The Columbia River Estuary from Space

Images of the Columbia River Estuary are ones that I have studied for years. From satellite images, I have mapped wetlands. landcover and invasive species within the 141 mile long area from the mouth of the Columbia to Bonneville Dam, the upper limit of its tidal influence.

The subject of the painted collage above is primarily one Landsat 5 image, but the collage does not hold to that one point in time. The estuary is a constantly changing place with tides and river levels rising and falling, sand bars and mud flats changing shape, and clearcuts and regrowth in the forests along the Columbia's banks. Seasonal changes are constantly occurring as well. So the collage portrays a changing, dynamic landscape. The choice of ranges of light, near infrared, red and green, gives growing vegetation a red color in this image.

This collage is the third in a a series of recent collages and paintings based on satellite images (the two others are "Rice Fields from Space" and Owens Lake, a lost lake in California). The images tell a story if you look at the details in the landscape and they have a beauty inherent to their landforms and habitats.

This collage will be one of five collages and paintings that I will be showing in the "As Time Goes By" exhibit at the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State University during June.

Red Hills - painted collage

(Click the images to see larger versions)

A recent painted collage on wood panel with a detail photo (bottom) to show the detail and texture better. Handmade Japanese paper, washi, is combined with watercolor and acrylic to make this colorful, textural image.
Hmmm, I wonder which makes the better final image....

Collaboration

Just back from a long trip to London. While I get back in gear, take a look at this post by Sarah Bush on some collaborative art we made recently and the collaboration process.

A photo of one of the finished collages is shown below.

Painted Collage

Intersecting Strata

Years ago, I drove from north Georgia to Jackson, Mississippi to take a collage workshop from Gerald Brommer and it was well worth the trip. Jerry is an excellent and inspiring teacher and I have continued using his technique that he taught us to produce collages ever since.

I have come to call the resulting work “painted collage” to be more descriptive. “Mixed media” has always bothered me as being much too general (it really does not tell you what materials have been used) and there are so many kinds of collage. In this technique, paint is applied to washi, Oriental hand-made papers, either before or after gluing them in place (or both). Watercolor paints work very well and thinned acrylic paints do also. Sections of the washi, which comes in fairly large sheets, can be torn to leave more organic edges. It can be almost painful to tear the sheets since the papers are so beautifully made, but the results are worth it. Applying paint to the washi helps bring out the various textures within each type of paper. Layering the papers during the collage process can build a very rich surface, with colors and texture combining through the translucence of the paper.

Jerry Brommer continues to teach workshops on collage and on watercolor painting. I highly recommend his workshops as a means to explore design, color and texture in a way that tends to "loosen up" results for the artist. Jerry also has written many books, at least two of which are about collage. The technique mentioned above is described in a chapter of his book, Collage Techniques: A Guide for Artists and Illustrators.