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Friday, October 19, 2012

Wall Collages

One of the projects in my apartment I am proudest of is the wall collage I made for the living room.


I think collages are a really fun way to fill a large, empty space. Let me go through the different things I have in here. While perusing the thrift shop one day, I decided to look at the records. I usually ignore that section with all the old cassette tapes and record players and things, but there was a really pretty record cover sitting on top, and I got the idea to use them as wall art. The local thrift shop was closing for renovations, so everything in the store was $2 a bag, so I got a bunch of old records and a couple other things for $2. I feel kind of badly because I had no interest in the records themselves at all, just the covers. I picked ones that I thought were cool and that would match our turquoise/orange thing we have going on. My favorite one is the yellowish one it the middle. It is a Joni Mitchell record. I really like her music, and I had no idea she was also a painter. One of her paintings is in the middle of the cover. It is hard to see in the picture, but it is rather brilliant, I think.

Next, there are a few empty picture frames. I got all of those at the thrift shop as well quite a while ago. Some of them had really hideous artwork in them. The brown square one on the left has really magnificent carvings in it. On the top right there is another frame I got at the thrift shop, but I left the art in it. It is a precious little drawing from a children's book series. I can't remember the name of it for the life of me... it is one with little dressed up woodland creatures. The two little square ones under the clock are also thrift shop finds. The gold one is a little finch picture, and the other is a tiny mirror with a really ornate frame that my roommate Mary found.

There are also three vintage books. I'll let you guess where I found those! Hint: the only place I've gotten any of this stuff. The blue one on the far right is called "The Port of Missing Men," which I got as kind of a joke because my three roommates and I were all single at the time and far from finding significant others. The one at the top left (you can't really tell it is a book... teal with the circle pattern) is a book a poetry from a withdraw pile at my old high school library, called "The Moon is Shining Bright as Day." What a cool title. The last, really crooked book is called "The Planter of Trees," which I originally got to cut a hole in and make into a planter, but that project got pushed to a back burner.

That's mostly everything. Obviously, there's a clock. I've had that clock for a long time. I think I got it for Christmas one year when I was in middle school. Of course, there's the "G," which doesn't really stand for anything, but I picked it to add some round edges to the collage, along with the cross-section of tree. I got both of those from the craft store. Those two items bring up the most conversation. "What does the 'G' stand for?' and "Where the heck did you get that piece of tree?" are common questions from guests. I was a lumberjack named George in another life. Just kidding. Don't question the art, people. Let's see... what have I left out? Ah, the small silver square and the record. Obviously, one is a record. I had use for one of them other than the covers after all. The silver square is just a piece of cardboard covered with some shiny beads for some metallic elements and some texture. Those darn beads are all over the place. Vertical is not their prime position. Oh, and the gold and brown thing are just scrapbook paper. Ah! And the big tall orange thing- that's just some orange yarn I wrapped around a white board.

So that's everything! The whole project probably cost me about $30. Well, not including the Command Strips I needed to hang everything. Except I gave up and used tape for a lot of things. Don't tell my RA.

Here are a few more pictures, some close ups and some of the process:

Getting the layout perfected on the floor before attacking the wall

Some handy work with some yard twine to try and get the darn books to stay closed


The left and the right sides! A collage is a great way to incorporate a lot of separate pieces that mean something to you! I think using record covers is a great idea. If you don't have anything else to incorporate, why not try one with just record covers, or just empty picture frames? Doing things that are the same size would be an easy way to start a project without having to worry about how to fill in space and making everything kind of have some common element. I did a smaller wall collage in my bedroom that I will post another day. If you make a wall collage of your own, please comment and let me know what you did and/or send me a picture! I would love to see your ideas!

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