Two Tuesdays - year end recap

2012 Collage Challenge

Hard to believe that 12 months have gone by since I was trying to come up with an idea that would keep me creating and blogging on a regular basis during 2012. 

A friend who knows that Tuesday is my day off and studio day came up with the name "Two Tuesdays" when I mentioned I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up with completing one collage every week. Every other week did sound a lot more realistic so that became my goal. I was excited about the chance to work in collage all year and about trying out new ideas, new materials and colors until the what if 's started. What if I couldn't keep up, What if I ran out of ideas, What if... What if... Fortunately, I didn't let the what if's take control. After all I was the only one expecting anything and keeping track, so I got started and 38 collages later here we are on the last day of December.

Before I finished and set my focus on something new I wanted to make one last collage where I used fabric instead of paper. This uses scraps from my collection of fabrics and some new rust stained fabric that I made recently. 

© K. Johnson 'Standing Tall' - 7"x 5" collage on paper

Only a couple times did I think I might not be able to keep up with the challenge and with a sketchbook full of notes for things I didn't get a chance to work on yet, running out of ideas was not a problem. Not every collage created was a success as you can see from the pile of "rejects" in the picture below but I had a lot of fun and it feels great to have completed the goal I set in January. 

All the collages in this series can be seen here.

Two Tuesdays – Collage #25

2012 Collage Challenge



© K. Johnson 'Bringing gifts' - 5"x 7" collage on paper

Well, this is the second of the Two Tuesdays collages for December and the last one for this years challenge. I will follow up with my thoughts about this past years work in a recap post in the next few days. 


All the collages in this series can be seen here.

Two Tuesdays – Collage #24

2012 Collage Challenge

© K. Johnson 'Flourish' - 7"x 5" collage on paper

So far, all the Two Tuesday collages have been done using color. This week I limited myself to just black and white - not as easy as I thought it would be. I found I didn't have that many things in my collage stash that are just black and white. It took more time to find the elements that worked together and I spent more time than usual moving them around to find the right balance.  That said, it was still fun!

© K. Johnson 'Travel All Over' - 7"x 5" collage on paper

Have you heard of washi tape? I guess it's been all the rage for a while now but I'm a little slow to catch on to these things sometimes : )  It's a decorative tape that comes in every color and design imaginable. I found the black and white dotted tape you see below at a local craft store. The tape can be repositioned so it's easy to try different arrangements before making a final decision about placement. 

I used white artist tape to make some washi tape of my own. My tape is the horizontal stripe through the middle printed with black permanent ink using several different stamps I have or made.

© K. Johnson 'Chance Encounters' - 7"x 5" collage on paper

All the collages in this series can be seen here.

Blooming Cactus

 

I can't believe the show of blossoms on my Christmas Cactus this year. 

This plant stayed outside all summer long on the deck completely unpampered and ignored. I didn't even remember to bring it inside until after the second frost.

 

It is now enjoying a nice cozy spot by the window in my dining room.

Doesn't this blossom look like a butterfly?