The Hand That Feeds Her Song | Mixed Media Art Project

Do you ever look at yourself or at someone else around you and wonder where did the strength you or they possess originate? I remember as a young student the people in my life, especially teachers, who for whatever reason decided they wanted to assist in my development. They urged me to enter academic and other contests to gain exposure to a world outside of my surroundings?

To this day, I still remember those individuals. I may not recall their names, but their faces are familiar as they smiled at me and nodded. Their silent approval urging me on. I didn't always succeed with their suggestions, but I was grateful for the experience. The undertakings taught me to explore the unknown and seek clarification on things I had issue with.

At one of my earliest English teacher's suggestion, I entered a Spelling Bee. I failed miserably. I felt as if I had disappointed her. I didn't know that she used the experience to show me that there were words and meanings others my age knew that I didn't know existed. She gifted me a large dictionary and told me to start on page one and don't stop until I reached the last page, no matter how long it took.

I remember my library teacher in elementary school. She stirred a desire in me to read. One conversation I remember vividly was the day she inquired where I had ever traveled out of my state. The puzzled look on my face told her all she needed to know. Her words were, "you can travel to places you don't know exist. Go to that section and choose a book," as she pointed to a particular isle.

Someone somewhere is sowing seeds for your development and growth.

Do you have a story you'd like to share?

For current mixed media art project, I wanted to expand on my recent thoughts of a group of individuals who helped shaped my view of the world around me and expand my desire to know how it works. Those are the individuals that feed my song of self worth and desire for knowledge. I applaud them still.

Below are my steps in which I utilized Canva, my design program to complete the blend of free-sourced images I included in the design.

I began with a blank, white canvas. I then add 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. Of all the tools at my disposal, the ability to remove backgrounds thereby creating transparencies of the images is crucial to the blending process.

The images I included in my design are listed below. The background scene that looks serene with the birds is one of my favorite water views. Of course, to life someone up, I used a hand that's protruding from grass; then removed the landscape so that it looks as if the hand is springing up from the water to raise the little girl higher so that she can play her music.

The person providing the inspiration is a glass figurine with roots visible. I feel as though it signifies growth. He's leaning over as if planting seeds for the hand to grow strong enough to hold the girl in the glass jar. A wonderful scene in its entirety.

Other images I included to bring the scene alive with music are listed below:

^{Sunset over the bay ~ Glass male figure digging soil ~ Girl playing piano in glass jar ~ Hand protruding from ground ~ Seagull flying - Contributed to the #LIL by @redheadpei ~ White stemmed rose spraying water ~ LMAC Round 233 Original Contest Image ~ Pure Fractal created by me titled "Musical Sounds" ~ Pure Fractal titled created by me titled "Sound Of Music".}