Intricate and Inspirational Travel Collages by Jenn Lee

Happy New Year to you all and sorry for the radio silence here on Wanderarti – I have been in South Africa for the past couple of weeks getting lots of new resources and information for upcoming blog posts (stay tuned!). Today, in the first post of 2014, I bring you some lovely mixed media pieces by Jenn Lee. You may have seen some of her works circulating on Pinterest (they are extremely Pin friendly), many of which revolve around travel and looking closer at the world. I managed to grab her and ask her a couple of questions about the process behind her work and her inspirations… Enjoy!

Remember to let us know what you like about Jenn’s work in the comments below.

Your pieces are very colourful and distinct. How did this style develop?

My love for mixed media actually developed out of good old college poverty. I had a final project due and pretty much no money for supplies. When at a used record store with a friend, I became fascinated with all of the album covers and thought it would be fun to collage and paint over the top of them. I purchased four of them for $0.50 apiece, then went home and got to work using whatever supplies I had thrown around my room – paint, random paper, ink, even glitter. It was then that I felt real magic in what I was doing and have stayed with mixed media ever since – always using anything and everything I can get my hands on.

What inspires your pieces? An idea, a thing, a place, a feeling?

The main idea behind all of my pieces is the notion of looking closer and paying attention to the beautiful things that surround us each day: the way the sun reflects in a puddle, the way the wind sounds blowing through the trees, the feel of light and warmth on your skin. The world is full of magic… you just have to be looking for it.

Let’s talk about process. How do you create these pieces from start to finish? What’s the first thing you do before getting stuck into the creation?

Almost always my first step is to take a walk. I clear my head and let the ideas come to me freely. Sometimes I walk really far, so that when I finally get back home, my mind is ready to burst and my hands are ready to create. A lot of my work is layered, and the first layer is almost like a warm up. I start painting and gluing without really worrying about placement. By the time I’m done with that, I’m ready to tackle the main details of the work, whether it be a quote or drawing or picture made from paper. It is all a very fluid, natural, almost intuitive process.

A lot of your pieces incorporate the notion of travel. How does this inspire your work?

Oh my goodness, traveling is one of my favorite things in the world. There is SO much to see. I get inspired by experiencing other cultures, meeting people, hearing their stories. When I was a senior in college, I was lucky enough to study abroad in China for a summer. That is when my real love for travel developed and I realized how diverse of a world we live in, and we live in an age where it is very possible to see faraway places.

What message do you want your pieces to give the viewer? How do you think they do that?

Definitely the message that life is full of possibility. That you control your happiness. You can do anything you want. That if you are grateful for what you have, if you pay attention to and appreciate what is there, right in front of you every day, the world will open doors for you.

Finally, if you could make art anywhere in the world, where would you choose and why?

This is a hard one, but I am going to have to choose Bali. One of the artists who inspires me most, Flora Bowley, does a workshop in Bali and whenever she does, I stalk the photos relentlessly. To be able to create art outdoors, in the middle of lush forests, waterfalls, vibrant flowers, sandy beaches, the turquoise ocean… I’d probably never sleep.

Find more of Jenn’s work on her site and remember to follow Wanderarti on Facebook and Google Plus for daily doses of visual vagabonding.