collage: not just art - but a way of life!

Okay, maybe "a way of life" is an exaggeration, but I don't just use collage in my art. I also do collage in my journal/personal scrapbook/sketchbook. I realized this when I went to look for a list of things I wrote down once that you can use in collage (for a future blog post -- stay tuned!) I knew it was in one of my old sketchbooks, so I pulled out this likely suspect and it dawned on me: I'm collaging all the time!

As you can see, my sketchbooks aren't just for sketching. Here are just a few of the things I've pasted/taped/or otherwise collaged into my sketchbook:

• concert ticket stubs
• classroom notes
• doodles
• "HELLO my name is" stickers
• fortunes from multiple fortune cookies
• cards/notes from my kids
• movie ticket stubs
• proofs of prints (my own and others')
• price stickers
• pieces of maps to places I've been
• art exhibit postcards

And more. In fact, I generated the list above based on the first few pages alone! 

Maybe this helps me not be a hoarder (by only keeping the bits of paper instead of all of them?) Maybe it just means I'm an artistic, selective, and somewhat organized hoarder? I don't know. But I know the excitement I feel when I realize I must save something to put into my sketchbook. I also know the calming, even rejuvenating  feelings I get when I do. 

"Art is a guarantee of sanity. That is the most important thing I have said." Louise Bourgeois

I think Louise got it right. I also think that if you make collages as art, or use collage elements in your art, there has to be a place where you can just let go. Not worry if it looks right, or if you're infringing some copyright law, or if it's cut perfectly, or the right color, or whatever! It's just a collection of your life.

I also draw in my sketchbooks (of course!) And keep notes (about artsy ideas, things I've been taught, things I'd like to remember, etc.!)

What about you? Is there a place you just "let go" and collage? Or keep things that aren't necessarily worthy of a fancy scrapbook? If so, what are they? Please leave your comments, I'd love to know!