PUTTING PIECES TOGETHER

During the SCAD Educator’s Forum, I participated in a workshop titled "Putting Pieces Together", an expressive collage experience centered around emotion. The task was to create two abstract collages — each one representing an opposing emotion. I chose excitement and sadness. We began by selecting a color scheme for each emotion, flipping through magazines to pull swatches and build our color palettes. The goal was to choose with intention — colors that felt like the emotion, not just looked like it. From there, we started collecting images and textures from the magazines to begin building our compositions. We weren’t aiming for literal imagery — only abstract expression. One piece for each emotion.

✧ Learning Through Process

Before fully committing to a final layout, we paused the process. We stepped away, giving our minds and eyes time to reset before returning to the work the next day. That act alone was a valuable lesson: Sometimes the best creative move is to pause. Our instructor also shared practical and powerful tools for approaching collage more intentionally:

Color + Emotion: We were given resources that mapped out color schemes commonly associated with different emotions — a helpful guide to choosing palettes that communicate rather than decorate.

Line + Shape Language: The direction, type, and style of lines (angular vs. curved, vertical vs. chaotic) can shape how an emotion is perceived. Even the shapes you include — rigid vs. organic — have emotional weight.

These subtle design choices made me think about my work in a new way.

✧ A Few Takeaways I’m Holding Onto

Step away when needed. Returning with fresh eyes can change everything.

Document your process. Take photos while building your collage. These snapshots help you track visual variations and unexpected progress.

Turn it black & white. A quick trick to check value and visual balance.

Critique mid-process. Invite feedback while you're still arranging — not after you’ve glued it all down.

✧ What This Workshop Gave Me

I’ve been wanting to begin a new art practice alongside my photography for some time now. I’ve always known that collage would be the one I’d return to — something about arranging pieces, textures, and colors into something meaningful speaks to how I see the world. This workshop allowed me to explore abstraction in a structured, emotional way. It reminded me that even in nonliteral work, intention matters. I’m grateful for the space this workshop created — space to reflect, explore, and begin again. And I’m excited to see how this practice continues to evolve alongside my photography, both tangled together — beautifully.