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In addition to my jewelry, I’ve started doing acrylic collage paintings. Since naturally, I have to collect things to collage with, the idea of collecting and art making has been percolating for a while. Now I’ve collected an assortment of posts, art and a book on collecting, and will share it here.

First there was this post from Luann Udell on the curatorial aspect of collecting:
http://luannudell.wordpress.com/2011/10/11/collecting-stamps-making-art

Next I found this book at the library:

This 2008 book, Art Making, Collections and Obsessions by Lynn Parrella introduces us to a number of artists and their collections. It’s a sneak peek into each artist’s process as we learn what they collect and why. I like seeing their bits and pieces, how they organize them, and what art they turn into.

I was a little surprised at the ubiquity of collecting by artists. Now I wonder if it’s even more common than that. How much of the art process is inspired by this collecting, reflecting, making?

Someone who ponders questions like that, and much deeper ones, is artist and art therapist Pat Allen, author of Art Is a Way of Knowing.

She talks about the pomegranate project here: http://www.patballen.com/pages/col-proj.html

If you’re interested in questions such as “why make art?” or “why am I compelled to make this kind of work?” you will love Art is a Way of Knowing.

How about you? Do you collect? What are you drawn to? How do you store it?

I’ll go. I collect vintage cookbooks, especially small fundraiser ones and ones with horribly dated pictures. (I also collect cookbooks for the value of the recipes, but those are different ones.) I collect bits and pieces of sewing stuff, esp. older. I have a small collection of old books with titles that amuse me.