When my daughter was young, I saved collage pieces from magazines and newspapers for future projects.  I was teaching art and loved having different looking, decorated tissue boxes, on my desk.  Over time, I began making them for family and friends and a beloved holiday tradition was born.  Now, I make new ones each year as gifts, it's a rich part of our holiday traditions.  

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Each tissue box tells a story, each side is a specific part of that story, collectively I think of each box as a chapter of a book and sometimes it is hard for me to give them away.  In December, when I begin making them, I let the preprinted design delineate where and how I lay the collage.  It’s all about creating balance in movement. I use color and design to activate the existing curves and shapes with each collage piece, always with an eye towards color and movement.

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Each year I feel like I'll never get them all done, but each year, they push me to make art during a time when I might feel to drained and avoid other new creative projects.  They are fun for me to make, and I love seeing all the ones people have collected over the years.