More on Collage

I wanted to talk about glue......I spend half my life researching glue and taking glue-polls, and shopping for, and "asking around" about glue! I find that glue is like technology - blink once and there's a new, more updated, stickier, more user-friendly glue out there. It's either transparent or it dries transparent, or it's blue because you want to see where it is, or it comes out of a tiny tip, or it has its own brush, or it's like a jar of jelly.....But I'll tell you: the easiest way I've found to do collages is to paint the whole page with Mod Podge glue, and then go for it. Needless to say, you might want to make a generalized and loose "placement map" first, on your work table next to the collage, with your cut-outs and items and pix, but you will find that you and the glue will make the final and most artistic decision!..........Paint the page with Mod Podge and then start with the biggest pieces that you want to put on there, placing them for posterity - but you can do this, once again, in the blink of an eye, and be sure you get it all down and as smoothly as possible - because the glue will begin to dry if you take too long! Then, if you feel the glue is no longer tacky, paint the whole page again with the Mod Podge and go for the next smaller size, and so on, to the smallest size. Remember ModPodge dries transparent, which is one of its wonderful, wonderful qualities.

The art of COLLAGE is another 2-dimensional art form. It can be virtually any size, but sort of medium-size is a good place to start: just something that feels comfortable to you.

I advise that the first thought be of a BACKGROUND. In my experience this takes care of any last-minute quandaries in your collaging. A background can be painted on in sort of a solid color, or a more-or-less uniform treatment, OR it can be a background of something pasted on, like a map, or a sheet of newspaper, or some wrapping paper, or a piece of stationery, or a magazine page, or any kind of print-out or reproduction that you'd like to use in a background mindset.

After that you get to your main concerns, thinking bits and pieces, parts or photos, cut-outs, rip-outs, borders, old things, new things, with a color scheme or not, think stylized scissors or not, and if "scrap-booking" is a word that comes to mind, I admit I am aware of it: if anyone has had fun scrapbooking, think about how we can move on in our journey from there......