Revisiting Strung Collages

Two New Pieces and a look back at the original collection

I decided my original strung collage collection, Shards of Magic, deserved a closer look and a dedicated post. Though it was first featured in the post, Shards of Magic, a Tutorial for a Six Spread Zine, I realized I never shared the actual collages. And if any of my ideas deserve their own post, it’s the strung collage. This original collection came together in a rare, 12-hour-long creative session. I wish I could recreate that session weekly. Until I figure out the secret, I’ve been eking out creative sprints when somehow the weather, the inspiration, and my work schedule align to allow me a brief window of time where I’m not dying of heat exhaustion and also willing and able to create something, anything. Anyone else ready for fall?

Below are my original strung collages, Shards of Magic. If you know anyone who would appreciate this style of art and paper crafting, please consider sharing.

Shards of Void Magic

Shards of Light Magic

Shards of Illusion Magic

Shards of Earth Magic

Shards of Fire Magic

Shards of Blood Magic

I find it both strange and difficult to discuss my art and creative process. I am so new to it, and it is still a mystery to me. But here we go anyway, the first foray into strung collages came so quickly, easily, but it isn’t deeply rooted in who I am. The inspiration came from outside influences, the first book in the Shards of Magic series by Sarah Hawley and the Friendship Book of Anne Wagner, so while I’m still quite proud of them, they don’t feel born from vulnerability. The following two pieces are another story.

there are strings inside of me

I completed ‘there are strings inside of me’ during one of those precious, quick creative sessions I mentioned earlier. I was already interested in revisiting those strung collages, so the pieces, scraps of past paintings and a piece of string, came together readily. The painting scraps I had collected almost a month ago from paintings I made during the pandemic, and though many ideas for their assembly came to me, nothing felt right until I found the string. The string is just a loose thread I pulled off my linen pants while sweating in the Lisbon metro, then carried around in my tote bag for a couple of weeks before inspiration struck again. Odd perhaps, but this is just the way things go; there’s rarely a big ah-ha moment. More often, it starts as an inkling, a scrap, and a gentle whisper of an idea, one I have to strain to listen to again and again as it repeats itself, grows louder, and becomes whole. The title for this piece comes from a yet-unfinished poem that I began years ago and am still endeavoring to complete, if only so that I can showcase them together. ‘There are strings inside of me’ is about the fickleness of memory, the memories I’ve lost, and the ones that live tangled inside of me.

This next piece, ‘teenage summers’, evokes summer memories from my youth as bright jewels, smooth river rocks, and glimpses of sky, and imagines how those memories can erode and shift over time. This piece didn’t exist when I started drafting this post, but it clearly wanted to be included because I stayed up well past my bedtime last night completing it. Materials for this piece came again from scraps of my original paintings and loose threads from my quilt. What can I say? I’m resourceful and cheap.

teenage summers

I hope you enjoyed these two new collages; for me, they are glimpses into my soul-deep obsession with memory. Am I becoming obsessed with strung collages? Yeah, probably, however, I’m running out of pieces of scavenged strings and thread.

Now accepting donations of your loose threads and lost memories; send me a dm if you have something to share.

That said, if you’d like to support my art and writing, you can do so via my Ko-fi account. Thank you for being here and please consider tagging me if I’ve inspired you to make something. I’d love to see it!