The template for Round #190 of the LMAC Collage contest was quite stark.
@shaka's Photo for LMAC Round #190
The first thing that came to mind was abandoned coal fields. I wasn't the only collagist to have this reaction. Others followed similar themes. Then I thought about the picture, and tried to see something positive. That's when I saw the horizon. I imagined a large sun behind the stark hills. I imagined an icy pond in the foreground. And the rock pile--the more I looked at it the more I thought of a woman with a generous skirt, dancing or skating.
First I made the woman:
A gif that shows how I made the skater from the rock pile (her hair came from tufts of grass on the ground):
Than I added the scenery, the dog and duck, and the clothing for all the figures.
A gif that shows how I added the ice, rainbow and dressed the figures:
After I was done, I thought perhaps the collage looked a bit plain, so I went to Lunapic and added snow. However, I really am minimalist by nature so I reverted to the plain version of this image.
Here's the snowy version:
As for the coal mines: There are areas around the US, and I'm sure around the world, where mining was so intense that the land was destroyed. Here's a YouTube video of one area in Pennsylvania (US) that was left with actual smoky ground after mining had stopped:
A takeoff on this environmental devastation was featured in a vintage comedy, Nothing but Trouble, that starred Chevy Chase:
The environmental devastation may be real, but that concern is often balanced against other interests: availability of fuel, and cost of fuel.
As this graph indicates, coal is the cheapest of all the fossil fuels. And there is no doubt that in some communities coal mining is an economic mainstay. It has provided jobs for generations and people are loathe to risk transitioning to another lifestyle. Thus coal has become a hot-button political issue.
Sources for My Collage:
As always, I borrowed from the LMAC Image Gallery, LIL. I thank the following LIL contributors for enriching my collage:
Rainbow
@artsugar
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/3202Dog
@yaziris
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/7639Duck
@muelli
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/8115Hat
@redheadpei
https://www.lmac.gallery/lil-gallery-image/7097
Also I thank these contributors from public domain sites:
Scarf and gloves
open-clipart vectors, Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/de/vectors/schneemann-winter-kalt-hut-160881/Ice skating
Tima Miroshnichenko, Pexels
https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-doing-figure-skating-6015875/Ice skates
freestock, Unsplash
https://unsplash.com/photos/a-pair-of-white-roller-skates-hanging-from-a-rack-fWEAoV1enaE
The value of LIL in my efforts is obvious. Anyone on Hive can contribute to the library and everyone can borrow from it. Learn about the procedure here.
We have had some spectacular contests with handsome prizes this season. Today we are voting, that is, all of Hive is voting, on the winners to Round #190. Check out the 15 finalists and cast a vote for your favorite!
As @shaka has said many times, everyone is an artist. Round #191 begins tomorrow. Join in the fun. I don't enter the contest, but make a collage because I can't resist.
Thank you for reading. Peace and health to all.