Frog and Toad collaged

 

“They came to the top of the mountain. The shadow of a hawk fell over them. Frog and Toad jumped under a rock. The hawk flew away. "We are not afraid!" screamed Frog and Toad at the same time. Then they ran down the mountain very fast. They ran past the place where they saw the avalanche. They ran past the place where they saw the snake. They ran all the way to Toad's house. "Frog, I am glad to have a brave friend like you," said Toad. He jumped into the bed and pulled the covers over his head. "And I am happy to know a brave person like you, Toad," said Frog. He jumped into the closet and shut the door. Toad stayed in the bed, and Frog stayed in the closet. They stayed there for a long time, just feeling very brave together.”

– Frog and Toad Together, Arnold Lobel

Paper, cut and glued. Sourced from Frog and Toad Together, Trees, loose botanic illustration, loose children's nursery rhyme book

2020

a Friday collage //

On Friday I gathered my collage materials and spread them all out around me on the floor with my back propped up against the couch. I cut a few more pieces out of a Free People catalog that came earlier that day. After about an hour or two this is what I came up with. 

I like collaging. I get a satisfying gut feeling when I've created something I like. It's nice to have a space where I don't criticize myself or wonder what others will think/ say about it. 

Made with paper (Renoir painting reprinted, catalog, magazine, coloring book), stickers, rubber cement.

Blackout poetry: The Unknown Degas and Renoir // september 2020

I bought a bunch of used art books for my birthday to cut up for collages. The other night I got to the end of The Unknown Degas and Renoir and decided to grab a sharpie and try out some blackout poetry on the table of contents.

It takes a surprisingly long time to find the pieces of something else in something that's already there. I'm no Austin Kleon, but it was therapeutic to puzzle these out. Who knows if they're any good. Done is better than perfect.

Make stuff you love: today, it's a collage

Here's a collage I made a couple weeks ago. I sat at a big table near a window with magazine pages spread out all around me, trimming and organizing into categories like animals, letters, etc. I flipped through a used art book and chose a Degas painting as my foundation, then covered it with bits and pieces.

I felt so creative and inspired. It was an amazing feeling.

There's a lot of cutting in collaging. The more precision and care you use, the better your collage looks. I'm naturally untidy. I rush. I eyeball things. Collaging requires me to take deep breaths and slow my pace down from 60 mph to about 5.

Here are a couple collages I made: my first one this year and one I never glued down.

Some collage makers I love are Austin Kleon and Bri Gawkoski. 

I'd like to be better at collaging (and so many other things). I'm going to keep practicing.