As of August 23, 2017 I have made 58 collages and used 1170 items! My goal was to be done in October this year. I imagine I will be done sooner, but I don't want to rush it or "phone it in" at the end. I have been doing this since last October and not once have I ever been bored, If I did too many in a row, I got a little tired, maybe, but never bored. I had a constant flow of ideas, colours and items to work with.
Most of the things on the wall were free things that most people wouldn't keep. (I accidentally cut out the same Giant Tiger flyer model three times.) I became a kleptomaniac and took every business card and brochure I could find and enlisted friends and family to do the same thing.
In the beginning, I stumbled upon a health fair at Fanshawe College where I took home pamphlets about asthma and was offered a bag of condoms but I took a bunch of stickers and other things home instead. (I am my own form of protection. Haha.)
I am so proud of this "Bun in the Oven" piece. You have no idea.
Some things I paid a bit of money for, like, I joined a sticker club and bought a ton of temporary tattoos but these are not necessarily for children.
One of my greatest joys was going to Attic Books and raiding their photo box. They had a box of photos on the street and probably everybody in those photos are dead now. Assuming this is true, I kept their memory alive by putting them in my glorified art project.
I can't understand why I was not accepted into a craft show. Clearly this is art haha. No, it's fine. I understand. What I do is not for everybody.
Remember these?
Vintage items have always been my favourite to use. Recently I used two postcards from 1909 that were from an auction. I'm sure someone is reading this right now and wants to shoot me for gluing an antique item together with modern day things that should be recycled. Believe me, I feel you. That Magic Baking Powder book was worth $200 and I didn't know until after I cut it. But I know I will get more enjoyment out of it this way with the caption, "Fighting Heroin Stories of Hope" than I ever would as a cook book.
"Hello Cousin, I am rather sore [at] your Mother. I don't think I will let her in when she does come down. Cousin Katie". That insult is over 100 years old.
At the start of the project, I attended a book sale and bought some National Geographic magazines. One of them talked about "The Drake Equation" which apparently is a formula used to determine the probability of aliens. But I like to think of it this way. like, "Drake + Zac Efron = My Heart".
I have been having fun working on the bottom area near the trim on the wall. These smaller collages take just as long as the big ones. They are probably more challenging because I have to find smaller things.
I laughed too hard at this.
I have three large collages left to do and three strips like this one. I also have a few things to do for the side but I don't think I will do strips at the very top. That just sounds dangerous for the people who have been helping me hang them.
I have already started to purge things that won't make it onto the wall but I will always continue to make things. My dream would be to make things for other people and be paid. I would take it seriously even if they wanted something lighthearted like this. I know I haven't quite found my audience yet, but I think things will work out some day. If they don't, you will still find me gluing things to other things.
