Response to Howard Caverns

I felt that this was interesting enough to make into a separate post for those of us interested in collage. My friend Howard Caverns as me "Why collage? What motivates me to continue with collage?" (please see his comment on one of my previous posts). Here is my quick response to Howard:

As you know, I used to be a watercolor painter with some talent (in perhaps my less-than humble opinion). I enjoyed the end-product and was disciplined with the technique. But I never felt all that creative in the process. And I was less able to explore with painting, both in terms of visual aesthetic and intellectual aspects. I find that I am learning much more through collage than I could through other media too. I mean, for example, I had always seen on country lanes the signs for "Registered Holsteins". I never thought that not only were they registered, EACH had an "official" name and number (and pedigree) too. Finding that book yesterday in Earlville was a real treat! And it stimulates me in a weird way to think about the fact that the people who owned those cows back in 1888! are dead of course, and the cows are LONG gone. But here I am sitting looking through that particular book and musing (after enjoying bidding on it at an auction). To some, that may have been considered a "dead" book. Have I resurrected it? BTW I have volume 8 which was one of the "fattest" ones and has several cow illustrations in it. There were MANY other volumes as well (which I suspect may one day (soon?) be carted away and burned or brought to the landfill. Collage is mentally and psychologically stimulating to me. "Musing" instead of "amusing". "Productive" instead of "consumptive". Ah, collage! Howard, you should join me. I'll teach you the technique and then you can journey too!