Have You Discovered Your Universe?

THE LETTER  Digital Collage

What warms your heart on a blustery wet weekend? 

The weather here in the Eastern part of the US certainly is reminding us that a seasonal change has taken place. The leaves are slowly adding vivid hues of gold and orange to their pallet. The constant rain of the last several days has added a bone chilling dampness that is difficult to shake off.

This feeling of restlessness and foreboding was just what I needed for our next Lunagirl Moonbeam Challenge: Gothic. The selection of images available are bewitching...dark, moody, and brooding. It was hard to choose, but I decided on a lovely woman wrapped in a cloak clutching letters close to her heart.

Instantly I was transported back to "The Dark Arches" of Granary Wharf in Leeds, England when eclectic shops and restaurants were part of the underground life in the Victorian tunnels beneath the Leeds railway station.

In a small shop window I saw a magnificent black hooded cloak...with a story even more fantastic. A man had it made to order for his wife as a surprise gift. The lining was a deep violet satin embossed with roses, her favourite flower. Near the hem of the lining was hand embroidery intertwining their initials caressing a single rose. The cloak fastened with an antique silver rose clasp and a single silver rose bead graced the tassel. The ardent gent was going to bring his wife down to the Arches later than evening and casually stroll past the window, knowing her heart would do back flips when she saw it. His plan was to get her to try it on and then say..."It's yours!” She was his universe.

I often wonder about the couple and their life after the cloak. Seeing the Lunagirl image made all the romance of their story warm my heart.

The collage used several Lunagirl images: the woman, the background, and the letter I added to the papers in her hands. The remaining images are from my conventional and digital collection.

What does warm your heart? Is it a letter, a gift, a kind word, or knowing that you are the Universe in someone's life?

Where Will Your "World Tour" Take You?

A Nile Journey - Digital Collage

Although February is so cold and blustery here in the Eastern United States, there is a convivial, scarlet heart that beats the rhythm of love in this dead of Winter month.

With this in mind, Lunagirl Moonbeam's next challenge is...RED. Looking through her incredible collection of images my eye kept coming back to a woman pensively looking over her shoulder. What could she be looking for...or thinking about?

I then spotted the beautiful frame in Lunagirl's collection. It was just what I was looking for...gold, crimson, and beautiful.

As I travelled to the world of the "Lady in Red" the collage quickly fell into place. I could imagine her "World Tour", when  voyaging was a real adventure. With her felucca sailing away, there she is, having her photo taken as she disembarked on the banks of the Nile. And the memento of the occasion, safely enclosed in the frame, is her gift to her beloved.

From my own digital ephemera collection I started the piece with a nebula background...a fitting base for the star-crossed lovers. I added the postcard and stamp, because a "World Tour" just isn't the same without correspondence to mark the journey. I finished the piece with a romantic full red rose.

Today - February 5th, fellow Collage Artists, is the anniversary of the birth of Dada. In 1916 the Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich opened to a standing room only crowd. Do you think the Cabaret Voltaire would be our Lady's next port of call?

As we all take our own "World Tour", where will it lead you and who will join you on your voyage?