Memories… layered and fragmented

Collage is a new art form for me but one I find to be very engaging.

It allows me to bury things, layer things, use real items and natural elements in addition to my own drawings and paintings.

For many years, I collected items that drew my attention, and chucked them into a box, thinking, “this would be good in a collage” but I never actually used the items until I studied with a local collage/assemblage artist whose work I admired. Learning how to use and manipulate this art form has been very freeing for me and I intersperse it with my drawing and paintings as the mood and my muse dictate.

I work with both open boxes and traditional shadow box frames with glass. Using many vintage materials, natural materials, papers I have painted, personal drawings and painting fragments, along with images from publications that are in the mainstream. Particularly, I love finding old photos of people I don’t know and giving them a “second life” in a piece of art.