I was having way too much fun pouring and splattering paint so I decided to step back and do a collage. I read ALOT and I had the idea to do a collage based on Words that Matter. As I worked with the idea and began collecting words to use in my collage my focus shifted from Words that Matter to Words Matter. It is amazing what a difference one word can make. In this case it changed the entire meaning. The first stage that I am going to show had two layers of collage and included a layer of stained tissue paper. It includes three news stories from the Indianapolis Star, a Garfield cartoon that I thought had a comment on “Bullying” and a cartoon commenting on a family trying to get by with less. Everything was very relevant to today. I finished this stage by painting a very dilute layer of white gouache to unify the whole.
Words Matter Collage - Stage 1
I applied more layers of words by collage, another layer of tissue paper and painted three strips of Payne’s Gray using the edge of paper torn from a spiral notebook. More words and a tissue layer with Words Matter written in pencil covering the entire work. Then I finished by rewriting some words in ink so they were draker and applied a collage layer with Words Matter written in a larger size. I like the fact that as you look at the piece you begin to see the words emerge through the collage layers.
Words Matter Collage - Stage 2
This is almost finished and I am sealing the edges with matte medium since I have so many frayed tissue paper edges sticking out. I am also going to finsh the back with painted tissue paper but no words.
As I worked with this I became more and more emotionally invested in the work of art. My sister is a teacher of high school English. As she teaches her students language, literature and writing she also teaches by example – things like courage, ethics and responsibility. This is dedicated to her and she KNOWS that Words Matter.
