At the suggestion of a close friend (and my continued struggle with writer’s block) I shall open up my heart and share with you my ultimate crafty-love: collage.

From Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collage )

A collage (From the French: coller, to glue) is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. Use of this technique made its dramatic appearance among oil paintings in the early 20th century as an art form of groundbreaking novelty.

An artistic collage work may include newspaper clippings, ribbons, bits of colored or hand-made papers, portions of other artwork, photographs, and such, glued to a piece of paper or canvas.

While the technique of collage can be traced back to 200 BC, most refer to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque as being the most distinct reference of the form. Collage was introduced to me sometime in school, probably middle school and while I gave it no thought or consideration other than, “joy-busy work!” it has since given me an interesting outlook and place for introspection in a world I thought I could never belong: the art world.

Now I won’t go so far as to call myself an artist or artisan or anything other than a simple hobbyist, but I do love it! I took a night class ages ago and it put me headlong into an all-out obsession for awhile. The obsession has since subsided, but my crafting supplies may suggest otherwise. I think I fell into it so easily due to my love of magazines. Ahh, the glossy fantasy world of my pre-teen years. Anyway, ahem, yes…collage! The instructor for the class I took put collage into a perspective I hadn’t previously thought it belonged as well as my own abilities therein.

One of the major assignments we worked on in class was these little 3×3 collages. She gave us no other direction than that. And were we ever surprised at our very different results and eventual showpieces! We simply took watercolor paper (preferred for its thickness and durability) and taped off our 3×3 work areas (that blue painter’s tape is a collage maker’s friend) and just went nuts!

As it turns out I work best with a color or subject theme, although that is rarely how I start. We all started with a painted background (acrylic) and then began selecting and cutting magazine pieces (although seriously, anything will work!) and laying them out to find the best presentation. Long story short I learned a couple of techniques as well as how simple and liberating and fun it can be to create these tiny little works of art! Anyone can do it, I swear!

Since then I have created a few more on my own and they hang in our tiny apartment with pride and the occasional dash of insecurity (I mean, what artist loves their own work?). The same friend who suggested this post, upon seeing my first set of tiny collages exclaimed, “Oh my god! You could totally sell that for like $300 on the corner!” My response was, “What crazy street corner are we talkin’?” But that is just how we talk to each other. Ha-ha! He has since encouraged me and even engaged in collage making himself recently.

It was a few months ago when my two best friends were over and we were generally bored that I suggested crafting in some form and collage came up and so I showed them how to make a basic collage. You see there really is no specific rule/technique you must use/follow to create something great. I just gave them the basics with a touch of advice and let ‘em go nuts. I was so elated to find that one went so far as to frame his shortly after taking it home. If that’s not a compliment, I don’t know what is! I was so touched.

The following are my own pieces and while I apologize for the poor lighting (I did what I could with what I have) I would appreciate any comment or constructive criticism. I would even be interested in instructing others on how they too can get into this simple and fun hobby! Although if you’re less interested in making your own collage rather than simply owning one for your wall I would recommend http://www.etsy.com/category_sub.php?tags=art.collage everything is handmade (no mass produced goods here) and reasonably priced. While none of mine are for sale, I am always up for creating a custom piece!  =0)