When money is tight, it's hard to purchase the supplies you need to create your art. Even when I have money, I sometimes feel guilty for purchasing paper and other supplies to create art because of its impact on the environment. If you can relate, I do have some ideas which can help you be environment- and wallet-friendly while expressing your creativity. Here are just a couple:2) Recycling paper - We all remember the collages we made in elementary school after cutting out pictures from magazines. Well, I'm working on a series of "collages" where I use the recycled paper from magazines and catalogs as "paint." I cut up pages not by picture but by color and texture and use the strips to create my own "paintings" out of paper. The magazines you can collect from friends, or get $2 subscriptions when you fill out an online survey; and the catalogs seem to find me! Travel mags and home design mags work best. I've just finished one and I plan to experiment with methods on the next one, but basically I've used a large piece of cardboard as the temporary canvas and covered it with a few sheets of copy paper--recycled is great. Tape them together and to the cardboard temporarily while you adhere the strips onto it to create your design. After you're finished, apply a dry glue and several layers of finishing spray to protect it. Remove the finished piece from the cardboard which by this time feels like canvas--it's substantial but still flexible. Mount, matte, frame as desired.
I'll post more ideas in the future, and maybe this will inspire you to discover other strategies. Be sure to share them with me so I can share with others on this blog!
