Kari's 365 Collage Follow-Up

Kari McDonald completed her yearlong 365 Collage Project on June 11, 2013....





What are the biggest lessons/skills you learned from doing your project? When starting a new piece, it's best for me to start and finish the piece in a couple days. I'm not cut out to do a new piece everyday (no pun intended!). It is beneficial for improving creativity to work on something everyday, I just have such a hard time starting and finishing one piece in one day. I also found that setting personal goals or deadlines can only do so much. If I want to complete something by a certain time, I need an outside accountability like setting a date for a show at a venue so that it has to be done on time. If I didn't do this, the project would have gone on for 5 years or I never would have finished.



In what ways did the project change your life? Having such a large body of work will forever change my artwork to come. It is such a diverse body of work that I can pull ideas from, continue themes that were successful, and rework those that didn't quite work. It helped me get out some themes and ideas that I probably would not have discovered if I was not forced to make so many pieces. It will also be a huge reminder for the rest of my life that I can accomplish big things with patience, persistence, and hard work. It's a nice bragging right! Now that the project is over, my life is changed by being able to spend more time with my husband again. He was just as glad, if not more, that it is finally over!



Now what? I started this project to keep me creative after I graduated art school in December 2010. I wanted something to keep me moving while building up my printmaking studio. Even though the project took more than two years to complete, the timing was perfect. I have more equipment now and have a body of work to glean from. Collaboration with my father-in-law has developed with his printmaking studio that is in its final stages of being built. My goal is to now create a new body of work with my etchings, woodcuts, and screenprints. It has been a long time coming and it has been eating away at me that I haven't been able to print for so many years. I'm really looking forward to printing again. Original collages and giclee prints of the collages will be available in my Etsy shop once the live show comes down on July 10th.



You still have a few days to see all of Kari's project in person at Rockford Art Deli at 402 E. State Street in  Rockford, IL.




Read Kari's original 365 interview HERE.




See all of Kari's colleges HERE.


4 comments:

InteriARTS said...

Nice job completing this huge personal challenge. Interesting samples of your year posted here. You have a great eye!

Jaye said...

These are just fabulous...are you planning on publishing them in a book?

kerosene said...

Hey! Congratulations Kari!

Kari McDonald said...

Thanks everyone!

Yes, I have considered putting them all in a book and have had many ask me this. Not sure when this will happen but you can stay updated on my facebook, I will post info there once this happens = www.facebook.com/ThePaperButton

(Kerosene - glad you saw this post! =] )