In a little under a month, Phase 1 of Project Cornwall begins, with me heading down for a couple of weeks of rental hunting {and a painting course} while letting out my flat on Airbnb. Between now and then there are a bajillionty things to do, so what better time to start a new and potentially time consuming daily creative project?

I’ve been thinking about collage for a while, to the point where I’m lying in bed at night piecing together paper shapes in my mind, so I decided that as a way to distract from the increasing waves of panic at the size of Project Cornwall, and since I have a time container of just a few weeks, I’d create an informal collage exploration project and share it on Instagram. And I’d love it if you decided to join me!

Collages 1 and 3, Tara Leaver

Porthleven                                                                      St Ives

What

Explore ideas that interest me regarding future painting compositions, subjects, ideas and colour palettes, through collage. 

This is not a challenge, nor does it have a specific time container; I’ve given it one for myself because I’ll be on the road in a month and will have other priorities. I also anticipate using the hashtag whenever I make collages, hence my calling it an ‘ongoing project’. If you want to join in, feel free to make up your own parameters if that’s helpful to you!

 

When

I actually started last Friday, but the beauty of this one is you can start and stop any time, pick it up later, dip in and out. The hashtag is ongoing. I plan to add to it whenever I do collage after this project.

 

Where

Instagram! 🙂

I’ve prepared a space in my studio with my collage materials roughly categorised by colour, and scissors, sketchbook and glue laid out, so I’m not hunting stuff down for half an hour every time I go to make one. This is about fitting creativity into a time when I don’t have ten hours a day to paint but want to stay creatively engaged, and stock up on jumping off points for future paintings. 

 

How

I’ll be sharing my discoveries, and any tips or suggestions I come up with throughout the process. I have a ton of ideas already. Here are just a few:

  • recreate compositions I see in photos that aren’t of collages, eg. landscape photography, figurative paintings, weavings {I have heaps already in my ‘saved’ section on Instagram}
  • use it as an opportunity to explore different colour palettes 
  • create collages based on memories and feelings of places
  • explore different types of composition in paper that can act as springboards for paintings later
  • make a dent in my insane collection of collage materials 😉

 

Collage 2, Tara Leaver

Mousehole

There are no rules; this is a busy time for me and I’m not going to beat myself about the head if I don’t make a collage every day.

People are already jumping in with enthusiasm, and if you’re on Instagram do join in! I created a hashtag, obvs, which is #experimentsincollage. It’s so much more fun to do these kinds of projects with company. And I’m sure we can inspire each other with our different approaches. 

What say you? Want to cut and stick with me? Come on over to Instagram and we can do it together.

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