The Mysterious Influences of Our Past

The Ladder
50 x 40 cm
Mixed media on canvas
© Cherry Jeffs 2014

Work in progress: 
2nd piece in the 'Grow Wings and Fly' series 
© Cherry Jeffs 2014

On Collage...

What with designing the free year planner for creatives and a new category icon for my newsletter archive and writing posts about alternative approaches to money and apps for artists, you might be forgiven for thinking I had abandoned making art altogether. 

I'm happy to say this is not the case and my regular studio practice is firmly in place despite the struggle I always have with low energy in February. I recently finished the first collage-painting in my 'Grow Wings and Fly' series but the wet weather prevented me taking a decent photo of it until today.

...And Art College

I experimented with several new techniques in this piece including making collage papers, stitching onto the canvas and making the little ladder out of wooden barbecue skewers and string. Making this ladder transported me back in time to making scale models of stage sets for my theatre design degree course at Wimbledon School of Art and I found myself speculating on the influence it had on my art today.

I am now on the way with the second piece in the series and I have already expanded my range of media even further by including a strip of fabric amongst the elements made from previously prepared collage sheets. Who knows what else might find its way in there!

• Listen to: An Insight into my Collage Process
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• Comment: What past influences affect your work today?