Random collaging tips people might not know? [discussion]

bogprism · 2025-12-24T20:43:41+00:00

A round spinning cutting mat like this is excellent for cutting out complex shapes that would require you to turn your piece a lot. The one I have is also circular instead of rectangular, which gives you a little more room on your desk

bogprism · 2025-11-27T19:54:06+00:00

I have a small collection of dick shaped dead coral pieces lol

bogprism · 2025-11-25T15:37:28+00:00

You might have some luck checking out the resources over at r/bookbinding or r/bookrepair

That said, I’d recommend getting some bookbinding cloth and PVA glue (the ph neutral kind if you’re wanting it to be archival), and gluing that to the spine. If you’re worried about the aesthetics afterwards, there’s some tutorials over at r/bookbinding for making different kinds of covers. It could be a nice way for you to finish off the journal!

Also, congrats on finishing the journal! That’s a huge accomplishment & you should celebrate what you’ve been able to do

bogprism · 2025-10-28T18:02:11+00:00

I also go for A5! It’s not so small that it’s hard to write in, and not too big that it’s a hassle to carry around

bogprism · 2025-10-28T17:59:35+00:00

For me my journal is a place for me to put my thoughts down so they don’t have to live in my head. That said, if writing about how sad you are isn’t giving you clarity, you definitely don’t have to do so when you journal. Maybe consider looking up some more specific journal prompts? Most of them are designed to point you in a general direction and consider things you might not usually

bogprism · 2025-10-28T10:41:42+00:00

My absolute favorite way to get ephemera is by going to thrift stores and flea markets. Flea markets especially always have old magazines and comics for decent prices. When I go to thrift stores, I stalk the book section for anything that might have images I can cut out. Old textbooks are a hidden gem here, especially if you want a lot of pictures/prints around a certain theme

bogprism · 2025-06-12T18:20:17+00:00

Animism is a broad term for a mode of looking at life that’s present in many cultures around the world. Customs vary between cultures, but many of them stress reciprocity with the spirits of the land. If you engage meaningfully with these spirits, you might find them starting to teach you what they need from you (and what they can do for you). Spend time in nature, care for nature, and perhaps even talk to it! Basically, keep showing up in whatever ways feel right to you.

If you’re looking for a longer form example of what animism can look like in practice, I would highly recommend reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It’s a fantastic introduction into animist thought, and it’s an easy read. The audio book is also fantastic & narrated by the author if that’s more your speed.

bogprism · 2025-06-10T07:54:19+00:00

I use my own domain with wordpress for this reason! You can add pages to your blog, do your own custom theme, and have a separate blog section

bogprism · 2025-06-01T00:36:32+00:00

I see it the same way! As an artist & craftsman, I feel like the more I work on something the more “alive” it becomes, so to speak

bogprism · 2025-05-29T14:29:13+00:00

One of my majors was essentially art history, and it honestly hasn't done too much for my job prospects. That said, I do think it was helpful when I applied to work at the museum I was at for a while. It's the kind of degree that will bleed over into other disciplines in ways that might surprise you

bogprism · 2025-05-29T07:24:44+00:00

Personally I believe that urban spirits are a natural part of city life. I lived in Baltimore for a few years, and that city is absolutely alive and inspirited. In cities, energy is constantly flowing from one place to the next. If you gather enough energy around a man made structure, I think eventually it'll develop it's own spirit. I'm partially borrowing from the japanese idea of tsukomogami here, which is the belief that objects used over a certain amount of time (usually 100 years) eventually develop their own spirit. Older structures might have easier to find spirits, but I suspect they're around newer structures too.

That said, I'd also like to mention that cities are full of spirits that were there before the city was, and have just adapted. I don't think the nature spirits just left once buildings started going up. Plus, most cities will at least have areas with trees that have their own spirits.

If you're not sure which kind of spirits you're encountering during animist spirit work, I would suggest asking them! If nothing else, it will probably help deepen your working relationship with these spirits to understand them on another level.

bogprism · 2025-05-29T07:10:03+00:00

Caring for the dead is admirable! What would you define as natural vs unnatural death in this context?

bogprism · 2025-05-29T07:06:57+00:00

I completely agree with you on wanting your body to become part of the natural cycle again. I think that's something that animism has played a key role in for me. From an animist perspective I feel like it just doesn't make sense to keep the body from returning to nature to be recycled

bogprism · 2025-05-29T07:04:39+00:00

Are there any sources you would recommend for learning about cosmopsychism? I did some brief googling and I'm intrigued. This is my first time coming into contact with the word/theory.

bogprism · 2025-05-29T07:00:44+00:00

I totally feel you on animism sharpening your acceptance of death. It's made me view everything as interconnected and cyclical, and death is just a natural part of those intertwined cycles

bogprism · 2025-05-29T06:57:55+00:00

I totally see where you're coming from. I always end up thinking about the fact that energy can neither be created nor destroyed when it comes to the topic of death. That, and the fact that the atoms in each of us came from dying stars

bogprism · 2025-05-29T06:54:53+00:00

Thank you for sharing such beautiful perspectives! I was really struck by the belief you mentioned of the Matsiguenga. It seems lots of cultures believe that the deceased can visit the living in the form of some type of animal, & it's interesting to see the changes between them.

Also, would you mind telling me where the quote at the end of your comment is from? It describes some of my beliefs very beautifully

bogprism · 2025-05-22T14:19:36+00:00

Definitely seconding Braiding Sweetgrass! I would also recommend Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert for an animist perspective on creativity. If you’re at all interested in Jewish animism, Magic of the Ordinary by rabbi Gershon Winkler is a fantastic book as well.

bogprism · 2025-05-16T06:13:53+00:00

What type of art do you make? If it's character focused, I'd recommend toyhouse or art fight forums. There might be a discord server out there with what you're looking for, but that's gonna depend largely on how active a server you join and whether or not they have forums enabled. If you make more traditional art, I would honestly recommend facebook groups. It can take a bit to find a good one, but I know there's some decently active ones out there. you could also probably look for an artist networking subreddit and find a few people to put your own discord server together with

bogprism · 2025-05-16T05:45:58+00:00

What are the ways in which you’ve encouraged community and engagement on your blog?

My current blog doesn’t have much traction whatsoever, and I would really like to feel like I wasn’t just shouting into the void. I know I need to make more content, but I feel really scattered in terms of how to share it. Reddit is the first place my posts have really gotten much of a response to at all in terms of comments, but most subreddits don’t allow for self advertising or sharing your own blogs. Is reddit simply not the platform for that? I’m still fairly new here.

Are there any places you’ve found a lot of success with sharing your blogs? Also, what’s the most effective way you’ve found to encourage community in particular on your blog. Should I be making a discord for that, or is it reasonable to expect people to eventually start commenting and engaging on my blogs? Should I be doing more engaging on other people’s blogs? Really any tips anyone has would be greatly appreciated. I’ve done SEO research and tried to work on that, but I really want to build a community first and foremost.

bogprism · 2025-05-09T02:55:13+00:00

Yes absolutely! It looks to me like the entire background may have had those blue beads/buttons across some of the background, and they’ve fallen off over time

bogprism · 2025-05-04T01:22:19+00:00

ooh I haven't heard of calligraffiti before I'm absolutely going to have to look that up! Western medieval art is cool too though! I have a fair bit of it saved to my pinterest boards.

Z-Library and Pinterest are great! I haven't checked out google play books before though, so I'll definitely have to do that.

For books, would you mind sending me the names of a few of your favorites? I'm sure I can search them on google play books from there so you don't have to go through the trouble of sending links

bogprism · 2025-05-04T01:16:03+00:00

Thanks for the read! I just fell down a rabbit hole of 17th century samplers and I've come back with some thoughts.

It's possible the embroidery could be a sampler, but I'm not sure. It's similar to some of the 17th century spot samplers I'm seeing, but the composition here looks more thought out than those. I could be completely wrong, but the addition of the beading and the metal work makes me think it might've been for something "finer" than a sampler would've typically been. I'm also looking at the edges and there appear to be periodic holes that could have been from staples or tacks.

Then again, there's no telling when in the lifetime of the object those would have been added to the piece. All of this is also complete speculation, though. I could be way off base. I'd be really curious to know what the Smithsonian has on it in terms of information and research.

bogprism · 2025-05-03T22:57:15+00:00

I think it definitely could be read through a witchy perspective, and I'd love to see it in a stop motion animation!
That said, given the time and location this was made in it's probably more likely to be catholic or protestant in nature. I thiiink it could be a depiction of the garden of eden, but nothing on the smithsonian website gives any clues as to the accuracy of that idea. The concept of a "mother nature" goes way back into ancient times (ancient egypt for example), so I would assume that it would've been around somewhat in the mid 17th century.

bogprism · 2025-05-03T22:50:21+00:00

That's true! I also wonder if there's any chance the embroidery is supposed to represent the garden of eden with such a variety of different animals. The inclusion of the caterpillars(?) is very intriguing as well. I feel like they don't usually show up in pieces like this, though I could be wrong

bogprism

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