A Current Daily Practice: Mini Collage

 I orginally began this blog with the intention for it to be a way to share my creative work, rather than chronicling my personal life. While I feel like the inclusion of some personal detail is necessary, particularly when it fuels my work, I want to maintain the emphasis on sharing art, process, thoughts on art.

I did little creatively in the last year. The stress and anxiety, and so much time spent in medical settings with my beloved husband seemed to preclude creative work. I relied on knitting with patterns, contemplation-cloth stitching (lines and lines of running stitch), anything that didn't require a lot of decisions about next steps. I wrote no poetry. I did keep up my journal. It was useful in mitigating stress (barely) and it's triggering and painful to revisit, so I don't.

About 2 weeks after Paul's death, I resumed a practice I had tried to start on New Year's Day - a daily mini-collage. I made these contraints: work in 5" x 5" blank book, 3 to 5 elements, 20-30 minutes.  I have made one every day since, over 60 so far. 

This practice has been so rewarding for me. It brings me into full presence. For those minutes, I often reach flow state, moving these bits of paper around.  Coming to the moment when their juxtapositions please me the most, when it's time to reach for the glue, is like spending time with a Zen garden, the rhythmic raking of patterns in sand. It is meditative and those minutes are respite and restoration.

If I do nothing in a day but that arrangement of 3-5 pieces of paper, I feel creative release and satisfaction.
I have, however, added a similar daily small poem practice which now includes making erasures on some days.  And soon I believe I will resume my fiber arts work.

I post my mini-collages and erasures on my Instagram.
Here are a few of my favorites.