Listening to the Paper

Light Unlimited, 2010
Gel transfer on paper

I love to collage with scrapbooking papers. They're delicious confections of color and line. Cheap, too—on sale, a handful of small change will buy a big 12 x 12 sheet. Admittedly, scrapbooking papers can be a bit of a challenge to work with, especially when those papers have forceful patterns. But even neutral scrapbooking papers pose design risks. Every paper—indeed every art material—has its own place in the vast continuum of visual meaning, and just because a paper is beige with a muted vintage-looking script doesn't mean it will not assert itself, sometimes in aggravating ways, in your piece of work.

Man of the House, 2010
Acetone & gel transfers/paper

One way to make the paper behave—and a popular trend in recent mixed-media publications—is to tone it down with a slap of paint. For those who prefer to let their work evolve spontaneously, this treatment takes away much of the risk of the paper overwhelming the work.

It also takes away much of the spirit of the paper.  

Two Medicine Lake, 2010
Tape transfer/old postcard/paper

A different approach is to forgo that coat of paint in favor of hosting—before gluing—a heart-to-heart talk between the piece you want to make and the paper you're thinking of using. Put it all on the table! Proportion, directionality, balance, tension, composition, and more, if you can think of it! What does the paper offer to your idea? How can you best harness its aesthetic to serve your concept? If there's a balance to strike, where exactly is it?

Who knows what will happen if you let the paper speak.