To Collage or Not to Collage, That is the Question

It's not just for grade school. Mixed media collage is a fun and thought provoking form of art that we practice in our studio on a regular basis. It brings healing to the soul and releases a sense of pride as your heart is poured out onto the canvas.  Using everything from feathers to bubble wrap, there really isn't anything you can't use.  If it sticks, stick it.

Some of our favorite classes have been the Encaustic Collage classes.  We've worked with women who say, "I could never do that."  Then sit across the table and watch as their creativity blossoms into a beautiful piece of art. They are moved by what they create and so are we. 

One day a woman came into the studio who had been broken in heart and soul.  Ginger sat down with her after handing her a canvas.  With minimal guidance, this woman began to pour out her broken heart onto that canvas.  Using every dark color on the table, she created what she saw inside of her.  It lasted a few hours as she applied layer upon layer until she announced she was almost done.  She asked Ginger for a rhinestone and being an art studio...one was found quickly.  She sunk the rhinestone into the beeswax and said, "Finished."  When asked what the rhinestone meant in the midst of all the darkness, she said that she realized there is always HOPE. She saw that now.  She didn't want to take it home, however.  She said she was done with it all. So we hung it in the studio and get asked all the time if it's for sale. It's a dark piece that speaks to so many people. She left that day with some HOPE that she found inside her while creating.

 

The children that take the Mixed Media Encaustic class have some interesting responses, too. Some of the kids are so deep in thought as they carefully add the layers and yet others throw layer upon layer without thinking about it until they reach the finished project.

 

 

 

We LOVE what we do, hope that's evident to the people around us. Please come and collage something with us. Create, learn, grow and make a chaotic mess.  We'll clean it all up.

So the answer to the question?

Always collage. Collage everything.

 

Create Wildly Today,

 

Ginger and Kimberly

 

 

New Beginnings

We get asked all the time how Altered Wing Studio was born. The answer is simple. Two girls had a dream. We were driving around our town on a hot July day, talking about our studios. We both had been banished to our garages for our creative chaos messes. We thought about how fun it would be to have a combined studio and classroom space. It was just some dreaming for about 24 hours.

I went to work the next day and saw a 800 sq ft. building for rent. Just dreaming.  We called the number to ask about the rent and our dreams came crashing to the ground. There was no way we could afford that, but before I hung up, I blurted out a ridiculous offer to the owner of the building and to our great surprise our dreams took flight.

August 3, 2012, Altered Wing was born and changed everything for these two girls and the women who have joined us.

We started teaching classes and designed a beautiful retail area.  Each Resident Artist had her own studio area and we shared the classroom space. Pure BLISS. Clients would come in and watch their favorite artist work and often place one of a kind orders or ask "Can I do that?" Our response, "Of course you CAN!"

By December we were experiencing growing pains. So in January, we broke through the wall and took over the second suite. Then a week later, broke through a third wall and took over another suite for our sewing/design rooms. Now we had 2,400 square ft. of beautiful studio/retail space.

Our one year birthday is quickly coming upon us and as I look back on this year I am so thankful.
Since we have opened, we have always been in the 'black', albeit, sometimes by a hair, but always in the 'black'.  We have made so many friends, not just clients, but true friends. We've become a place to hang out and drink bad coffee. A destination... to sit down and create something all while laughing hysterically and making divine messes out of everything around us.

Tears have happened, too. But hugs are often offered and returned gladly. It's  the way we grow, don't you think? Create, cry, laugh...grow together. We have all changed in one way or another. For the better, I think. We dared to dream, took a risk and now we are flying on our ALTERED WINGS.


I Hope YOU Create Wildly Today,

Ginger