Let it unfold
On finding inspiration in surprising places
I gave the bookshelf in my studio a spring clean a few weeks ago. Mostly it involved taking each book off one by one, doting on them with appreciation, then putting them back on the shelf in a revised order.
Underneath the bottom shelf I found a heap of National Geographic magazines that I collected on and off since I was a teenager. I’ve not read any of them since I first received them. I’ve been holding onto them in the hope that one day I’ll know what to do with them. Little did I know the answer was about to land in my lap.
A week-or-so before re-discovering the magazines, Andrew and I spent an afternoon hand painting paper. Not just for fun - though honestly it was a hoot - but with a view to creating a collage of the ocean. In fact, I think it started with me trying to create a picture of the pond near our house, but for whatever reason as I flowed through the session I ended up creating a seascape.
My inspiration came from a YouTube channel called Art With Em. Em is an illustrator and a collagist who makes wholesome collages influenced by nature out of hand painted and texturised paper and crayons. I was intrigued by the freedom of the act of mark-making on paper that, when cut up and arranged precisely on the page, created a detailed image.
The closest I had come to collaging up to this point was sticking bits in my diary, the function of which was primarily memory-keeping. I cut up old pictures, letters, packaging, receipts - anything that I can get my hands on to create a visual reminder of that day. It gives me a taste of the joy in using my hands to cut up paper and stick it together in different ways.
As with all new interests, I took to the internet, books, and magazines like Contemporary Collage Magazine. I dove into the history of collage and got lost in various collage artist’s portfolios.
One of the first names I came across was Hollie Chastain. Unlike Em, who makes all of her own resources, Hollie makes collages out of pictures she cuts from magazines. She collages them together on different substrates like book covers, old paper, and discarded notes. Her work is playful, not only in concept but in mediums used - many of her works include thread sewed into the composition for example.
As soon as I saw Hollie’s work I knew how to put my National Geographic magazines to good use. It took me a few days to build up the courage to start cutting them up, but I’m so happy that I made that decision. Not only am I re-reading these incredibly beautiful articles but I am re-imagining them into new works of art. My collection is even growing as I buy National Geographic magazines from the 1900s on eBay to diversify my sources.
In an interview with Hollie in the Contemporary Collage Magazine she says:
“The time in the beginning is crucial and it’s also important not to rush it; you have to let it unfold, because making mistakes and waiting for things to come to you also helps your creative voice. You guide that, instead of it being dragged out of you.”
This is how I feel about the National Geographic magazines. But it also runs deeper than that, as if the magazines represent a more all-encompassing lesson about the creative journey - the lesson being: let it unfold.
I started acknowledging my creative longings again a couple of years ago. During my twenties, for whatever complex reasons, I had severed that part of myself - as if one can do that with such an integral force and not wither in the process.
I have been striving to get back to what I experienced as a child and teenager - flow, curiosity, taking action without reason, feeling over thinking, playing. I think back to the hours I spent sitting on my bathroom floor rehearsing songs I had written on the guitar, the lyrics flowing out of me. There was a divine innocence to the creative flow I embodied. I didn’t question why, or how, or what - I just accepted the unfolding journey.
So as the creative embers within me slowly burn brighter over time spent cultivating this calling I remind myself always: let it unfold, like you did back then. You may not know why you love these magazines so much, nor why you feel called to keep them, but one day they might fuel you in unexpectedly beautiful ways.
Love your collages! I was recently offered a tour of the basement of the main library branch, where all the donated books etc. are collected for the library's semi-annual book sales. There were aisles and aisles of boxes of books stored for the upcoming book sale, along with many huge containers on wheels (bigger than dumpsters) of books and magazines that were damaged or were not considered sell-able that were going to be recycled (trashed). I was sad to see many National Geographic magazines in the discard piles, along with many, many books. You might want to put in a request at your local library to save any donated copies of National Geographic for you. According to my library, they get tons of donated National Geographics and there's not enough market for them to save them.
This is such an inspiring post and one I needed to hear. 🙏