March 14 & 15

           

click on images for closer view

You may be wondering what this spread is all about. 

Aside from being an obvious example of my tendencies towards obsessive compulsivity, it is a collage comprised solely of postage stamps.

I learned the art of collage with postage stamps during a week long workshop with Nick Bantock that I took a few years ago. Below are the first two pieces I did using this technique with him.

Nick gave us the assignment of working within a 2" x 2" square, no cutting was allowed, and the theme was "Stranger in a Strange Land. If I remember correctly, he gave us half an hour to complete one image. I was so inspired, I went crazy and did both of these.

A good source for hundreds of stamps, really cheap, is Kenmore stamps.  Keep in mind that when you buy your first batch (if you buy the 300 stamps for $2 deal) you are essentially joining a club - like a book club, and you will receive more stamps for approval to buy.  If you do not want future shipments, after your first batch, just let them know and the membership will be ended - no obligations.  There are fun themes you can get - collections of insects, flowers, birds, women in art, etc.

My original order came in a mish mash of colors and themes, and I have found that it's helpful to do some sorting.  

These have been separated by color group.  Once you have pools of colors, you can sort of 'paint' with the stamps, to create a back ground scene, and then add in specific images to tell your story.  I don't think I'll ever work as large as I did for these journal pages again.  My eyes are seeing little blurry color splotches every where!   Right about now I'm feeling like if I never see a stamp again...