Brainstorming Ideas
in Writing
Remember those wonderful illustrated books you read as
a child? The pictures brought the characters and situations
to life. Mixing words with images can do the same in your
collages. A ready source of stories is your own life. How
about making rapid notes on some of these:
A special family gathering- birthday, anniversary,
memorial, July 4th, Thanksgiving. Don't try to
recount the whole thing, just a few snippets- Did
something funny happen? An incident with the
food? Odd behavior by a relative? Bad weather?
Who was there?A game you used to playas a child- A special trip- vacation, camping, hike, bike ride, bus
trip, train ride - Your favorite recipe-or your mother's, aunt's, and so on
- Your pets-now or then. Did they eat your homework
or the family dinner? Break something? Escape? - A special outfit you remember. (Describe or even
draw it, no matter how simply.)
Moving home - Getting married or divorced
You can be humorous or serious, or a mixture of both. Little
illustrations all add to the personal nature of your collage.
If you can't find suitable family photos, use found images
of people as stand-ins.
Anonymous Letters.
Ann Baldwin, 8" x 10" (20.3
x 25.4 ern). collage, acrylic,
crayon on canvas.75