For the Love of Collage (Pt. 3)

There are many seasons where creating art is hard and uninspiring. I found myself in one of those slumps with the second journal below: I started writing in it back in November 2021, but didn’t collage the cover until April 2022. Five months later! I kept starting collages, but I couldn’t decide if they were finished or if I even liked them, so I scrapped them over and over again. And then most days I just didn’t feel like collaging.

Creating in community is one of the best ways I’ve found to overcome creative stagnancy. My friend Madelyn and I started collaging together this year as a way to spend time together and keep each other accountable to making collages regularly. She would work on her collage for each month of the year and I would work on my journal cover or cards.

Madelyn just moved across the country to Washington this summer, and while we can’t pull out the magazines, glue, and paper scraps in person, we still use collage as a way to stay in touch and encourage one another in making art. Each month we send a collaged card to the other, including paper scraps and materials in the envelope to be used in the next collaged. As Madelyn says, collage is our anchor, prompting us to schedule a video call to catch up!

Where Friendship & Art Meet

New Weavings