Showing posts with label collage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label collage. Show all posts

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Artist's Way Collage





I have embarked upon the wonderful journey into Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way' for the 3rd time in 5 years. The very first paragraph of the introduction reads:

'Artists are visionaries. We routinely practice a form of faith, seeing clearly and moving toward a creative goal that shimmers in the distance-often visible to us, but invisible to those around us. Difficult as it is to remember, it is the work that creates the market, not the market that creates our work. Art is an act of faith, and we practice practicing it. Sometimes we are called on pilgrimages on its behalf and, like many pilgrims, we doubt the call even as we answer it. But answer we do.'

I am doing this from a distance, with a group of gifted actors, writers, directors, singers, musicians who meet in New Jersey every Wednesday night. We are up to Chapter 7. Chapter 7 is titled, 'Recovering a Sense of Connection'. At the end of every chapter are weekly tasks. This week, one of the 10 tasks was to create a collage. This is right up my alley!!! Julia notes that this is of her her student's favorite exercises. The goal is to make it autobiographical...include your past, present and future, and your dreams. It is okay to include images you simply like. I looked at the previous 2 collages which I created and thought about posting them, but I really love the way this one came out. This is an exercise I should do more than once every 5 years!!

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Mom's 85th Birthday




What a milestone, turning 85. Mom has had some real health issues, but she battles on, with swimming and yoga and physical therapy. She lives in a wonderful building in NYC, which is a great place for anyone to live, but it is specifically for Seniors. There are bells and whistles everywhere if she needs help. She has a great apartment and has made some friends, some who have passed, and others, some well into their 90's, who put one foot in front of the other everyday and live their already very full lives. There is a private room in her building for special events or dinners, which holds 12 people and this is where we shared a lovely evening. This is what Mom wanted.

I had an idea to make Mom a collage of her life, so I called on the family to send in the pictures. After scanning, zooming, editing, enhancing, lightening, brightening, cropping, carefully tearing, and finally rubber cementing, about 100 photos, I wound up with 2 very sizable collages. Similar to putting together a puzzle that you are inventing, I thought that I had gotten myself in way over my head. But, as always, the pictures found their place on each board. It turned out, that one board was 'Us', meaning my generation, my brother, Edward, my nieces, my cousins and their children, standing on the family that came before us in the other collage. Mom can't see very well, but she knew what it was and she cried. She understood that so many people love her, have loved her, will always love her, as she too, has loved, and will continue to love so many of us as well. It was a special night for a special lady. Happy Birthday Mom!

(The photos of the collage are taken from the center of each one...these are not the full boards!)

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

2009


It is my sincere prayer for all of you, for peace to reign in your hearts, for you to keep hope alive, for you to bear good fruit, for you to be healthy, for you to be rich in Spirit, for your joy to be full for therein lies your strength, and that your blessings spill over as we enter into 2009.
Happy New Year!

(The words that you see on my collage are just a few, from an album of Noel Pointer, named, 'Calling'.)