For a long time now I have enjoyed the art of making collages. I was thrilled when in our first Art class we took part in creating our own collages in groups.
The teacher did not say..."go make a collage," but he simply eased us into the process step by step. We selected groups by picking a colored fuzzy ball out of a bag.
We were then instructed to tear (one inch square) pieces of our group color out of magazines (for example, I was in the purple group so we cut out purple pieces). The pieces were not supposed to have text or media on them, but could show a variety of texture and shade. We were also encouraged not to make every rip look the exact same so that the tear lines were different. Our main concentration was on color.
Next we arranged the pieces in a spectrum from lightest to darkest on the table. Throughout these processes we got time to roam around the room and look at the other groups creations. It was fun to see what they had created and how they perhaps took a completely different approach, or had similar ideas.
Then we were asked to collage an image that fit into the theme of "The Sea." Our group chose to make a Star Fish (because Star Fish are often purple). We glued the collage onto a large piece of white paper and then posted each groups collage onto the wall. We then talked about what we noticed about the art, as well as what we noticed about how the collages were displayed on the wall. Was there a pattern? What type of story could you imagine? It was a very collaborative effort, collaging is a great group project!
