My First Collage Zine!

The front cover of Michelle Casey's Zine L'invisible/The Invisible takes the reader through a series of journeys through the artist's mind...

My First Collage Zine!

Well, I must say, it’s been nice to be back in the studio this month creating on a more regular basis in between bursts of holiday shopping! Taking the time to exercise my imagination always makes me feel whole again. Recently, I’ve had a chance to work on something I’ve been waiting to do all year – a zine! I’ve never made one before, so it was quite a  challenge to take on…

Zinespiration!

The idea of creating a zine arose over a year ago when my friend Diane Salter presented me with a beautiful one filled with her amazing drawings and personal thoughts. I thought it was so cool and brave of her to produce something so unique and personal to share with her friends. Later that year, I purchased a very funky zine by an oh so serious young artist at an art fair – it was filled with images of her personal mementos and reflections, snapshots of her everyday life and even a recipe. I was smitten by the concept of the zine and vowed then and there to make one of my very own!

What’s a Zine?

What’s a zine, you may ask? … Well, I like to think of it as a small, personal magazine which can be filled with your writings, collages, drawings, cartoons, photos, recipes, quotes or poems… basically whatever you want. It’s kind of like the opposite of consumer-based magazines you purchase at stores. The more you personalize it with quirky facts about your world, the more unique it will be. Zines are also a terrific medium to teach and inform others with. Once you’ve made your zine, you make photocopies of it, assemble it and distribute it to whomever you like. Some people sell or trade their zines as well. If you like, you can also donate a copy of your zine to libraries that collect them – allowing a much wider audience to engage with it. Before I started mine, I did some research on the subject of zines and found a great website (Guide to Zine Making) with a variety of simple zine layouts one can draw from.

My Exhibition Zine: L’invisible (The Invisible)

I view my zine as a mini exhibition of works; I’ve entitled it: “L’invisible” (The Invisible). Seeing as I haven’t had a solo show this year, I thought it might be nice to have one in zine form; instead of visiting a gallery, viewers have the chance to hold 12 of my brand new collages in their hands! The imagery in my zine evolved from my childhood and adolescent memories as well as the memory fragments of friends (you may well see pieces of yourselves in these pages – but I’m not saying who!). Other themes contained therein were inspired by a mystery set in Tuscany I’m currently reading (recommended by my good friend Grazia) as well as a few of my favourite fairy tales. It was exciting to let my visions flow onto the pages of my zine… it was very fascinating and rewarding seeing the results.

A Gift for My Subscribers!

This year as a special surprise gift, I’d like to send a complimentary copy of my zine to all my blog and newsletter list members! If you’re a member and would like a copy, please send me your mailing address if I don’t already have it. You can send the information to mcasey@magma.ca. For those of you who don’t want to give out your address, no worries – I’ll be posting the whole thing online for you to see in the near future.

A Gift for New Subscribers!

I’ll also be giving a free copy of my zine to the first five people who subscribe to my blog or newsletter between now and February 2013.

Please Note that I’ll be taking a break on January 6, 2013… I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season and wish everyone a healthy, happy and creative New Year! Thanks for your enthusiastic support of Collage Your World throughout 2012 – I’ve really appreciated receiving your comments and advice – they always make my day!

Other Related Links:
Ontario College of Art & Design Zine Library Collection (Toronto, Canada)
Barnard Zine Library (New York, USA)
Wikipedia Zine History