Tag Archives | Glued Collage

Collaging with Magazine Pages

By Ellen Lindner on December 18, 2023 in Uncategorized

Do you ever hit a creative stumbling block? Or just don’t have the mental stamina to take on something major? How about a quick little collage with magazine pages.

I especially like doing this with calendar images. Since the images already relate to one another, it makes for easier going.

Here’s one I did with winter birds.

And with Western/Native American motifs.

These are NOT meant to be works of art. Or even inspiration for something else. They’re purely a playful exercise in arranging colors, shapes, and values. Just a moment of creativity. I love making them.

Of course, magazine pages are also great if you’re trying to make an abstracted version of something realistic. In that case, I tear the pages, knowing that everything will be somewhat imperfect: just what I need for abstracting.

I’ve written several blog posts about this technique. See the links below.

Ellen Lindner
Links: Loosen Up with Torn Paper Collage
Torn Paper
Overcoming my Left Brained Tendencies
Three Cherries Complete

My Episode on “The Quilt Show”

By Ellen Lindner on March 29, 2022 in Uncategorized

I have to admit: it’s pretty exhilarating to be on an episode of The Quilt Show! It went live a few days ago and I’m really happy with the results!

Check out the trailer:
Ellen Lindner on The Quilt Show. AdventureQuilter.com/blog

In this episode I teach three different segments.
1 – Drawing inspiration from a photo. (But not reproducing it perfectly.)
2 – Design basics: focal point and balance
3 – A glued collage technique I call “Sticky Fingers.” It uses fabric, but there’s no stitching. Super easy!

The Quilt Show has an online membership format. If you’re a member you can view all the videos and other content at any time. If you’re not already a member you can sign up for a free 7 day trial. Either option will get you access to the episode.

Watching the episode I was reminded of how much fun we had that day. I hope you’ll get to enjoy it!

Ellen Lindner

Working on a New Class: Sticky Fingers

By Ellen Lindner on March 24, 2022 in Uncategorized

I’ve been BUSY getting a new online class ready to go. It’s called Sticky Fingers and it’s a glued collage technique. This is the class sample:

I really love it.

For the purposes of the course I needed to make another one, so I could record it. And I chose pastel colors. VERY unusual for me, but I really like these bright and happy hues just as much.

Here it is, in-progress.

Along with a very wet in-progress detail shot.

And here’s the final result:

Ooh, me likey! What do you think?
Which do you prefer?

This was really fun to make! (I have such a great job.) ~~I’ll have the class published in a few days.~~ Update: the class is now ready to en joy.

Full class details

I think you’ll really like it.

I’m getting excited!
Ellen Lindner
P.S. In case it’s not obvious: this is a non-sewing project. Anyone can do it!

Welcome to My Home

By Ellen Lindner on April 8, 2020 in Uncategorized

You’re invited into my home to see the quilts I have on display. That’s a good way to pass the time, right? Come on in.

After viewing it, please visit the video page on my website to see my other offerings.

I’m planning on making other short videos. Anything you’d especially like to see? I’m thinking my studio, my storage set up, and maybe my dying set up. What piques your interest? Anything else I should consider?

Ellen Lindner
P.S. Pass it on!

“Three Cherries” Complete

By Ellen Lindner on September 4, 2019 in Uncategorized

My magazine paper collage, Three Cherries, is now complete and I’m very happy with it!

Three Cherries

I love the texture that the text of the pages adds.

Cool, right?

This technique is super easy: spread/paint matte medium on your surface, add a little bit of torn paper, and smooth on another layer of medium. The only tricky part is the little tiny details. Of course, I should have thought of that when I decided to tackle this subject at this scale (16 x 20.)

Which brings me to the pros and cons of glued magazine pages vs. stitched fabric pieces. Magazine pages are super cheap and the medium is quite inexpensive, too. However, if I wanted to do this image again (and I don’t,) I’d make it out of fabric at a much larger scale. More like this piece, Vine Ripened, which is 28 x 40. Much more manageable. (But the materials cost a lot more!)

Vine Ripened

The bottom line is that both techniques are fun and effective. Try your hand at the one which appeals to you.

Both Three Cherries and Vine Ripened are available for purchase.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. I also use torn paper collages to help me abstract things sometimes. Because I’m tearing paper for a small scale composition I have to leave out details. See more.
P.P.S. See some detail shots of Vine Ripened.

Working with Magazine Pages

By Ellen Lindner on August 17, 2019 in Uncategorized

Inspired by the work of Derek Gores, I decided to make a glued collage with magazine pages. I’ve done this before on a small scale. This time I moved up to a whopping 16 x 20.

This was my inspiration photo. It’s a combination of 3 photos which I manipulated and merged on my computer. Can you guess why I chose blue-green as the background (fabric) color? (Think near-complementary colors.)

I drew my design directly onto a wrapped canvas and got to work.

I was working with friends and we used undiluted matte medium just the way you would with decoupage. You remember that from the seventies right? Glue underneath and more glue on top.

As you might imagine, the largish pieces and the lack of accuracy needed made the background go pretty quickly.

But, hmm, I had a problem. The shadows seemed to almost disappear. Clearly, I’d need to make them darker. More paper and more glue!

That’s better.

I began working on the cherries in earnest and, as you can imagine, I soon had little bits of colored paper going in all directions. Finding papers was pretty fun, though.

The right cherry completed.

LOTS more tiny bits of paper as I worked on the other two.

I was getting there, but I was also getting rather tired of dealing with little fiddly pieces of paper. I decided that perfection was not needed and started to work more loosely. What a relief! (I should have done this from the get-go.)

Soon, I’ll show you the finished collage and also give you a rundown of the pros and cons, as I see them, of fabric collage versus paper collage.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. See some of my earlier magazine page collages: ONE,

Loosen Up with Torn Paper Collage

By Ellen Lindner on October 26, 2016 in Uncategorized

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that I like to interpret foliage and scenery around me. The problem is that my literal brain wants to depict my photos exactly as they are. But, I know my quilts will be more interesting if I can put my own personal spin on things.

So, usually, I have to make a realistic sketch, just to satisfy my brain, and then I can get on to something more creative. Maybe a sketch, or a torn paper collage.

A torn paper collage is a great way to interpret a photo loosely because you CAN’T accurately depict the details. Just what my left brain needs!

The resulting collage can serve as a sketch for a finished quilt, or just as a creative exercise.

I’ve just added a full article about this technique to my website. It includes lots of in-progress photos and tips. Check it out and try it yourself.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. One more example on my old blog.

Arting While Flying

By Ellen Lindner on November 17, 2015 in Uncategorized

From the Ellen Lindner 1st Edition Art Adventure Dictionary:

art-ing, v. the act of experimenting in an artful way

Arting is just what I did on a long cross-country flight. These were the supplies I took with me: InkTense blocks, portable water filled brushes, latex gloves, a glue stick, and my sketch book.*

First, I tried to get to know my InkTense blocks a little. I could easily fit my sketch book and the Inktense container on the tray table. I had prefilled my brushes. (See the water in the handle?) I wore the gloves to keep the color off my hands. (Which I recommend with these blocks.)

First, a little intentional bleeding on wet paper.

Next, some further experimentation.

Mixed results on that one.

On to collage. Those airline magazines have got to be good for something, right?

I wasn’t aiming for anything in particular, just enjoying tearing, gluing, and covering the page. The strong teal water I had seen in California was on my mind, and that influenced the color selection.

Finally, a little sketching. Boy was I RUSTY!

But, it’s good to practice.

All of this arting definitely helped pass the time!

Do you have an art travel kit? If so, what’s in it? And where have you used it?

*It would have been great if I had taken a book of watercolor paper, rather than just sketch pages. They would have held up to the wet work better. But, my approach to my sketch book is to put EVERYTHING in it. Some items are 3D and have to be folded and glued in, but that’s okay. I want to have it all contained in the same place. I record the dates on the front cover, and on the back I list the various projects included.

Ellen Lindner
P.S. The queen of making art on the go is Elizabeth St. Hilaire. See her working on a plane. Her art is amazing (paper collage.) You’ll definitely want to visit her website.

Related posts: Inktense blocks, California’s coast