I love how collage can mean different things to different people! In the case of Sarah, collages are a stable, organized approach (instead of a commonly haphazard free-for-all). She's a bit of a perfectionist—you can probably tell just by looking at her collages—and her they help her to relax and collect her thoughts. Everyone has a unique reason to collage, and it's always a great one! I wish Sarah the best of luck in finding her place as an artist.

Name (Real or Screename): Sarah Abbott, aka watersounds
URL (Blog, Website): www.flickr.com/watersounds, sarah-abbott.blogspot.com
Location (Where are you from?): South Yorkshire, England

Q: Describe your work in 10 words or less.
A: A neat, ordered and less complicated version of the world.

Q: What do you like to work with (magazines, photographs, vintage)? Be specific!
A: mostly I use things just lying around. I like to collect a whole stack of things for future use till I find a place for them. At the moment I have a big crush on a certain type of blue that I like to pretend is 'my blue', and I always love the beiges and browns of old paper. I use a lot of envelopes and maps, tape, things I find in the street. other than my paper stash, I sometimes add in typewritten text or some found photographs, or some of my own. I like searching around ebay for things, especially for old postcards of mountains/hills/lakes. I can't bring myself to use them for work just yet.

Q: How long have you been creating collages and what made you start?
A: The first 'real' collage I remember making was when I was studying for my A levels. I remember sticking the neck and head of a giraffe onto a woman's body, I think she was stood on a giant cake - and I remember being like 'hey, are we allowed to do this?' It kind of went on from there, and I never asked permission again.

Q: Are you solely an artist, or do you work in another profession?
A: I recently graduated and I've moved back home right now. I'm not having much luck in the job department so far. At the moment I'm keeping busy volunteering at a museum in the conservation department, where I get to see a lot of 'old stuff' behind the scenes. I'm also making badges and doing bits of drawing for myself, for friends, or whoever else comes along. I'm still coming to terms with calling myself an artist, when do you become one?

Q: Do you have any formal art training?
A: I do. I graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University this year with a degree in fine art. I specialised in printmaking but I found it pretty hard to get the results I wanted. I don't think I'm so good with experimenting, and if things don't look how I want them to look, I'm not very forgiving. A lot of pages have been ripped out of sketchbooks this way. It's probably a lot better to work with mistakes but I just see them as that and get rid of them, or they drive me a little bit insane. I think that's why I like collage, you can move things around and stick things over the top and be a little bit more relaxed about it.