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Thursday, October 18, 2012

When collage goes bad



 No, no, no....
not that kind of bad.
Just the ugly kind of bad.
The way-too-much-going-on-here-maybe-I-shouldn't-have-added-that-orange-paint kind of bad.

Just before I was about to throw a few bad collages in the trash, I realized I shouldn't waste a perfectly good substrate (a.k.a recycled cereal box).

Out came the gesso.
And lots of layers of paint.

Ugly collage #1 became this:
 
I rather like it now.

Ugly collage #2 became this:
(I will probably add a little something to it later. or maybe not.)


And now for some weekend collages that didn't end up covered in gesso:

(this was one of my gelatin prints, made on a dictionary page.  glued down a little found poetry.)



Weekend advice:
Avoid the cigarettes, but keep the gesso handy.



19 comments:

  1. Hey! I recognize the bottom corner of that last one! ;-)
    (And the first one still has me laughing. Love the bottle of Jack!)

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    1. I thought you'd recognize it! That paper was too pretty to waste (especially after the long journey it took to get to me).

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  2. LOL, why is it that I picture you in that first collage from another time? xox

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    1. well, my smoking career began and ended in the 5th grade, and thankfully I wasn't drinking whiskey at that age.

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  3. I started laughing before I even clicked on this post in my blog reader! That image at the very top of this post is so fantastic... This is one that I'll randomly be laughing about all weekend (which sometimes makes for very awkward & inappropriate situations... But it's so worth it)!

    xo
    Kristin

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    1. I knew you'd like that one, Kristin. My sister just told me that photo is now the lock screen on her phone so she can chuckle at it all day.

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  4. K--you are a riot! I love them all -- even the one gone wrong!

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  5. Now that I've picked myself up off the floor (I was laughing so hard at the first one that I fell off my chair)...the other collages look great! I've got to try the gelatin prints.

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    1. Thanks Janet. but no more injuries for you! I might have to stop being funny in order to prevent bodily harm.

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  6. Thank you for the much-needed chuckle after a very long day! Love the other collages, especially the warm, happy apple one.

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  7. Can't pick a favourite, they are all so good. The chrysanthemum pic is lovely and I am really taken with the two young boys. But best of all I like your so-called ugly failure. It reminds me of the old country and western song 'Cigarettes and whiskey and wild, wild women, they'll drive you crazy they'll drive you insane ......' Will keep me smiling all day.

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  8. BRILLIANT post from start to finish! You are so darned cool!!

    xx

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  9. Someone once said..."there's no such thing as a bad painting, just an unfinished one"

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  10. Well, I did see a damn thing wrong with any of these.
    (I wouldn't smoke that brand, though.)

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  11. Great reworkings....that poor 'bad' lady got obliterated by beauty - we should all be so lucky :) great series of collages

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  12. You truly are the queen of collage...and gesso!

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  13. Karen.. I love what you did to the "uglies" and the other beautiful ones. Great meeting you today.. Hope we get more of those art days ahead of us.

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