From Place to Paper: The Creative Process of the 10x10 Collage
Finding inspiration in AVA Gallery’s fire-orange poppies
Field Entry
Date: June 5, 2026
Location: AVA Gallery & Art Center, Lebanon, NH
Subject: Front-garden poppies
Medium: Mixed-media collage on 10x10 panel
Every other year, AVA Gallery hosts 10×10, a fundraiser to benefit the organization. Artists donate a piece of their work measuring 10 inches by 10 inches, and the pieces are auctioned at a celebratory event. This was my first time participating as an artist (and also as a staff member!), so I wanted to create something that felt like AVA.
Observations:
These poppies grow at the front of the building in the spring and look so magical. They are bright and look like tissue paper: two things that intrigued me. I also learned from someone in the AVA community that they were planted in memory of an artist that had a huge impact on the organization throughout the years. I kept coming back to this picture and thinking about these flowers, and finally committed to using them for my 10×10.
I got excited once I finally committed to my idea and only took one process picture. After cutting out the orange pieces of an old painting for my blooms, I found an old New Hampshire map and green piece of scrapbook paper that perfectly insinuated the green shrubbery, leaves, and vines framing the poppies.
In progress. Determining whether or not to add additional marks.
And in its final form: my 10×10 work!
Mixed Media:
vintage NH map
green leaves cut from a watercolor painting
orange blooms cut from a watercolor painting
thrifted scrapbook paper
bricks from a photo I took in college
magazine scraps
Caran d’Ache aquarelle pencils
Caran d’Ache aquarelle crayons
Acid free glue
My 10×10 collage: AVA Poppies, 2026
Reflections:
What local details or seasonal blooms in your every day place are begging to be translated into a work of art?
What places in your community carry personal memories or history to you, and how can you represent those layers on paper?
Is there a visual detail on your daily commute that you’ve noticed one million times but haven’t stopped to truly look at?