Many collages created this week for the LMAC contest are inspired by fantasy scenes. The collages are spectacular representations of artists' imagination. My collage is much more down to earth. As soon as I saw @shaka's template picture I thought of Bear Mountain State Park in New York.
Template Photo by @shaka
1917 Photo of Bear Mountain and Bear Mountain Bridge
Image credit: NARA, U.S. War Department. Public domain.
Do you see the similarity between the landscape in @shaka's photo and the scene in the 1917 picture of Bear Mountain? Before construction of the New York State Thruway (1950s), one road that connected upstate communities to New York City was Route 9W. This road skirted the western border of the Hudson River. It cut through the rock face on Hudson Highlands and offered panoramic views of the countryside. This was a journey I took countless times in childhood.
I remember railroad tracks ran along the river and I could see trains snaking along the shore as they traveled the north-south path.
9W Runs Over Popolopen Creek (as Seen From Bear Mountain Bridge)
Image credit: JulianColton. Public domain
The name Popolopen reflects Dutch influence in the area. The earliest European settlers in New York were Dutch. Originally, Popolopen Creek was called Pooploop's Kill. Many names in the area reflect early Dutch or Native American influence.
While Europeans often suggest that the sense of history in the U. S. is shallow, because the nation is young, this is not true in the Hudson River Valley. There communities have a visceral connection to history. This is a connection that goes back to the 1600s in the case of colonial settlements, and much earlier than that in the case of Native American influence. As a matter of fact, the road that ran in front of my house when I was a child was actually an old trading trail used by Native Americans. In communities along the Hudson River a relationship with nature, and history, is palpable.
Ethnographic/Linguistic Map of Pre-Colonial New York and New Jersey
Image credit: User: Nikater. Used under CC 3.0 license.
In the map pictured above, Bear Mountain is north of Haverstraw and south of Esopus, on the west shore of the Hudson River. All names on the map are Native American in origin. All of them today identify communities in New York and New Jersey.
Train on Tracks Running Along the Hudson Highlands
Image credit: Daniel Case at English Wikipedia. CC license 1.2.
Geography is destiny. That is obvious in the Hudson River Valley. Native Americans used the river and surrounding area for trading routes. Early European settlers used the river for the same reason. Today, 9W, the Thruway, and the railroad run approximately along the river for the same reason. No doubt the railroad company has changed over the years, but the route of the train has followed an inevitable path from rural communities in the north down to the big metropolitan area defined by New York Harbor in the south.
It is likely that a strong sense of history, derived from my surroundings, influenced my chosen field of study later in life. My undergraduate degree is in history.
My Collage
The bears were obvious. The collage, after all, does feature Bear Mountain. I had to draw the bears because none were available in our #LIL Gallery. I was determined not to use any image source outside of that gallery. There are now bears in the gallery :)
The train tracks were taken also from #LIL. This image I had contributed weeks ago. The same is true for the bridge. However the beautiful fish were gifted to #LIL by @cetb2008, and the colorful train was contributed by @seckorama. Greenery was added to conceal photo editing seams. This greenery was also derived from an image I contributed to #LIL this week:
The tree is a hybrid photo/digital painting.
Although I do not compete in the contest, it is always a pleasure to go on a collage journey. Check out the announcement for this week's contest here.
Thank you @shaka for creating and maintaining the LMAC community, which is growing stronger all the time. We have recently established a relationship with Creative Coin. If you post on LMAC and use the Creative Coin tag, you will earn Hive and creative coins.
Of course, there is #LIL. This project has burgeoned over the last couple of months to become a creative engine on its own. #LIL is an outgrowth of LMAC, and yet can function independently on Hive. It is an image resource for everyone who blogs on Hive. And, it is a repository for those who would like to participate in the project. Learn about how to contribute and borrow from #LIL in this blog by @shaka
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Thank you for reading my blog. I wish a peaceful week to all my readers.
