"Precious" elements

By virtue of the fact that I am an analog collage artist (i.e., I use nothing digital; nor do I do any photocopying of materials), my elements are unique, unless I have multiple copies of a magazine (or there are multiple advertisements that might use an image repeatedly). I also have a weird, self-imposed limitation on how I acquire materials, in that I will not seek out materials via the interenet. I get all my materials at garage/estate sales or live auctions (or from trash piles). What this kind of approach to procurement creates, is a situation where I sometimes have elements that are more "precious" to me than other elements. I sometimes find myself thinking, "Should I use this element now or 'save' it"?, or "Is this composition 'good enough' to us this particular element"? It kind of reminds me of the old Seinfeld episode in which Elaine is judging whether a boyfriend is "sponge-worthy". Such was the case when I decided to use, not one, but two "precious", detailed anatomical elements for this composition. Of course, the vintage water element is fairly "precious" too. For some reason, however, I am VERY pleased with how this composition emerged from my studio explorations and experimentation. I like the tension that was created from combining two related (from the same book), but not-matching anatomical elements. The patina and colors worked well in combination with the water element, I think. And the suggested wave that the hair makes, along with the echo of that form in the clouds, seems to really integrate the elements of the composition. The patina of the page paper also is suggestive of sand on a beach. Yes, I decided that this composition was "sponge-worthy", in terms of my using these "precious" elements. And for god sake, I have enough material in my studio right now, to create collages for the next 10 years. No real reasons to save elements for another day! BUT, I think it is worth being so discriminating as an artist, so that I create what I consider the best compositions. This piece is entitled "I spent most of the week down by the water" (11" x 5.5"). I think the frame works well with the piece too. Seems like you could hang this at a house in Cape Cod and really freak some people out ;-)