Problem solved

I’ve been collaging blithely away, then I hit a snag.

After six or so groovy paintings, I made the one above. Not working. Too disparate.

I hung this work on the wall and contemplated in confusion. In the past, I’ve joined small similar pieces like this and the parts added up to an interesting, intricate whole. Here, they just make a big mess.

And size isn't the problem, either. This painting that doesn’t work is 30 inches square. I’ve used the “small pieces” technique on canvases up to 48 inches, and it’s worked beautifully. This time … no.

As I kept looking, though, I realized what a nice impact a small grouping of them made – say, nine squares together, as in the image below.

So I’ve ordered some 10 inch canvases and cradled boards, and I’m going to try smaller collages of just nine joined squares, and we’ll see how that turns out.