TECHNIQUE (HOW DO I MAKE THE COLLAGES?) :: The collages are made with laser printed color copies, gesso (white paint mixture that is often used for priming canvases), and thread. I also often draw with mechanical pencils and ink on top of the images. I occasionally will use gouache, pastels, oil paints, and watercolors. I work in an old book that I have made into a painted journal. The larger collages are created on stretched canvases. 

I upload or scan images and scale them in Photoshop. Then, I use a ‘wallpaper’ method to adhere the images to the surface. I put gesso on the back of the paper that I want to tack down and then smooth it on the gessoed canvas or paper with a wet paper towel. 

Sometimes, I want to fit a block of color or an object in a specific spot. In that case, I use tracing paper to map the shape. I also use plenty of painter’s tape to place objects before I ‘glue’ them down. Occasionally, I’ll use Photoshop to try different things with the composition, but more often than not, I just end up layering the images until it works.

I generally don’t wait to stitch on the images as a last step to the collage. I stitch as I go and sometimes end up covering stitches with more paper. Stitching requires me to first poke holes around the image so I have a guide. Then, I shine a light behind the paper or canvas so I can see where to stitch. To ‘seal’ the final image, I use a spray fixative.

VISION (DO I SKETCH BEFORE I START?) :: I never have an idea of what the final piece is going to look like, but most of the time, I have a piece of scripture that I am looking at beforehand or specific objects that I want to use. If I sketch beforehand, it's loose and messy. Sometimes, I will use Photoshop to begin looking at objects together.

I reuse some objects in different collages to remember them or to see them in another context (i.e. ‘hummingbirds,’ ‘diamonds,’ ‘treehouses’ all remind me of specific moments in prayer and/or vivid dreams so I have used them more than once). All of the collages serve as a visual journal for me to a specific time in my life. More often than not, I end up fighting through the collage for a long time.

IMAGES (WHERE DO I GET MY PHOTOGRAPHS?) :: Most recently, I’ve been predominantly using laser color copies of my own photographs. Photography is one of my first loves. My mom taught me how to use a manual 35mm camera when I was young and I still prefer to shoot with similar cameras. For convenience, I try to keep a digital camera near (either my phone or digital SLR) because I often find things that I might want to use as I am driving or walking and digital images can be uploaded more quickly. 

Sometimes, I'll need a photograph of a specific object and it becomes a scavenger hunt for me to find it. Occasionally, a friend will message a photograph to me that they think that I might want to use or I will stumble upon one of their photographs online that I want to use.

There are times when I don’t know the source of an image. The recycling box by the color copier at the library where I work is a goldmine! I love the random images that I find in there, but I have no idea from what source they were copied/printed. Whenever possible, I get permission before using an image that was created by someone else.

TIME FRAME (HOW LONG DO THE COLLAGES TAKE ME TO MAKE?) :: Generally, anywhere from one to six months… to a couple of years. It doesn’t seem to make a difference whether or not I am working on a small or large scale. It's a tedious process, and in a weird way, I have a high tolerance for working on projects for long periods of time.

DISPLAY (WHERE DO I WANT THE COLLAGES TO HANG?) ::  

The first collages that I made I designed specifically with our church sanctuary in mind. I grew up occasionally helping my mom change the church banners and alter cloths in the Methodist Church that I attended growing up. I didn’t like giving up part of my Saturday night to help nor did I like going in the church sanctuary at night (at all!!) but I have grown to appreciate the care that she has taken with the sanctuary for over 40 years.

In 2011, I had been working in my small, painted sketchbook for close to a year when I began wondering whether or not I could use the same technique on a larger scale. I specifically wanted to rethink church banners. I was thinking out loud about this with a friend after a church service. When I went home for lunch directly after that conversation, I saw a perfect-sized frame that someone had left out for the trash on the curb across the street. The next week, my friend delivered a huge bag of canvas to me. Someone was giving it away in her apartment building. That particular piece became Psalm as shown below. I'm still using the canvas.