Saturday, February 15, 2014

the collage that just didn't want to be collaged

thanks to winter storm pax* i had another surprise bonus cower-at-home sort of day this week, so i decided to treat myself to a bit of free form, just-for-fun collage-making. except... it wasn't. the topic this week at collage obsession is "steampunk" which i totally love, so i figured this'd be a gimme. i cut out loads of lovely gauges, gears, cogs, wheels, engine parrts, victorian ladies, flying machines, and funky rube goldberg inventions. see?


everything you could possibly need for an awesome steampunk collage, am i right?  except... it wasn't. i moved things around and around, but nothing came together. so i went outside and cleared off the bushes which were so bowed over with snow and ice that bits of them were laying on the ground.** then i came back and moved things around and around, but nothing came together. i emptied the dishwasher and helped a computer-phobic friend learn to facetime over the phone. then i moved things around and around, but nothing came together. so i vacuumed the house. then i came back and moved things around and around, but nothing came together.

since this was meant to be a fun snowday activity, i began to think that it was time to give up and move on to something else. except... it wasn't.  because after i jettisoned 95% of the things i had cut out, i started to get a little glimmer of something cool. then i found this gorgeous cloudy background paper behind the introduction of a book about the history of flight. and then everything came together! dontcha just love a happy ending?


so yeah, out of the elebenty thousand bits i gathered and cut out, i only used SIX. (six!!!) possibly a low-end record for me, collage-wise! i guess sometimes less really is more. wow. how 'bout that! does this mean that a watched pot really doesn't ever boil, either? a few more gratuitous snow-based days at home and i may be tempted to test that one, too! :)

*dear weather authorities, please stop naming these things, it only encourages them! love, lauren (as do videos like THIS ONE but it's so awesome i just had to share it!) :) :) :)
**yews are pretty hearty, right? how 'bout arbor vitae? and rhododendrons?? ack! please say these guys will bounce back!

11 comments:

  1. Sooooooooooooooo cool! Love how your mind thinks.....so creative!

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  2. This is very cool I love your hands on artwork great job.

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  3. Very cool and crisp design. Love how you worked and worked with it without giving up. Sometimes the answers is where you least expect it.
    Hugs

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  4. I had similar problems with this challenge, but YOU came up with a wonderful collage!

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  5. i love the way you put images together...such lovely work!


    stacy lynn mar
    http://warningthestars.blogspot.com/

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  6. The first 5/6 of this post is me & the act of collage - it doesn't happen at all. That last reveal, though ... did you hear me SQUEEEE?!?!?!?! I LOVE it - it is perfection.

    Plus: CLEAN HOUSE! BONUS!

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  7. Shame on me for missing this when you posted it ... the cloudy background is so fantastic ... adore this.

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  8. The bird with the eye! OMG steampunk. I love it.

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  9. I see now its not a bird with an eye, but it looks like that to me. I love it. LOVE it.

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