THE MASK
You HIDE.
You hide to breathe.
You hide to see.
You hide to think.
You hide to gain strength.
You hide to refocus and carry on.
You hide to survive.
Because sometimes through the conviction of your words
and the unveiling of your images,
Others can't bear to hear and visualize.
They read and stare with those belittling eyes
and that insouciant sneer.
Some wish fervently that you remain silent.
That you assimilate.
But you refuse to genuflect to those
who know they're undeserving.
You refuse to kowtow to those who wish it were in their power
to return you to an era
where you had no voice.
No choice.
Because now your indomitable nature and fortitude
reeks with omnipotence.
You care not.
For at long last, YOU HIDE no more.
@justclickindiva 2025
For my current mixed media collage project, I envisioned an abstract design depicting an individual hiding behind a mask. Thoughts of inequity race through the person's mind consisting of jagged images. I use a collage of images to evoke the theme.
Below are my steps in which I used a variety of type images. A pure fractal I designed in the advanced version of the fractal rendering program, Apophysis 7X served as a veil to cover the entire design and render it a subdued texture. A stable diffusion AI image of a bronze flower from one of my favorite programs, Night Cafe. And, finally, free-sourced images that include an elongated mask, which I drew inspiration from, and abstract backgrounds and patterns.
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African mask ~ Blue magical eye ~ Abstract orange circles double sided background ~ Blue yellow striped wallpaper ~ Crystal flowing flowers ~ Abstract red blood splatter ~ Purple abstract design ~ Pure Fractal titled "Spherical - Veil 5 Thombing" ~ Bronze flower petals - Night Cafe
To my design program, Canva, I uploaded all images. I leave with you my procedures which began with a blank, white canvas.
I then added layers of elements in accordance with my upgraded Annual Pro Membership that includes tools to remove backgrounds, resize, filter, duplicate, and reposition items as required.
Perhaps of all the tools, the ability to remove backgrounds thereby creating transparencies of the images is crucial to the blending process. Another important tool is the ability to grab and separate particular elements from an image. This is especially useful if you only want to use parts of an image. It proved helpful in this project where I captured several elements and repositioned them elsewhere on the canvas.
I share with you my completed mixed media collage:
Thanks for taking the time to view my post. I hope you like my mixed media collage project with accompanying poem.
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.
El inglés es mi lengua materna.
Si se incluye traducción, utilizo DeepL para ayudar a mis lectores.
Gracias por su paciencia y comprensión.
