I have been reflecting lately on the abundant organic satisfaction I am deriving from my collage. If it feels so natural, so filled with positive energy, how could I have ignored it for so long?

Perhaps I am indulging more than I first thought. I follow @TokyoFashion, and a recent tweet helped to crack the code.

The images to me taste like candy, in the same way that the photos in Italian Vogue satisfy like a fine French wine. (Apologies to the French and Italians, who are surely both offended with this statement)

If collage is understood as, “An artistic composition of materials and objects pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color” (My love for you is strong www.thefreedictionary.com), then my deep appreciation of high fashion has certainly filled some of the gap. Highly stylized fashion could perhaps be considered a form of collage, no?

In a recent discussion with Rita Aouad, style and image guru and dearest gal pal, I mused on the genius habit of fashionista extraordinaire, Anna Dello Russo, current editor at large and creative consultant for Vogue Japan. At large indeed! Ms. Dello Russo’s enthusiasm for high fashion compels her to expertly cut and paste her face into the latest and greatest runway and editorial images on her blog. Collage atop collage and dressed to kill. I love it! It never would have occurred to me  all these years to sully, say, an Alexander McQueen photo with my mug. (You are missed Alexander)

Instead, in years gone by, in stolen moments, in drab office cubes, I would use the rudimentary tools available to quickly paste together nonsense stemming from some inane conversation to get laughs out of my friends. If I recall correctly, the one below was a reference to a discussion on possible franchise opportunities.

Add to this the Eastern concept of creativity which focuses on, “a state of personal fulfillment, a connection to a primordial realm, or the expression of an inner essence of ultimate reality” and it makes perfect sense that I am here today. Unlike the Western view which demands innovation, production, I have been creating for years. So maybe to mark the impermanence of it all, to emphasize the journey, I should set “rainbow sunshine magic” alight and blow the ashes to the wind?

Wink.

heARTbeatgal