'Precious Time' Magazine Collage

'Precious Time' Magazine Collage

This upcycled magazine collage 'Precious Time' was inspired by my artist statement

It is intentional that when viewing my work that the method used is not instantly obvious. At first glance it is often assumed that I have used paint and only on closer inspection does it become apparent that the piece consists entirely of ripped and cut magazines. The intention is to challenge our perceptions. Highlighting how small changes in our methods and materials can enhance our work while reducing impact.

I purposely depict precious moments in time, capturing in essence my main drive in pursuing environmentally friendly practices. What is precious to us is worth protecting and the greatest motivation is working for the those we love.

I wanted to create a piece that captured my philosophy, I had previously taken many photographs of my children blowing dandelion clocks specifically for this piece. Unfortunately none were quite what I wanted so I was very excited when I can across this picture of my nephew on Facebook.

Image used for 'Precious time'

Although this piece was never intended as a portrait, I didn't stray very far from the original image. When I sketched this out I decided to add in the floating 'wishes'.

Rough sketch for 'Precious time'

The main challenge for me with this piece was the face, I have yet to settle on a technique that I am happy with. I plan on spending some time experimenting with different approaches. For this piece I decided to keep things simple. This was also the first piece where I began to cut as well as rip the magazines.

Detail from 'Precious time'

I receive a very mixed reaction to the pieces containing text. I don't always make a final decision as to whether I will include in a piece until near the end. In this case I went for a subtle use by including the collage title in the 'wishes'

Detail from 'Precious time'

This collage was framed by Alan at Roaring Tree in a reclaimed wooden frame for the Banks' mill open studios exhibition. This piece is now available for purchase, please contact me for details

'Precious Time' framed