New Art from Old

Sometimes I will finish a piece and no matter
what I do, I'm just not happy with it. Even
when I put it aside and revisit it 6 months later, it doesn't work. Many of my collages are very complicated with lots of different techniques in the background or time consuming hand sewing and beading. It's hard to throw them away. So, I just cut them up! I'll isolate areas that will make good ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) or cut strips for new backgrounds or rip off the focal parts. The actual "whacking up" part is very freeing. The old, unsuccessful art is gone and fun possibilities exist with all the new pieces. These 4 collages all include parts from a much larger piece. I did it for a specific project and when it wasn't accepted, I didn't care to be reminded of that. On these 4 new pieces you can see the background fragments in the turquoise and
blue parts. The original piece was on deckle edged watercolor paper and I used those edges in the fragments. The little sampler in the bottom right example is also recycled. I used every piece of the original "reject" and had fun making a lot of new art. So, if you have some bad art hanging around in your studio, just put it on your papercutter and make something new and beautiful!