Collage Art Inspired by Old Magazines
I have a trunk full of old Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines.
These date from the 1920’s to the 1940’s. I inherited the trunk when my dad passed away. Nobody wanted the trunk full of old magazines, except me. It felt like a connection to my dad. We both enjoyed making things. He was especially good with his hands.
So, I have hauled this trunk around for more than 30 years.
Only recently have I found a way to use these magazines. I’m putting them in my mixed-media art and collage art.
I think he would approve.
I use torn out pages as the background for most of my art. The graphics and the typefaces used back then are not seen in today’s advertising. And the articles have stopped me more than once begging to be read.
I tear the pages so that the text runs vertically or horizontally. I try to add contrast and interest as I glue the bits of paper down to my substrate.
And this always brings my dad to mind. I love that.
After I’ve added my other mediums, you can barely read the text, but I love the level of interest that the old magazine pages bring to my art.
If you look carefully at the center area of the piece below, you can see the text in the background. You can read how I made this piece here.
