Collage received its fame after Pablo Picasso and George Braque brought it to the main stream in the art world. By the year 2012 collage will be present as a fine art form for 100 years, prior to this it was just something people did with left over papers and found objects.

The process of assembling a collage for me involves the physical act first; the gathering, collecting, swapping, thrift shopping, and trading items with like minded people. This is very exciting, stimulating, and addictive. I always keep my eyes open as I walk, never knowing what I might find. The whole process of creating a collage, taking the old and ordinary and juxtaposing it with the new and unusual, is what invigorates me.

I find myself drawn to all sorts of odd papers and three dimensional objects. Items others would find useless and discard, I like to rescue and reuse. I intentionally place objects together that do not relate and in doing so, I end up finding hidden connections.

My Inspiration comes from a glimpse or moment in time like an entry in a visual diary perhaps, a mind journey. Trouble thoughts invite the experimentation of a spiritual experience created by nature and the people around me. Collage affords me the ability to layer and add depth, much like our own lives, rich in history and stories of events and objects we choose to take with us.

Endless supplies of paper are all around us inviting the interchange of ideas and recycling. Actually collage artists are considered the first official recyclers. I personally like to incorporate the harvested plants from my yard and turn them in to handmade papers by cooking the plant fibers and ridding them of all impurities. What is left is the plant pulp that is then made into paper. The combination of other natural materials and organic pulp makes for the unique paper I use in my work.

The exhibit you are viewing today is a select group of my work from the past 10 years. I continue to challenge the artist in myself by exploring new ways to work like giving myself assignments and taking risks and trying new subject matters. I also teach collage classes at LaGrange Art League and DuPage Art League. Keeping my educational background fresh I create area workshops for adults and artist-in-resident programs for local schools.

It's a wonderful time to be a collage artist; technology is at our finger tips, literally. Using digital cameras, computer programs and the printer opens the door even wider to a vast assortment of images. Who knows where the fine art of collage will go. For now I'm enjoying the journey.