Watercolor Collage - Student Art

These two beauties were done in two different classes but have some similiarities. What's really hot in the art world right now is mixed media pieces, so I'm really pushing my students to try out various media within their work. The top piece was done by senior Steffi Wong in my Advanced 2-D class. The unit was watercolor on a larger scale with flowers as subject matter. Then they were required to bring in some collaged text and a little pen and ink. I think Steffi did a lovely job with the assignment! The 2nd work was done by senior Julia Meng in my 4th year 2-D class where she gets to choose her own media and subjects. She started with a smaller watercolored alligator that didn't fit the paper well compositionally. So I encouraged her to expand the edges of her format by adding addtional papers. The piece still felt a bit undone so Julia went into it with some collage pieces and it still didn't feel right, so I suggested that she bring some linear elements into it with free motion quilting stitches. She had never used a sewing machine before so I gave her some lessons and off she went, drawing with the sewing machine needle on top of her piece. I was so excited with her finished piece, and I love how she left the edges raw and deckled, as well as the threads dangling. What a cool piece Julia!