Mary Rayme's portfolio

Work samples

Book Flowers

Book pages, painted with watercolor, and collaged.
See Butterfly

Collaged book pages
Lava Lamp

Collaged book pages, gouache
Upward Swoosh

Collaged book pages, gouache

About Mary

Mary Rayme is a Maryland Institute College of Art graduate living in Parkville, Maryland. As an artist and librarian, she is inspired by the printed word, nature, paper, color, light, and shape. As a paper hoarder, her primary medium is collage.

Button Portraits

The button portraits grew out of my obsession with old buttons. I love how unique and interesting the shapes and colors are-- like little gems of industrial design. I started by cutting out pieces of patterned collage paper, gesso-ing a center spotlight, and then trying to recreate each button as a hovering object in that space using pencil and colored pencils.

Red Sun Button

Paper, gesso, pencil, colored pencil
Wooden Flower Button

Paper, gesso, pencil, colored pencil
Yellow Flower Button

Paper, gesso, pencil, colored pencil
Green Saucer Button

Paper, gesso, pencil, colored pencil
Orange Flower Button

Collaged paper, gesso, pencil, colored pencil
Red Spiral Button

Collaged paper, gesso, pencil, colored pencil
Blue Diamond Button

Collaged paper, gesso, pencil, colored pencil
Two-Tone Green Button

Collaged book pages, gesso, pencil, colored pencil
Black and White Button

Collaged book pages, gesso, pencil, colored pencil
Nude Button

Book page, gesso, pencil, colored pencil

Collage, Gesso, Colored Pencils

These collages evolved out of my love of stripes and artist Alma Thomas. I wanted to emulate her staccato brushstrokes and use them to create playful patterns. Some of the other artworks are birds-eye photographs that I have added gesso to and drawn on top with colored pencils.

Alma Thomas

Collaged book pages, gesso
Green Elephant

Collaged book pages, gesso
Red Stripe Landscape

Collaged book pages, gesso
Michelangelo Terracotta

Collaged book pages, gessol
Rainbow Seuss

Collaged book pages, gesso
Christo Glow

Collaged book pages, gesso, colored pencil
Meander Rainbow

Collaged book pages, gesso, colored pencil
Rainbow River

Collaged book pages, gesso, colored pencil
Rainbow Rug

Collaged book pages, gesso
Teal Palace

Collaged book pages, gesso

Drawing over Collaged Comic Books and Books

As a way of paying homage to my favorite comic books, I started cutting up one-inch squares, re-arranging them, and drawing on top of them. I also used colorful illustrations from old books in the same way.

Green Richie Rich Starburst

Comic books, colored pencil
Donald Duck Flower

Comic books, colored pencils
Hot Stuff Flower

Comic Books, colored pencils
Richie Rich Starburst

Comic books, colored pencil
Archie Flower

Comic books, colored pencil
Richie Rich Starburst

Comic books, colored pencil
Tiny Tim

Collaged book pages, ink
Purple X

Collaged book pages, pen
Eye Scape

Collaged book pages, ink
Big Buck Flower

Drawing on top of old book page.

Journal Entry Collages

Many times I create collages as a daily journal entry. I often return to collaging and drawing or painting on top of aerial photographs or images from art history.