Celebrating Spring with Creative Collage Art

 "The busy bee has no time for sorrow." 

- William Blake

 

"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow."

- English Proverb

Every spring small piles of dirt would appear in my side lawn. Soon after, bees hovered and darted above in a busy cloud.  Their arrival was one of the first signs of the change of seasons in my yard.  They were visibly active for several weeks before disappearing from sight.  I walked through them unharmed to mow the grass.  

My neighbor urged me to spray pesticide, so I consulted the internet for information.  According to an article from the NC State Extension, these ground bees are important pollinators. The site urges NC residents to let these insects be(e), explaining that "protecting their nests is more beneficial than planting flowers". Sure enough, looking out my kitchen window the following day, I noticed the buds on the branch of my maple were positively humming with masses of my bees.

Somehow seeing this reminder of nature at work gives me a subtle sense of satisfaction and a warm feeling that I can best describe as hope.  After the cold winds and short days of winter, along comes spring with its new life and abundant growth.  I can't help but feel a surge of creative energy.  Ineveitably, I want to try something new and share it with all of you. 

So while the birds are out gathering twigs and moss for their nests, I'm collecting small scraps of paper for a collage.  Anything will do - pages from children's books, handwritten notes on lined paper, glossy images of the sky from a magazine, and torn pieces of floral scrapbook paper.

My mom said I left a trail of paper scraps and drops of glue behind me wherever I went as a child.  I was always cobbling things together to make art.  This project feels just as carefree.  My plan is to make a home portrait collage with mixed media.

I run out to the street in bare feet to snap a quick photo of the house, print it in black and white, and trim out the background with scissors. 

Then I rummage in my drawer of artist's treasure to select tools from a variety of mediums.

I grab a canvas and paint primer over a previous work of art.  Waste not, want not.

I start by assembling the torn scraps of paper and my home image in various ways until I'm satisfied with the layout.  Now it's Mod Podge time!  It's essential to cover every tiny bit of the paper with adhesive. Then press the paper carefully onto the board spreading out with your palms (or a roller if you have one) from center to outer edges.  If you accidentally end up with an air bubble under the paper, c'est la vie!  There is no perfection in collage work nor in life.  There will be wrinkles, and we will work with them.

Now that the scraps have been assembled to form a lovely background for my home, I can break out my watercolors, pencils, and markers to create a more cohesive scene with a bit of artist's magic.

You can watch my YouTube video to see the creation from start to finish.  Imitate the spring birds and start gathering your scraps to create something beautiful. 

Happy creating,

Arianne

www.sociableart.com

 

The Story Behind the Painting - Crystal Springs, FL

 
“A prosthetic leg with a Willie Nelson bumper sticker washed ashore on the beach, which meant it was Florida.
Then it got weird.”

― Tim Dorsey, Pineapple Grenade

"The Florida peninsula is, in fact, an emerging plateau, honeycombed with voids and vents, caves and underground waterways. Travelers on Interstate Highway I-75 have no idea that, beneath them, are cave labyrinths still being mapped by speleologists - 'cavers,' they prefer to be called." - Randy Wayne White

I saw a sign that said "MASSAGE, ICE CREAM" in bold caps.  It was a bicycle shop.  I was definitely in Florida. I had skipped the sunshine state during my 2023 cross-country travel adventure (read about that here). I wasn't in the mood at the time for more heat and humidity after a North Carolina summer. In January when the temperatures began to drop at home, it seemed like a good time to steer my car toward the land of alligators on a mission to see the wintering manatees in the crystal clear springs of the central gulf coast.  

My first destination was Three Sisters Spring in Crystal Springs, FL. Since I am one of three sisters in my family, it seemed like a fortuitous destination.  Once there, I was rewarded with a vision of other-worldly aqua blue pools bordered by vivid green palms, but no manatees.  I was informed by the helpful volunteers that the manatees head out to the bay during the day to feed, returning to the springs at high tide to rest and warm up.  

To while away the time before high tide, I decided to drive down the coast to see the Ringling (of circus fame) mansion and museum and Homosassa Springs.  All along the central gulf coast you can see relics of a bygone era of roadside attractions and gimmicky marketing.  In the forties, Homosassa Springs was a tourist attraction filled with exotic animals including monkeys and a hippopotamus.  I took the $3 riverboat ride complete with tour guide to learn about the history of the park.  Though the monkeys were no longer swinging from the vines, I still felt like I was going back in time to the Florida of the past.  I saw manatees here, but not in abundance, possibly because it was still not yet high tide. 

When I returned to Three Sisters later in the afternoon, over a hundred manatees were

making their way slowly from bay to canal to the springs past curious onlookers on the boardwalk and in kayaks and scuba gear.  Seeing the massive animals floating around in the clear water was just as magical as I imagined.  The sea cows, as they are nicknamed, are completely docile, curious, and peaceful - definitely "Type B" personalities.  Thank goodness for the volunteers and financial supporters for making sure the manatees always have a suitable winter refuge.  

On the following day, a fierce storm raged, shaking my tiny Airbnb house on its footers.  Due to tornado warnings, I was forced to stay in and hunker down. What better time to get out my paints?   Here's the painting I created that afternoon inspired by the magical mood of the springs.   I also included some of my Florida impressions below which I jotted down in my notebook along the way.  

In Florida...
I saw manatees lounging lazily in crystal blue springs, with no jobs;)  I saw a snowy white egret aloft above the highway, a flat round fish

shining silver clamped in his beak like an ad for seafood.

I saw banyan trees absurdly sending branches back down into the ground forming fortresses and jails with bough bars and strangler figs hugging palm trees slowly to death in overzealous protection.
I saw the costume worn by a Wallenda as he flew through the air with the greatest of ease.  It was in a glass case, moth-eaten, dusty and stationary.

The air smelled alternately of sulphur, marijuana, a sewer, the sea, and then a sweet tropical flower. 

Spanish moss hung everywhere.  Shells, wet and whole, washed ashore.  Feral pigs congregated.  There were roadside trailers, pain management clinics, and conspicuous wealth.  The skies were rounder, the clouds more contrasted. The palms rattled their dry fronds and the seagulls screeched.

I drove down a silent empty dirt road bordered by black swamp water, palmettos, and pines looking for an ancient cyprus which did not appear before my fear of the untamed wilderness made me turn back.

I gazed out at the ocean buoyed by the waves and calmed by the tide. 

- Arianne, January 2024