Travel Collage
Travel Collage is a six-week hands-on course that moves through the full arc of collage as a creative practice—from historical context to finished keepsake. We begin with the roots of the form alongside the long tradition of travel journals, then move into the techniques and decisions that make collage a living practice of self-discovery: layering, tearing, cutting, transparency, stitching, and the varied methods of adhesion that change what a page can hold. Each week includes a writing prompt, a short lecture on the week’s topic, a guided art activity, and open studio time to apply and experiment with what we've explored together. We work with found text, erasure poetry, blind contour drawing, wax resist, watercolor wash, window-and-frame techniques, and the incorporation of ephemera—ticket stubs, pressed flowers, fabric, thread—turning sensory memory into a conscious compositional expression. But like travel itself, the course has a way of becoming its own kind of adventure. Students arrive with a trip in mind—a journey already taken, one being planned, or one only imagined—and often find that what they uncover in the making is as much about themselves as about any destination. Past students have commemorated specific journeys as gifts to those they traveled with; others have used the six weeks to explore what they call the journey inward. As with any art that strives to hold the ineffable in material form, process and discovery bring a transformation that may transcend the product.
Date/Time:
Wednesdays, September 2nd – October 7th, 9am-12pm
Skill Level:
Adult: All Levels
Admissions:
CAM Member $248 / Not-yet-member $310
Instructor:
Brinson Leigh Kresge
Supplies:
Individual Needs: Scissors, Glue stick and/or glue to pour in a cup and apply with a brush, A notebook and pen for notes and writing prompts, Some container for your project (photo album/scrapbook, box, wall mount, etc.) We will discuss this in the first week of class, so if you know what you want to do, great—but if not, you can decide and get this after the class starts. Personal items related to the trip you will focus on. These could include: Printed photos, ticket stubs, maps, menus, stamps, letters, other ephemera. This may become clearer after the first class. Magazines (often doctor's and dentist's offices are happy to unload old issues!) and paper collaging items. Tracing paper (a packet can be shared among students). Exacto knife and protective cutting board (can be helpful but not required). And some way of carrying all of these materials back and forth to and from class (a crate, shoebox, file box, or other)
To gather what you already have for the community to share as comfortable: Markers, watercolors, crayons, Scissors & glue, Stamps & stencils, Thread/needle, yarn, bits of fabric, Other interesting ephemera, Magazines and other paper collaging items. Anything else that looks like fun to bring and play with!
