I have boxes of images that have been cut from magazines and books. I also collect calendars that I have used and that have been sent to me over time. I have them broken down into people, animals, things, and places. When I decide to start creating a collage, I start looking through boxes in no particular order. I usually go through all of the images in a box and set aside images that speak to me at the particular moment. I then move on to the next box, until I’ve gone through the 4 boxes. Obviously most images aren’t chosen, but I still look at each one. They become familiar to me after awhile. In a sense, I become familiar to them also, as they’ve seen my face and I’ve held them in my hands many times.
Often it is one image that speaks and says it is my time to shine. For this collage, the central figure is the man. His face and pose has drawn me in and fascinated me for forever. I get lost in his eyes. In the original photo he was a part of another man sat in the back seat of the car to his right, and to his left three gentlemen stood, looking into the car, with the one closest to him holding a pistol that is pointed at him.
The three circles behind him were taken from a Meijer Garden glossy magazine that I was sent that highlighted the then-new Japanese Gardens. The circles are a sculpture, “Untitled,” by Anish Kapoor, that is vertical but I turned them horizontal in order to highlight the king’s head. In a strange bit of synchronicity I walked past that sculpture on my walk on Saturday. The collage was finished last week.
I don’t know where the blue archway really exists but I like the way it suggests a portal, with the land of the living on the other side.
The tiger, the face, the crown, and the rest of the patterns and imagery come from a Pomegranate.com 2021 calendar I used by a very talented artist, Daria Hlazatova. In another strange bit of synchronicity, Daria is a Ukrainian artist.
These collages build themselves.
Tao Talk 
This all blends together so well. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you, Tricia!
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Welcome! 💓
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Quite striking an image Li
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Thank you, Sadje!
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You’re welcome! You do a a marvelous job of creating a story in images.
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Lovely, I liked the story behind the creation (I used to have boxes of images too and am currently missing them). There’s something about this that reminds me of a tarot card, hm… which one?
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Ah! Very cool. If you can figure out which one, let me know.
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You created a great collage, Li! Very arresting image.
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Punam, thank you very much.
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My pleasure.
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I like this one a lot. Interesting to hear how all the images come together and where they come from. 🙂
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Barbara, thank you very much and glad you found the image breakdown interesting. There is something about this man’s face I could stare at all day.
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Pretty cool, Lisa. I could picture this as cover art for a music album!
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Yes! Never considered that before, thank you, maybe I can find a market for them that way. It has to be rock and roll, heavy metal, or grunge though. I won’t let my art be used on anything soft and mushy 😉
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I love that you have stories behind your images. This is beautiful, and becomes more meaningful because of the associations. (K)
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Kerfe thanks for your feedback. It’s been a while since replenishing the boxes so all of the images feel familiar these days.
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I’m always being surprised by what I find. Which I like. But I spend lot of time looking for the right images, always.
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I love it Li! Ty for sharing this! ❤
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Thank you, Carol anne. The more I look at it the more I understand what is going on with it. This central figure is the invincible power of the Ukrainian People. Russia will not prevail.
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