Every woman in North America (and probably around the world) has probably been introduced to the wonders of collage by now. My passion for the art form started in 2005 when I was invited by a group of women I had just met to come to the local women’s center for a day of collaging and sharing. We all contributed our art supplies and magazines to the mix, and took several hours to create our collages. Then we came back together to share the results and talk about where we were at in our lives and what we hoped to call in by the end of the year.

Roughly the same group of women has gotten together every year since then, which has made for interesting continuity. It’s turned into a powerful yearly occasion for me.

Making a collage is easy – gather as many images as you can for magazines, calendars, daybooks, and so on, add in extras like yarn, buttons, glitter, or paint, play with it all until an image forms that pleases your eye. Don’t think too much! Tear things out, tear them up, glue them down and keep rearranging until you love it.

When you’re done, take a moment to journal your thoughts about the results. For extra credit, glue that journal entry to the back of your collage and don’t peep at it again until next year. You might be surprised at what’s happened in the meantime.

If you want to be truly inspired, collage with friends – especially artistic ones. The artistry tends to rub off on you!

During my first few years I hid my collages, embarrassed to show my “artwork” to my family and friends that entered my house. Now they hang up for all to see, and people tend to stop and stare. There’s something about a collection of images that really fires up the imagination. I love looking back at past years’ artwork and seeing the flow of how they’ve changed (and stayed the same) over the years. You can play “spot the fox” with my collages–there’s at least one every year to find. Otherwise the contents change and shift.

Have you tried using collage to call in the things you’d like to add to your life?