Making a Collage May Actually Be Good for Your Health: LMAC #91
What a time I have had with this collage.
It all began this week with @shaka's startling template photo:
The Template by @shaka
Every week @shaka invites us to look at a photo and let our imaginations roam. In a world beset by pandemic, catastrophic weather events and civil unrest, why would anyone turn down that invitation? I don't compete in the weekly LMAC contest, and yet I never turn down @shaka's invitation.
To understand the multiplicity of collages I made for this, the 91st LMAC round, you should know that making a collage for me is like a meditation. When something puts me on edge, I go back to a collage and work on it. It's a little like Wax on Wax off
Art and Electromagnetic Imaging
While my husband is convinced there is nobody like me in the world, it seems that art has an effect on the mood of many people. EEG readings of individuals during and after art creation, shows "large increases in temporal lobe activity". According to an article published by Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, it may be that the temporal lobe activation explains the "transcendental states of consciousness that are frequently associated" with engaging in artistic activities. I wouldn't describe my response to collage making as a transcendental experience, but the activity certainly does relax me, and Big Pharma doesn't get a piece of that.
An Intermediate Image in Making One of My Collages
There are studies that show creating art actually stimulates the release of dopamine in the brain. We all know what dopamine does. Dopamine is known as the "feel-good neurotransmitter—a chemical that ferries information between neurons". Big Pharma loves to design drugs that inhibit or release dopamine.
There are dopamine mimics ('agonists',) and dopamine inhibitors. (‘antagonists',) However, when I need a little dopamine boost, I don't ask Big Pharma. I turn my thoughts away from whatever is giving me stress, and take a collage break.
At this point, I’m conditioned. As soon as I start creating, my focus shuts out distractions. (Exercise works too!--a great dopamine stimulant.)
As soon as I looked at @shaka's photo, I saw a snake in the scorched remnant of life that dominated the foreground. So I colored that barren creature and made it a colorful snake.
I made one collage where scorpions moved, the large snake/rocks glinted and a small snake dived into the water.
Once I had the idea of a snake fixed in my head I kept thinking of how to use it. @borjan's scorpions came to mind immediately. Then @onyechi's wonderful art work also came to mind. That fit in perfectly with my idea.
I'd like to say there was an overarching concept behind the designs, but there wasn't. Only the last one I made, which was a whim (thinking of @muelli's humorous collages) had a motif--humor. (I know. I'm not @muelli, but I can still be inspired by his art.) This collage took a couple of hours, which for me is not long. I'm really, deliberately, slow in getting the collages out.
I made one still with a Lunapic filter (Homer Effect).
Here' one where where @onyechi's plants moved and the snake's eye twinkled.
The LMAC Community
The community was founded by @shaka, who is a brilliant photographer. I started making collages in the community about two years ago. Since then, LMAC has grown. We welcome everyone. There are no language barriers, no skill limitations in the community. We do have rules, but they only exist to ensure the continued success of the community and the collegial spirit that thrives among members. Here are the rules, as described in the most recent contest announcement.
LIL
One of the most exciting developments in LMAC, and on Hive, in recent weeks has been the introduction of the LMAC Image Library, #LIL for short. This is an amazing creative endeavor based on the decentralized efforts of everyone in the community. We all contribute pictures, without copyright claim, to the library. It is indexed by our coding whiz/resident artist/teacher, @quantumg. Two elements in my collage today were borrowed from the library: the scorpions (@borgan) and the exotic flowers (@onyechi).
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Join our community. Make a collage. Contribute to our library. In each case, the community rewards you for good effort.
Thank you @shaka for the inspiration and the work you put in. Thank you @borjan and @onyechi for your wonderful images. And, thank you LMAC community for being a great place to hang out.
I'll end with a kind of silly collage made from my green snake: the fire-breather:
You created a very imaginative place here. :) I would like to walk around and explore that kind of landscape.
Hehehe, I saw the Karate Kid in the movie theater when I was a kid, when it first came out … and then a couple of years ago, the year before Covid, somehow appeared in the movie theater again, as a part of come 80' nostalgia matinée . Charming little movie. :) I liked it the second time as well. As a kid, I firmly believed in the power of wax on - wax off ... for a week or two := ) then forgot about it ... saw other mowies ...
Thank you my friend, @borjan. My imagination never fails me. Skills, well that's another matter. But I don't worry about that:)). Art is for fun, not worry.
My son loved that movie. My daughter, not as much. Maybe it was easier for him to relate to a male role model. I loved the movie too. So many movies from that period I watched with my kids. Some of these movies have become classics. Some were fun because they were so silly, complete escapism. That works :))
Enjoy the days of autumn ahead as you explore the environment with your camera :)
Have fun :)
I love it. I know dragons and fire-breathing snakes are scary, but wouldn't the world be much more exciting if they were actually real? :)
Thank you! When we can control so little in the environment, at least we can try to get a handle on own thoughts :))
I appreciate your visit, my friend @litguru.
Cool. You always have an educational story behind the collage. 👏 😎
Thank you , @seckorama. You always have collages with an interesting perspective. I'm glad you think my blog/collage is cool :)
It's not that it's just cool, but what I meant to say is that you put a lot of effort into every post and go into details that average readers don't know. 😎 👏
Simply magnificent your wonderful masterpiece, to which the humor has inspired you. Wonderful!
I could not have made it more beautiful. 😎
You are gracious, @muelli. Words from the master. Those of us who appreciate your art can learn from it, though never try to imitate it :))
Thank you for stopping by
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A very creative and lively collage. Certainly, art is very relaxing, whether it is admired or worked on. I think if we all did some art, there wouldn't be so much depression in the world and big pharma would go bankrupt. Very good research! A hug from afar my friend!
Yes! Yes! Looking at art also creates 'good' brain waves, but active engagement I believe has a greater benefit. Isn't it wonderful? And they are dropping art from school curriculums (in the U. S., anyway). Crazy, isn't it?
Thanks for the kind words.
I did not know that! As long as education is in the hands of politicians, there will always be this kind of craziness. 🤦♀️
Todo un espectaculo tu collage!
Muchas gracias, @javielys. As I say in my blog, I love to make these. They are not as aesthetically sophisticated as many, but it makes me happy to do them
Thank you for that kind estimation.
Hola @agmoore, además de tu arte aprecio mucho la información que trae tu collage; A mí me relaja mucho hacer collages, por lo menos esta semana estaba un poco estresada con mil cosas en la cabeza y cuando me sente a diseñar el collage, active mi imaginación, mil ideas fluyerón y me sentí mejor!
Hola @kismeri. The gift of art can be peace. For me and you, anyway. This weekend my family had a few issues. I just did my collages and everything seemed better :)
Thank you very much for your kind comments. I hope you have a great week, my friend.
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Hello friend we had the same imagination of the snake, what a great writing in your collage.
Hello @cetb2008 my friend.
Yes, we saw the same snake. Isn't that interesting? But yours were mutant snakes 😄. Looks like you had fun making your collage also.
Thank you for your kind words. Have a wonderful week.
I like your way of meditation. It is very similar for me. :-)
You obviously have had a very colorful and beautiful "Wax on Wax off". And a very creative one on top of that. It jumped right into my eye while browsing through the entries and I liked it!
Great job!
By the way... Interesting that you imagined the pole as a snake. I first could have sworn it looked like a bird. But now that I see it in your collage, it could indeed be a snake.
You have a fantastic imagination!
Hello my friend @quantumg,
I'm so glad you like my collage. I'm not surprised to hear that you also relax by getting 'lost' in creative activity.
I can see the bird, definitely. It was such a wonderful template photo. I wondered about where it was taken. You also are a Karate Kid fan? In its day, the movie had a good message for kids, I think. My son was taking Karate lessons at the time from a man who was into Eastern philosophy. It was a good experience for him so the movie was a special viewing experience for us.
Thanks so much for your encouraging words. I love to make these, and I love it when they are enjoyed by others.
Have a great week Quantumg. I'm eager to see our website. What an achievement, for you, for the community.
Very much agree with your opinions. That Karate Kid analogy was great. For my part, I can say that the community has encouraged me to make collages that I didn't even know I could do, of course I've been practicing to improve the quality. I find LMAC as a therapeutic community, it de-stresses me to see the works of my peers, and it makes me think, to use my brain, to stimulate it, besides, it is very fun to participate in the community and in these times of pandemic it occupies us healthily. What a great creativity you show in your compositions!!! Greetings.
Thank you so much for visiting and for your kind words.
I love to write, so I've been creative in that way all my life. But I never thought I could create visual art. A collage seemed a fun way to start. I still can't draw or paint, but this community has given me the opportunity to express myself in a new way. Now I often wed my written pieces with visual pieces. This is a great gift.
You are right. In a time of pandemic we have to find our own resources for relaxation and pleasure. To be part of a community that does this...what a wonderful thing.
I enjoyed curating with you. I hope you have the most wonder week.
You have created a beautiful collage with a lot of imagination. You know what, I have been trying to insert images side by side but couldn't find the way to do so in the editor of Hive although I do it easily on other sites.
Actually, I have yet to find a way (on this site) to write in columns and do something like you have done under this subheading-
An Intermediate Image in Making One of My Collages (3-4 images side by side). Is there a tutorial on how to do it? Maybe a link to that will be a great help for me, thank you so much.
Hello @sunnyag,
Sorry for the delayed response. Friday night we had a little medical emergency (which turned out fine). That little surprise threw me off schedule briefly. I'm back :)
Thanks for visiting my blog and for appreciating my fanciful creation. I do let my imagination go, don't I? As I get older, I'm finding greater freedom in nonverbal expression.
As for technical aspects of formatting--I don't know a lot. Usually I do workarounds to compensate. I still can't do columns, but I have seen guides on markdown in different blogs. Here is a blog by @zuerich in which he asks the same sorts of questions. As you can see, he gets many helpful answers. Here are a few of the sites that are recommended to help with formatting.
https://ecency.com/hive-174578/@jason04/how-to-format-your-blog-in-an-epic-way-or-a-guide-for-beginners
https://peakd.com/tutorial/@carrieallen/ultimate-markdown-tutorial
https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here/wiki/Markdown-Here-Cheatsheet
Look through all the answers on @zuerich's blog. I think you will find most of your questions addressed.
Hope you are having a creative, peace Sunday.
Warm regards, AG
Thank you! I hope all is well at your end you're having a great Sunday! I was sure, you will help me get the answer to all my queries. I am sure everything at your end is fine and you're having a wonderful Sunday!
I will go through all the links you have provided and try to sort out my problem. Thank you once again ma'am Agmoore.
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