Circle Suite | Art Everyday

I like to work in layers. That’s the beauty of combining printmaking with collage. Throw in some embossing and you have the perfect trifecta. Circle Suite is a new group of three sets of related color monotypes with collage for a total of nine.

This group of collages began with creating textured monotypes and laying tangles of string on top before the monotype was printed. The paper remained white where the string had been pressed (embossed) into the paper. Boy, did I have fun deciding where the tangles of string should fall on the surface of the print. They may look random but are not. O.K. maybe a little. They did seem to have a mind of their own but ultimately it was my decision.

Each monotype with lines was then ready for the “circle” treatment. I floated circles from painted paper, my old prints and photos and ephemera across the surface adding some other cut out shapes. Look closely and you can see the interplay of circles and lines.

Large cut out circles are the anchors moving the eye from place to place and exerting some control over what may appear to be utter chaos but is not.

Here are three collages showing the monotype with embossed lines before adding the circles.