Collage

When I start thinking about a new painting, it begins with a feeling or a story… which can be overwhelming. How do I communicate that simply? How do I express it strongly? Or gently?

Collaging is how I ground my ideas. It’s a method to control the ceaseless creative force within me, especially when I haven’t made sense of it yet. I take all of the colors, moods, and sketches that spin in my mind on long drives. I begin collecting with my eyes, capturing if the camera is handy, tearing pages out of magazines. Patterns, textures, interiors, fashion, lyrics, landscapes, experiences, memories and stories that captivate me. I carve, cut, rip, arrange, marry, stitch, pin and release them in physical form. It’s chaotic and cathartic like a storm. It breaks down any dams because there is spontaneity and new relationships emerge that I wouldn’t have thought of myself.

From there, I stand back, (they’ve taken over entire walls before…) and edit. That’s when the real vision for a painting emerges.