All Torn Up

One of my life heros has been my elementary art teacher. I always loved art class as a child, which I largely attribute to Mrs. Ruestmann's ability to translate her craft into a more malleable, five-year-old form without watering it down. 

I still have my second grade version of Vincent Van Gough's "Starry Night" and keenly remember learning about the primary colored squares in Piet Mondrian artwork, which I later learned to call neo-plasticism.

So when Mrs. Ruestmann invited me to her house the other night to make collages, I was so excited to see what fun project I would come home with.

The collage process is simple. Take a heavy watercolor paper (Mrs. Ruestmann and I used Aquarius II, but I later used gemini, which worked just as well) and cover it in Matte Medium. At this point you can decorate your "canvas" in any sort of paper you have on hand. And be creative; we used dress patterns and wrapping paper, as well as handmade papers.

 Put another layer of Matte Medium on top of your paper, and let dry. Once all your paper is dry, turn over your canvas and measure and cut your large paper into smaller sections. Now you can add a focal point using any sort of ephemera, stamps or stickers you have stashed away.