Heart-Themed Weekly Planner

I love making valentines, and this year, had extra painted hearts leftover from my card-making.  You can see my Valentine's cards post here.

Needing a new weekly planner page, I gathered up a fistful of hearts, a few pens, some painted papers and a glue stick to create a collage page.

When I collage, I lay things out on the page, and when it looks sort of pleasing, I glue them down.  I used to try to make perfect collage compositions, which we all know isn't possible.  Sometimes I would abandon a collage creation without gluing things down.  I eventually learned to listen to my intuition, lean into the imperfections, and my creativity flowed naturally.

Now I know that when a piece looks imperfectly pleasing, it's time to glue it down.  

That's what I did in my planner page.  Then I added the days and events.

Following a process, even if your inner critic doesn't believe you're doing it right, helps to get the creativity flowing.  Step-by-step, you make something based on your intuition; something unique and beautiful.  Something that reflects your own inner beauty.

And starting with a low-stakes activity like making a weekly planner page can help you to build your art-making skills and try out new ideas.

Here's my step-by-step process for making a collage planner page:

1. Gather a few materials that catch your artist's eye -- they only have to be interesting to you.  You don't have to use them all.

2. Tear or cut out some shapes or pieces of the collage material and move them around on the page.

3. Listen for that weird little voice inside you (your Intuition) that quietly says "Yes." or "no" or "turn this piece upside down."  I've never heard my Intuition shout.  It speaks softly, gently, and often surprises me with unexpected ideas. 

4. When the collage pieces look sort of interesting or pleasing to your artist's eye, glue them down with wild abandon. If this feels scary, remind yourself that you are allowed to paint over anything you don't like with acrylic paint or gesso, or simply cover over it with more collage.

5. Add any other elements you'd like -- a wash of watercolor or ink, some colored pencil, whatever appeals to you.

6. Add in the days, dates, & appointments.

7. Step back and admire what you've created, with the option to add something else if you like.

8. Enjoy your days, knowing you started the week with creativity!

Happy Creating! 

My Finished Collage Sketchbook!

Recently, a friend and I had a winter sketching session at Phipps Conservatory, an indoor botanical gardens in Pittsburgh, PA.  I made special collage sketchbooks for us to use, and have just finished filling mine with art from that day.  Here's the video showing a flip through of my completed book!

If you'd like to see how I made the journals, check out my earlier YouTube video, 

Collage Sketch Book

https://youtu.be/Fwd8SNEjU-I?si=tFIzVyOsGbP0pSy5

 I hope this inspires you to make your own collage sketchbook and to fill it with art!

Happy Creating!

Collage Calendar Page

After creating a stack of green painted papers for my collage sketchbooks, I had loads of leftovers.  They made wonderful elements in my weekly planner.

 The thing I love about collage art is that I never have to hone the artwork to a place of "perfection" as there is no perfect.  I pick out a paper that interests me; I get an idea of somewhere to place it; I try it in that spot, and either I like it or I don't. 

If I feel the glow of liking it, I glue the paper down; otherwise, I try something else. 

It's a wonderful game I play with my intuition.  You might think of it as a meditation on listening to your intuition, and that having an artwork at the end is a bonus.

In the dreary gray of winter, playing with colorful pieces of paper can really brighten your spirit.  I hope you'll give collage a try!

Happy Creating!

Collaged Journal Cover

I bought this small, lined journal at the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse for 50 cents, and am using it as a writing journal.  

The cover had a corporate logo on it I didn't want to see, so I personalized it with my own art.

 A rummage through my collage basket turned up the painted papers I used to create this simple design.

The blue piece of paper is from an old shorthand text, painted with acrylic paint.  I love the texture that out-of-date textbooks create with shorthand, type and music notes. Thin layers of acrylic paint allow the text to show through, and provide their own brightness.

The papers were glued to the journal cover with Yes! Paste.  When the glue dried, I painted on a layer of acrylic matte medium to protect the design.

Quick, simple art projects like this can buoy your spirits in the gray winter.  Here are some tips for creating collage designs:

• Don't wait for the collage to be 100% perfect.  Get it about 65% of the way there, and glue it down.  When you step back, you'll see the beauty that caught your eye when you first selected your papers.

• Gather papers with a shared color palette.  Here, the repeated scarlet swaths on the blue paper, and in the heart connect the papers and lead your eyes to dance happily around the composition.

• Pick a focal point, even something simple.  Here, it's the little, red heart.  You could write a word, select a small image, or pick some other bit of collage that's meaningful to you. Help it stand out by creating contrast around it -- light on a dark background, bright color against a white background, etc. Here, the white music sheeting and the blue background paper help the little red heart to stand out.  Your artist's eye is likely to do this naturally.

• Above all, be experimental, and allow yourself to play!

Happy Creating!