Show and Tell: The retirement edition

Last week's post contained many words and only a couple of pictures. This week's post has fewer words and more pictures -- words and pictures that tell the story of how I am feeding my creative spirit this summer. 

Mostly, I am a writer, but I also love doing collage art, which I describe as my 'cross training' that rounds out my art muscles and writer's brain. Regardless of the form it takes, my creative drive keeps me interested in, and focused on, making things. In this world of ours, too often the objective is to simply consume something produced elsewhere, so I find it soothing to the spirit to hold something in my hands that I have created myself, right here. One of a kind in every way. 

Quite without intending to, one day I discovered that I had made a series of 'colour' collages -- all the same size, each one a celebration of a particular colour. Then, a promotion came across my email for 'print your own notecards' and I leapt on it, producing a series of notecards from four of the colour collages. Exciting to see my work produced in this format...

from collage to notecard...

The next emailed promotion was for 'photo books' and from somewhere in the depths of my mind came the idea to experiment with a book-form collection of some of my collage art. I didn't overthink the idea, I just got on it, slapped it together by the promotion's deadline and then waited for the exciting delivery. And, let me tell you, the day that package arrived was EXCITING! To see my creative work in book form, to hold it in my hands -- that was a first for me, and it may not be the last. It was very interesting to, literally, feel the weight of this form (11.6 oz) for showing my creative work. 

Please note the imperfection in the part of the book-cover collage that contains Vincent van Gogh's name; I am fine with these imperfections in both my collages and my writing. In my view, life is too short to aim for perfection. Get cracking, do it, move on.

from single collages to a collection between covers...

This got me thinking about other forms for my collages, and it came to me that little wooden trays would be a fun form to work with -- and it is. The blue and red ones became birthday gifts; the turquoise one was just for fun; and the brown one is where I keep my computer glasses when they are not on my face. 

I call these trays "beautiful utility": fun to make, fun to use...

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I collaged this on the underside of the turquoise tray...

And there you have it: the retirement edition of Amanda's Show and Tell. How are you feeding creative spirit these days? Do tell. 

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Land acknowledgement: I respectfully recognize that I live on the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation.