Behind, again

And, it is HIS fault, again. But this time it is all good. Hubby is doing some repair work and re-modeling in my craft/sewing room. That has put a temporary halt to my sewing and cutting. He is feeling and acting like himself again. I am beyond thrilled.

I still have access to my computer and am still taking the photo class.

We have had 3 challenges where the techniques to accomplish a final image have been pre-defined. We use our own photos but must use only those techniques.

Here are mine. I don't really remember exactly what techniques each challenge consisted of and I certainly don't remember what all I did to get there. I would read the challenge and find a photo that I thought would be a good fit and go from there. I didn't have a pre-determined idea. I would just sit and play until I fullfilled all the requirements and I had something that I determind was at least OK.

This one was one image, grunged up with textures, some strong lighting and vector graphics. And...other things????

This was two images combined to make a cohesive whole. And...other things???? I took the stagecoach shot as I was riding inside and it went around a curve. The "bandit" shot was taken at a different location. As you can see, I combined the two.

This was one image, textures, borders, lettering and marquee layer offsets, which, in my case, contained another photo. And...other things???? These images were created the old fashion way. They were taken with a SLR camera using transparency film. The large egg shot was taken on a piece of glass that I had spray painted one side with mat black paint. That became the back of the glass, in effect, creating a black mirror which reflected the egg. I broke the egg directly onto the glass. My main light was to the top and back. The red color is from a red laser pointer. The insert picture was taken the same way except I had a friend pretend to be cutting it. No red laser on it.

Finally, this one I did on my own. It is of the other granddaughter. It, too, was taken sometime ago and is a candid shot.

She's a Ham

This photo is a couple of years old. She was up in my wildlife blind and I was standing on the ground.

She heartily hams it up for the camera which is mostly always fun. I found it was hard to get good, natural posed shots so I opted to go the spontaneous route. Otherwise, both of the girls would put on this phony, fake smile.

I have always liked the expression on her face in this one so I decided to try to make the most of it.

Original:

This is what I did to it.

Multi-Tasking

I am still working on my Photoshop class homework. While I am doing that, I am "thinking" about another project I want to try with my digital cutter. It has required a lot of research but I think I now have a direction in which to precede. I am still designing the file and have tried a few things that didn't suit so I am planning and picturing it in my head as I work on my photos. Add to that, I am working on a painting. I have reached a brick wall and need to figure out how to proceed with it. I just have to find a crack in that wall to crawl through.

I have APA (Against Photographers Advice) accumulated a lot of images that in no way could be considerd good photos. Most photographers would delete what I have kept as soon as the images are downloaded. Maybe even before. At least that is what they tell me. But, I consider mine a record of memories; adventures taken with friends and family even if they aren't the best. Plus, I don't need good photos to paint from. Hey, they don't even have to be in perfect focus for me to be able to use them as a reference.

I used one of those photos to create a piece for my class.

This was taken at the zoo while on a field trip for home schooled children. None of the animals were particulary co-operative that day.

This is the original picture. Bleh!

This is the first image I created from the original.

I added to the first and created this image.

I like the first one because it maintains the integrity of the white tiger, but I also like the color in the second. I could paint a canvas from either one of them.

Speaking of adding to the first. I added more to the first image I did. The butterfly image. I kept adding until I felt like I was just looking for stuff to stick on it. I knew then that it was enough.

I don't Know

I have always been taught and believed that when you are creating any artistic endeavor that you only add enough additional elements to support your main focus. Or, conversly, you eliminate the unnecessary. Learning to do that is not easy. There is always something more that can be added but should it?

How far do you go?

I have seen artists and artisans alike pile so much stuff into their creation that its focus is completely lost. I have seen scrapbook pages embellished to the point that you can't find the memory that is being preserved. Cards created from papers with big, bold designs then more big, bold elements slapped on top creating a sense of clutter and the excessive frills hugely popular among the Victorian era upperclass and, still to some extent, today. Paintings with so many components that you can't find a point of interest. Photographs stacked on top of photographs, on top of textures, on top of colors until they become surreal.

Again, how far do you go?

Surprise! There are buffalo in the Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. A lot of buffalo. They are hugh, magnificent creatures. It seems that what they like to do most is eat, drink and lay down. Not exciting photography but who can resist?

I took this photograph early one morning.

I created this from the original.

So, how far do you go? Art is highly individualistic. You go, a little or a lot, until it pleases YOU!

An Oldie but Goodie (Sometimes)

The technique of converting an image into black and white then bringing back only isolated areas of color has been around a long time. I like it, but, IMHO, it takes a special image for the technique to work really well. I think those images are far fewer than the number of times I have actually seen it done. Personally, until now, I have only used it on one image.

I have done these just because the technique is a class requirement.

This is my oldest Granddaughter. She's truly a Texas gal.

This is my youngest Granddaughter. She's truly a Texas gal,too.

Come Fly with Me

First, I want to say that I love butterflies just in case you haven't already figured that out. We are lucky that we have a whole slew of Giant Swallowtails flitting around every year. I love to photograph them as well as any others that come our way, but the Swallowtails are so easy. They are large, up to a 6" wingspan, and are not awfully shy. Sometimes I think they even pose. Like everything else, though, I may get some good shots and some that are not so good. Can they be rescued?

Normally I wouldn't dream of manipulating their images, but I have started the Photoshop Artistry course. The first few lessons were on the functions in Photoshop that we will be using in the course and how to create and collect images in order to assemble our image library for use in our composites. We finally had the first lesson on putting everything together. Our assignment was to utilize the information we gleaned from the lesson.

I chose to use an image of one of the Giant Swallowtails in flight.

Before:

After:

Maybe I'm nuts, but I can see the After image on the front of a card with something like,"Come Fly with Me" printed in the less busy space around the butterfly. Can you?

Imitation of Life

I have never seen a butterfly do this before. The Giant Swallowtail draped his back wings down over the flower.

I'll be Darned

The Grands were out swimming yesterday. This little fellow developed a crush on my oldest Granddaugher. He came and sat on the tip of her finger at least five different times. He's a young one and his body was only about 1 1/2 inches long.

Hubby said that he and all of his friends were deathly afraid of them when he was but a wee boy. My Granddaughter, however, was thrilled!

The Birds are Out

I think it is because there aren't many flowers around and very little water.

Not everything is in the wildlife park

I love columbines. They are prolific in Colorado. That is were I first saw them. I believe the Rocky Mountain Columbine is their state flower. It won't grow here, but the Texas columbine will. I think the Colorado ones are a little prettier, but this one will do. It grows in my flowerbed.

This guy is called a black and yellow garden spider, writing spider, or corn spider. They are hugh and scary looking but won't hurt you. It was under my front porch. I did manipulate this image.

I am not very fond of these things and that is putting it mildly. The Grands and my Daughter like to carry them around. YUCK!

What I Miss

I know I keep talking about my wildlife park and it sounds kinda strange.

We were once surrounded by undeveloped land and had a lot of wildlife but that changed. So, we decided to let a 2 acre area on our property return wild. We just put up a post fence to divide our yard from the uncleared area. Because it meets all the requirements, we had it certified as a Wildlife Habitat. The Grands call it my Wildlife Park. The name stuck. Kinda like saying..the crazy intersection, the purple store, the nerd room...and everyone knows what you are talking about. Anyway, it worked. We do still get a lot of wildlife from coyotes and raccoons to fox, rabbits, insects, birds, and flowers.

I am so anxious to see what comes back next spring.

Beep, Beep

I don't know why these are in the backyard. Not that I care, that's for sure. They usually hang out in the unburned area of wildlife habitat. I have tried multiple times to get photos, but they are too fast and I can't get close enough. Some things are just meant to be watched and enjoyed. I had decided that Roadrunners fell into that category. Then, my husband found this one, of all places, in the bird feeder. I was able to stand in the sunroom door and get this shot.

There was also another one with a baby on the ground. They were too skittish and I never did get their pictures. I went out and sat in the pergola to see if they would come back. Nope.

While I was waiting, I did see this little lady.

My Momma Done Tol' Me

Never say never. Never say someone will or will not do something or that they like or don't like something because they will always make a liar out of you. Used to be my kids. Now it's my husband.

Don't laugh. Sometimes when I am chopping stuff up for a dish I am fixin', I see some really interesting things. Once, it was part of my finger. Lately, though, it has happened more with bell peppers. I cut the top off a red one the other day and liked the red and green colors and the different shapes. I took a picture.

Other than some warmth from the incandescent lighting, this is exactly what it looked like. I could take the warm out but I like it.

In anticipation of my photo class, I decided to see what I could do with it.

I showed my husband what I did. He likes some of the photos I take; some not so much. Same as me. He has never liked the ones I mess with. I expected a lot of comments. Why did you take a picture of the top of a bell pepper? Isn't that a waste of good film. Shhh...don't tell him I don't use film anymore. If you like it the way it was, why did you mess with it? You know..those comments.

He made a liar out of me. He actually chose the manipulated one as his favorite.

I think I May Be in Trouble

I signed up for a different kind of photography class today. Its mission is to attempt to teach a dummy like me how to digitally turn my photos into fine art. I love the layered, blended, even grunge look. I know in my head what I want something to look like but sometimes have trouble getting there.

Here's the problem. I agree some images, probably even most, need to be left very traditional. However, there are many that are just perfect for experimenting with to see what more can be done with them. My husband disagrees. He's an_everything needs to be squared to the wall_ kind of guy. He'll line up a foot stool, chair, kitchen appliance or whatever straight to the wall. I'll come along grab the stool with my toe and give it a kick. Where and how it lands is where I want it. I turn a lot of my things on the counter so they are not lined up in neat little rows. He turns them back. Then the process starts all over. He straightens, I turn, he straightens, I turn. We're both pretty much running on autopilot now.

He does not like the photos I mess with. I do but think I can do much better. We shall see.

Here are a few that I have done. I think it will be fun to compare after the course.

Some People Walk in the Rain

Others just get wet.

I like rain. I even like storms. I don't enjoy lightning as much as I used to because I worry about all of the electronics, but watching it can be awesome.

If it is not lightning, I will go outside, barefoot, and run around in the rain. Get soaking wet. Maybe dance a little. It feels wonderful. It smells wonderful. No, it will not give you pneumonia. Nor will walking barefoot in the snow. Family, are you listening?

It is summer, it is Texas, it is hot. Mostly it is dry. So, we have to resort to this.

Van Granny

This is absolutely the last post I am going to make regarding a decision that was made or an action that was taken predicated on events out of our control. Things are Great now and looking up more and more every day. I thought this one turned out funny, though.

Because of circumstances, my husband and I were discussing the possibility that we might have to sell our house. We started analyzing what changes might need to be made in order for it to sell quickly. A major problem that we could see, at least in a Realtor's eyes, is that I LOVE color...lots and lots of color. There is not a single color I do not like and firmly believe that every one of them has its right place. My kitchen and breakfast area was the canvas for my palette. We knew we were going to have to get the walls back to a neutral color, which we did.

I started looking for things that I could hang on the, now, to me, boring walls. I found a place that sells crops of Van Gogh's paintings that have been sublimated onto ceramic tiles. I ordered the most colorful ones I could. I also ordered some frames designed specifically for ceramic tiles. The day my goodies arrived, the Grands were here. We all had a hand in deciding how and where they would be hung. Mission accomplished, but it wasn't enough. They filled one area, but I had more wall to cover.

In one of the painting classes I teach, the students each take a turn choosing what they would like to paint and we all paint the same thing. One was of some grapes with very colorful leaves and background. I have grapes and some of those colors already in my kitchen. I could hang that. Check!

I went through some of my own photos and cropped out some colorful sections, reduced the detail to make them look more painterly, over saturated the colors and put them in the same color frames as the ceramic tiles. Would it work? We thought so. Check!

My Granddaughters call these my Van Grannys. Bless their hearts. I think it takes a colossal ego to put my stuff next to Van Gogh's. One thing can be said, though. It is colorful.

It'll Be Back

I can see that.

I went out and walked around my wildlife area yesterday. It still makes me kinda sad, but I did see signs of renewal.

This is one of the birdhouses my husband made.

This bench, which was one of several set up along the walking path that we cut through the area, is still intact. Surrounding it was cactus and tons and tons of wildflowers. It was a great spot for photographing all kinds of creatures. The tree overhanging it also created some nice shade. It looks lonely now. I do see some leaves coming back in areas on some of the trees and even a few cactus. Along with my favorite, Johnson Grass. Not! I just hope the wildflowers come back next year since they burnt before they had a chance to drop their seeds.

That was a huge, huge pile of cactus. The dragonflies and butterflies loved it.

I know that in the grand scheme of things, this is very minor. We were lucky that the fire didn't get any closer to my studio or the house than it did. Nevertheless, this small area is a source of great pleasure. It's an area that my husband doesn't have to mow (LOL!)and a place where I could sit in peace, take pictures, do nothing, whatever. The grands loved walking the path to see what they could find new. That is the first place they would take their friends when they came to visit with them. It will be exciting to see how it comes back next year.

Shoot the Pets

OMG! I have been having so much fun.

Hubby had his last Dr's. appointment until February and everything looks good.

I closed my studio until it cools off. That has given me some much needed time to do what I want to do. I always close this time of year. But, this time, I am thinking about closing it permanently.

I have been designing and cutting with my Black Cat. More on that coming soon. I always think I like drawing the graphics better than cutting them until I sit down and watch that machine actually cut what I have created.

I still haven't been shooting much. It is so hot that the only thriving plant life I see is Johnson Grass. I saw the cat chasing the dog the other day and they were both walking. Shadow can be a terror and is such a tease. I made them come in the house and that didn't go over so well.

What the...

I don't care if she is sorry, make her get off my side...

ALLIE

JENNY
The grands got Jenny when we got Allie. They are sisters as well as rescue dogs.

Ok. So this is not a pet. It was taken at Washington on the Brazos. The site where Texas declared its independence from Mexico. I found it when I was looking for something else on my computer.

No time...

I haven't had much time for photo taking, but I found this little guy out on our back walkway. I AM getting pretty desperate here. Not only have I not had the time, but about a third of our wildlife park, where I normally get flower and insect photos, burned. Flowers, trees, cactus, grass and a birdhouse gone. It also burnt completely through some of our post fencing. You can see the tracks where the fire truck drove around. They stopped the fire just a few feet from my shop. The scary part....we weren't home and don't have the first clue when it happened.

You would think this guy was pondering just how far down he had to go. But, he had an easier time going down the step than I did getting back up after the shot.

We also have a new batch of woodpeckers building a nest in the hole in the electrical pole. We just call them the 2013 batch.

The Infamous Bear

He is to me, anyway. I wanted to create a furry Teddy Bear. So many of my attempts turned into something else. Mostly because he was too time consuming. But, I finally finished him.

My husband says I am stubborn. I don't know where he gets such an idea. I saved him, the bear not my husband, as a .png file and can print him with all the furry edges visible. I wanted those furry edges. But, when I trace him into Make-the-Cut to do a PnC, I loose most of the edges. Although expected, it does a much better job than I thought it would. It does retain some of the fur that would be easy to cut...but not all of it. If you shadow the image, instead of perfectly smooth edges, the edges are bumpy and I kinda liked it. But, that is not the look I was after. Using Photoshop, I was able to create a smooth shadow edge and I can change the color if need be. The shadow edge becomes the cutting line in MTC and I can see all of the furry edges.



I am sharing the MTC file with 4 different colored shadows/backgrounds as well as the .png file with a transparent background.

MTC Bear Digital Cut File

Bear Raster File