Wonder Now

This month's ATC.... a Wild Card.   Individual images from Tumblefish Studios, altered and assembled by yours truly in photoshop.   7 layers of imagery in all.
Wonder Now.

December

   This month's ATC is a digital image that was made up of 5 separate photos and a few photoshop brushes, using 8 layers in the composition.   The individual photos were purchased from Tumble Fish Studio and include the boy, crown, key, and hand.   These became the raw material to transform and alter in photoshop.
   The prompt for the month was "Artist Tribute" and I chose to try something in the style of one of my favorite contemporary digital artists, Maggie Taylor.    A few years ago when I first looked at her work, it inspred me to experiment with photoshop.  With much yet to learn, I am still inspired when I go to her web site and study her imagery.
 
 

The Crabbiest Man in Town

"Word Play" was the theme of this month's art exchange.   As you can see, I took a light hearted approach to the subject.
Everyone agreed that he was the crabbiest man in town.

Heart Upon Sleeve

February's theme is 'hearts' of course.  I chose this line from Othello as my prompt....  "But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at: I am not what I am."
The bird Shakespeare referred to is a Jackdaw, an annoying species of black bird.   Here it looms larger than life, ready and no doubt eager to take a peck at the heart in question.
Love is in the air.....

Prediction

Our theme this month was 'Predictions' and my thoughts turned to the little slips of paper in fortune cookies.   For years I have collected these whenever we get together with friends at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  I have a whole jar full.   As I went through them, this one stood out, and the photo of 'Frank' seemed to connect with it.  He looks like the patient type.  The photo is from my extensive collection of 'lost people' that end up in a shoebox at some antique store for $2.
Here's hoping that Frank is rewarded for his 'everlasting patience.'

Free Spin

Sometimes you just get lucky.

This month's theme is "Games" and who can resist a free spin, especially with this character as your host...

Black Cats

I love black cats!

First there was Zorro, a little hitchhiker picked up one cold and rainy September morning long ago. Only about 9 weeks old, he was stranded on the median strip of a 4 lane highway. I stopped traffic to scoop him up and he lived with me for 20 years. I have never been so adored by an animal, whether I deserved it or not.

Now there's Roy, 'King of the Cowboys" Cat. What a pistol! Spirited and full of energy. His middle name is "Get Down." He showed up in the flower bed after the floods of 2008. Another gift from the Universe.

This month's ATC exchange is all about superstition and I just had to feature a black cat and the wonderful quote by Groucho Marx: "A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere."

It's almost Halloween...... do you know where your black cat is?

The Best Way to Travel

The theme for this month's ATC exchange was 'travel'. This song from my youth kept playing in my head as I was contemplating what to do with the theme, so I took it for a gift and played along.

The Best Way to Travel

And you can fly

High as a kite if you want to

Faster than light if you want to

Speeding through the universe

Thinking is the best way to travel

It's all a dream

Light passing by on the screen

And there's you and I on the beam

Speeding through the universe

Thinking is the best way to travel

We ride the waves

Distance is gone, will we find out?

How life began, will be find out?

Speeding through the universe

Thinking is the best way to travel

The Moody Blues

Into the Garden

We have had a nice steady rain over night and throughout the day today. The garden is happy.

Several years ago I decided to transform the vegetable garden to a flower garden. This evolved after my "Earth Mother" phase in which I grew and canned everything. These days I am just as happy to support the Farmer's Market, but there are still a few tomato plants, green peppers and basil among the many flowers.

My Grandpa, who inspired my love of gardening, was always digging, planting and harvesting. In the spring there would be hundreds of tulips and in the fall, the entire yard was bordered by chrysanthemums of every imaginable variety. There were grafted fruit trees with 4 different kinds of pears on the same tree, roses and flowering shrubs galore. Grape vines grew on the fence around the garden and in the fall he made the best wine ever. He worked in the garden right up until the day he died and was always looking ahead to the next season.

I have kept his tree spade and most of his garden books, and all that he taught me over the years. And sometimes when I am out in my own garden I feel that he is still watching and guiding me with his gentle spirit.

Untold Story

When beginning an illustration, I usually have no preconceived idea where it will go or what the finished work will look like. The story unfolds as layers are created and often the end result is a total surprise. This is the way I like to work, implying an untold story that the viewer can participate in, leaving clues and evidence of what might have happened. There is no absolute answer and the story can change at any given moment.

I am reminded of an old Calvin and Hobbs cartoon in which Calvin is working on a paint-by-number painting. Hobbs, looking over his shoulder remarkes "Hey, that's not right.... you're supposed to follow the numbers!" Calvin's reply: "But then my picture would look just like the one on the box..... " Calvin gets it.

Color Play

One of the things I like about playing with images in photoshop is the ability to alter colors and textures. The above example started out as a random collection of post card stamps and writings scanned into the program and arranged in layers. The posterize filter was used, colors were altered, and various brushes were used as stamps to create additional texture. You can see the original image below for comparison.

I like the way this turned out and may use it as a backing on some of my ATCs.

She Required No One's Permission to Fly

Don't you just love her attitude?

I have used this lady's photograph in several other mixed media pieces and never tire of her commanding pose. This time she has become larger than life... most likely a result of the science fiction movies I have been watching.

The background is composed from two different vintage post cards and the moths are from an antique nature guide.

Imagine Spring

Today's photoshop exercise is inspired by forward thinking. Enough of winter... Imagine Spring!