In the early Spring of 2023, Jennifer Duncan met talented collage artist, Doug Shulte, at their Reston Art Gallery Invitational exhibit. They talked about their love of creating collage and how much fun it would be to come together with other collage artists to work their craft as a shared experience. An idea was born!
In June they called together a small group of local DMV collage artists for the first of many monthly gatherings to offer supplies, food, and ideas, and to create their own work around a shared table. They met at the Reston Art Gallery and Studios (RAGS), and then at the studio of Parinaz Bahadori, where they had the freedom to expand their work across her larger table. Each brought beautiful and unique found or created collage papers and materials to share.
Not long after they began to meet, Pat MacIntyre (Gallery owner of RAGS) offered the group a collective exhibit at RAGS. They tossed around ideas about working collaboratively on collage pieces. As they discussed, it became clear that for a group collage exhibit to hold together it would be helpful to have some parameters. So, they challenged themselves to work in a limited color palette of the primary colors (red, yellow and blue) plus neutrals, black, and white. For many, restricting access to a favorite color scheme wasn’t easy, but all of them found the process enjoyable and educational.
Come see the exhibit Saturdays and Sundays 12-5pm through November 26. For more information go to www.RestonArtGallery.com