I had the luxury of spending 5 days at "Art Camp" at a 1400-acre retreat in the mountains of North Carolina called Kanuga. The workshop I took was all about watercolor stained paper collage with artist and teacher Gerald Brommer. He is an amazing 81 year old, a consummate teacher and just all around down to earth nice guy - who also happens to be very passionate about painting.
He first showed us how to stain 21 different types of washi and other textured papers with watercolor paint, then a little bit about design, and finally how to use the papers to compose a painting. As you can see from the photos above he is a master at painting with bits of painted paper.
What a treat to spend time in the company of friendly people; to be immersed in learning something fun; and not have to cook, do dishes, or anything but paint! Sigh, it was over all too soon, except that coming home to my dear hubby and my puppy is always the best.
I'll post some of my collage attempts later.