Brand-new Kelp Masks Meet the Scissors

 For a long time I've used paint-stained stencils and masks as elements in collage, and almost every time, those have been scissor-customized.  Today's post starts with an example from the past, then moves forward to show examples of it with my newly released set of three kelp-inspired masks. 

In the example above (a close-up of one area of a larger artwork), the background has been created using 6" x 6" Kaleid s085 (with watercolor and colored pencil.)  In the foreground I've glued two pieces cut from that mask; these pieces were stained with acrylic paints in earlier art projects.  (This photo shows them as darker than they actually are.)

My newly released designs are 9" x 12" Kelp Forest L963...

6" x 6" Bulbs and Banners s955 ...

and 4" x 4" Seabed Greens M339.

My new masks had already become stained with acrylic paints when I took scissors to them.  In the smaller two, my only change has been to remove their outer frames.

However, my 9" x 12" kelp mask, Kelp Forest L963, contains within its design three smaller designs, each with its own unique visual identity. These 3 smaller designs begged for individual freedom from the bigger whole.

These three appear below, where I'm auditioning them on  watercolor paper printed with my Abstract Composition Backbones Masks.

Below:  Joyce Chen scissors and the remaining pieces from 9" x 12" Kelp Forest L963.

Below:  Part of 9" x 12" Kelp Forest L963, stained with acrylic paints in the blue and green families, has become a collage element on a background painted in orange, white and hints of blue.

Above:  Another two parts of Kelp Forest L963, stained with acrylic paints in the blue and green families, are now collage elements on a background painted in similar colors.  The original substrate was a thick paper printed with one of my old designs.  This older design is what provides the background rectangle, which I think adds interest to the overall piece.

Above:  Another two parts of Kelp Forest L963, along with  Seabed Greens M339 (upper right) -- all stained with acrylic paints mostly of the blue and green families -- have become  collage elements on a monoprinted background.

Above:  Two parts of Kelp Forest L963, stained with acrylic paints mostly of the blue and green families -- are now collage elements on a different monoprinted background.

Above:  Cut from its original 6" x 6" frame, Bulbs  and Banners s955, now stained with acrylic blue and green paints, has been used as a collage element on yet another monoprinted background.

Above:  4" x 4"  Seabed Greens M339, stained with acrylic blue and green paints, has been cut from its outer frame to become a collage element on a background that had been drizzled with purple paint.

Note One:  In today's projects, I have used more than one set of these new kelp masks, so you may've noticed a few of the stained, customized masks appearing more than once.

Note Two:  These are art examples still in progress.  The stained mask pieces are glued to their substrates as the first step in further developing each piece.

I hope these collage-starts will spark ideas of your own! Thanks for visiting my blog today.