“The Soaring Sea Turtle.” Collage on paper. 5″x7″ Order a print
When I was growing up, sea turtles were one of my favorite animals. I’ve only made one other sea turtle collage before, so I figured I’d give it another try while filming my process for another time lapse video. I like how quarantine has gotten me in the habit of recording my process. I’m not always really excited with the finished product, but I was pleasantly surprised with this piece.
The title for this piece was inspired by how I feel like underwater creatures almost look like they’re flying. The ocean is such a magical and strange place.
Since I took several months off from making art last year, I’ve felt a little rusty. And by working on a time lapse video every week, it’s helped me get back into the groove of making artwork.
If you’re a coffee enthusiast or know someone who is, coffee-inspired art can be a great gift (or great way to treat yourself). Coffee-inspired art works well with decorating kitchens or dining spaces. Decorating a room with art inspired by the room’s function, is a creative way you can customize your home.
Over the years, I’ve made several different coffee cup collages with bold, bright colors. I’ve used coffee cups as a subject to experiment with color. As a result, I have made a number of coffee cup collages using a variety of colors, which makes it easier to find original art or prints that work well with your home’s color scheme.
I use a process to make my collages that I call “painting with paper,” where I mimic the brushstrokes of a painting by layering magazine strips. My collages have a unique and colorful style, that would work well with any room with bright decor. My art also works well with adding a pop of color to any room.
“The Proud Giraffe.” Collage on paper. 5″x7″ Order a print
I wanted to make another up-close animal portrait this past weekend, so I decided to piece together a giraffe collage. Sometimes I like to keep the background simple, and sprinkle in pieces of texture on the subject.
This was another collage where I filmed the process and put together a time lapse video:
“Rocky the Raccoon.” Collage on paper. 5″x7″ Order a print
I’m having fun working on these time lapse videos. I decided to make a raccoon collage since I have yet to tackle that subject. And I’m hoping that at some point I’ll get the lighting right for these. But in the meantime, here’s the latest:
It’s been a while since I’ve tackled still life, so this was my attempt after a long break. I definitely felt rusty. I’m liking how I’m trying out more of a variety these days. I think I might take a couple of weeks off from collage-making so I can experiment with some other mediums. There’s no better time to work on getting creative than the present, especially when we’re all staying indoors these days.
Anyway, this piece was also part of my recent time lapse video series. Here you can see the collage getting pieced together from start to finish:
“Beauty in the Blue.” Collage on paper. 5″x7″ Order a print
I’m getting in the habit of making these time lapse videos now that New York has been social distancing. I’m normally drawn to making animal portraits, but I figured I’d tackle a landscape since it’s been a while. I’ve taken a lot of pictures over the past couple of years, and I’m thinking I should start a series inspired by my travels.
It’s a strange time right now. I never thought that I would ever experience a global pandemic, and now that I’m currently living in Brooklyn, in a city that’s been hit hard by COVID-19, I’m staying home in my apartment as much as possible and finding new creative projects to distract myself from the news.
I’m lucky that I have a lot of creative interests, and now I’m going to spend a lot of time exploring my art, writing, and coding. I’m looking forward to when this is all behind us, but at the moment, I’m doing my best to make the most of the present.
This past weekend I worked on another time lapse collage, this time I tackled a cockatoo portrait which was inspired by my recent trip to Australia (cockatoos were everywhere there). As I’m spending more time indoors, being creative, I’d like to produce more of these time lapse videos – so stay tuned to see more soon!
Last month I heard from Lisa, a teacher from Wolsingham, England, who sent me images of her class’s artwork. Her Year 4 class was learning about collage. They studied Henri Matisse’s work of “painting with scissors” and my “painting with paper” technique.
Above is a piece that was completed by the entire class, while below are images of some of the student work (their plans and finished pieces).
By Annabel
I always enjoy hearing from teachers and seeing student collage work. It definitely made my day when I received these images of colorful artwork in my inbox.
By Emily
I really enjoyed seeing how these students incorporated different textures and colors into their work. I was also really impressed with how they layered bits and pieces of paper. I hope they continue to explore collage and work on different compositions in the future.
It’s been a while since Bosty has gone on any adventures. He recently moved to NYC, and thought he’d head over to the West Coast for a bit of a break from the city. Seattle sounded like a fun place to explore.
He started off doing some goat yoga in the morning in Snohomish, just outside of Seattle.
Bosty heard great things about the national parks nearby, so he decided to take a look at Mount Rainier National Park. There were so many large fir trees in the park. Bosty couldn’t get over how green everything was – no wonder they call Seattle the Emerald City!
The park had quite a few beautiful waterfalls.
Bosty’s favorite part about Mount Rainier National Park was getting to hike in the snow around Mount Rainier. What a beautiful mountain!
The next day, Bosty wanted to check out more of the city. His first stop? The Chihuly garden and glass museum.
Bosty couldn’t stop looking at all of Chihuly’s beautiful, bright glass sculptures. He was feeling very inspired by all the artwork!
Next, Bosty strolled around the Public Market and made sure he got some very touristy snapshots of himself in front of various landmarks.
Some people might think the Gum Wall is gross, but Bosty thought it looked beautiful – just look at all those colors!
He decided to swing by the Seattle Aquarium to admire all the underwater creatures.
And he had to take a look at the first Starbucks, so he could get another touristy picture.
He ended his adventures at Kerry Park, where he could get a great view of the city’s skyline with the iconic Space Needle. Bosty had so much fun getting to know such a beautiful and green city.
The other day I heard from a teacher in Caracas, Venezuela, whose grade 6 class was studying my work and then made their own collages. Here are a few images of their artwork that she sent my way:
I really enjoyed seeing the creative compositions that the students came up with this time.
