Featured Artist Laura Lein-Svencner

Artist Laura Lein-Svencner presents a collection of expressive abstract mixed-media collage. See more of her work and methods by visiting her website.

 

 

Paper and its texture, coarse or smooth, has always been of interest to me. I even find the smell of some papers intriguing. This fascination with paper really started back when I was in third grade designing classroom bulletin boards, and blossomed into harvesting my own plants and making handmade papers in later years.

 

 

The edges of the paper, whether torn or cut straight, puts me at its mercy. When creating papers for collage, I use all sorts of found paper with mixed media and acrylics on the surface. I explore the elements of design even before I place the paper in the artwork. While making paper, I’m thinkng about color, line, shapes, patterns, texture, size and value.

 

 

Papermaking sessions are important, as they allow me to freely express what is going in my environment, and what is presently going on inside of me emotionally. It totally amazes me how much of a difference there is within a few days when making paper.

 

 

Collage means to glue or paste, so all the papermaking sessions are about me building a palette to pick and choose from. When applying papers to a surface, I use a method of collaging with an iron.

 

 

All papers are coated with an acrylic medium and dried, ready to be fused in place with the heat of the iron. It creates a wonderful flat fused surface. Glazing, and the shadows the papers create, provide depth which I feel helps define a certain voice throughout my work.

 

 

Inspiration can come from so many places. I find I have to be observant, though. Taking time to walk in the woods is one of my biggest sources of inspiration.

 

 

As a child, I would be down by the creek, watching how a stick swirled in the water, and how it stirred soft mud at the bottom. It is more important for me to capture that image emotionally and express it abstractly, than drawing it out and capturing it realistically.

 

 

There are times when inspiration comes from two separate entities. I work with them both to see where a connection can be found. Most times there is a connection, but it is from a personal standpoint. This is where I feel that I’ve accomplished what I wanted to express.

 

 

I then title the piece and allow the viewers to find the connection, kind of like a mystery to be solved.

 

 

Having a goal isn’t as important to me as much as giving myself assignments and following those through instead. It gives me a place to grow in and out of. One of my main goals is to get to a lovely old age and still be dropping off artwork at a gallery to exhibit. Whatever happens in between really doesn’t matter.

 

Artist Laura Lein-Svencner invites you to follow her on Facebook, Twitter and her Blog.

 

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