Bird Collage

Just a little birdy collage. Inspired by reading a book called "Animals in Translation" by Temple Grandin where (among many other things) she discusses the complexity of birdsong and animal language. I found it fascinating.

Jeans Top Collage

Available on ETSY as a pigment transfer onto watercolor, or as a blank card.

Magenta Rose Collage

This collage started with acrylic on paper, which I scanned into Photoshop and combined with the images of the woman (flea market find), the rose (copyright free image found online). The background writing was a real find...while we were in Italy last year we stayed near Villa Ferdinanda in Tuscany, where there was a wedding one night. The next day we visited the Villa and the wedding programs, with menus, were scattered all about. I thought it was a cool memento from the trip.

The gates of a new beginning...digital collage

Holy cow. I just returned from a phenomenal 2-day digital printmaking class. We learned to transfer to frescoes, collage between acrylic gel medium then cover with inkaid and print, scrape modeling paste onto non-woven spun bond polyester then cover with inkaid and print, and other cool processes. Mary Taylor is a great teacher if anyone has a chance to take a workshop with her. Anyway I feel like a door has opened...new ideas are flooding in...and I can't wait til tomorrow to begin new collages.

Why...A broken-hearted collage

This collage started off with two altered playing cards. You guessed it...the Queen and Ace of hearts. I covered them with some old book pages and acrylic glazes, then scanned them both into Photoshop, where I combined them. Then I added more layers of found images and text.

Illustration Friday - Red

I always liked this digital collage, but when I switched over to the new version of Blogger it got lost from my archives. So here it is again...something very red for Illustration Friday.

Illustration Friday, Superheroes

I've been wanting to submit something for Illustration Friday for a while now. This week's theme, Superheroes, reminded me of all the women who've gone before us: in science, in politics, in art, in education, and in the HOME. Women who stood up to oppression and resistance, women who defied the odds, women to held on to traditon while etching a better future for themselves, women who paved the way for us to be the women we are today.

ACEO sized postcard collage

I was experimenting with various techniques this weekend. This ACEO-sized collage was made by adhering various InkAid pigment emulsions over collaged and acrylic elements. Each layer had gloss gel over it and once dried, the layers were ironed together under parchment paper to combine them.

The Boy, Digital Mixed Media Collage

My mother-in-law is so funny. She refers to my nephew as "the boy." This is not my nephew, but since I don't know his name I'll call him "the boy." The background came from an acrylic painting. Brought into Photoshop and added the other graphic layers.

Yay! A Digital Printmaking Class!!

I'm so happy! I'm taking a digital printmaking class with Mary Taylor of Mary Taylor Arttechs in February. Today I scheduled the time off from work, so I'm all set. I took so many photos last summer of Artimino, a tiny hamlet in Tuscany, and would love to learn some new techniques that will allow me to produce more diverse collage pieces with them.

945 Stories, a digital collage

Another digital collage that began w/acrylic background and altered with found images and ephemera in Photoshop.

A helping hand...digital collage

Another collage that started with an acrylic background, scanned and added to in Photoshop. Kind of sums up my feelings about the weekends at my house. All I want to do is collage, but as it turns out, the house needs help too!

By the Garden, a Digital Collage

This collage, like many of my others, started with a traditional collaged background with paper ephemera and acrylic washes. Then I scanned it into Photoshop and layered the woman into the image. The original is 5 x 7 and is available as an archival print on Somerset Velvet fine art paper.

Save Time, a digital mixed media collage

This collage started with vintage papers glued onto Sheer Heaven paper, then covered with several layers of acrylic paints and tissue paper. I then scanned that collage into Photoshop and layered the image of the woman over it. After some layer blending, this is the final result. But it begs the question, "Save time by doing what?"

Sweet is not my middle name

Women's Boundaries - Digital Collage

Red Collages in ACEO size

I wish I had the ability to create collages like these without the use of Photoshop, but sometimes it's the only way I know how. Also, once in a while I think it's nice not to add little words to the design...meaning can be in the eyes of the beholder rather than a glued on phrase. Yes?

You Can: A 4x4 Mixed Media on Canvas

The photo of Anna makes another appearance in this mixed media collage. The background is scanned from an acrylic piece that I did, and combined with the altered cabinet card of Anna, and two other found images. Then, using an inkjet gel transfer method, the image was transferred to a gessoed canvas and is selling on ETSY (www.etsy.com) .

Abstract explorations in acrylic and mixed media

I painted a bunch of paper with acrylics, using not brushes, but spreading the paint on with a credit card. I layered colors over colors and loved all the variations. After I was done I peeled the acrylic off the paper and it tore a bit. So I kept pulling and tearing. The result was a pile of various shapes and colors that I adhered to small 4x4 canvases. I liked this technique and will explore it some more. The pieces I made are on my ETSY shop at http://chrisenc.etsy.com

Italy Digital Collage

A combination of two images taken during our Tuscany vacation. A collage sheet with this, and other, Italian imagery can be found in my ETSY shop at www.chrisenc.etsy.com.