'What do I do with this lot?' If you like collecting things, here may lie the answer. Early advice is 'be OK with bad art', and 'Practice TAKES practice'. Practice requires materials and some knowledge of design and composition. Melanie covers these first: the list is large and provides much to build on. Diverse techniques for building collages follow, extending options for producing new work. Ample illustrations aid understanding throughout. Melanie explains that the heart of the book is a series of prompts and inspirations to help the reader develop a voice and get the creative juices flowing. Each prompt amounts to a challenge; 55 of them! If selected at random then developed, using some of the parameters she sets, such as 'complete the collage in 30 minutes or less' or 'only tear your paper, don't cut', endless enjoyment may await for those prepared to enter into the spirit of the subject. Finally a chapter on handmade books shows options for using collages. A reading list and other resources complete the book. At the end of the index a small collage reads: 'Don't think about making art, just get it done'. If you haven't thought about collage as an art form before, this might be just the book to encourage you to try it.
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