August 19, 2021

Collage Fodder with Tiffany Sharpe

In a recent Facebook Live, Ali had the pleasure of speaking with Tiffany Sharpe about her journey as an artist, her discovery of collage fodder and a fun watercolor technique.

About Tiffany Sharpe

Tiffany is a science teacher turned artist, but her career change wasn’t a surprise! She’s been crafty since she was a child and gradually picked up more skills and artistic hobbies throughout her life. However, it wasn’t until recently that Tiffany found a passion for watercolor and art journaling, which she learned with the help of kits, YouTube videos and lots of time to practice.

As she progressed, Tiffany decided to bring her skills to the next level, starting by taking a class from Wendy Solganik and joining the Handmade Book Club.

Fodder School

Tiffany learned about collage fodder during this art experimentation stage and decided to incorporate it into her 100-day project of creating journal pages. Collage fodder is essentially scraps and pieces of paper (sometimes altered) used for art journaling.

After the project, Tiffany felt driven to keep going. She reached out to Wendy about starting a challenge that would show people how to use their collage fodder. The idea blossomed into a free class with a group of teachers. Shortly after, Fodder School was born. Of course, Tiffany will be teaching some of the lessons! There are 12 instructors in total—one for each month of Fodder School.

A Fun Watercolor Technique

In the video, Tiffany demonstrates a watercolor technique she uses to create collage fodder. First she puts an assortment of colors into a pan. If they are dry, spraying the watercolors with water helps to reactivate them.

Then she takes a piece of dry paper and draws some shapes using a Molotow Grafx Art Masking Liquid Pen. The pen markings must dry before moving on. She then places the design face down into the pan of watercolors and rubs the back of the page.

Once the paint dries, she erases the pen markings and the design is revealed! The resulting paper can be used whole, or the shapes can be cut out.

Thank you to Tiffany for taking the time to speak with us!

If you’re interested in trying out your own handmade book, sign up for our free journal class using the form below.