Admiring the work of others and seeking advice from experts is all well and good but diving in and doing it yourself is the best way to learn. At least, that’s been my experience with the numerous creative endeavors I’ve tackled over the years. And it proved to be true once again with my most recent effort―textile collage.
It’s easy to get lost in the fluidity of the creative process when making a collage. The artist can arrange and rearrange their picture or design until they find a composition that pleases them. And they can audition individual pieces for color, form, texture and placement until the finished collage emerges.
Textile collage artists create artistic compositions―pictures or designs―from fabric, thread and other fibers. “A collage is a piece of art composed by combining various materials … in a visually interesting manner” writes Barbara Matthiessen in her book Collage Creations.
My recent stroll through the Madison Historic District, see Meet Me in Madison GA, started me thinking about front porches. In this beautifully-preserved small town―which reflects life in Georgia from the early 19th century onward―nearly every house has a front porch.
Strolling around Madison Georgia is like walking through the movie set of a stereotypical, small Southern town. Streets radiate out from the ubiquitous town square which is anchored by stern, civic buildings and surrounded by charismatic, small shops and restaurants.
It’s no secret artists are often inspired by nature. It follows, then, that artists often choose to live and work in natural settings. This certainly was the case for the artists I met during the Northeast Georgia Arts Tour.
