I thought I’d begin this blog by sharing a few of my favorite mixed-media collages, each of which features a vintage illustration as its focal point. The pieces allowed me to explore color and texture while hopefully celebrating the timeless emotions of women.

“Lady of Shalott” by Trenda Plunkett, 2009

This first piece is no longer in my possession, as I sold it early last year. I began the “Lady of Shalott” by layering color onto a pre-stretched, 8″x10″ canvas. Next, I glued down pages from Tennyson’s poem with Golden’s Regular Gel Medium (Matte). I had chosen the illustration, one of many in Dover Publications’ Women:  Nineteenth Century Vintage Illustrations, before beginning the piece, as the woman’s expression conveyed the feeling of the poem, as well as mirroring my own emotions at the time. Again, with the gel medium, I affixed the image to the canvas, and I coated the top of the image with a thin, even layer of the medium. Once those two layers were dry, I began adding texture by crumpling up plain white gift tissue and pasting it down with the gel medium. I brushed medium on top of the tissue to seal it. Once the tissue was dry–that took awhile!–I painted glazes of earth tones onto the tissue and around the woman. It felt like something was missing, though, so I layered a bit of sheer printed fabric for her dress. I was quite happy with the results and more than a little sad to part with it. I’m glad, though, that someone else is enjoying my artwork.

Come back soon for a peek at another collage in this series.

All artwork is copyright Trenda Plunkett. Please do not copy. Thank you.