Stacked

9x9 inches, paper collage

It's still really, really cold outside.  I dislike going out, and I have needed to do it whether I like it or I don't.  This past weekend I needed to drive twenty or so miles to Whitewater, where the WRAP show was wrapping up after a month.  There was a speaker, people I know and like, and I needed to bring home my painting.  It really was nothing new, a few inches of fresh snow, wintery temperatures, a stiff breeze, but all I really wanted to do was burrow under blankets with something hot to drink, and maybe a good book.  I am getting less and less brave about driving when the snow blows and drifts out on country roads.  When I was younger, I just did it, but after this drive my shoulders were tight and my head ached.  So when I learned my piece was not selected for any special mention, I packed up and left early, skipping the critiques.  All I wanted in the world was to be back home again.

Since then I've been playing with altering papers, and today I decided to do something with some of them.  This paper collage is loosely based on a quilt pattern, "stacked coins."  I set out some orange papers, and some aqua blue for a complement, and just tore them.  After they were adhered, I glazed the entire thing with burnt umber to unify the design, and this is what I got.  It's actually nicer in person, where you can see the textures and metallic paint on some of the papers.  

I like it.  I've been attracted to the colors and patterns of quilts for years, though my interest in sewing is nil.  I like that this square format can be turned a couple ways, and suggest something different each time.  The Princess and the Pea's mattresses?  Books on shelves? CDs?  Pancakes?  Stairways? I like the contrasts of smooth and textured papers, of patterned and plain.  Best of all it took my mind off the cold outside.