I love creating & teaching collage. There is something so soothing to me about cutting paper. I also love the amount of texture, color, and pattern that can be infused in the work. When I teach collage, one of the greatest struggles for young artists is planning the layers to their work. They get so excited about one component that they forget that their are things behind & around it. This creates greater challenges when things are done without considering the whole. Even when the background is not what we would consider the "star" of the show, it must be considered for the overall success of the work. Every layer of a collage is important to the larger picture.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, aa time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
Our lives are all about the layers. We have experiences that may seem to be something we'd rather forget, but those events allow us to value & embrace the good in our lives. It isn't that we wish negative, challenging, difficult times upon ourselves & others. Those times are part of all of our lives. We will experience pain, sickness, and even death. How will we deal this these things? Often we return in our hearts & minds to the good times...when life was not such a struggle. Remember such things gives us hope for tomorrow. When our lives are going well & we are experience joy & success.....how do we reflect on those experiences? We remember where we came from & the challenges we've overcome. When life is neither high nor low....we look at our struggles to push us toward greater things....or the successes to motivate us to new heights. We can not fixate on the positive, negative, or current situations. Doing so denies the larger picture God is creating through our lives. There is a season for everything. Those seasons all play a part in knowing God & making God known. As we share our stories of his faithfulness in our lives(good & bad)...God is glorified. The layers that make up our life are all important....and must be considered as we grow in him.