This month I was invited to teach a workshop on Mixed Media Collage. It was an all-day event, held at the Gaslight Art Colony, which was the gallery in Marshall Illinois where I had my solo exhibition in February.
I brought one of the large mixed media pieces from my series, entitled Understory. The term understory refers to the ground level growth, the flora and fauna on the forest floor. It's the opposite of the overstory, which is the layer of foliage in a forest canopy. Overstory is also the name of a great book by Richard Powers, which I would highly recommend.
So even though the subject of this painting is a tree, it's really the growth on the forest floor that brings interest to the piece.
In the morning we got to work, making the "parts" for the collage. The parts were pieces of card stock that we painted, textured, and imprinted with all different tools and resources. Some of the resources and tools were bubble wrap, a nylon scrubbie, a kid's plastic scoop and some stiff, dried out, totally worthless paintbrushes. The students were so enjoying this part of the process that some of them commented they could just do this all day. I admit it was alot of messy fun, and everyone came away with a repertoire of parts to be put to use later.
Next we took a lunch break. During the break I got to go with one of the students, Julie Davidson, to her shop, Fried Green Tomatoes. Oh. My. God. What a delightful treasure hunt that place is! Good thing we only had a few minutes. I did manage to find an item I needed in my life, a handmade ceramic wood chime that now has its home in the tree by my deck.
The afternoon session was all about putting the collage together. I demonstrated how to lay in the basic design of a tree using a limited palette of yellow, blue and red. From there, with very little guidance, each student developed her own piece at her own pace, and everyone was pleased with their progress and the unexpected results. There was such a good energy in the group, all working together on their art pieces, offering suggestions and ideas to each other, and having a lot of laughs in between.
The afternoon ended with a show and tell where we all put our finished pieces in a row and then oohed and ahhed over what we had just accomplished. Then we packed up, said our "see ya's" and I headed out for the three hour return trip home.
One thing I realized in teaching this workshop was the need to keep the process of art making fun and creative. I have recently been spending more time in the studio making "parts" with different colors and textures, developing a repertoire for future work. I find this to be a fun and valuable use of time that will benefit me going forward. I also learned the value of being together in a classroom setting rather than by myself in the studio all the time. The helpful feedback and light-hearted ideas and camaraderie that come from fellow students are so important to the creative process.
I look forward to teaching more workshops at the Gaslight Art Colony. It won't be until fall, but I will plan to return to teach wearable mixed media and possible printmaking. If you are interested in the classes at the gallery, contact Jo here.
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