Pabulum Pix, in this first version, is a five course dogs' (or more likely cats') dinner thrown together to feed my need to provide a home for some lost images.

The first three sections are of recent work, or should I say play? A little of both, really. In an attempt to learn something of the wonders of using Adobe Photoshop as a montage tool, I started to make pictures for the weekly Photoshop Challenge at www.b3ta.com.

This London-based website is a resting place and online community for many like-minded creatives, geeks and reprobates. It has a very loyal band of supporters, rather than just users. When there was a recent threat to its existence because of a laudably stubborn refusal to consider sponsorship, the regular contributors raised £5000 in a matter of days to ensure its continued life.
A woo and a yay to that!

The reaction to some of my digital montages on the site encouraged me to become an active board member, submitting pictures every week under the alias "pabulum". I must hold my fellow b3tans responsible for the number of kittens, penguins and polar bears that appear here. It seems to be the sort of community where threads can stretch a long way. Thankfully there are a few other animals, including some that should have existed, like the urangiphant and marmoceros (and some that shouldn't, like Jamie Oliver).

Montages being in many ways "static films", it's always tempting to make them move. Inspired initially by some wonderful pieces by b3ta board member Monkeon (check out www.monkeon.co.uk), I have recently been trying my hand at gif animations. These currently cover a rather narrow spectrum from the entirely predictable "polar bear juggling penguins" to the somewhat commonplace "George Bush presiding over the end of the world". One of these days I'm sure I'll get an original idea if I keep at it. A few animations have been turned into Shockwave movies with added sound. If you don't have the plug-in to play them, click the link at the bottom of the page.

Some other b3tan sites worth a visit include Nacho's Book of Madness at www.snakemountain.co.uk, Dino's sideways look at life at www.pickledpizza.com, and Joel "Crab Bloke" Veitch's ineffable wisdom at www.rathergood.com. They all seem like very nice people, and I'm sure their mums are proud of them.

The older montages that have found a home here come from another time, gone but not forgotten. They mostly date from the age of Thatcherism, and tend to take their themes from my twin obsessions at the time: war and sex. They were made from the weekly colour supplements, with scalpel and glue. Make of them what you will.

Lastly, an old portfolio, of photos that look like montages. I called these Rip Offs since they were "created" by people tearing posters on the streets of Glasgow. There was something that caught my eye in each case, a coincidence, a chance juxtaposition. I never changed a thing. Honest :-)

 

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