Inchies!

Miniature collages are an ongoing obsession. I've already amassed more than I can count. Some I swap out with other inchie artists, but some I just can't part with. Those I have stacked in old cigar boxes, as their ultimate purpose remains elusive. I'm toying with the idea of creating one giant assemblage. I always thought a 4-foot square canvas covered in a grid of these tiny collages
would be stunning.

The collages range in size from 1-inch-square to 2-inches-square and incorporate a variety of techniques and materials, from paper, dyes and found objects to beeswax, acrylic overlays and plumbing supplies. Many of these made their way into the Imagine Collage Sheet in the shop.

This is by far my favorite set (above). It's a bit hard to tell from the scans, but most of these have close to ten layers of paint, collage, transparencies, acrylic texture medium and embellishment and are more than 1/4 inch thick.

People often ask how I go about making these little collages ... and how long they take to complete, but it's hard to give an accurate answer. I generally keep a healthy stock of prepared backgrounds on hand should the inspiration strike, which consist of chipboard, a patterned background and a bit of distress ink. Some take mere minutes ... just a snippet of text juxtaposing a small image. Some I've tinkered on for months, hunting for just the right image or playing with the placement of the various elements before they felt "done." 

Once complete, I touch up the chipboard edges with paint, deliver a double-dose of gloss clear coat, pop them in the scanner for my digital library and throw them in a cigar box with the others. I'd love to know what other artists do with their unswapped inchies. If you have any ideas, drop me a line!