Wednesday 2 January 2013

Doors



Collage obsession, The secret garden.

 


My first post of the year is  'The secret garden ' mixed media collage. Beginnings are often symbolised as doors, they also indicate transition, the closure of the old whilst moving into something new, so I wanted to use a previous watercolour from an earlier post as a starting point, I posted 'The Old Byre Door' back in September. I printed out a copy on my printer, stuck it onto canvas and began to alter the image, transforming the watercolour into collage, symbolising regeneration and the beginning of something new. As I began sticking paper down and creating leaves and flowers the doorway reminded me more and more of the doorway in a book called 'The secret garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett. It was a book that as a child I loved and read and reread over and over again.. The gardens ability to heal and regenerate being its main theme.The main character Mary found herself energised by the garden as the months moved from winter to spring. I haven't read the book for many years so it is unusual that the door to the secret garden began to emerge from the canvas. I like to think behind the door is an a beautiful secret garden, the gold light from within its walls radiating out through the cracks in the wooden frame. To enter.....easy just turn the key......


The old byre door
 A little addition to the Mary Lennox robin are these Little feathered friends from a shop window in york... can't recall the name of the shop but managed to squeeze through the Christmas shoppers to  take a photo, Love them :)

A very Happy New Year

                                                            

11 comments:

  1. What a fantastic idea to collage over a copy of your painting. Actually when I looked at the first picture I couldn't believe that was the collage version. It really is so good.
    I like the robins, particularly the oversize one. Too much Christmas pudding on the bird table in his garden patch.

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  2. What a beautiful picture. It looks like an embroidery and it looks like a watercolour. It would make a lovely card.

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  3. Thank you! I love mixing up different elements. This piece uses embroidery, acrylic, watercolour and gold leaf, Oh and gesso :)

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  4. Great use of your watercolour Morag, love this collage. The little robin is very sweet and I agree with the above comment, would make a great card x

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  5. Your original is wonderful...your collage enchanting. I love that book too and now want to re-read it. Beautiful words...illustrated beautifully.

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  6. I just read Secret Garden last year.....your photo and watercolor depict the book perfectly! I like how you altered the original watercolor another step to achieve this piece. Wonderfully done!

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    1. Thank you, I'm so pleased that others share my love of the book.

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  7. This is so beautiful! Happy new year!

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  8. Thank you, Happy new year to you too. :)

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  9. Happy New Year, Morag! What a beautiful collage, it brought me fond memories of the book Secret Garden. Glad to have found your blog via Collage Obsession.

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  10. Happy New Year to you Salla, thank you for your lovely comments. :)

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