Personal History Collage

Have you ever wondered what to do with all those vintage family photos and documents piled in your basement? That's how I got started years ago visually composing lives into a family narrative about lineage and my personal history. You will learn how to present your personal history by threading through the layers that make up epic tales and display childhood memories in a unique way. I often include my Norwegian grandmothers' handwritten 1910 postcards documenting her voyage to America. In just four days, you'll craft and compose two substantial pieces, constructing intricate surfaces and devising architectural spaces capable of showcasing petite 3D treasures.

Oregon painter Judy Vogland explores the vast Pacific Northwest landscape through the magic of surface building and mixed media collage. Vogland engages students to develop aesthetic landforms that work best on large canvases. She shares her trusty secrets and bag of tricks to inspire students to investigate unconventional perspectives and invented surfaces and develop new color relationships while students master creative problem solving! This long-time artist has been teaching courses while painting and exploring the crust of the ocean for the past 43 years.

Bring piles of family photos preferably BLACK and WHITE! Individual and group shots encouraged. Think Vintage, the older the better! Getting ready for this fun, deep-dive workshop is like going on a scavenger hunt. Be detailed and adventurous/ use your car as your art locker!

**Big box full of gathered up photos of going to the beach with Aunt Myrtle and the kids, ETC!!...that you may sort through over and over to find the images you want to use: 

    a. Don’t eliminate ahead of time! Best if not presorted, or selected /just tossed in a box from the attic and or basement! Photo albums OK but bring plenty to choose from once in class!

    b. Photos with big backgrounds, old torn photos, big vintage photos, tiny group shots all have great value. It is a LONG drive back home to get more so don’t be shy about bringing the family stash! 

        c. Don’t depend on present day color, staged school photos…too predictable

Other items to work with, such as interesting documents that now sit in your drawer, cool old papers that mean something to your personal history. Maps, old book text, hand written letters, Oregon treasure maps, family type documents, original, authentic...bring things you can’t figure out!

Dirty, greasy, dusty, well used recipes/relatable articles of fabulous family secrets, stories and lies!

Background images of locations you love...can be color...or notable time periods (I am a cowboy fan so for me?…desert images, old west architecture, etc) from books or old calendars...time for a trip to the antique mall.        

Stack of paper images torn from magazines, newspapers or books that are fun and engaging that are just wonderful to look at or speak to the times..

Any old attachable chunks of cool stuff from your past which could become part of the wood panel piece.

Other materials for working with:

           

(1)quart of Golden brand acrylic medium "gloss" ...not Matte. 

(2+) 1.5" profile wood panels or substrates purchased from Blicks or Matt McCalmont  971-222-5710   artsubstrates.com

  suggested sizes: 12"x24", 15"x36", 20"x30" 24"x36"

2 plastic cottage cheese type empty containers with lids  

 Brown kraft paper or 4 large grocery sacks

Decent trim scissors

softgrip 5" Fiskars

etractable razor blade

roll of blue tape

1 clean spray bottle for water

small 1oz. bottle of Higgins neutral black ink (if you can find it!)

acrylic paint your choice including Golden brand Shading Grey, carbon black, titanium white, paynes grey

  ruler with good edge

  brushes for acrylic paint filbert top #4, Royal soft grip WC 1/2" (Amazon)

  push pins

  ebony pencil

  black sharpie fine point

  small box brass nails or escutcheon pins 3/4" or 1/2" little box from ACE //needle nose pliers if you have them

                         

                 

Wood glue

Paper clay

Screws, braces and brackets

String for Wrapping

Handmade papers

Soaking trays

Adhesion tapes

Museum board

Wooden trims