Ribbon Roses (Collage Day 11)

Ribbon Roses (Collage Day 11) Originally uploaded by randubnick

Today I went to Red Brick and worked on this collage for an hour. I am making a narrow gold border around the edge, using pieces of gold ribbon cut from the same patterned ribbons I used to make the image. I am pasting the pieces over the rim of the styrofoam tray (the base of the collage) and down the sides. This is extremely slow and tedious. The little pieces of ribbon won't stick by themselves, but have to be coaxed into place and held down until they begin to adhere. All efforts to hurry backfire, resulting in pieces of ribbon stuck to each other, to the brush, or to me. This is a real exercise in patience, and if anything is the opposite of the experience of flow, then this must be it. Making the image was fun, and covering the back of the tray will be relatively easy. But this is the hardest part of the project. When I began this today, I was getting very frustrated by how long takes (like watching paint dry, or watching glue stick). But this is time I set aside to make art, so it doesn't matter how much I accomplish or what I am working on. (Myself is what I am really working on.) I was hurrying out of habit, but art isn't a race. So I forced myself to continue, and the pieces of gold ribbon began to stick. I also discovered that slightly larger pieces work better, and that made things go a bit faster. (Later I also heard that the humidity was extremely high today, and that probably didn't help.) When it was almost time to go home, I began to see some progress. To be continued. . . .