Sunday, September 18, 2011

Bitten by the Collage Bug

Last Saturday, I presented my Sliced and Diced Collage Poetry workshop to Bellingen Writers Group at the gorgeous venue, North Farm. I have posted photos from the workshop on my Write on Track blog, but since the workshop, I have been constructing collage poems again.  Not only did I get the participants excited about the process, I re-ignited my own collaging bug.

Since the workshop, I have created 8 new collage poems. 

 My desk has been littered with runaway words and other words trying to seek a home on a piece of cardboard.



And there was a reason why I excavated my dining room table last week.   So I can collage and each poem can percolate exactly as long as it needs to...


A few years ago, I attempted a 365 days of collage poetry challenge - it lasted a month before it fizzled out. But there were a couple of things that hampered the project. 
1. My Virgo partner - who wasn't very impressed by runaway words, cut outs and half-constructed poems everywhere. 
2. my beautiful cat, Dorkus, who was impressed and liked to contribute - in not always a constructive way.

Sadly Dorkus is no longer around to mess up my half-constructed poems, and bless them with his cat hair,  and the partner became an ex-partner last year, so he can no longer grumble about any kind of creative mess I make.

Have scissors, will cut.  
Have glue, will stick. 
Have imagination, will create. 
Have life, will have fun.

With 8 or more poems in progress on the dining room table, I may re-commit to a 365 day challenge. I'll see how it goes over the next few weeks - stay tuned to see what the bug may bring...

2 comments:

Persephone Carroll said...

I'm attempting the 365 days of poetry as well, but I've only gotten through a week so far. I hope you decide to try the challenge again because I'd love to see the results!

Diane said...

Hi Persephone,

Thanks for dropping by. With collage poetry, I've found that I work better in binges, rather than doing one a day. So for next year, I'm setting a goal of a collage poetry binge one weekend a month (most likely will be the first weekend each month).

Good luck with your challenge.

Diane