Pastel Collage with Layers

 'The Romance of Flowers' Blossoms and blooms declare spring has arrived and set the pace for something new and fresh to inspire my creative mind. 

The Romance of Flowers, a mixed-media artwork (Pastel, foil, papers, and assemblage) by Minaz Jantz, is a visual representation of the emotional connection and romantic allure that flowers evoke.

The challenge with this work of art is to use leftover pieces of painting materials and build a foam core display box. This process involves cutting, shaping, and assembling the foam core, and using found objects to create a multi-dimensional pastel painting collage. 

Photo of tulips by Minaz Jantz

Years ago, I took a photo of the white tulips from the perspective of lying on the ground. The sunlight shone through the hugging tulips, which were reaching for the sky. This was the perfect image to inspire and create the next multi-media painting.

Using paper & board scraps, I will take the time to prepare surfaces for spontaneous creative explosions when I'm in the mood for mixed-media explorations. These moments of spontaneous creativity occur when I let go of all preconceived notions and allow the art to guide me, resulting in unique and unexpected outcomes.

As I delved into my collage box, I unearthed a rubber butterfly that had fallen off someone's shoes. I also found scraps of colored wire and a chopstick, which I ingeniously repurposed as the stem of the flower. This process of finding and repurposing objects is a testament to the endless possibilities of mixed media art.

The circle-prepared sandboard was ready for soft pastel painting of the tulips. The surface is rough, but I like the texture. The gold petals surrounding the tulips use two types of foils to create those flower petals. The outline is made of bright gold foil with a thick glue, and the gold petals are a mix of acrylic medium & gold dust.

Next was the fun part of building the painting into a dimensional work using my favorite material, foam core. The box will be designed to fit the frame and the glass, and filled with miscellaneous items.

The fence, a crucial part of the artwork, required meticulous preparation. I stacked foam core bits to achieve the desired height, then painted them black.  Using more prepared scraps of paper on the board with the golden ground, I crafted a cut-out, pastel-rendered fence that would sit perfectly on top of the black foam core bits. This fence, which sits just above the chopstick stem, adds a unique dimension to the artwork.

Three layers of foam core are adhered together with archival double-sided tape, a quick and mess-free way to assemble a paper collage. The wool fabric features felted leaf shapes from a previous project, and embroidery has been stitched into the felt. The felted leaves are wrapped in wire and glued to the green-painted chopstick to ensure security. I added some hidden stitches to the back of the foam core to ensure none of it would become floppy. 

The foam core box must fit perfectly into the deep blue frame and have sufficient space for the glass on top, but not under the frame. 

I had purchased the decorative paper on sale a while ago and found the natural paper color with gold polka dots to be a lovely neutral that supports the colors of the pastel painting.

The finished work of art fills me with a profound sense of joy. As I gaze into the flowers, I find myself immersed in their romance, soaring like a bird high in the sky. I hope this piece brings you as much joy as it has brought me.

May you have a ROMANCE WITH FLOWERS!... Minaz