Won't You Be My Neighbor?
A collage project from start to finish
"It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood A beautiful day for a neighbor Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
It's a neighborly day in this beautywood A neighborly day for a beauty Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you
So, let's make the most of this beautiful day Since we're together, we might as well say
Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor?
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Neighbors are people who are close to us and friends are people who are close to our hearts.
I like to think of you as my neighbor and my friend!"
I'd be surprised if you didn't know this song from your childhood; the beloved Mr Rogers sang it at the beginning of every episode of Mr Roger's Neighborhood. The simple lyrics and melody capture a deeper meaning - the ideal of all people being my neighbor, in the way we are commanded to love our neighbors. This paste paper collage captures a neighborhood that is so filled with love that the roofs are being lifted and the walls are being broken open by all the love expanding inside them.
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This collage is made with paste paper. It begins with flour and water cooked together to make a paste and pigment added for color. The colored paste is spread on paper and textured with brushes, sponges, and other tools to create patterns and textures.
I create paste papers fifty sheets at time in a wide range of colors, textures, and patterns. These become my palette .
Now that the stack of colored, textured paper is ready to work with, I prepare the board, six inchs by 36 inches by 1/2 inch, that will be the base of my collage with three coats of a gesso.
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Once that's dry I use PVA glue to apply a torn paper background. The paper is from an old and disinegrating volume of Shakespeare that belonged to my mother in her youth. I figure it's about 75 year old. Most of the text I used came from As You Like It.
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The background needs something to give it some interest, so I spray some ink on tissue paper and tape it to some card stock so it will go thorough my very cranky printer. The image I use is from a photo I took of bare branches at Meijer Gardens.
I manipulated the image in Photoshop and repeated it several times. Once I've run it through the printer, I tear it into pieces and paste it on top of the text background.
The tissue becomes nearly transparent once it's glued down; it doesn't obsure the text of the base layer, just adds some pattern and color.
I finish off this layer by adding a little white pigiment over all
At last, it's time for the fun of selecting the paste paper for the houses. I cut out a selection of houses, then cut them apart and rearrange the parts. I add doors and windows and glue them onto the background.
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All that's left to do is give it a couple of coats of clear matt medium and frame it.
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And then make two more variations. I want lots of people in my neighborhood!
