Remembering Collageland
With this spread, I say farewell to a course called Collageland.
Yesterday, when I was making backgrounds and decorating handmade papers for this spread, I looked back on my artistic journey.
Three Stages
Stylistically, my artistic journey can be divided into three main stages. The first stage began around 2010 when I created decorative collages. My thing with collage art has always been to create every piece of paper myself and not cut anything from magazines or such. This approach requires more work, but it also grows your drawing skills. And most importantly, you can proudly say that you did it all yourself.
From 2016 to 2017, I gradually shifted toward a more illustrative style, drawing and painting representational fantasy art that often featured human or animal figures. I was highly influenced by art history and fantasy artists.
In 2020, I found my current painting style and focused on freely painted abstract landscapes and floral still lifes.
Considering I started my career as a full-time artist in 2014, you could say I moved forward in three-year leaps.
After the first stage, in 2018, I wanted to create one last course on decorative collages. It got the name Collageland. I felt that moving on is like leaving one place and founding another.
Remembering Collageland
Yesterday, I watched Collageland again. The course videos and the written materials evoked two strong emotions.
First, I felt tremendous inspiration. I just had to do those exercises one more time! I painted papers with watercolors, made prints on paper using a Gelli Plate, and decorated the papers with pens. One of my art journals now has a farewell to Collageland, where flags fly, sending prayers and good wishes to all artistic souls.
I used torn papers over the Gelli Plate and I think the backgrounds are really cool. It looks like the “flags” are glued, but they are just layers of paint!
Originals and Prints
Viewing the first stage of my artistic journey from a distance was exciting. I didn’t remember how much inspiration is packed into the course, and I had forgotten surprisingly many techniques too. In Collageland, I share not just collage art made over the years, but also prints and fabrics created from them.
Changing the Needle to Pens
In Collageland, I also show inspiring needlework projects, as my drawing originally grew out of them.
Embroidering with a needle, or even with a machine, eventually felt too slow, so I switched to a pen.
So, the subtitle of Collageland is “Artistic Embroidery with Pens and Paper.”
Collageland Is Retiring – Buy Now!
Yesterday, when the final video ended and my art journal spread was finished, I was moved to tears. “Hey Päivi,” I wanted to say, “hey younger Päivi, I want to become you again!” But at the same time, I felt that I was already living in a third, even more wonderful land, and that there is no turning back.
So, it is time to retire Collageland. If you haven’t taken it yet, I warmly recommend it! There are still a few days left to purchase, and the price is 50 % OFF! >> Buy Now!
The course videos are available to you for at least six months after purchase. And if you download all the course material, the course is for your personal use as long as you keep it on your device. >> Buy Now!
Collageland is no longer on sale after Sept 27, 2026, at midnight PDT.