COLLAGEDIGITAL COLLAGENETER CARDSEMBROIDERY
SunflowerThe Sixth YearLMichelle v.8
Neter Cards: Soul Searching

Doing collage on the computer seemed the next logical step for me. The possiblities are endless, and that can be a problem. I suggest reading "The New Masters of Photoshop" for some inspiration and techniques.

Sunflower Sunflower
In 1999 I made my first digital collage, Sunflower. I cut out all the pieces from magazines, scanned them, and then put together in Photoshop. I found it quite freeing to be able to make each piece whatever size I needed, or whatever color I thought would best work. Here is a second version.

The story behind the collage is that I once worked at an ad agency in downtown San Jose. The multi-story building where the company was located was right in the flight path of the San Jose Airport. After working all night on a project, I came in to work just to find out I had screwed up some detail. The art director went bananas, I went outside to smoke. Surrounded by tall buildings and stone, I cried behind my sunglasses. I did manage to pull myself together by observing a sunflower existing in the middle of the concrete. I thought if it could do it, so could I.

The Sixth Year The Sixth Year
In November 2001, I put this collage together as a review of my website's sixth year on the Web. To say it was a tough year is an understatement. In this collage I used photos and scanned images.

Images included are:

Me in a gas mask, and not just any gas mask but one actually worn by my friend's mother during the bombing of London in WWII. At the time of the making of this collage, the anthrax scare was going around mailrooms everywhere. I, finding a job filing, had among my other duties, the job of distributing the mail. Quite snappy with the rubber gloves and mask.

Yahoo's stock for a year ending in October 2001. Seemed appropriate.

Want ads, yes, just one Web Designer position.

Notes from a Webguild meeting in July 2001. Jared Spool was the speaker.

TV footage of soldiers in Afghanistan. I wondered what kind of image I'd get by taking a picture of the TV screen. Voila.

Patent numbers on the inside of the gas mask.

U.S. flag on WTC site on the day after.

WTC on the day after. I find these pieces of the building such a haunting image. The look of them stunned a nation, stopped time, and made me want to hug someone.

LMichelle v.8 LMichelle v.8
November 2003 brings the end of my eighth year on the Web. Instead of a retrospective, I decided to redesign my LMichelle page. Yes, that's me as Brunhilde on Halloween. The images in the collage are from photos I've taken over the past couple of months (mostly my birthday), so this collage is like a slice of 2003 time.

Images included are:

Jim's daisy - a housewarming gift from Diane to Jim. I thought the daisy placed over the full moon added to the glow.

September 9th was my birthday. Here are images of things I did that day and added to the collage: I went to Kepler's and bought new books. Then John and I went over the hill in Rhonda to the beach at Half Moon Bay. I mostly sat in the sand and watched the waves. When we got home, we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean to finish off the day.

COLLAGEDIGITAL COLLAGENETER CARDSEMBROIDERY