At the turn of the new year, my mentor and friend Ardith Goodwin challenged a group of us who are in her Mastrius group to paint a selfie. I'm not great at painting people, let alone trying to get a likeness of myself, so I used a combination of AI images of my face from the Lensa app and created a hybrid painting and collage. It looks like me doesn’t it?
This was an interesting task for me as I ended up with a painting that looks like me but in a distorted way. It was a fun task, and I remembered how much I like collage. So, for that reason, I have been making some small vintage-like collages of cats and other things. I'm doing several cat collages for local cat rescue organizations so they can sell them and raise money. One of the cats is named Lucky, and he is looking for his forever home.
The process of creating the hybrid painting and collage was an adventure in itself. I started by taking several selfies and uploading them to the Lensa app, which uses artificial intelligence to generate a more flattering image. I selected the best one and used it as a reference for my painting. I used acrylic paint on canvas to create the base layer of my self-portrait.
Creating this piece reminded me of how much I love collage. I used to create them all the time when I was younger, but over time, I got away from it. I had forgotten how therapeutic it is to cut and paste and create something new from existing materials. Working on this painting and collage helped me rediscover my love for this medium.
Since then, I've been making small vintage-like collages of cats and other things. I'm doing this to help raise money for local cat rescue organizations. I've always been an animal lover, and I wanted to use my skills to help cats in need. These collages are a great way to do that. They're cute, fun, and quirky, and I hope they'll bring joy to whoever buys them.
One of the cats I've been making collages of is named Lucky. He's a beautiful long haired black cat who's looking for his forever home. Lucky is a fearless and fun cat who loves to everyone he meets including dogs! He's also very playful and enjoys chasing toys and playing with strings. Lucky would make a great addition to any loving family, and I hope he finds his forever home soon.
Creating a hybrid painting and collage of myself using AI images from the Lensa app was a fun and interesting experience. It reminded me of my love for collage and inspired me to create collages to help cats in need. Lucky and the other cats I've been making collages of are looking for their forever homes, and I hope my collages will help raise money to support their care. If you're interested in adopting Lucky or any of the other cats, please reach out to your local cat rescue organization. And if you're interested in buying one of my collages, please visit my website at https://www.amysteinberg.com/shop and scroll to the bottom to see available collages.
