Category Archives: insight

What gets in the way?

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It’s a good thing there are only 11 days left to Acey’s Collage Month* because it’s been so consuming! Consuming in a very good way, but consuming.

The next prompt: What gets in my way?

DOUBT is what first came to mind but I went with what came second to mind: LACK OF FAITH.

In particular: lack of faith in personal good outcomes. A train wreck is one of those things: ordinary and yet tragic. It could happen to anyone on their way to work. But it’s also rare, so why assume it’s only a matter of time until I’m sent off the rails?

In the second image, strips of a woodland creek scene butt up against photos of the disaster, as if the trees and water were complicit or at least, failing to offer protection.

Sorry for the glare here but the day is demanding that I move on.

A big thanks to LIZ, of the blog I’m Going to Texas, for sending me a big pot of YES paste. It’s sticky to the hands but so much more effective than what I was using. Thank you!

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Acey’s Collage Month.

See also my Flickr album. SoulCollage and the tags here on the blog

Also, here’s a little minute plus that I made last night.

What we miss what we glean

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Interesting that I skipped right over Acey’s* Prompt 9 —

“BE the prompt you want to see.

Express what you most want, need, and seek as our shared landscape begins to look more and more like a collage project gone rogue and dark beyond salvation.”

This is what I came up with just now. Think: surrender and trust. The background looks like a world-sized globe but actually depicts teeny creatures. So — I’ll take the collage to mean I want surrender and trust personally as well as on a world-wide scale.

I don’t know what the tattooed quote says, but the inked wings on the dancer’s back are clear enough. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the power of the young — how they are the voters and innovators the world needs.

Meanwhile it’s a writing day.

Except that I just made these collages as well. More on them later. I had “care package” in mind making them. Took the stamps off a literal package that came yesterday (thank you, Michelle!!)

The dark-robed trawler is an old collage. The white silhouette new. I love how the girl climbing stairs has flung her arms out like the skateboarder. Like the wings.

Sorry if I am not caught up on others’ blogs. I feel stretched right now. But know that I’m loving seeing everyone’s’ creations and finding Acey’s prompts more than stimulating!

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For info on this collage project see Acey’s blog sparklinglotusink

For more SoulCollage cards of mine, go to Flickr on sidebar and open the SoulCollage album. Or, track the ‘SoulCollage’ and ‘collage’ tags here on the blog

Prompt 10

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Prompt 10 – use paper that’s come to the table since beginning this month’s challenge or use paper that you did not choose.

Here, find a telescope from a catalog that arrived yesterday (to build on previous drawing and the words, “see further”).

Also, I raided the box holding the remnants of my sister’s clip file. After she died, I mailed pictures she’d clipped to members of the SoulCollage community all over the country — but of course, I kept some.

From Noreen: owls, polar bears, chartreuse Asian face and eyes, close up of raptor wing, bats, X-ray, starry night.

Nothing glued yet.

Skateboarding, fire, vision, the Middle East, climate change — all showing up.

I love how the extended arms of the boarder echo the shape of wings.

I also love the names of skateboard maneuvers, a whimsical, specialized vocabulary that I never mastered, even when there was a mini-ramp in our backyard.

In other news, I have symptoms of a cold for the very first since starting regular use of a netti pot five or six years ago. I feel like it’s more about humility this time than germs. No more obnoxious announcements about the netti pot!

For info on this collage project see Acey’s blog sparklinglotusink

For more SoulCollage cards of mine, go to Flickr on sidebar and open the SoulCollage album. Or, track the ‘SoulCollage’ and ‘collage’ tags here on the blog.

Draw a line

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Prompt for Day 8 from Acey (see footer below) was draw a line then collage. I don’t like this result but I’m grateful for the direction because I was feeling constrained from making marks on the pages and very much wanted to.

I think “see further” might be a good refrain for what’s emerging here though. The binocular view finder a heavy handed but apt symbol.

Below are a few digital collages of other pages. I turned the big-hatted model into a tree just as I did James Franco.

Of the women collaged yesterday, she was the figure who held the most allure. She is on display for sure, but blocks her breasts with her arms and shields much of her expression under a huge hat. Being half naked but hiding herself is a posture not just of mystery but of control. What if it is SHE who is shaping her image and access and not the designer or the photographer?

Below, find the lines depicting worldwide food consumption trends (also from yesterday’s collages) paired with a solitary figure and, if you look closely behind the orange stripes, a monster.

Here is the book’s first moveable flap.

This cretin with his thumbs up was selected at the direction of picking something “other.” To see a crass salesman next to the pronoun referring to our middle eastern woman pokes at the contrast between Iraqis/Iranians and us.

For info on this collage project see Acey’s blog sparklinglotusink

For more SoulCollage cards of mine, go to Flickr on sidebar and open the SoulCollage album. Or, track the SoulCollage tag here

You Not You

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Continuing with collage month, I responded to Acey’s prompts 6 and 7. Sort of. This session ended up being an exercise in femaleness. What I adopt. What I reject. How I present. What I hide.

This second figure (above) feels like a fairly accurate portrayal of how I move through the world: a plainly dressed peasant giving off skepticism, perhaps even hostility. Appraising. Judging. Garden tool at her side.

As for the girl catching the ball — well, I learned ages ago that JOY dwells in my shadow (it’s not all vice and monsters in there folks!) Here she is, coming out of the shadows and showing up in all her glory — war torn nation, poverty, notwithstanding. Joy isn’t necessarily circumstantial.

Elsewhere find vanity and fashion. The part of me that I wish to hide is NOT the girly girl, however, but the entitled omnivore. The consumer.

The green swirls collage (with ravenous lion atop) come from a chart showing alarming trends in food consumption worldwide. On another page I wove those green trend lines with very high end bracelets. The monkeys of fable show up twice.

Speak no evil. Hear no evil. See no evil.

Indeed. That’s one very privileged way to deal with climate change and scarcity.

We have two cars. I still eat meat. We fly often to visit family. Keep the house warm.

The last figure (in the red dress) is an enigma and that’s just fine, although if I had to guess, I’d say she’s gonna eat that baby. Maybe not today or tomorrow but soon. Top level omnivore. A witch of old.

For info on this collage project see Acey’s blog sparklinglotusink

For more SoulCollage cards of mine, go to Flickr on sidebar and open the SoulCollage album. Or, track the SoulCollage tag here