Leslie Ross, Vision Board, Collage, April 2011, 16 x 20 inches
It’s time for another student spotlight… Leslie Ross discovered my vision board workshop in April through a mutual friend, Maggie Jordan. I had a feeling when she participated in the class that she seemed a bit shy and perhaps a little intimidated about being in a session with friends who might be a bit more creatively inclined. Soon, however, I discovered that Leslie was no shrinking violet when it came to creating a vision board by the determination in her eyes and enthusiasm in her words as she described her vision board goals. After our visioning exercise, I could see that she had carefully contemplated the type of imagery she wanted to use for her multi-themed board which focused on her dreams of getting back into good health/shape as well as travelling around the world! Here are Leslie’s thoughts about the workshop…
Leslie Ross, Fall 2011
I’m not what you would call an artistic person, although I certainly appreciate the artistic abilities I see in others so participating in this workshop was out of the ordinary for me. Maggie was over for a visit one evening and she mentioned the vision board idea and I thought that it was something that I wanted to experience so I asked to be included.
I will be going on a trip to Portugal in the fall and I need to be physically prepared as we are planning to do a lot of walking/hiking and the vision board seemed like a good way to get myself mentally motivated.
I found the workshop to be very relaxed and Michelle was able to put us all at ease. The meditation process was enlightening and I felt like I was actually in a meadow or on a busy city street etc. When I opened my eyes I was quite surprised that I wasn’t alone in the room.
I tend to be a methodical person so I probably took a lot of time choosing pictures and actually placing them on my board but in the end it works for me. I have my board in a room that I go in many times throughout the day so I get inspired to get moving which is what I need to do in order to be ready for my trip in September. When I get home from my trip I plan to use the pictures that I have taken on my travels to make a collage of my trip to Portugal.
Thanks for your thoughts Leslie… I love the loose mosaic feel of Leslie’s piece – the way each image floats across the white space of the background. If you’ve been following my other student spotlights, you’ll notice many students with advanced collaging skills tend to make boards with up to three layers of images – these can be very tricky to assemble. As a beginner collagist, Leslie opted for a simple but no less challenging one layer compositional approach. Adding to the mix, she worked to integrate two dream goals into one board. Although I generally advise students to work on one goal at a time, I felt Leslie’s goals of getting into good health and shape so she could travel complemented each other. Visually these dreams are drawn together beautifully on her board through the image of the bridge (top centre) and the yoga practitioner (centre bottom) which lend an air of harmony and balance to the piece. I also like the variety of interesting shapes and edges (both smooth and ragged) of her pictures. When I mentioned to Leslie that words, slogans and even images need not follow the traditional left to right reading path across a board; that she could vary the placement of shapes to create dynamic eye movement all around her board, she experimented with this until she achieved a lyrical free flowing series of images and texts. Wrapping text around imagery and leading the eye in various directions by strategically tilting images of arms, legs, sneakers and curry dishes or raising the gaze upwards through the use of towering architectural structures, she really impressed me with her compositional skills. I must add here that Leslie did one of the finest gluing jobs I’ve ever seen done in my workshops – she was actually paying attention during my demo! (I love it when that happens!) 🙂
Thanks for your vision board dreams and reflections, Leslie. I know they’ll inspire many first time vision boarders. I’m glad to hear that your board continues to inspire you. I’m looking forward to seeing the collage creations you dream up now that you’ve returned from Portugal with so many photographs and souvenirs… your amazing vision board reveals you have the guts and talent to pull off any creative venture you choose!
Vision Board Quick Tip:
If you find collaging many layers onto your vision board a bit confusing, try opting for a single layer of free floating images. You can jazz up your board by playing with the direction of images and text across your board to make it more dynamic.
Leave a Reply