I recently wrote about how I’m beginning to collage as a way to busy my hands and keep my mind from focusing too much on things out of my control. The whole process has been a way to fulfill my desire to both destroy and create things.
My original goal was to create one collage per day but I found that idea rather limiting once I began. After I created one collage, I immediately wanted to make another. The ideas began flowing and I found myself creating up to four in one sitting and doing so very quickly.
I noticed my best collages were created on the days I felt the least inspired to begin. I just didn’t want to start. I found if I picked up a newspaper or magazine and just began cutting out images, that was all I needed to then take those images and create a collage.
Looking back, I do see three collages I like the most…
The first is the set with the lady pouring tea and the man using the sun to light his cigar. I love the colors in each and I used phrases I found in articles (Are we Martians? and You Break, They Buy) that I believe helps explain some of the irritation of life that I’ve been going through.
I actually laughed after creating the below collage where the man is reaching into the volcano. It feels absurd on many levels, especially with the Finding The Way headline included.
My other favorite set below has zebras enjoying downtown Brazil and “remembering to play”. The collage underneath was an error that I just ran with. I actually glued the wrong side of the background and just decided to use it anyway instead of discarding. The images and text were quickly added for fun and still turned out interesting.
Below are the rest of the collages. Again, this is a fun creative outlet for me right now and I highly suggest others doing the same if they are feeling stuck.
Aaron Hartley 
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