By Grace Dobush
Cut & Paste
By creating a collage every day, Randel Plowman learns how to let his work lead the way.
Randel Plowman in his studio (below), Winter Snow (bottom, left; mixed media, 4x4) and How to Draw a Rose ( bottom, right; mixed media, 4x4, shown actual size)
Randel Plowman’s wood-paneled studio is nestled in the second floor of a Bellevue, Kentucky, Victorian house, lined with five 8-foot-long tables topped with computers or art supplies. The fireplace mantle is decked with African art and crucifixes; dozens of boxes of carefully curated ephemera are stacked under the tables.
In this workspace Plowman has created a collage every day for more than three years. He started his blog A Collage A Day
( acollageaday.blogspot.com) because he
wanted to establish a
daily routine to jump-
start his creative bat-
tery. Plowman, who’s
trained as a print-
maker, sells the 4x4-
inch collages for $25
each through his blog and his Etsy store ( rplowman.etsy.com). The Internet makes art collecting more democratic, he says— “You don’t need a gallery.”
To create his collages, he might print an image onto a transparency sheet or tracing paper with an inkjet printer and use matte medium to transfer the image. Or he just integrates paper directly into the collage. He uses Mod Podge (a glue, sealer and finish) for small works made with paper; he’s also been working on large-scale collages that incorporate fabric, for which he uses Sobo or Tacky glue. Plowman coats the finished pieces in acrylic medium.
Plowman usually takes about an hour to produce one of his daily collages, though sometimes it comes together in as little as 15 minutes. He can spend an entire day just
www.artistsmagazine.com ■ June 2009
■ Associate editor Grace Dobush is the author of Crafty Superstar: Make Crafts on the Side, Earn Extra Cash and Basically Have It All (North Light Books, November 2009).
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