About 10 years ago I took a Painter class. Not that I’m much of a painter. At all. The class was interesting using photographic images to create masterpieces, or so we hoped. I wasn’t as good at it as I’d like to have been, mainly because I tended to be precise in my technique. The instructor kept encouraging me to paint outside the lines, something I have difficulty with. As part of the final, we had to select two images and paint them. I couldn’t find anything in my extensive collection that I deemed worthy of a final grade. And so I created my first two composite images. Out of that experience, my love for compositing was born.
Over the next ten years, I created composites, some amazing and some just okay. With every one of them, I learned something and became a little better. I won’t pretend to be an expert because I’m not by a long shot. I simply love the challenge of turning an ordinary image into something that has a message.
Several years ago, I shot an image in Barren County, KY. At the time, it resonated with my spirit, and I knew it was destined to become part of something else. I just didn’t know what.
The image stayed on my mind, and an idea began to formulate. After numerous frustrating attempts, I finally created a semi-final composite and did nothing with it.
Over a year later, I showed it to a friend, an artist herself, explaining I wasn’t satisfied. She made a few great suggestions, (Thanks Kathy!), and I went to work. The final project was recently finished.
I know what I intended when I created it and realize it may not speak the same way to everyone. What does it say to you?