Jeannie Baker, Playing with Collage, Walker Books Australia, June 2019, 40 pp., RRP $27.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781406378665
This much admired writer and illustrator’s latest picture book is a graphic lesson for young people in how to create a collage. Baker takes us from the beach, to the kitchen, with forays into the bush and around paper, collecting objects all the way. She lists tools to obtain and backgrounds which are useful. Much of the book is given over to suggestions for your first collage. Leaves are pressed, sand is glued, threads are looped and twisted. She takes matchboxes, a petal, flower heads, feathers, clay, silk and wool to make a collage in an egg-box. From newspaper to coriander seeds, Baker shows how to bring ideas into art through collage. From newspaper, cellophane and ribbon to a collection of pumpkin and coriander seeds, Baker shows how to bring ideas into art through collage.
Reviewed by Stella Lees
