Polly Becker's work has appeared in countless magazines and newspapers and has been honored with numerous awards from such juried competitions as Communication Arts Illustration Annual, American Illustration, The Society of Publication Designers and The Society of Illustrators (which has also awarded her a Silver Medal). Her work has been published worldwide and exhibited in solo and group shows in the US, Europe and the Middle East. An American Illustration profile describes Becker as “an illustrator and artist known for her smart, elegant and very imaginative assemblages.” In addition to her assemblages, she also works in a pen and ink style loosely modeled on 18th-century wood engraving. She has maintained a teaching practice alongside her professional work for most of her career, and she lives in Boston with her husband, younger son and Pearl, a miniature greyhound.
This course will focus on the creation of expressive imagery through the combination of collage and mixed media. Students will work with a wide range of materials and collage elements, including their own drawings and paintings, photographic images and found objects. Techniques used for developing layers of both texture and meaning will be explored and later applied to specific illustration problems.
