Adventures in Collaging Part 2

As the release of my recent hexagon collage series grows nearer, I decided to share a bit about what went into creating each of the ten pieces in the collection. A heads up: If you would like to get early access to these works when they go live on my website, please join my VIP mailing list/monthly newsletter (click here to sign up). Now that that’s out of the way, let’s jump right in…

One and two: untitled gradients

These two are based on two of my favorite color gradients, blue to white and purple to red. They basically started as exercises to see what worked and didn’t work when assembling pieces. However I love their simplistic nature, so I decided to include them in the collection.  

Materials: acrylic on Bristol smooth paper, alcohol ink on yupo paper, and Kodak prints of my original painting “Currents”, assembled using acid free artist tape on 9x12 inch Bristol smooth paper.

Three: "Flight of the Monarch"

This collage features my favorite jewel-toned dark rainbow color palette, while combing the nature and galaxy themes that show up in many of my paintings. It began as a color gradient from warm to cool colors, but transformed into more of a story once I combined the monarch butterfly and abstract galaxy pieces. Now it illustrates a monarch butterfly leaving the safety of its flowers and terrestrial life behind as it floats out into the wonderful vastness of space, using the light of a bright star as its guide.

Materials: alcohol ink on yupo paper, a print of my original colored pencil drawing “Bloom” on Hahnemuhle photo rag paper, and Kodak prints of my fluid painting studies, assembled using acid free artist tape on 9x12 inch Bristol smooth paper. 

Four: "Drinks by the pool"

I love the fresh colors of this piece. It’s got that “sitting by the pool on a summer night with a drink in hand” kind of vibe that puts me in a better mood just looking at it. 

Materials: No prints in this one. Original acrylic painting on acrylic paper, alcohol ink on yupo paper, acrylic on Bristol smooth and watercolor papers, assembled using acid free artist tape on 9x12 inch Bristol smooth paper. 

Five: "Fruit Salad"

This was the first collage I made after I ordered a batch of prints specifically to cut them up. As soon as I saw them I had the vision for this piece in my head. The only thing I don’t love about this piece is the fact that I exclusively used Kodak prints to make it when I have so many other materials at my disposal. BUT it does have a nostalgic mod podge and magazine feel that’s growing on me. Regardless, I love the concept and balance of color in this Frankenstein fruit (which actually might be a better title than “Fruit Salad”, what do you think?).

Materials: Kodak prints of my original kiwi, lime, blood orange, and pineapple paintings  assembled using acid free artist tape on 9x12 inch Bristol smooth paper. 

Six: "Galactic Garden"

After combining fruits in “Fruit Salad” I knew I wanted to create something that incorporated the handful of flower paintings I’ve done as well. Flowers in space is an idea that I’ve wanted to explore for some time now but never got around to it. Fortunately the purple and pink colors of my galaxy painting prints matched those of the flower prints, making this the perfect time to experiment!

Materials: alcohol ink on yupo paper, Kodak prints of my original “Part of Me”, “Purple Pansy”, “Pink Rose”, “Across the Universe No. 5”, and “Across the Universe No. 8” paintings. 

Seven: "Color Spectrum"

All the colors! This is based on a previous hexagon painting I did a few months ago that resembled a color wheel where the values get lighter towards the center. This design was actually the first thing that came to my mind when I thought of making a collage and it turned out even better than I imagined. Focusing on just the overall color of each hexagon and putting them in their proper place in the color wheel was very relaxing- sort of like making up a puzzle as you go along. I would love to do this on a larger scale, or maybe make some variations that use pieces from just a few paintings at once. 

Materials: Alcohol ink on yupo paper, acrylic on Bristol smooth paper, and Kodak prints of approximately ten of my original paintings assembled using acid free artist tape on 11x14 inch gessoed panel.

Eight: "Whirlpool"

I didn’t use this little green echeveria painting (the original is only 6x6 inches) in my “Galactic Garden” piece because it didn’t fit in with the other colors. So, I decided to make one where it was the star. Originally I intended this piece to be a simple gradient from green to blue, but when I laid down those blue alcohol ink hexagons I was suddenly peering into at a swirling pool of water with a delicate flower floating in it. Just like water, there’s a lot of movement in this collage but I cant help but stop, stare, and be calmed by it.

Materials: Alcohol ink on yupo paper and Kodak print of my original “Mini Echeveria” painting  assembled using acid free artist tape on 9x12 inch Bristol smooth paper. 

Nine: "Revenge of the Sunset Moth"

Out of the entire series, I think this is the collage that requires the most explanation. The idea of the piece is that this beautiful moth’s spirit is haunting the still life which its body is now a part of. It combines a still life painting I made for a class assignment back in 2015 with a more recent painting of a sunset moth’s wings. Since both paintings feature a sunset moth, I knew I had to combine them. Then as I pieced the collage together, I felt like this was a good opportunity to express how much framed insect specimens creep me out (even when they are ethically sourced).

Materials: Kodak prints of my original “Wings”, “Currents”, and “Across the Universe No. 5” paintings assembled using acid free artist tape on 11x14 inch gessoed panel.

Ten: "Honorable Mentions"

Each of these 121 hexagon pieces felt special to me when I cut them out and I was sad to see that they did not yet have a home by the end of the series, so the goal of this collage was to showcase some of my favorite hexagon pieces that I had not been able to incorporate into the previous nine works. I spaced these hexagons further apart than in my other collages because I wanted them to appear separate and distinct from one another, as though each were an individual painting in a gallery wall. This collage is my personal favorite out of the collection (probably because it has some of my favorite hexagons in it, and because it’s organized by color of course). It feels to me like a collective print showcasing a lot of the work I’ve done over the past few years. I plan to create variations of this piece on a larger scale in my next series of collages as well. I mean how cool would it be to look at and study a whole wall of tiny hexagons??

Materials: Alcohol ink on yupo paper and and Kodak prints of approximately ten of my original paintings assembled using acid free artist tape on 11x14 inch gessoed panel.

That's it! I'll list more photos and details about each piece on my website soon. Sign up for my mailing list here to be the first to know when this collection (and prints) is released. In the meantime, you can see close up and progress shots on my instagram profile 

-Sabrina 

(sabrinaeptonart@gmail.com)