Class 1 ~ Collagercise No. 1: Organization & Intuition

I like to organize things. I can't help it. Sometimes my need to organize means I lose touch with the spontaneity of creativity. In fact, one of the hardest things I had to learn was to "let go" of wanting a beautiful finished piece of art at the end. So I came up with an exercise to MAKE myself do something more or less random, even while it satisfied the organizational side of my brain.

Collagercise No. 1: Cut out a series of squares from magazine images that you like. Ideally, you'd have enough to make at least a 3 x 4 grid of squares on your journal page with some room around them to write. For the journals we made in class, the squares measure 1.5". Adjust the size up or down, depending on your page. You can also do this on a separate sheet of paper if you find working in your journal is too awkward, and then glue it in afterward (that's what I did).

Here's what YOU DO: Quickly flip through some magazines and cut out 1.5” squares from images, textures and colours that appeal to you. The only criteria is that you like them.  DO NOT OVERTHINK THIS! Go quickly, trust your instinctual attraction to each image. And definitely don’t worry if they “go together”. Resist the temptation to count as you go ~ keep cutting until the pile looks big enough, then count and cut more if needed. My advice is cut extras so you can edit a few out later. 

Lay out 12 of your “favourite” squares on your page, more or less evenly spaced in a 3x4 grid. Now ~ play with them ~ see how they speak to each other. Think about the relationships between the colours, textures and meanings in each image. Rearrange them till they feel right to you. Then glue them down, leaving some blank space around each square.

In the spaces between the squares, write a word or two about what each square means to you and why it makes you happy ~ nothing too long ~ a word or two will do. When you feel you've written everything you have to say, add some extra colour if you like. USE THE SAME INTUITION that guided you to select the squares to help you choose the words and the colour you add.

Sometimes we forget that even very simple things can make us happy. One of the most profound realizations I've ever had was this: whatever I examine closely gives up its mystery, but reveals its wonder. Some part of me was afraid that if I looked too closely at things, their beauty would disappear, but my experience was the exact opposite. Although what they were made of might be more apparent to me, I was awed by the complexity and diversity that I'd previously overlooked or been unaware of.

By doing this exercise I found something interesting had happened to my usual "analytical" mind. I'd kept it busy solving the puzzle of how all the squares "fit" together, but while I was doing that, a more intuitive part of my mind had been creating something beautiful that made me happy.

Here's what I created:  

I want you to note that it's quite loose (by my recovering-perfectionist's standards!), and yet has a kind of cohesion that's very satisfying. I let go of doing it right so I could feel it right. 

I'd love to know what you experience of doing this was ...