a turn you didn’t see coming

First of all I wanna say a huge thank you for sending me your thoughtful questions. I loooove hearing what’s on your mind and these were super fun for me to answer! I picked two to share today:

Q: What do you hope someone feels when they see your art for the first time?

A: Like it was made just for them. Like it reflects a piece of their inner world. Like they don’t just appreciate it because of the aesthetics, but because it’s familiar to them in a deeper way.

Q: Do your pieces ever surprise you while you’re making them? Like take a turn you didn’t see coming?

A: Ummmmm, yes! Alllllll the time. It is a rare thing that a piece works out the way I initially saw it in my mind or had sketched it out. If there is one thing I know for sure, it’s that the process is full of surprises!

If you would like to join in the fun, you can click the button below or simply hit reply to this email. I look forward to your questions!

I think it’s the almost-spring feeling here in Michigan that’s drawing me toward textures, patterns and forms from the natural world.

I started cutting out butterfly wings without much of a plan and began arranging them into a loose, intuitive composition. It felt very instinctive. Almost like the piece was assembling itself.

I showed the work-in-progress to a friend, and she shared some perspectives that I really love. She wondered if the butterflies were surrounding or lifting something? Or were they a dense concentrated bundle of transformation / rebirth energy? Or maybe they were circling a completely empty center of lightness and air? What do you see? I’d love to know.

This piece feels like the start of a new series, where each piece in this series will center around a different found and collected form. I’ve started with butterfly wings, and I love their symbolism of transformation, evolution and freedom (and also their undeniable beauty). But I’ve also been experimenting with rocks and gemstones, and I’m considering future pieces focused on flowers? Birds? Mushrooms?

More soon! This feels like the beginning of something I want to follow all the way through, letting it evolve piece by piece and reveal more of itself over time.

MAGGIE REUTER

conjuring beauty from found paper
collage + collabs + workshops
www.maggiereuter.com