Collage Materials: Stitching, print and hessian

Stitching into various collage materials adds extra texture and interest.

Stitching into a collagraph

Digital print on matt archive paper has a smoothness that contrasts well with the texture of collagraph. The computer can provide a rich source of strange and wonderful material.

This little piece combines stitched dyed paper, collagraph and digital print.

Just occasionally I use silk screen printing which can also be enhanced with stitching.

Silk screen print with stitching

silk screen print made from a photo

Silk screen print + collagraph: one of the rare times that I have used scissors as this was for the cover of an artist's book and I wanted a crisper look

Newsprint and brown paper were used by Picasso, plain painted paper by Matisse. If you are not Picasso it is probably best to stick to light- proof, acid free materials! Beware of commercially printed papers that will fade.

No list of materials can be definitive, providing they are adequately secured and sealed. Some artists attach pieces of wire, rubber, plastic, rope and- in Chris Ofili's case- elephant dung! I tend to avoid anything that it too proud of the surface, other than occasional strands of hessian, and the crusty build up of layers of paper.

Hessian and stitching with plant-printed and dyed paper and collagraph.