“rustica” – click image to enlarge

Behold the first fruit of my gluebook. During a focus on paper collage in the past few months, I discovered the concept of the gluebook. The name tells you everything you need to know about it. You create collage artwork exclusively by gluing items, usually paper, to the page…essentially it’s a collage journal.

The appeal of gluebooking for me is to make better use of my waste material. I’m always looking for ways to reuse my paper scraps and other waste for future art projects rather than throw things away. Just as a chef finds ways to use their food waste in other recipes, it is wise for an artist to do the same with art supply waste. It makes the cost of producing art more affordable and if you sell your art, reducing waste increases profit.

The background of the page pictured here is simply made by gluing down torn paper scraps left over from previous projects. The base layer of scraps looked attractive and I felt no need to embellish it further. I added a free printable stationery page (from printablesfree.com), matted it and hand wrote some quotes I find inspiring at the moment.

Read about more nifty art techniques and be inspired!