365 Collages | Week 1 of 2018 | A Golden Start to the Year

A golden start, can we have that?

Let’s be honest. Doing a 365 is not for the faint of heart. I have been so nervous about it for a long time now, because to me it’s a big commitment to my art practice. I want to do it but I also feel fear and hesitation at times. I tend to slack of when I don’t have clear deadlines and outer accountability (as in posting to my blog about it). I’m definitely an upholder in that way.

But once I decided to give it another try this year, I was all in. There’s no looking back now, so I decided to go have a wonderful and golden start to the year!

My nervousness did not stop after I announced the project and so many of you, seemingly without hesitation, jumped in and are posting like crazy using our hashtag #365somethings2018 on Instagram and FB. I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to make art collages again, it’s been a couple of months since I made any at all, and before that a couple of months more… I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to finish seven in the first week of 2018, and I’m still nervous that I won’t be able to make seven more this week…

Keep on beginning and failing. Each time you fail, start all over again, and you will grow stronger until you have accomplished a purpose – not the one you began with perhaps, but one you’ll be glad to remember.
Anne Sullivan

The Polka dot Golden Start

But I know that I need to begin to find my way forward, so that’s what I did. It’s okay to feel antsy and like you don’t know anything. Just start creating something… So I sat one day at my desk and brought out the box of square target practice card-stock papers, and lay out seven of them in front of me. On my desk I had a white tissue paper with gold dots on, so I grabbed that for my first collage, and that became the theme of the week. Golden Polka dots, and some other gold papers in some of the collages too.

1. Fire and stars – Collage made by iHanna

The yellowed vintage look of these target-practice-papers, that I bought a few years ago at a flea market, lends themselves perfect to the “vintage feel” collage style, so I went for that. I’m sure other weeks these will explode with colors, but I started in a subdued and tranquil way, feeling my way forward.

2. Open up and see shells – Collage made by iHanna

I didn’t have to cut anything out. I just brought out my collage inbox that is a total mess right now, and picked out what I thought went together. Even a piece of fabric went into the mix, because it was in there.

3. Feeling antsy Collage made by iHanna

I don’t know if I have enough papers to make 365 collages in the same style, because I haven’t counted, but I know there is enough for right now. To get started, to keep going without stopping.

The vintage cardstock-papers are 14 x 14 centimeters (5,5 x 5,5 inches), so a bit bigger than the ones I cut last time I did 365 collages (all blogged on this blog too, in case you want to go look through those awesome 52 blog posts)…

4. A rose is a rose is a… – collage made by iHanna

A few of the target practice papers are smaller and not square. I might use them later, cutting them down to smaller squares or using them as-is. Although I love the ideas of all collages being the same size of course.

5. Skip forward my dear – collage made by iHanna

Using vintage ephemera

I don’t have very much vintage papers, but in these collages I’ve used quite a few authentic ephemera bits. For example, this black and white photo, of a woman and her girl, standing by the sea, looking for a new future perhaps:

6. Trip to mom’s place – collage by iHanna

I think I got in happy mail once, or maybe it was tucked into the pack of 1960-letters I found at a flea market a few years ago. I rarely even see ephemera for sale here in Sweden, but those letters I’m still using here and there in collage. I love hand-written bits as backdrops.

I could say so much more about this project, my feelings about starting, and each one of these collages, but I’ll stop here. I want to know what you think of them. Please let me know below how your creative year started, and which one of these you like most – and why? Give me some feedback – that will encourage me to keep going.

7. You will find your way – collage by iHanna

Warm up Ideas

If you don’t know where or how to get started I recommend sorting for inspiration or filling a few small notebook pages in your scrap notebook to warm up before you jump in to the creative activity you feel most drawn to right now.

If you like my art collages and the project 365 Somethings 2018, please consider pinning this image to one of your Pinterest boards:

Not mentioned in the resources yesterday, but updated now: You can use the hashtag #365somethings2018 on Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere else. If you’re more on Facebook than Instagram, a good place to share your artwork daily is Tammy’s art group – join the Daisy Yellow Group.

I’m doing this along with Tammy and her week 1 is up and a bunch of other’s (listed here). Also follow the growing Pinterest Board 365 Somethings to see what other’s are doing there.

Thanks for tagging along on my creative journey, and sharing yours with me below. Feel free to also check out 365 collages week 1 in 2013.