My kind of art- Mosaic Collage Thingy

I don't remember how this project first came to my mind.  I started with a religious calendar with stained glass window images.  I didn't want to just recycle them but I didn't think my students would appreciate them as prizes.  So, I decided to cut them up, rearrange them and make something inspirational.  I love multicolored things and mosaics... and symmetry and... I just decided to try something and hope it'd be kinda therapeutic and I'd end up with something cool.

In addition to the calendar pages, I used:
*paper box lids (free things, somewhat similar to canvas)
*white copy paper
*shiny origami paper (I found hidden in my 'craft' stash)
*glue
*tape
*ruler
*scissors/exacto knife
*lots of time

I think the pictures below are pretty explanatory (it's probably clear that I take way too many pictures...).

One of the original calendar pages

After a crazy amount of calculating and measuring to get the least wasted paper, I cut up the pages...

From strips into squares and then sorted by main color (gold, blue, dark, etc)

Getting an idea- before I had the box lids to cover

(Walter helping....)

Then I covered the box lids with white paper

Then I arranged the squares to estimate how many I'd need and how to cover...  I planned to use one color for the background and another for the letter.

I glued squares around the edge and worked my way in.

 

So far, so good.  But, I did find that I didn't have enough of the original squares to use as background AND letters, so I started thinking on what else I had and could use.

  That's when I found the shiny origami paper. :)

One color for letters?  Looked wrong...

Multicolored letter!

Moving along, I covered all the lids with squares, resorting colors (since I only needed 4 groups now) and finding I didn't have TOO many squares, but almost exactly what I needed.

The blues had the fewest so I actually didn't even cover the background completely.  But, I strategically left open spots under where I knew the letter would be.  Then I placed the shiny squares.

Just the H to go  (Stanley inspecting my work)

 

Now Cece has to inspect them.... all finished!

Finally done.  On the wall. :)  Of course, I hadn't thought about the imperfections of a cardboard box lid... so it wasn't the precise calculating that I had thought, but I got them up and relatively even.

 

I know they don't fit into any category of art and are probably right on the edge of even getting to be called art... but this is what I can do.  I think they are beautiful.  Hope is something I have and need a constant reminder to keep. :)