February 19, 2019

Collage: Humility

digital collage by S. King

The collection of photos I found by searching on the word "humility" were, for the most part, not very evocative of that concept. There were a lot of stained glass and illuminated manuscript pictures, a lot of photos of church interiors and showy flowers. Among those, I managed to find three that I thought illustrated humility: a spare jail cell, a wooden figure, and a tree bent down from ice. These photos are by Ben, Saaleha Bamjee, and Saved by Grace.

Right now, spring flowers are just beginning to bloom, but they're still surrounded by winter's dead grass and bare branches. I don't really like the contrast between the beautiful flowers and the ugly, dead winter leftovers. So this piece is a way of trying to pair death with new life, winter with spring, and trying to find beauty in the contrast.

February 15, 2019

Collage: Dialogue

digital collage by Susanna King
I've been in an artistic slump for a while now. For a long time, I didn't feel like creating anything. More recently, I've been inspired to create but felt awkward and out of practice. I wasn't sure how to start again.

These digital collages inspired by a single word have been my go-to creative exercise for years. Even though I couldn't think of a good word myself, I remembered that an email newsletter I get from the Society of St. John the Evangelist includes a daily word for meditation.

Art is a form of meditation for me, so today I meditated on the word "Dialogue." I used my tried and true formula: searching for Creative Commons-licensed images on Flickr using this word, and selecting the ones that spoke to me. The photos included in this collage were taken by Katie Taylor, Olga, and Scott Schiller.