Making a Collage out of a Mountain of Papers

I have a lot of prints that I have made over the years - monoprint, drypoint, relief, cyanotype, eco-dyeing.  And a lot of collected and gathered papers in my drawers - ones that I have made myself from plants, as well as those from more exotic 'far-away' places like Japan.  And I can't ignore the growing stash of old books sourced from thrift shops - bird books, garden books, insect books, dictionaries and thesauruses.

I came to realise the extent of my stash during the COVID lockdown last year.  OMG.  I have a lot of paper.  And I need to use it.

So my new series of works have been focusing on creating collage works incorporating all those lovely papers.  Well probably not all, but some of them at least.  And I am going to try not to bring home any more paper......

So I've been busy creating a small series of works mounted on a board base (used for painting).  I spent many happy hours shuffling through my papers, finding just the right ones, then figuring out the right composition (like sweating over a jigsaw without a reference photo), before gluing them on the board and finishing off with a light coat of encaustic wax.

Hopefully some of them will be off to new homes soon, and my studio and I will feel a bit lighter for a while (until I come across more paper which I can't possibly resist!).

So how's your stash? 😁😁😁