When I saw @Shaka's photograph, I thought that the setting was propitious for mysterious stories. However, when I set out to make my collage, I knew that my story would be an everyday one. Perhaps, some childhood story. So, first of all, I needed to close the frame, to start making things more intimate. Even so, I had no idea of the content of that story.
Photo by Shaka
Building dollhouses is a lot of fun
For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed doing things with my hands. I have always drawn, sewed, modeled, assembled, repaired, nailed. My mother was a teacher, but she was also an exceptional manualist who enjoyed playing with dolls with her daughters. I have three sisters and I remember that building houses for our dolls in the company of my mother was one of our favorite pastimes, when we were not destroying the true house. We would make elaborate houses, with closets, kitchens, and equip them with all kinds of self-made gadgets.
Mother? Friend? Girl?
My mother was a very funny mother. She played dolls like a girl and was able to play marbles and baseball like a boy. She knew how to make a slingshot and build cars out of old cans. She never assigned gender roles to her daughters when it came to play. Maybe that's why, in my collage, I had those two handsome boys build the dollhouse with the participation of that beautiful woman who is a little mother, a little girl and a little goddess. She is the one in charge of the hammer in the play.
I want to make a special mention to the image of the beautiful woman I used. It is a representation of Asterié, made in 1904 by the English painter Edward Poynter (1836-1919). If you can, look at her work, it is beautiful.
The boys
I looked for old photographs of kids, because childhood has always been childhood. I even tried to get one of the boys to have that blurry look of old family photos. Both of them are very focused on their construction work. It is something that only purposeful play can give us when we are little: the possibility to train our mental skills with absolute concentration and absolute happiness.
What does it take to make an apron?
In this case, a Basque nurse.
As I couldn't find a suitable apron to cut and paste, I made one from a group photograph. I gave it some transparency, so that the folds of the beautiful tunic in the original painting were not completely lost. Maybe the final result is not much, but I am proud of the transparencies and the shadow effect.
Some oranges and a dog
Oranges are a symbol of life and perhaps a way of representing a paradise, but they are also in this collage a marker of the scale of the houses that children build.
As for the dog, well... a dog should never be missing.
A sky
When I finished putting the elements in place, I was still unhappy with what I had done with the sky. I tried many effects between layers, but I couldn't find anything close to what I had in my head. Of course, the sky I saw in my head existed, it was a sky painted by William Turner. I didn't consider the collage finished until I found that sky.
Lake of Zug, Joseph Mallord William Turner (circa 1843)
The good old memories
I know that I owe a lot of what I am as an adult (and what a child I still am deep down) to those long days of playing with my mother and sisters. I also owe it to all the midnight movies I watched on my father's lap (but that's another story to tell when we talk about the night).
The alternative life in that tiny space of the cardboard house has never stopped being in my memory and in my soul enormous, as if it were universes.
Boys I am grateful to the Community of Let's Make a Collage, in its 62nd edition (see the rules here) for the opportunity to remember my childhood.
This is the list of images I used for the construction of my collage:
https://picryl.com/media/miscellaneous-boy-with-mechanical-toy
https://picryl.com/media/shrewsbury-barnados-home-childrens-christmas-party-92fd8e
Woman
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Poynter_-Asteri%C3%A9-Google_Art_Project.jpg
Dog
https://picryl.com/media/toy-dog-victor
Paperdoll
https://picryl.com/media/linda-paper-doll-1d64b9
Hammer
https://pxhere.com/es/photo/993958
Orange
https://pxhere.com/es/photo/151503
Apron
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donostia-(San_Sebasti%C3%A1n_-grupo_de_enfermeras)(6233534687).jpg
Wooden fence
https://pixabay.com/es/photos/valla-valla-de-madera-3238491/
Sky
https://picryl.com/media/the-lake-of-zug-e86899
Pencil
Gracias por la compañía. Bienvenidos siempre.
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STOPDo not miss the last post from @hivebuzz:
Plasmaste un excelente escenario, suerte!
Gracias, @keylibeth. ¿Qué pasó con tus dinosaurios en esta ronda?
Hola amiga, pues se me hizo un poco tarde esta semana, pero cambie los dinosaurios!
¡Ah! okok. Un abrazo.
Saludos. Que buen trabajo con tu collage. Armastes una excelente imagen, suerte...
Muchas gracias, @anibal-aa. Estoy fascinada con la belleza de tus tortugas-islas-andantes. En un rato paso a hacerte un comentario como es debido, cuando recargue mi pobre votico.
Un magnífico trabajo de collage.
Me parece brillante la publicación! Disfruté mucho al leerla, sobre todo el final poético.
Saludos @adncabrera
Gracias, querida @marcybetancourt. Ya vi tu collage como veinte veces. Espy impactada. En un rato paso por ahí.
My god! What a beautiful piece is that.. So so adorable collage art.. Good luck!
Thank you, @razeiv. I really appreciate your comments and visits. It really motivates me.
I enjoy going through great collage works. It is indeed my pleasure :))
Thank you, @razeiv. I really appreciate your comments and visits. It really motivates me.
Wow, a real work of art. Beautiful! 😎
Dear @muelli, I am very happy with your visit and I appreciate very much your comment. I admire your work and that of your disciple, so I feel honored. Welcome always!
I think that sums up the experience of your collage, for it is an experience. There is exquisite attention to detail, and gently calibrated emotion. That is the word for your collage: gentle.
Your mother sounds wonderful, and how wonderfully you convey the sense of her. The apron is perfect. You've a right to be proud.
The image gallery from which you derive inspiration and which you use as source material is by itself rewarding. It's a great collage, with an impressive back story.
Good luck. You will do well, I believe.
Warm regards,
AG
Dear @agmoore, I never read Ingalls' books, but I did watch the TV series based on "The Little House on the Prairie" when I was little and I loved it. However, a couple of years ago, in a notalgic outburst, I tried to watch an episode and didn't make it... hehehe.
I was lucky to have strong and fantastic women in my life. My mother and my grandmother were two extraordinary people. My mother taught me poems and how to make all kinds of things; my grandmother taught me how to tell stories. A lot of what I am today is that.
It is true what you say about the challenges of 'shaka. I have found myself waiting for the picture of the week with true longing. The collage has me in love and these weekly meetings have become in such a short time very appreciated by me. Not only for the photo, but for everything that moves around collages in this community.
This week I also remembered my childhood and it was good. Y
In my place we are fine and we plan to be like that. Take care of yourself.
Recibe un abrazo enorme!
What a lovely scene. That's the way it has to be that parents support their children with words and deeds when they learn to understand the world. Being teacher, friend, and comfort.
I like your collage very much. Because it has a message, there is harmony (in colors and visual language) and it is very well assembled.
Well done! Good luck! :-)
Dear @quamtung, master! What joy your words have given me. I am a woman of paper and scissors. I draw, I cut, I glue with my hands. Moving to the digital dimension has meant a great change, not only in the acquisition of new skills, but in the very perception of artistic and craft work. I have through this process by your hand by your hand with your LMAC classes. Thank you.
I missed visiting your collage. It was very beautiful
Have a wonderful holiday and stay safe.
Gracias, @angeli-b. Tu princesa es hermosa y vibrante. Tengo que pasar por tu post. Un abrazo.