Wednesday, January 2, 2013

2013 begins, and so does my daily art project

My daily art project for 2013 will be collage.  My rules are simple: every day, make a collage and put the date on it.  No other rules.

I'm on vacation for another week so I had to pack my supplies in advance.  What I brought along was a pack of library card catalog cards, a scissors and a glue stick.  I own approximately 3 million catalog cards, salvaged from two separate libraries that went to all-digital catalogs.  They have been excellent art materials for some time, and I thought they would be the best choice to start out my new project.

For one thing, they're relatively small so I could carry them along easily.  For another, they're relatively small so I wouldn't be faced with too much blank space to fill. 

Collage is a technique that I have yearned to do for many years but for some reason have had a hard time accomplishing.  Some big bundle of insecurity must be lurking a few layers down in my psyche, but I thought that attcking it head-on with a daily art project might be a good plan.  Even so, you don't conquer your insecurities all at once, so I am starting small.  I expect I may work larger as the year goes on, but not yet.  Unlike last year's daily art project, in which all the bits got assembled into a single piece for display, I don't expect to glue, sew, bind or otherwise combine the daily collages.

I bought myself a present in preparation for this project: a date stamp.  I think I may use it on the face of many if not all my collages, but if not, it will show up on the back

So here's my first collage:

Very simple:  a photo from the newspaper, plus a spiral cut from a second piece of paper.  And the date stamp.

It won't win any awards, I guess, but I'm just starting.  I'll have 364 others to practice with.

4 comments:

  1. oh this would be so fun! what a great buy wish I would have thought of looking for them when the library went digital too.
    I have card stock or maybe just doing it with muslin and all fabric like a postcard.
    have to think about this....
    as always I am finding your blog very inspiring...
    Kathie

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  2. You inspired me. I will do this too. I'm not good at collage, yet I am fascinated by this mixed medium.

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  3. That's a fabulous way to overcome the block. I see a lot of collages that I think are wonderful, with all the clever layers, inks, surface treatments, etc etc, and haven't a clue how to start them so put off trying. Just Do It is not just for Nike.

    I look forward to seeing your ongoing results.

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  4. This is inspiring - I feel the same apprehension about collage. I would love to do this, but am going to stick with my resolution of not making any new commitments that distract me from fabric. I'll be glad to live vicariously through your experiences.

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