Collage Class Day 1

Today I got to the first of four classes on doing a collage. I have been sort of struggling with finding something arty to do, and I think this may be it. The class participants had received a list of supplies such as wide brushes, scissors, plastic cups and plates, paper towels, a stretched canvas or stiff board, and all fourteen of us women came in to the art museum with full bags, well prepared. Judy the instructor is so good at what she does, and one of her interesting, colorful canvases was on an easel in front of the studio to admire and inspire. She began by introducing the medium and then lovingly showed her "blue file," a folder of papers all painted in different shades of blue and with different textures, because she never knows what she will want for her next project. For the next hour or so, we painted sheets of paper recycled from printers with writing on one side and pages from magazines, with the paint, papers and glue provided by the museum. The papers will be dry tomorrow and will be the palette from which we choose colors for our collage, she explained. Many time she expressed her love of paper, and going back to my early childhood, I connected. By the time we get there tomorrow, we should each have a fairly good idea of what we want to do. I think I will try to keep it simple and base this first collage attempt on a photograph I took of my yellow cat sitting in tall grass. At least that is my plan.