Fun Flowers Are Cheery
Ahhh, the joy of having flowers you don’t need to water, and they will remain beautiful all year round. You may need to dust the top of the art now and again, but it will continue to bring joy to the room in which it hangs.
I created this series from flowers I painted, tore out, and collaged in a whimsical way to showcase joyfulness and a playful spirit.
These three small works are great all together or on their own. Each can stand in a bookcase or be hung on a wall. Adding to or creating a gallery wall with this collection would be such a fun display of beauty.
Artists in Canada Interview
This interview was so great! I loved discussing all things art with Paul Constable from Artists in Canada. Paul also gave one of the best introductions too:
“In this inspiring episode of Canadian Art Today, host Paul Constable sits down with acclaimed Canadian artist Kathleen Tennant, whose creative journey is as textured and layered as her stunning collage work. From a late start in the art world to becoming an internationally recognized mixed-media artist, Kathleen shares how her love for torn paper evolved into a powerful and deeply personal art form.
💬 “As we go through life, we grow and transform – my art has grown right alongside me,” says Kathleen, reflecting on a career that spans from handmade cards to gallery-worthy abstracts and florals.
Learn how she turned crafting into a calling, hear about her success in the global stationery market, and explore how she creates rich, tactile surfaces that let imagination run wild. Her unique technique of layering torn paper has become a signature of her artistic voice—and this interview dives into the heart of it all.”
Check out this fun interview below.
Every Year The Leaves Fall
Every year the leaves fall and I tell myself I should create some autumn-themed art and this year I managed to get it done. It started with a walk with my dogs. There is a path by my home and it becomes thick with maple leaves under my feet. I decided to collect a couple and bring them home with me. I chose one large leaf and two smaller leaves. Once home, I tore off some parchment paper, covered them with a heavy book leaving them over them to flatten and dry.
Every year the leaves fall and I tell myself I should create some autumn-themed art and this year I managed to get it done. It started with a walk with my dogs. There is a path by my home and it becomes thick with maple leaves under my feet. I decided to collect a couple and bring them home with me. I chose one large leaf and two smaller leaves. Once home, I tore off some parchment paper and covered them with a heavy book. I left them to press for a couple of days to flatten and dry.
They’re dried!
It took a couple of days, but I finally achieved the result I was hoping for: the leaves were flattened and dry. At that point, I wasn’t entirely sure of the composition I had in mind, so I began to roughly trace the outline of the largest leaf. I started with the largest leaf because I knew I wanted to incorporate at least one sizable leaf in the final piece. Once traced it was time to collage it.
OOOH this was fun and finicky!
In preparing for this project I created in advance several colourful hand-painted abstract works on paper so I was able to start the tearing process right away. Tiny pieces of torn paper helped to create the colourful abstract leaf shown here. Once this was created I went through the same process for the smaller leaves.
Allll collaged and ready for placement.
After I had all the leaves collaged and cut out I took some time to play around with the placement. Once I thought I had decided where everything would go I left it overnight to revisit the next day. Turned out another leaf was needed to and so I got busy creating another leaf.
All the leaves in a stack is quite the colourful display.
I’ve never been one that defines a season strictly by colour and since I love bright colours these leaves are just that, colourful. Now that all the leaves have been created and the placement decided I got going on creating the backdrop of torn paper.
Creating this 20-inch collage was a time-consuming process, but the result was absolutely worth it. I love the textured effect, which reminds me of layers of leaves scattered on the ground. The playful, vibrant colors bring a lively energy to any space, especially on dreary days when they can really brighten up a room.
Behind Torn Garden Of Colour
I started and finished this painting in 2022, at least that’s what I thought. Several months ago, I decided to rework it and make it more cohesive with my current work using my hand-painted papers and collaging the flowers. Oh my goodness was this a project! It took a lot longer than I expected but it was super cool to see how the textures formed and how more depth was created.
Before the flowers appeared, I painted a brightly coloured abstract painting. The flowers were sketched out and the remaining background was painted with a wash of black so you can see glimpses of the under painting.
So, I got busy and painted several abstract works on paper and started tearing them up and adding the torn papers to each flower. I soon realized I needed more hand-painted papers to create the flowers and started painting more.
This image shows how it’s starting to transform. The bottom half was finished and I still had to tackle the top.
Just look at the texture
I love how each flower has transformed with texture and colours with all the layers of paper.
And… it’s finished! It took much longer than I thought it would but I finally got each flower collaged with layers of torn bits of hand-painted papers creating this playful and fun floral piece. I added bits of torn paper to the edges of this painting and a few more scratches into the black and I’ve declared it finished and ready to live on the walls in someone else’s home.
Behind The Tropical Oasis Art
My newest art, Tropical Oasis, started because my daughter had decided to create art for her new home. She had mixed up some colours to make this tropical green colour that reminded me of the waters in a tropical location. She had created too much of this particular colour and asked me if I could use it. Of course, I could and not only did I use her remaining paint but I created some more, resulting in two dreamy abstracts on paper. I couldn’t wait to tear these up to create on my brand new blank 24 x 24 inch wood panel staring at me.
With each tear of these two pieces, I was thinking of tropical waters and the warmth compared to the Pacific Ocean. There is something about stepping into tropical waters. Mixing white watercolour paper with the torn abstracts on paper is a way to create more texture as the watercolour paper is thicker and, depending on the side of the paper I used one has a visible texture to it while the other is smooth.
The following images are the final abstract paintings I created before I tore them up.
This next photo is just after I started and I noticed my brush matched my palette.
The one thing I don’t talk about too often is just how much I love creating textures for the corners of my art. Oh, how I love it!! Building those corners is my favourite and fills me with such joy! I start each piece I create on a corner and once I start, I lose myself in the process.
Below is a close-up view of the bottom corner before I finished this piece by painting all the edges black and wiring it up!
To see the listing for this artwork, it can be found here: https://www.kathleentennant.com/original-mixed-media-collage-artwork-kathleen-tennant/p/tropical-oasis-original-mixed-media-collage-abstract-painting
Behind The Torn Edges
This is a space where I go behind the torn edges, but some may wonder what the “torn edges” represent.
For me, the torn edges represent life.
The frayed edges reflect the delicate fragility of life itself. Their unevenness mirrors our paths, which are rarely smooth and often unpredictable.
For me, tearing paper is not about destruction but more about creation. We can create beauty from broken things.
As much as I find joy in creating my abstract works on paper I find great joy in tearing them up to create larger, more playful, and colourful works to live on the walls in people's homes.