Collage Tip 6: Make History! (Stuck on the Royals, Part II)

Princess in the Making, Mixed Media Journal Page, April 29 2011

Well, I was all set to give you my next tip on collaging textures, when my good friend, Elaine Coombs, emailed me to ask what I thought of the Royal Wedding … excited by sharing my thoughts with her, my left brain went right out the window and my right-brain took over… so this week’s entry couldn’t help but be about Will and Kate again!  I went into mad scientist frenzy mode: cutting, tearing and ripping through several magazines I’d bought about the royals as well as a few other favourites… trying desperately to give shape to a new “peoples’ princess”…

The night before the wedding, I’d been working on a very sombre daily ephemera page featuring the couple as well as Diana, but when I got up at 4:00 o’clock on Friday morning (thanks for waking me up Kev!) to watch the televised ceremony, Will and Kate mania hit me all over again!  For weeks my mind has been on the ill-fated Diana and Charles wedding.  Every time I saw the young couple, my mind was haunted by the tragic death of Diana… I just couldn’t shake it off (a part of me still worries for them and how the various press expect them to live out a perfect marriage).  When I saw the wedding that day, however, I really felt it was going to be a fresh start for them.  I couldn’t help pausing for a few teary-eyed moments to ponder what Di would have made of her son walking proudly down the aisle of Westminster Abbey hands linked with the beaming and beautiful young Kate… or if she might have advised William to make sure to give Kate a nice long romantic lingering kiss (the kind Charles never gave her!)… I chuckled at William’s first shy kiss (which was okay by me)… then was taken by the second slightly longer one the two shared that made everyone’s day and, also I think, totally obliterated comparisons to the ghosts of royal nuptials past.  It was hard not to root for the pair who appeared to be genuinely following their hearts.

I believe they really held their own that day, too.  Never for a moment did I look at Katherine and make comparisons to Diana… I felt a bit strange about this… but I think it was a good strange.  It’s exciting to see Kate Middleton blazing her own trail; warming the hearts of the British people and the world.  What a smashingly elegant dress she wore; how awesome that it gave a contemporary nod to Grace Kelly’s 1950’s one (which BTW I’m glad the media has chosen to view in a positive light!).  As a young girl, I was struck by breathtaking images of Kelly in her wedding dress.  I was fascinated by the thought of a beautiful and talented Hollywood actress (a “commoner”) marrying a Prince from a far-off country.  Besides the dress, the couple added many other personal touches to their wedding.  I loved the eco-friendly idea of bringing in tall potted trees into the Abbey.  The selection of hymns favoured by the crowds was a very thoughtful thing.  Katherine’s borrowing and donning jewellery from the late Diana (the ring), the Queen (the tiara) and her parents (the earrings) was a mark of respect for all three and also brilliantly fulfilled the “something old, borrowed and new” categories.  The Prince, in his selection of the Irish Guard military uniform, gave a very respectful nod to his unit in Afghanistan.  Through these gestures, they relayed their commitment to the important people and ideals in their lives.

I couldn’t help spending much of my Friday morning and early afternoon contemplating the wedding, and felt compelled to whip off a journal page about Princess Katherine.  I worked furiously through the afternoon and evening trying to make whatever visual sense I could of my feelings behind of the making of a modern day princess.  I’m proud to share this latest piece with you which will also be featured in my upcoming fall show at the Atrium Gallery here in Ottawa.

Despite my royal tangent, I do have a collage tip to offer you today.  In the past, I’ve spoken of how literature can be an important jumping off point for your collage art and journaling… well, capturing historical events through your own eyes can also be just as exciting.  For collagists, the Royal Wedding is a doubly whammy – think of all the beautiful images coming our way!  There’ll be so much to play with and ponder.  So during moments when you feel a personal connection to historical events for whatever reason, you may wish to consider channelling your reflections into some concrete form through your art.  By doing this in a sense you’re not just making art, you’re also making history… this can be a pretty wonderful and enlightening thing!  Why not add your two cents worth about world events… it’ll be just as interesting as what the media and royal historians have to offer!  If you dare to share, I’d love to see your Royal creations.  How did the Royal Wedding make you feel? – good, bad or indifferent, I’d be curious to know.