Paper Collage

Art Corner - March 2026

One of my New Year’s resolutions for this year was to learn a new hobby. While researching a way to accomplish this goal, I found out that my local library regularly hosts free programs where you can learn new arts, crafts, technical skills, educate yourself on an academic subject, and so many more options. Libraries are the best.

Anyway, today I attended one of the library’s art classes. This one was on paper collage. I wasn’t even familiar with this art form before, but now I’m hooked. There was something weirdly calming about it. The class took about two hours, but the time just flew by.

Paper collage is basically building art out of cutting up and pasting together scraps of paper. Magazines, newspaper clippings, gift wrap, tissue paper, cardstock… you can source it from just about anywhere.

I don’t know why, but there’s something about the whole process of looking through a pile of paper scraps and sorting out the ones with interesting colors/textures and then slowly pasting them together, layer by layer, to form a picture that just soothes my soul. I have a naturally hyperactive brain (unmedicated ADHD with zero coping skills) but I could sit still for hours doing this.

The point of this “learn a new hobby” goal wasn’t actually to give me a new hobby (I have more than enough of those already, thank you) but rather to just push myself outside my comfort zone and make me try something new. I consider it a lucky bonus that it also provided me with a great stress-relief hobby. As soon as I got home, I reorganized my craft supplies to make space for a new bin: one for collecting scrap paper. I think this new art medium is something I’m going to get very attached to.

Bonus: Here’s a photo of what I made at the class. My very first paper collage!