365 Collages | Week 52 | The End (for now)

Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it. Greg Anderson

Yes! I finished on time, before 2018 ended I had successfully made 365 art collages!

Yes, it felt good, almost profound. Like the biggest win of the year, actually.

Yes. I was making the last couple of collages with a big grin on my face and in a lovely flow, a flow that comes from doing art regularly for a whole year, no matter what. That’s the biggest reward. How easy it gets when you keep at it. I love that.

And no. I will not be making another 365 collages in 2019. I need a breather, and I long for Art Journaling and other fun stuff, thinking I might sew a quilt this year. And maybe finally launch another online workshop? We’ll see.

Anyway, I’m done and here are the last seven collages of 2018, made for my project 365 collages 2018.

If you have gotten anything out from this, found the collages inspirational or just wanna cheer projects like this on – please write me a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!

I will write a little bit more about this is a final blog post when I’ve sorted the piles of collages and taken a few photos of the pile, so stay tuned.

The End (for now)

Here’s my last collages:

Cultural exchange across borders – Collage no 359 by iHanna.

In a way, all my collages feels like a “cultural exchange”, because you take bits from so many different sources. Sometimes it’s from other artists, sometimes from other countries, and sometimes you borrow bits from yourself and give them to the art. It’s truly an exchange of minds, although you’re the boss as a collage artist. :-)

Being Square – Collage no 360 by iHanna.

All my collages this year has been square, and it’s still my absolute favorite format for this art form. I was lucky to have the substrate already in the right size (for what I wanted), they’re about 13 x 13 cm big (5,1 x 5,1 inches). It’s something about square that I adore. Maybe it’s the equality of the borders?

Towards New Horizons – Collage no 361 by iHanna.

Now it’s time to look for new horizons, new art adventures… To move forward, but in a different way. And although I hate saying good bye (to anything good) it’s time to call this project done. But it’s not the end forever, just for now.

The Collage Bug – Collage no 362 by iHanna.

I caught the Collage Bug many years ago, and I love him so much. It’s one of the few things in life where I totally love all the steps of the process, from finding material, to sorting through papers, to collecting and saving to cutting, gluing and making somethings new out of something that previously was something else… Love it!

Never ever kill those particular darlings – Collage no 363 by iHanna.

In writing they say “kill your darlings”, which mean delete or remove the words or even sentences that you love the most when you edit your work. Clean it up, remove all the excess. Or you can just ignore that advice, and keep it as is. Move on, let it be. I will never kill these particular darlings, all papers are equally important and should have a place to shine in each collage…

Feeling Wealthy – Collage no 364 by iHanna.

One of the vintage clippings in this collage is about making money. But money is not the only thing that can make you feel wealthy, is it? Although I do need to make a lot more money in 2019, I always feel rich when I have a glue stick and some papers close by. I think it’s my calling in a way. Could that be?

Story-telling before bed – Collage no 365 by iHanna.

“Storytelling” because of the lion from a vintage school book where you learn how to read. “Before bed” because of the clock image (that comes from a wrapping paper), and that cozy time before it’s time to go to sleep. Preferably with a good book, right? And Story-telling before bed because that is one of the thoughts I had when I looked at this finished collage to give it a title. Isn’t all of these art pieces little stories, little vignettes of life? I think so. Yes I do.

And that’s 365 collages for you. Oh, I happened to make an extra collage, because I am number challenged. And it’s all about me, in the universe of cut and paste:

Bonus collage: Veteran – collage no 366 in 2018 by iHanna.

If you enjoyed these collages, leave me a comment below. And to stay connected, feel free to follow me on social media…

iHanna on social media

Follow me on Facebook and then check out Pinterest. You can also check out / follow the hashtag #365somethings2018 on Instagram (where I’m @ihannas) to see what’s happening there. Want news on workshops, sales and swaps I host? Sign up for my Newsletter.

Bonus: Feel free to take a look at the 2013 week 52 of collages, when I did a similar 365 project.

Please leave a comment

Thanks for leaving me a comment below letting me know which of these you like most! I love to know you looked at each one again to find a favorite. When you try to define what it is about that composition that you like (or not like), I feel like I’m am getting great feedback.

Thank you!

Feel free to pin this image:

This project is part of my 365 Somethings 2018 and I call it 365 Collages by iHanna.