Collages for June show

I've been working quite a bit on some pieces for an upcoming show in June. Here are some pieces in progress. What I'm working on is handmade paper sheets of various fibers collaged with bits of nature and some other found objects. I'm trying to capture some of the beauty I see in the woods of Southeastern Ohio in the late autumn and winter. To many the woods are barren and grey. But if you look a bit closer, you can see a beautiful tapestry - and the promise of new things to come.
The top picture and middle picture are just placements of the collage. I have yet to sew them on to the handmade paper. The backing paper of the top piece is made from recycled linen pants and banana peels. The middle backing paper is made from cattail reeds. (compliments of my friend Rita)

Time Flies...

Has it really been six weeks since my last post!? Well how time flies... I've been busy teaching in a kids art camp called Circle Round the School. The program serviced about 80 children ages 9 - 15 in the Nelsonville, Ohio area. Sadly, the school system there has no art classes for the kids until they are in high school. Imagine! I cannot even begin to think about what Morrison Elementary would have been like without Ms. Rector... Anyway, I taught with the theater portion of the camp. We did costumes and masks for the plays that were performed -- and of course they were all out of recycled materials! The kids did such a great job. Bravo to them all!

The only project that I have worked on for myself were invitations for my daughter's 10th birthday party. It's this Saturday, and the theme is "Summer Camp". We took scraps of decorative paper, cut them to the shapes we wanted, and did a sewn collage to look like a campfire on cards I made of recycled paper and grasses. As you can see, they turned out great!