I don't actually remember this collage! I do remember the Aotearoa image and the old stamps though. I wonder where this ended up!
This one I remember, it took hours to do but I was so happy with it. This was the collage that got my 'into' collage. I never knew how great collage was until I did this one. I've no idea what happened to this one either.
This one was sent was a post card and one of the first pieces of mail art I did.
Last but not least...I remember that this one was never finished and I ended up throwing it into the recycling bin. I'm not sure why I thought it wasn't finished though!
My style of collage has definately changed over the years but the joy of completing a piece that's really worked is the same. The feeling I got from finding the perfect image to blend in/fit around another image was like a drug back then. I spent hours obsessively pouring through magazines looking for it then very carefully cutting it out to make it fit. While it's no less addictive my collage now is so different. It is much more minimal, I don't feel obliged to cover every blank space and I hardly ever use an image that I didn't create. Oh, and quite often the paper is stitched now instead of glued! Another thing that I have noticed that has changed is they way I trawl op-shops. No longer do I get magazines, these days it's all about fabric and threads. The shift in image choice means I have to make it (obviously!) instead of find it and recycle it...but the shift to making my own image also lead to making my own papers, or at least dying them.
I wonder what it will look like in another 400 posts?
Thanks to everyone who has joined me along the way, I've enjoyed having you here and getting to know you and your art too:) A special thanks to a certain blogger who has been here for nearly all 400!
Bird Update:
Bye bye Bonsai! Bonsai (I've since confirmed was a maleThrush) had a happy ending and was successfully released back to the wild yesterday. He progressed very quickly from the tinned cat food to worms which he found in the hay (after I supplied them! lol) and before I knew it he flew! Such an amazing feeling to see a bird take it's first ever flight. I'm sure I was the proudest 'mama bird' ever! Be well Bonsai!
When I returned the borrowed cage today I ended up bringing 4 more wee ones home! Charlotte, Clover and Coco are Thrush triplets and Chipmunk is a male Thrush who needed a home to go too. I have fingers and toes crossed we can beat the odds and pull another happy ending our of the box!
