint before applying the texture.

"Deli paper", shown here in 12" squares, is available at restaurant
supply stores.

Here are some of the tools I use to produce texture, physical or visual, when making collage papers:

Sequin waste, home reno materials,
packaging from a medical lab

This bit of screening found at a home renovation store can be used
as either a stamp or a stencil.

Commercially-available stencils can also be used as stamps.

Thermofax screens are available on line, and an old
credit card can serve as the squeegee.

The smaller wooden blocks were hand-carved in Africa,and
the large rubber stamp was bought at a scrapbooking supply store.
Stencil brushes are useful to apply paint to the stamps.

I hand-carved these stamps.
Blocks of rubber are available in art supply stores
especially for this purpose.

A printing pad produces crisper definition when stamping with paint.
It's made with foam core board, wrapped with a couple of layers
of batting or felt, then covered with a plastic garbage bag.

This is a great activity for when you're in between projects. I'll be glad to have this range of collage papers on hand when I take my next workshop with Jane Davies in mid-September.

Less-than-perfect results make for a more interesting texture.

Collage papers featuring a range of textures

And finally, here's an example of how snippets of these collage papers can be used to add interest to a mixed-media piece:

Jazz Fest series

A Fold of Chairs

According to several sources, the collective noun for chairs is a "fold". And that's what I saw on a recent visit to the Liliane and David M. Stewart Pavillion of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, which focuses on domestic design. Here is a taste of their holdings.

From the "anthropomorphic" section:

Clarice chair, Niki des Saint-Phalle, 1981-82,
painted polyester 2/20

From Japan:

Miss Blanche chair, Shiro Kuramata,  1988,
acrylic, artificial roses, tinted aluminum pipe,
edition of 56

From Germany:

B32 Chair, Marcel Breuer, 1928,
chromium-plated steel, beech, cane

From Canada:

United We Stand, Robert Southcott, 2007,
birch plywood, brass

From the Italian section:

Proust's Armchair, Alessandro Mendini, 1978,
painted wood and fabric, polyurethane foam, passementerie

Ribbon chair, Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi, 1961,
Fibreglass-reinforced polyester, tubular steel

From the Scandinavian section:

Egg Armchair, Arne Jacobsen, 1958,
fibreglass, aluminum, polyurethane foam, chromed and painted steel,
plastic, wool

Armchair (model 31), Alvar Aalto, 1932,
birch-faced plywood, laminated birch

From the American section:

Lounge chair, Kem Weber, 1934
chrome-plated steel, painted wood, plasticized fabric, foam padding, plywood

Marshmallow Sofa, George Nelson Associates, 1954-55.
painted steel, latex foam, vinyl upholstery

This survey of chairs reminds me of the words "variation within limitation", a phrase used by artists to explain the strategy of working within a series. 

Robert Rauschenberg

How do I love thee, Robert Rauschenberg? Let me count the ways.

At the Musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain, Nice, France:

Ruby Goose, Robert Rauschenberg, 1979

Ruby Goose, Robert Rauschenberg, 1979 (detail)

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC:

Reservoir, Robert Rauschenberg, 1961

oil, wood, graphite, fabric, rubber, metal on canvas

At the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington DC:

Dam, Robert Rauschenberg, 1959

oil paint, photomechanical reproductions, cloth and metal on canvas

"Dam is one of the influential hybrid works known as the Combines that Robert Rauschenberg made between 1954 and 1964. Described by his contemporary Jasper Johns as 'painting playing the game of sculpture,' the Combines incorporate both two- and three-dimensional elements, many of which Rauschenberg collected from the streets of his Lower Manhattan neighbourhood. In an often quoted statement from 1959, the artist wrote: 'Painting relates to both art and life... (I try to act in the gap between the two.)' Reflecting the unexpected contrasts and continuous flux of urban life, Dam invites the viewer's eye to roam among its parts, making unexpected connections between high and low, word and image, art and everyday life."

At the Museum of Modern Art in New York:

Rebus, Robert Rauschenberg, 1955

Bed, Robert Rauschenberg, 1955,
oil and pencil on pillow, quilt and sheet on wood supports

I love the way Rauschenberg combined collage, paint, text and silkscreen printing with found 3-dimensional objects. Though no longer an uncommon practice, it was innovative in its time.

To hear a conversation between Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Stephen Zucker about Bed, and about the place of Rauschenberg in the history of modern art, click on the brief video below:

National Museum of Women in the Arts

While in Washington DC this past April, I visited the National Museum of Women in the Arts.  What a beautiful venue! Private groups often rent space in the building to hold special events. This museum is the only one in the world devoted exclusively to art made by women.

Here is the text from one of the panels placed near the entrance:

Art and Feminism

Visual art in the 1970s reflected dramatic political and cultural shifts occurring globally. In the U.S., the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights and Women's Movements challenged mainstream values. Feminist artists and activists protested the unequal representation of women in museums, galleries, and publications. Colleges and universities responded by introducing women's studies curricula and feminist art history classes.

Seeking imagery that could form the core of feminist art, some artists created abstracted symbols that reference the female sexual body. Feminist artists worked in traditional fine art media such as painting and sculpture, but they also pioneered experimental art forms such as performance and video. They attained critical recognition for weaving, sewing and assemblage - processes that had previously been classified as handicrafts. Feminist art put strong emphasis on subjective experience. Content often reflects artists' direct experiences within both the domestic and professional spheres as well as critiques of popular culture. Much feminist art is also representational. This sets it apart from the abstract minimalist style prevalent in the 1960s, which was praised by critics and associated almost exclusively with male artists.

I'd like to share here some of my "finds". Of course my photos do not do justice to the experience of seeing these works in their museum setting.

Louise Nevelson, Reflections of a Waterfall II, painted wood, 1982

Louise Nevelson, always one of my favourite sculptors, was 83 years old when she made this work.

"When she was in her sixties, Nevelson became known for her wood sculpture installations comprising columns and walls filled with objects such a newel posts, baseball bats, picture frames, and driftwood. Waterfall is more allusive, with simpler shapes that suggest running water, rocks and bridges. The large scale and dramatic play of light and shadow within Nevelson's sculptures prompted one critic in the 1960s to describe her works as 'appalling and marvelous, utterly shocking in the way they violate our received ideas on the limits of sculpture.'"

Helen Frankenthaler, Spiritualist, acrylic on canvas, 1973

"Rather than apply paint with a brush Frankenthaler poured paint onto unprimed canvas and allowed the pigment to soak directly into the fabric. Her innovative stain technique emphasizes the essential flatness of a painted surface, while the broad swathes of pigment envelop the viewer in an environment of colour. Frankenthaler's work formed a bridge between gestural abstract expressionist painting of the 1950s and colour field painting of the 1960s."

Susan Swartz, Gentle Morning, Acrylic on linen, 2007

There was no explanatory label for the Susan Swartz painting, but I thought it was lovely: atmospheric and painterly.

Maria Elena Vieira da Silva, The Town, oil on canvas, 1955

"Vieira da Silva was a key figure within the field of expressive abstraction in post-war Paris, where she lived and worked for nearly 60 years. Her paintings explore how space can be simultaneously suggested and collapsed or flattened on the two-dimensional surface of a canvas. The grid of black linesand short brushstrokes in this work creates an abstract pattern that seems to shimmer and pulsate like blinking lights and fast-moving traffic."

Here's a short video that will introduce you to the National Museum of Women in the Arts:

Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

In April I attended the annual SAQA conference, held this year in Philadelphia. It was during a casual conversation with another registrant that I learned about the Magic Gardens. A short walk from our centrally-located hotel, I thought it warranted a visit.

To quote from the facility's brochure:

"Philadelphia's Magic Gardens is a nonprofit visionary art environment and community arts centre located in Isaiah Zagar's largest public artwork.

"Spanning half a block, the museum includes an immersive outdoor art installation and indoor galleries. Zagar created the space using nontraditional materials such as folk art statues, found objects, bicycle wheels, colourful glass bottles, hand-made tiles, and thousands of glittering mirrors.

"The site is enveloped in visual anecdotes and personal narratives that refer to Zagar's life, family, and community, as well as references from the wider world such as influential art history figures and other visionary artists and environments.

"In 1994, Zagar started working on the vacant lots located near his studio. He first constructed a massive fence to protect the area then spent years sculpting multi-layer walls out of found objects.

"In 2002, the Boston-based owner of the lots discovered Zagar's installation and decided to sell the land, calling for the work to be dismantled. Unwilling to witness the destruction of the now-beloved neighbourhood art environment, the community rushed to support the artist.

"After a two-year legal battle, his creation, newly titled Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, became incorporated as a nonprofit organization with the intention of preserving the artwork at the PMG site and throughout the South Street region."

The installation reminded me of a visit to the Hundertwasser museum in Vienna, with its mosaics and bizarre architecture. I felt that I had fallen down the "rabbit hole", separated from the real world and immersed in a strange and fantastic labyrinth.

This kind of art is often labelled as "outsider". But Isaiah Zagar is not a social isolate. He is a community activist. He earned his B.F.A. in Painting and Graphics from the Pratt Institute in New York City, and he has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pew Charitable Trusts.

And if you have a chance to visit Philadelphia's Magic Gardens? Prepare to be amazed.

Papeterie Saint-Armand

We are fortunate to have in Montreal a renowned maker of artisanal papers, Papeterie St-Armand, located at 3700 St-Patrick Street, a few blocks from the Atwater Market. Their unassuming entrance, a yellow door positioned below ground level in a huge, old industrial building, gives no hint of the wonders inside: papers speckled and striped, smooth and rough, in every colour of the rainbow. 

Our text'art group was lucky enough to be given a tour by David Carruthers, who founded the paper mill in 1979. He explained that all his paper is made of rags, off-cuts from manufacturers of clothing and bed linens. The cloth remnants are chopped into little bits before being beaten into pulp. The colour of the rags determines the colour of the paper.  The black paper, made from black denim, is favoured for photo albums.

Other materials used include jute, linen, sisal, and occasionally leaves. Many of the papers are available for sale in small, postcard-sized bundles, or bound as notebooks and sketchbooks.

textile off-cuts, chopped

While we did see some technicians hand-screening paper, most of the production comes off the assembly line, powered by a machine made in Edinburgh, 1949.

A corner of the plant is sectioned off and filled with drawer after drawer of metal type. Printing can be done to order for posters, wedding invitations, book covers, etc.

Papeterie St-Armand stages special events on the last Saturday of every month, from 10 am to 1 pm. Check the bulletin section of their website to see just what will be presented: monotype printing, hand-screening, or the opportunity to bring your own media and try them out on a variety of papers. Papers of all kinds may be purchased during business hours, 9 am - 5 pm, Monday - Friday.

A 5-minute video made at the Papeterie St-Armand and showing its manufacturing process is available here:

IRIS

I recently saw the 2014 film "IRIS", a profile of fashion icon Iris Apfel. The director, then 88-year-old Albert Maysles, since deceased, is best known for his movies "Grey Gardens" and "Gimme Shelter".

Iris Apfel is the 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. A description of the film from the ImDb film review site says,

"More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how, even at Iris' advanced age, a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. IRIS portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life's sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment. Despite the abundance of glamour in her current life, she continues to embrace the values and work ethic established during a middle-class Queens upbringing during the Great Depression."

The film offers us a glimpse into her very eclectic home, a veritable museum of curiosities. We also witness the loving relationship she has with husband Carl, some seven years her senior.

I would have liked to have had more of a backstory in the film. Apfel credits her mother as having been a big influence in her life, but we don't learn much about her mother, or even about her own career as a designer. What was her interior design work like? What exactly was her contribution to the White House? The movie is more a snapshot of her life now rather than an exploration of her influences.

The film is available as a rental or purchase on Amazon, and also as a free download.