These collages by sparkleface are deep, darkly glimmering mixed media paper paintings. Here is another artist that really "gets" texture. Her method of collage and layering with other mediums gives her work a weathered and worn appeal, a style that seems impossible to replicate. I picked a few recent pieces to show, but you should take a look at her flickr, there is a huge body of work to be seen.

sparkleface
website, flickr, etsy
I live in northern California. I love California, even just the idea of it.

Describe your work in 10 words or less.

Transforming little bits of paper and paint into sparkly goodness.

What do you like to work with (magazines, photographs, vintage)? Be specific!

I like any little scrap of paper I can get my hands on, especially the little bits that end up on the studio floor.

In my collages, I use old pages from books, stickers, joss paper, found paper from vintage advertising, doodles and drawing from my own sketchbooks, magazine pages, handmade paper, rub-on dry transfer type, vintage photographs, water soluble oil pastels, handwriting, acrylic paint, ink, rubber stamps, packing tape, beeswax, glitter glue, color pencil, gel pens, sharpie pens, and LOTS of Golden acrylic medium - the Fluid of the Gods. I should really buy stock in that company.

How long have you been creating collages and what made you start?

I first discovered collage in a Colour & Design class in my first year of college. The professor wanted us to keep a sketchbook/pastebook for the class.

I collaged one page and was instantly addicted, then began obsessively hoarding paper to make more with. I have kept books filled with collaged pages ever since. If the great flood should occur again, I will build a raft out of paper and float away.

Are you solely an artist, or do you work in another profession?

I have a dullish but unstressful day job in an office. I like to keep my energy pure for creative projects in my own time.

Do you have any formal art training?

I went to an art school for a little while to study painting and sculpture.

Unfortunately, the experience left me mostly disappointed. I think I had a Utopian view of how it was going to be, but the reality was kind of ruthless and depressing. I ended up moving on to a state university art department where there was a lot more support and comradery between students, and, um...less rampant drug use amongst students! I had a great mentor there and he really helped me find my creative voice. Teachers make all the difference!

Most of what I learned about artistic process was from my Mother. She was a great artist and worked as an illustrator for a department store when I was growing up so I always studied her drawing and painting techniques.

Explain your favourite techniques.

One thing I love to do is to transfer paint onto a collage using a piece of plastic or a roller.

I like to make surfaces that look organic, like peeling paint on old walls. I find beauty in the natural deterioration you see in urban environments. Layers of flaking paint and dirt, with graffiti on top...that really inspires me. Each layer has a story embedded in it. My family is from New Orleans. You can really feel the history of surfaces there.

Describe your favourite piece ever created.

My favorite piece is this painting/collage on canvas.

It was the first time I picked up little leftovers from my studio table and started assembling them on a canvas with a process similar to the one I use now for most of my work. I had a Xerox copy of insects next to a piece of painted paper in my collage bin and the toner from the copy adhered to the painted page so when I pulled them apart there were silhouettes of insects in paint. It was so magical, I built the whole piece around it.

I've never been able to recreate that effect. I love when accidents like that happen while you are working. You have to let go of the idea of control to make room for that.

What other artists do you admire?

Oh boy... so so many! Joseph Cornell, Roberto Matta, Barry McGee, Barron Storey, Dave McKean, Dorothea Tanning, Kay Sage, Terry Winters, Gustav Klimpt, Bernini, Glenn Barr, Squeak Carnwath, Annette Messenger, Sabrina Ward Harrison, Joe Sorren, Heinrich Drescher, Botticelli, Fernand Khnopff, Remedios Varo, Jan Toorop, Mel Odom, Egon Schiele, John Singer Sargent, Dan Eldon, Käthe Kollwitz...to infinity and beyond...

Thanks !