Life is Collage.

I have always been an extremely artistic person, since the time I had enough motor skills to hold a crayon. I was drawing pictures beyond my age when I was very young. Soon after, art was all I wanted to do. I trudged through the days in high school, glad I was able to take advantage of all of the art electives. I opted to study fine arts in college and even with all the creative electives I could manage, including a course titled The Psychology of Creativity, I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

I am an artist by design, but in a grander view, I am a creator by nature. I am fascinated by having the ability to bring something into existence from a collection of materials. Whether it be from creating the next beautiful canvas covered in oil paints, sculpting jewelry out of clay, crocheting myself a sweater, exposing the perfect image on a roll of film, or spending hours in front of a computer screen editing my next YouTube video. Heck, even now, being able to give life to these words that you’re currently reading.

Along with this creativity in my mind, I have a constant stream of ideas. A continuous flow of imagination races through my thoughts during every waking moment. I have to filter these ideas to determine which project will be my next preoccupation for an undetermined amount of time. Somedays, I would rather create with no previous ideas. No thumbnails or artist statements to lead my hand. Having no idealized image of perfection in my mind allows me to enjoy the process and outcome so much more. This is when I reach for a stack of magazines, a glue stick, and some scissors.

I flip through those thin, glossy printed pages to see what catches my eye. I cut out everything I love and I begin curating a small collection. Then comes the really fun part. I start gluing down left and right with great spontaneity. While there are no right or wrong answers in any form of art, there are absolutely no rules to follow when you are creating a collage. Sometimes, I start adding flows of ink, maybe a splash of paint, some written words here, some printed words there. Cutting and ripping through endless images and pasting them to whatever background feels just right. I feel like Edward Scissorhands when he is shaping a shrub or fashioning a hairdo. A hectic fest of lefts and rights, but in the end, you have given life to a marvelous image.

A collage is a combination or collection of various things. This is a perfect way to describe the art we can make, but also a great way to describe the way we create our own happiness. We cut out personas from life and paste them to ourselves. Becoming who you are is a form of art. Our lives are the most important art piece we create using various sources. Each part of our lives is taken from an article we read, a tv show we love, an acquaintance we speak to, or another form of art we have personally consumed. We earn titles, opinions, relationships to add to our personal existences.

We take what is pleasing to us, and are constantly giving life to the person we want to be. Constantly designing the masterpiece of the unique individual we hope to portray to others. And we share our collage of life lessons with others so that they can add to their own. Every human is a creator by design. You are creating your life, and you have the power to fabricate it in whatever way you wish to. So pick up your scissors, grab some awesome materials, and your glue stick. It’s time to construct something beautiful and be proud of yourself.