First, all of the plaques were primed and dry brushed with a base color to set the tone of the piece. I then looked at each recipients head shot, some production photos and their resumes and wrote a poem about each of them.... Without being too "woo-woo", I believe this creates a personal connection with the piece and subject matter. It helps me focus on a deeper meaning for the collage and projects a positive energy to viewers.Next Step is tearing up bits o' paper/pictures and adhereing them to the base. I was excited to find a lot of 
great reviews of the shows I could use for these pieces. Of course I had Shakespere in my collection as well as The Wizard of Oz so those were a slam dunk. The Seattle public library has a copy of The Adding Machine on their shelves, but I didn't have time to run down there to get it. I was a little bummed about that.
great reviews of the shows I could use for these pieces. Of course I had Shakespere in my collection as well as The Wizard of Oz so those were a slam dunk. The Seattle public library has a copy of The Adding Machine on their shelves, but I didn't have time to run down there to get it. I was a little bummed about that. 
Third...More photos/words and then some texturizing paint and color. I think waiting for the glue and paint and more paint to dry is the hard part, but it makes me slow down and really think about the piece and where I want it to go. I spent about 6-8 hours creating each of these Lovelies.
After all of that we have #4...The focal point. I like to combine words and pictures to give each piece a unique personality. This one in particular was a trip to create...Charles Leggett played Shylock in Merchant of Venice...great role and stunning performance...So to symbolize how he really got inside Shakespere's head I placed Charles headshot where the Bards face had been. (photo at left)
With Amy Thone's piece I
created a collage of her headshot, production photos super imposed over her eyes, mouth and head. A little spin on "see no, think no, speak no...other than the character" law by which an actor lives and dies. In John Langs piece I afixed his eyes over that of the playwright's, Elmer Rice, as he is a director who truly sees a clear vision of the playwrights words.
created a collage of her headshot, production photos super imposed over her eyes, mouth and head. A little spin on "see no, think no, speak no...other than the character" law by which an actor lives and dies. In John Langs piece I afixed his eyes over that of the playwright's, Elmer Rice, as he is a director who truly sees a clear vision of the playwrights words.Both of these to the right are examples of step 5...Darkening the surrounding areas creating mystery and making the focal points pop.
And I have to make a comment about Don Darryl Rivera...what a SUPER FUN body of work! WOW! He is living the dream. Now I know he played the Wolf in The Stinky Cheeseman...but how whimsical is it to put Stinky Cheeseman's head on Don's body? I couldn't resist as that is one of my favorite books of all time! I hope he likes it as much as I do. In the final steps I detail paint some features I want to highlight, add some metallics for a little glow and varnish it whole thing for durability. These 6, being awards, had a custom copper plaque added to them to commerate the event and honor the recieptants. I'll have a few collages for sale at my Etsy store soon or you can place a custom order for one made with your very own photos and memorbilia! I'd love to make one just for you!
I also teach classes on how to make your own memory collage (minimum of 4 students) at Paperfling!
The Finished Gregory Awards!
