This week the wonderful LMAC community celebrates its 200th round! I was here from almost the start. I believe I participated in Round #4, and have not missed many since.
This is one of the most welcoming, fun communities on the platform. I began with no collage skills (still have rudimentary ability) but that never stopped me from having fun. This week I"m a little late in publishing my picture. Today @shaka posted a new template and Round #201 begins. Please have a look. I have taken a peek. It is an amazingly suggestive photo. The potential for personal expression is unlimited.
Here is the template that gave rise to the collage featured at the top of the page.
Template from @shaka
You can see the skeletal bone, which is the centerpiece of the template, has been used in a scene that might be a natural history diorama. This came about because I wrote a blog recently about wolverines. This animal loves bones. It will eat carrion and decaying animals that are in any state of decomposition. Thus, in my mind, the template and my blog came together.
The other elements in the collage tell part of the wolverine story. The wolverine is considered a top predator. Very few animals will take it on. The polar bear is one of those animals.
In the picture it looks as though the bears are moving in on the wolverine, but they are not likely to surprise it, because the wolverine is a very clever animal. If the bear takes chase, the wolverine is likely to outrun it.
A polar bear is said to run an estimated 25 miles an hour. A wolverine runs an estimated 30 miles an hour.
Another reason the polar and wolverine occupy the same frame in my picture: they are both endangered by a retreating ice and snow cover.
In the distance, on the left side of the horizon, you might notice a skydiver. I'm suggesting here another menace to the wolverine: human recreation.
Wolverines need snow to survive. They den in the snow and raise their young there. Human recreational vehicles, such as snowmobiles, cut into the wolverine's quite expansive territory.
It is estimated that one male wolverine has a range of 270 to 380 square miles. A female has a much smaller territory, 115 to 230 square miles. Since the males are polygamous, their territory may overlap that of several females.
As I indicated in my previous blog, there are believed to be only 300 wolverines in the lower 48 states of the U. S. Because of that, and the challenges to their habitat, they have been categorized as a 'threatened' species under the U. S. Endangered Species Act.
I already explained the genesis of the collage. I had to borrow elements from the LMAC (LIL) image gallery and Pixabay to make my concept a reality.
From LIL I borrowed:
From Pixabay I borrowed:
Wolverine
https://pixabay.com/photos/wolverine-predator-marten-7313196/
Polar Bear
https://pixabay.com/photos/polar-bear-bear-animal-nature-snow-404317/
I used one picture I had contributed to LIL
My last step was to run the collage through a Lunapic paint filter:
This GIF shows some of the major steps... I left out a few:
LIL is not only a valuable image resource for the Hive community, but is also a way for community members to participate in LMAC. Anyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from it. Learn about the procedure here.
Every week we offer prizes to fifteen finalists in the contest, but it's not only the prizes people create for. I, for example don't compete, but spend hours giving vent to my imagination. Others in the community have developed the habit of 'speaking' through collage.
As @shaka has said many times, everyone is an artist. I may not be an artist in the technical sense, but LMAC allows me to nurture my own unique artistic voice.
Thank you for reading. Peace and health to all.