The no-scissor zone

You’ve probably noticed that the papers used in my collages are torn, instead of cut out. Any straight lines in my work are the included edge of a piece of paper or a graphic element within the image I've selected. Because I work most often with non-identifiable, somewhat nebulous, imagery (color, textures, blurred backgrounds), cropping those elements to produce a rough edge usually seems more appropriate to me.

Tearing has become a creative gesture akin to drawing. The process creates the lines that define areas in the collages. Over time I’ve even taught myself how to rip pretty decent circles out of paper — and it’s actually become a kind of meditative moment.

An example of directional tearing.

My work process is not as random as it might seem at first glance. Every aspect is intentional. I try to use the torn edges to my advantage. If you rip a magazine photo, you typically end up with a white edge on one side of the tear. On the other side, the ink usually extends to the paper's edge. I often use “directional tearing” to create a white edge as a highlight or a bridge to another element. If I want the edges to blend in to a compositions, I will make the tear in the other direction.

I love the feathery character of the paper fibers that are exposed when tearing. The torn edges help to meld and blend adjacent paper fragments together. I have the impression that those little fiber fingers around the edges help keep papers adhered better (maybe?)!

I love the portability of collage! This one includes some torn circles and other elements culled from a magazine while in flight.

Tearing allows me to crop the paper elements that I want to use in the same way that scissors would, but the result has a softer, more organic feel. I also can gather materials while traveling, and in almost any situation, with ease — and no worries about what scissors are acceptable to carry through security to board an airplane. (I have to admit that I miss the pre-pandemic airline magazines from which I would harvest ingredients for collage projects, while my bemused fellow passengers looked on!)

I adore oh-so-many collage works that incorporate cut elements, yet somehow the ripped edges resonate most with me for my own work.

Caveat: In occasional situations (such as my ThroughLines series), I rip papers against the edge of a ruler as a compromise to achieve a roughly straight edge. I’ve cut a few images in the case of a specific commission where it was appropriate. And somewhere out in the ether are a few early collages with straight edges — made before I discovered the aptness of a rip/tear approach!

Discover new collage artists

I’m really pleased to have had my work featured in the Collé email newsletter in January 2023… it’s a great art-filled resource and an “exploration into the world of contemporary collage.”

If you’re interested in collage and the artists who make them, click here to subscribe and receive issues every weekday (free). It’s one of the few real highlights of my in-box these days! Visit their profile information on Instagram (@revuecolle) if you’d like to be considered for a future issue.

Here are some screen shots from the issue that highlighted my work… thanks, Collé!

About the Collage Diary

Some sort of social media phenomenon…
Amazingly, as of today, Instagram has somehow shown a video of me flipping through my completed 2022 collage diary to over half a million people and counting. It never occurred to me that it would resonate with so many people and, of course, there have been a lot of questions, which I’ll begin to address here.

The back story…
I started making small collages in an unused diary on April 1, 2019 and discovered that I really enjoyed finishing the day with some quiet collage time. Eventually I began posting the daily results in my Instagram story.

So I had the diary habit in place when the 2020 pandemic lock-downs began. All the shows I had planned on were cancelled and new opportunities evaporated. I had a 56 square foot collage commission in the works, but found it difficult to focus and felt too stressed / tight to be really creative on a large scale.

Although I didn’t always feel like making art, I did manage to keep working in the little book. One per day. Day after day. The repetition of making was a way of keeping going when I didn't have the focus to work on larger projects. This little diary was a real refuge for me after difficult days... trying to create a bit of balance, literally. At the end of 2020, I scanned all the pages and grouped the collages together in a digital file so that each horizontal row represents a month. That compilation, “Momentum 2020” (shown at end of this blog post) has been exhibited in Colorado and won an award at the National Collage Society annual juried exhibition in 2021.

I’m still enjoying this somewhat meditative daily practice, am now beginning diary five, and continue to post each day’s page to my Instagram story.

How long?
I usually spend 15-30 minutes making each collage.

Approach?
I think in a very abstract way, the collages often reflect my day… and in ways I don’t always realize until much later. But I don’t start with any idea in mind. I find one element that appeals to me, glue it down, and then a composition evolves from there as I find imagery/color that somehow connect… it’s definitely an additive process. But there is no “right way” to make a collage. Everyone has their own style and way of working.

Desktop at home studio with 2022 diary finished, 2023 ready to go.

Diary?
I’m using a pocket-size Moleskine Daily Diary, 3.5 x 5.5,” sourced from my local art supply store… but nearly anything would do. It could even be a blank book you date yourself.

Glue?
Keeping it simple, I use an acid-free glue stick so it’s easy to continue to work in the book when I’m traveling. The one I’m using now is made by Avery but there are several brands available. I have some collages in the studio that are 25 years old and are still holding together, thanks to a simple glue stick.

Burnisher?
Once each paper element is in position, I go over it gently with a burnishing tool. I use a 3M hand applicator squeegee from the art supply store, however the edge of an old credit card will work too.

Travel collage components…. everything fits in the succulent-patterned and waterproof Kavu brand pixie pouch. I usually pick up local publications as paper source. I never put this gear in a checked bag… it’s always in my carryon. Too precious to lose!

Papers?
I like to recycle things that would normally be tossed out so I use bits and pieces from old magazines, discarded books, junk mail, and packaging. I avoid anything very thick as the book will bulge over time from the added papers as it is.

Scissors?
I don’t use scissors because I like the look of torn edges and I suspect those stray paper fibers on the edges may somehow help keep paper in place with those extra appendages during the gluing process :) But that’s just personal preference. However most collage artists cut rather than tear. In my case, if there is a straight line within a collage, it’s either the edge of the paper or part of an image printed on the area I’ve elected to rip out. (Read more about this in “The no-scissor zone” blog post.)

Weight
When I’m done with a collage, I insert a clean piece of paper on top of the collage… in case glue might not yet be dry and could damage the opposite page. I then close the book and put something on top to weigh down the diary for awhile and help keep the pages as flat as possible.

Thank you for your enthusiasm…
I hope this will help anyone interested in starting a daily collage (or other kind of art) practice. If you skip a day, just get back to it when you can… over time the joys of making every day become their own reward… especially when the book begins to grow in girth and truly becomes a visual reminder of your efforts — and the passage of time.

“Momentum 2020,” compilation of all images from the collage diary… each horizontal band is work from a month.

Poetry and Collage

Not many people know that I’ve always loved poetry. It’s just not something that comes up in everyday conversation. (Although perhaps it should!) I’ve recently been exploring how words might possibly mingle with my collage-making… so I participated, along with 11 other artists and poets, in the Kolaj Institute’s inaugural Poetry and Collage Residency (March 2022).

Several selections from work I created during the residency are included in a newly launched journal, PoetryXCollage.

Pictured is “Island,” which combines imagery, the line-ending words of an existing poem, and a few added found words (9x8”collage on 14x11” watercolor paper, 2022).

The Kolaj Institute wrote of the residency and resulting journal…

“Kolaj has been circling around the intersection of poetry and collage throughout its history and yet it wasn’t really until Rod T. Boyer’s article in Kolaj 32, “Mind the Gap: Collision and Context in Haiku and Collage, that we began to appreciate the degree to which these two mediums interacted with each other. In that article Boyer compares the disjunction that occurs in haiku with a similar phenomenon in collage. A light went off and we decided to organize a series of residencies with the goal of exploring the intersection of collage and poetry.

In January 2022, we issued a call to artists for a Poetry & Collage Residency and received so many excellent responses that we organized a series of three residencies. The artists heard from guest speakers Kevin Sampsell, Renée Reizman, Rod T. Boyer, and the Poetry Foundation’s Fred Sasaki and were challenged to create page spreads to be included in a forthcoming book of collage and poetry.

In the residency, we challenged artists to move beyond taxonomical debates. Ric Kasini Kadour said, “What is a poem? We do not need to have a singular answer to that question. Individually we must each answer that question for ourselves. In practice, every poem we make will be an example of what a poem is. In considering other people’s work, we should ask ourselves, How is this a poem?”

During the residencies, artists interrogated each other’s artwork, collaborated, and shared ideas. And at the end of it, they sent us more page spreads than could fit into a single book. Impressed and moved by the volume and quality of cultural output and a deep belief that this practice–however you want to describe it–at the intersection of collage and poetry deserves a platform, we decided to create a new journal dedicated to it. Christopher Kurts named it PoetryXCollage and said, “How do you pronounce it? You can say the letter ‘X’ or it can stand for the words ‘and,’ ‘in collaboration with,’ or ‘featuring.’ The X is an intersection, a crossroads, or an equation. X marks the spot.”

Each issue of PoetryXCollage is a printed journal of artwork and writing and presents six movements of work by artists and curators. Page spreads are free zones of thinking where the contributor has chosen all elements of the layout: font, image place, composition, etc.

Published by Kolaj and Kasini House, PoetryXCollage Volume Two includes my work along with that of half of the artists in the residency: Anthony D. Kelly, Castle Bar, County Mayo, Ireland; Carla E. Reyes, Astoria, New York, USA; Samantha Brown, Blackrock, County Louth, Ireland; and Laura Tafe, Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA. The publication is available for purchase here. In 2023, Kolaj Institute will open submissions for future volumes of PoetryXCollage.