Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Collaging


Have you ever tried collaging? Above is the collage I made for my Death of a Decade story. A few months ago we trawled through Toowong Cemetery looking for a grave from our chosen decade - mine was the 1970's. From that one grave, we needed to weave a story. And you'll see the grave that fascinated me above. Why, oh why, is this grave unfinished after all these years?

Fast forward to May and the collaging workshop. There were so many magazines to choose from - thanks to my friend Danielle and her mum. I decided early on to try and use only black and white pictures to give the collage a historic feel. But then I started seeing images in colour and I just had to have them. And then there were those "other" photos, the ones I have set aside for another story I have floating around in my head. And the two page spread of Johnny Depp pictures I snaffled before anyone else noticed them.

You'll see the bottom corner of my collage is left blank - I wanted to add the picture of the grave, which I have now done. I'm halfway through telling Margaret's story, having a great time researching music history from the 1970's as my POV character is in jail, with only a transistor radio for company. Wish me luck....

3 comments:

Eleni Konstantine said...

Wow, that does spark up some ideas doesn't it.

And great collage. Good luck with Margaret's story.

I haven't actually collaged though I have cut out heaps of pictures, I just used them. I think my collage is in my brain - if that makes sense ;))

Fiona G said...

Helen, I found collaging fascinating. As I discovered things about my story, I wrote them on (which you can kind of see in the photo) but lots of other people decided to cover the entire surface of the cardboard with photos. No writing. And there were lots more curves and rooms and clothes in most of the other collages. Whilst mine is all about the people and their relationships.
What does that say about what kind of writer I am?

Eleni Konstantine said...

To me that just shows that everyone's process was different, and having those words probably helped you 'see' the darkness of the words without getting many gruesome shots in there.

Good luck with the story?

The Bootcamper image is designed by Nikki Logan.
All Rights Reserved.