As soon as I saw @shaka's template photo this week I noticed the well-defined structure on the roof.
Template Photo by @shaka
I imagined a little figure traveling around on wheels.
The wheel I borrowed from @edgarafernandezp on LIL, the LMAC repository of free images.
The windows in the little figure suggested to me openings where bees might enter and leave, almost like the entrance to a hive. So I recruited a whimsical Hive from @redheadpie on LIL.
If it's a beehive, I needed bees, so I borrowed some from ArtsyBee on Pixabay.
I wanted a honeycomb backdrop and that I also borrowed from Pixaby,NGTSoft.
Another element I used from @shaka's photo: the foreground, which became the stage for my collage actors:
Now the planning for the logic of my collage began. The bees and their helpers, the little wheel figures and gnome, are busy collecting nectar and making honey through the day. At night, though, they go to bed. What happens then?
There is a cleanup crew. This may consist of ants, mice, and cockroaches. Also, sometimes, when it is dark and damp, mushrooms sprout overnight. In order to show this nighttime transition, I turned again to LIL. From @ddn688 I borrowed the cockroaches.
My lovely little mushrooms I borrowed from @quantumg, on LIL.
Bees and Cockroaches
Everyone knows we need bees in the forest. Few people credit cockroaches with playing a critical role in nature also (not in our homes!!!). In nature, cockroaches are the cleaning crew. They recycle debris, including the bits of debris left by bees, as these little honey makers hurry about. Some cockroaches even act as pollinators.
And let us not forget that if it were not for the existence of cockroaches, some predator species in the forest might starve to death. Cockroaches are an essential link in the food chain.
Cockroaches will tend to come out at night because most species are nocturnal. Their eyes are designed to detect movement in the dimmest environments. Also the circadian rhythm of most species is tuned to nocturnal existence.
Here is a still from my collage of the bees at work in the daytime:
Here's a still of the nocturnal scene, with the cockroaches at work:
Putting the frames together (20!) was a matter of organizing, sizing, retouching and re-layering a number of times. GIMP, Paint, and Paint 3D were used.
LMAC, LIL, and the Human Factor (@shaka, the Team, and Artists)
I'm sure when @shaka started the collage contest about two years ago he had no idea it would blossom into such a dynamic community with over 2600 members. Here we are, Round #130. The vision for the community has grown to include LIL, our public domain image library. Everyone on Hive may contribute and everyone on Hive may borrow. Rules and procedures are spelled out here. The contest itself continues until tomorrow night and then resumes on Thursday for Round #131. Join us here.
The contest (in which I do not compete, although I make collages) and LIL run as smoothly as they do not only because of @shaka's leadership and effort, but also because of dedicated team members: coder/developer @quantumg and bilingual moderator/curator @mballesteros. Of course, without our artists, the collagists, there would be no contest. So, thank you to all.
