What Medium Am I Working In?

I have studied watercolor, acrylic, print-making and clay. Yet when I created my first collage I sensed that I had found my medium. What was it that gave me that sense of satisfaction? It was the piecing together, the gluing the cutting but most of all it was knowing I could re-use and recycle. I was trained as a child to waste not by my mother. So the lesson stayed on until my adulthood. There is an incredible satisfaction in knowing that some discarded object can be put to use in a new and unique way. And so I began to look at old watercolors, acrylics that did not pass the test of completed and satisfactory pieces. At first these works became little 4 X 6 note cards. Then larger pieces emerged from scraps. Learning how to integrate successfully has been the greatest challenge. Learning from the masters like Rauschenberg, Schwitters and others is a great help. Today I incorporate many media to try to communicate my message. I like using anything that suggests language, music, and imagery of the spiritual whether it be objects of faith or God's creation.