The Other Side | LMAC FreeStyle Collage No. 177
An hour before, the fire stopped.
The screaming died away.
The red ash crumbled to dust.
Christian opened his eyes.
He bolted upright, legs crossed. Amid moist, verdant grass, a cold wind blew from out of nowhere straight through his void cavity.
Instinctively, he surveyed the landscape. From a distance, a quaint diner stood blocking his view. Its flickering neon WELCOME sign buzzed in the dark.
He rose slowly and lumbered toward the small structure. It only took a light press, and the door creaked open.
He paused.
Studying the tiny room, his eyes settled on a tall, slim man with no face who stood behind the counter, waiting. He wasn't terrified of the fact that he couldn't tell the man's identity. With one hand, the faceless man's long, pointed fingers wrapped around two cups.
Christian didn't know how, but silently, the man poured black coffee into each.
"You are early," the man remarked unexpectedly.
Not knowing how to answer, Christian didn't respond.
The man beckoned Christian to come hither. It wasn't him who propelled his body effortlessly through the tavern until he reached a red stool.
Christian sat gingerly, expecting his bottom to be raw and bleeding. It wasn't. Gripping the warm mug, he stared cautiously at the man, puzzled.
From the mirror's reflection above the counter, it was freezing outside. Suddenly, it dawned on him.
This was the other side he'd heard about.
It wasn't raging turmoil.
It wasn't damnation and brimstone.
It wasn't heaping coals upon his head.
It wasn't condemning of all his wrongdoings.
It was soundless, calm, and peaceful.
He breathed heavily. A sigh of relief settled in his empty chest as he tilted his head back, then rested for all eternity.
I wanted to share with you my current freestyle collage that explored the theme of peace after the storm. Without realizing it, a man ventures suddenly into a realm without hurt. He's unaware of the circumstances that brought him to a certain place in time. His memories of a painful moment fades as he explores his new surroundings.
My style of collage is a Freestyle. Although I usually include the current contest photo, I'm not required to do so. However, if you'd like to join in the current contest, just visit: [Let's Make a Collage - A Contest for All Creatives on Hive - Round 253 - ✨80 HIVE in the Prize Pool!.](https://peakd.com/hive-174695/@lmac/lets-make-a-collage-a-contest-for-all-creatives-on-hive-round-253-80-hive-in-the-prize-pool}.
In preparing my theme, I knew I wanted to use a skeleton to depict the man who has been through some type of trauma; most likely a fire incident. From there, I wanted to contrast two different worlds. One he's experienced; the other, he hasn't. I included elements from both worlds.
I then utilized Canva to blend the different type images. Below are my steps in which I began with a blank, white canvas, then added layers of elements, removing backgrounds, resizing, duplicating, detaching elements from their backgrounds, colorizing, and repositioning items as needed incorporating the tools at my disposal in my Annual Pro Membership Subscription.
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Below are the images I included to complete my theme. Two images are pure fractals I designed with the advanced fractal rendering program, Apophysis 7X. One I positioned on the positive side. The other; I placed on the negative side.
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| Item | Contributor | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Colorful abstract background | Pexels | Link |
| Skeleton with leaves in head sitting down | Unsplash | Link |
| Chained Man in Silent concealment | Pixabay | Link |
| Chair | Contributed to #LIL by @edgarafernandezp | Link |
| Brown Angel | Contributed to #LIL by @eve66 | Link |
| Pure Fractal titled "Hidden" | @justclickindiva | Link |
| Pure Fractal titled "Brown Road" | @justclickindiva | Link |
Below is my completed collage design:
Thanks for your visit. I appreciate it. I hope you like my freestyle collage theme.
CONTEST RULES
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
| What is Let's Make a Collage? | It is a photography and collage contest where entries can be submitted. |
|---|---|
| Who created the contest? | @quantumg is the contest owner. |
| What type of contest is it? | This Contest utilizes a single photo provided by the contest owner as the basis for you to create your own photo collages by adding to the photo provided. |
| What are the rules? | 1. Use as your starting point for your collage the photography provided by the contest owner. It is located on the contest owner's post for free use without any copyright protection. |
| 2. Entries are required to be posted to the LMAC community and must contain a link to the contest post. | |
| 3. Entries need to set the LMAC account (@lmac) as 20% beneficiary to be eligible for the dynamic component of the prize pool.; | |
| 4. Extra support with the LMAC trail to all collages where LIL assets have been included AND the respective LIL-contributors set as 2% beneficiaries; | |
| 5. By submitting your contribution you agree that your artwork remains public domain and that it can be copied, modified and distributed, even for commercial purposes, without requiring further permission. | |
| 6. Any graphical element that is added to the photography either needs to be your own original work (e.g. own artwork or photography) OR needs to derive from sites whitelisted by LMAC. | |
| 7. IMPORTANT: Indicate the source of all materials used in your accompanying post. Otherwise your entry can NOT be put up for the final vote. | |
| 8. All sort of editing, modification and/or manipulation is allowed as long as no copyright is affected. | |
| What do you win? | Prizes listed on the contest owner's post. |
SOURCES:
a) JustClickindiva's Footer created in Canva utilizing its free background and images used with permission from discord admins.
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) All Community logos, banners, page dividers used with permission of Discord Channel admins.
e) Ladies of Hive banner used with permission of and in accordance with the admin's guidelines
f) Thumbnail Image created by me in Canva.
g) "Flames." What is Apophysis 2.09. https://flam3.com/
If translation included, I use DeepL to assist my readers.
Thanks for your patience an understanding.
!BEER