This past May at INSPIRED 2009, Tena Sprenger taught a mini-workshop for completing a 12x12 collage on a black chipboard easel. Above is a photo of Tena and myself during the class and below is Tena's class sample...note that I did not finish my piece at INSPIRED but that's okay because I had special plans for it...
Just loved Tena's original and how she combined all the "vintage" elements and the colors she chose. When I first saw this, immediately I knew that I was going to have to make a collage for my son, Timothy, to represent his college years at NC State...seeing as how his colors were red and black AND THE FACT THAT he was actually having his graduation while I was away for the weekend at INSPIRED. Following is a close-up of my un-finished collage...this is as far as I got in the actual class...
Here you can see that we played with paint in the class and created our "abstract" backgrounds with the white and red paints on the black chipboard background. We used acrylic rubber stamps that looked like "bubble wrap" and "mesh" for some texture...basically it's my favorite way to create...just throw some paint on the page, add texture with objects and go for it! Following is a photo of my finished collage:
So once I had time...fast forward to November...I pulled out my project folder and reviewed all the photos and ephemera in order to put together an assemblage that represented Timothy and his achievement of becoming a "rocket scientist".
Starting with the top right hand corner (and proceeding clockwise :) you can see the words "in miracles" along with a felt heart with "Tim" in the center and this explains Tim so well...he has a big heart and he believes that anything is possible if you have the faith to believe in yourself and your dreams. The "key" to unlocking his dream of becoming an "Aerospace Engineer" was "NCSU". The "spring" and the quote "To invent you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. - Edison", represent Tim and his classmates completing their Senior Projects and then, in April, competing at the national AIAA Conference in Huntsville AL, as this group photo. Other photos of the NASA center of the Rockets and Space Shuttle also help capture this great memory for Tim.
Next you see another "spring" and another great quote which I used inside of Tim's graduation card that is just wonderful from "Steve Jobs of Apple":
Tim has always been a great "team" player and he totally loved his Senior Year and being able to have a "hands-on" approach and be "creative" and find ways to resolve problems...very rewarding!
How appropriate was it that my class kit had the "faith" bingo card...so I just had to top this with a photo of Tim because he has always had a strong belief in following his dreams...he has always "dared to dream". Note: the black gaffer tape came with this white text printed on it and we were all given some in our kits as well, and again, the words were perfect for my collage :}
Many "Good Times" were had throughout Tim's four years at NC State and Tim has built lifelong friendships with many of his classmates.
Representing "Sandstorm Operations"...the chosen ones...remember when I blogged about Tim's Senior Day back in April and how impressed we all were...
Only fitting that the top should have the grand finale...Graduation....yeah!
AND YES..."because" it is "rocket science"...that was always the thing I said to Tim when he would "over-think" things as a kid..."Hey Tim...It's not rocket science!"
Another quirky thing and the reason "why" I'm posting this fuzzy photo...look at the "number 13"on the pin clasp...OMG...it's our favorite number in the whole wide world...FANTASTIC...I just had to use it!
Once done...I mounted the collage in a "shadow box" frame in lieu of the easel back that was provided in the class kit.
Then I found this wooden red "T" initial/monogram at Marshall's (how cool is that) to go with his collage...I though that Tim could put them up in his new office. Then we had the pleasure of presenting both to Tim as an early Christmas present when we went up to Pittsburgh . to visit them in their new home, after Thanksgiving.
So appreciate Tena and her wonderful classes...she always tries to bring what's new in the market into her projects...like the first year she was a featured teacher at INSPIRED and taught us all about acrylic albums...THANKS TENA...you rock!
Hope you all enjoyed reading about, and seeing all the details, and that now you are also motivated to try assembling your photos and memorabilia into a wonderful collage that commemorates one of your special life events!
comments welcome