Derek Gores Collage Portrait Workshop ~ Florida by Texas Artist Nancy Standlee

"Dance Me"
18" Collage Portrait

I'll never look at a magazine page the same way again since returning LATE this morning from the Derek Gores Collage Portrait Workshop, December 11-12, 2010 at the Brevard Art Museum, Renee Foosaner Education Center, Melbourne, FL. The workshop was over at 4:00 PM Sunday and plans were to return the rental car, catch the 6:28p to Atlanta but the plans did not take into account for Atlanta's bad weather and Delta slowing down. Instead of a DFW 11:23p arrival time it was more like leave Atlanta at 1:00 am and not getting into my bed until 3:00 am but it was certainly worth the waiting time to meet 22 new artist friends and study with this famous collage artist. Did I get anything productive done in all these waiting times and hours? No - just purchased more magazines to tear up and to try to quiet my buzzing head filled with torn paper collage images.
The Students:
We had 22 students, 21 ladies and one male, and plus one male observer part time. It probably is a draw for distance traveled between me and the lady from Rhode Island but I bet I win on longest time to get back home. I've never been in this area of FL and I met people from Melbourne, Kissimmee, Titusville, Cocoa Beach - names vaguely familiar but now you can put a face to the names and definitely add some Facebook friends.
The class description:
"In this collage portraiture workshop Derek will teach you to use torn paper to capture a portrait in a fresh new way! You will make one finished portrait of any person you choose. Or if you're inspired to make a collage of something other than a person, that is fine too! Derek will demonstrate, and guide you through the process of drawing, selecting your colors, and building up your collage layer by layer. "
I chose to keep some friends and do my own portrait. I took the photo in my kitchen using the gorilla pod on the kitchen table with a timed feature on the camera.
The Class:
Saturday was spent getting our images down on canvas and discussing composition and scale and positioning that first piece of collage paper. (I brought my piece drawn off so it gave me some walking around and observing time.) We were urged to use the biggest pieces first to glue down and get it covered in 30 minutes - NOT me or anyone else. Derek then warned us not to wait to get those eyes in until 3:30 Sunday. That's one reason my background is nice and layered is putting off working with the features. He had one rule for us "Don't use hair for HAIR." On my portrait if you click on the image to enlarge you can see some diamond jewelry pieces I've used for hair. (I brought some fur images just in case.) I had ripped out some magazine pages and divided them into colors in jumbo plastic bags with appropriate labels, red, black, text, personal items, white, etc. but I'm not for sure I'd need to do that next time or just maybe for the dominant color.
Derek was available to the class, answered our questions and spent a lot of time walking between the tables consulting with each student. In the slide show I didn't get a photo from each artist I'm sorry to say and I don't have the names of the work with the artist.
Derek spoke of having a history of time in art and my piece does have a history, the too white stage, then my neighbor Karen had gotten a beautiful glow with sewing pattern pieces, so I did that, didn't like the effect and added more white pieces while remembering what my collage teacher, Gerald Brommer said.. "You can keep adding collage until you can't pick it up."
Derek described his way of working as random and couldn't give us a definite sequence to follow and advised us to work large, loose and keep adding layers until you get it right and let the painting take you where it wants to go, ending up with a collage painting that is more than you could have imagined on your own.
I remembered a Pablo Picasso quote: "I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else."

Derek Gores Collage Workshop June, 2011 in Texas
If you would like to attend a Derek Gores collage workshop in 2011 check with Dena at the Wenmohs Ranch. I'll see you there as I'm already signed up and thanks Derek for my first portrait collage workshop in FL. He is scheduled for another workshop in FL in February if you can't wait until June. Thanks Florida friends for your hospitality and help with restaurants and hints and now Dena invites you to Texas to take with Derek in June.


BLOG:...............http://NancyStandlee.blogspot.com

WEBSITE:.........http://NancyStandlee.com

WEBSITE:.........http://CanvasbyCanvas.com

PAINTED PAPER COLLAGE PAINTINGS ~ TORN PAPER PAINTINGS ~ WATERMEDIA ~
COLLAGE ART ~ MIXED MEDIA TEXTURED ABSTRACT PAINTING ~
~ TEXAS DAILY PAINTER ~ NANCY STANDLEE CONTEMPORARY ART ~

Contact NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

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