3 Funny Bunnies

Another digital illustration with a "numbers" theme.
Once again I began with a vintage toy as the focal point.
This one seemed appropriate for the season.
Happy Easter!

One

Numbers.  That's the theme of this month's exchange.  I used the image of a vintage toy robot and the lyrics from an old song by Three Dog Night.  "One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do..."

Number Please....

  I've been recalling the days when you picked up the telephone to hear an operator politely say "Number Please."  A real person on the other end, instant gratification and no waiting... someone just sitting there ready to help.  Simply speak a 4 digit number and the operator would connect you.  That's right, 4 digits.

   The telephone I grew up with as a child was an instrument of wonder, massive and imposing with a table of it's own.  When it rang, the whole house shook and everyone fell silent with anticipation to see who could be calling.  

  Party lines were shared among neighbors and on occasion you would pick up the phone to unexpectedly hear someone else's conversation and listen for a moment before carefully, guiltily returning the heavy receiver to it's cradle.  There was always a loud audible click in hanging up.

  When the rotary dial was put into use, the phone company gave out instructions advising folks how to use the thing.  You can see one of those public service messages (here).  Somewhere, an operator was displaced and "Number Please" became obsolete.   

  I can clearly recall the sound of the telephone of my childhood, and the one at my grandparent's house that had a different, more baritone ring.   Who knew this would be a sound I would someday miss?  

  I wonder what will the children of the present recall about the telephone?   

  These were the thoughts that inspired my visual journal pages for the month.  Above is my first version, and below is it's evil twin.  

And now, if you will excuse me, the phone is ringing.........

Migration 2

Another digital collage with a "migration" theme.   The image of the men is from a vintage catalog, and don't they look nice in their sweaters?   All ready for a crisp autumn day and watching the monarchs begin their migration.  Here comes fall.... get your sweaters ready!

Cheshire Cat Revisited

I'm revisiting the Cheshire Cat image one more time.   Who can resist this character!
Again I am using the altered photo of my cat Roy, and the digital image created for the ATC (posted below).
This time he appears floating above the woods, which I find a bit more unsettling and suited to the original concept.
The original photo of Roy appears in the right hand column of this blog and he is waiting to sign autographs for his starring role....
Meanwhile, I would like to mention a new book titled The Mystery of Lewis Carroll: Discovering the Whimsical, Thoughtful and Sometimes Lonely Man Who Created "Alice In Wonderland"  by author Jenny Woolf.   It is getting rave reviews and I am ordering my copy today.
There is also a Facebook page dedicated to the book.    If you are a fan of Lewis Carroll and Alice, it is definitely worth a look.

Alice

The "Alice" stories were written for the young daughter of the Liddell family with whom Charles Dodgson was friends in the mid 1850s.            

Having told the story and been begged by Alice Liddell to write it down, Dodgson eventually presented her with a handwritten, hand illustrated copy of the manuscript entitled Alice's Adventures Under Ground in November 1864.
The work was later published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 under the pen name Lewis Carroll which Dodgson had begun using some years before.  The illustrations this time were by Sir John Tenniel as Dodgson thought that a published book would need the skills of a professional artist.   
There are several interesting speculations about the relationship between author and muse, and the later split between Dodgson and the Liddell family.  You can learn more about the intriguing story from the many online resources.
The original book ends with a poem titled A Boat Beneath Sunny Skies.  The first letter of each line of the poem spells out Alice Pleasance Liddell.   


A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky 

by Lewis Carroll

A boat beneath a sunny sky,

Lingering onward dreamily

In an evening of July —

Children three that nestle near,

Eager eye and willing ear,

Pleased a simple tale to hear —

Long has paled that sunny sky:

Echoes fade and memories die:

Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,

Alice moving under skies

Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,

Eager eye and willing ear,

Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,

Dreaming as the days go by,

Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream —

Lingering in the golden gleam —

Life, what is it but a dream?

A Valentine

I know that if I ever to looking for my heart's desire, I'll never go any further than my own back yard.  For if it isn't there, I never really lost it.  -Wizard of Oz

Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.  Who looks outside, dreams.  Who looks inside, awakens.  -Carl Jung

Keep love in your heart.  A life without it is like a sunless garden when flowers are dead.  The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life 

that nothing else can bring. -Oscar Wilde

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.....

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...

Harvest Moon

October arrives bringing the inevitability of autumn. Seeds ripen, fall to the Earth, and begin the long sleep of hope. The wheel of the year turns as the harvest moon rises again.

This digital collage was created with photoshop using antique photo and post card images. It seemed appropriate for the season.

Vision

Being extremely near sighted, I am constantly grateful for the ability of modern science to correct vision.

My inspiration for this was a series of recent eye exams and an antique anatomy chart.

Emphasis

Here in the midwest, we have been experiencing a weather pattern that features heat, humidity, and storms. An incredible lightning display earlier this month prompted my interpretation of the design principle 'Emphasis'. Nature's way of saying "Take That!"

This illustration was used on an artist trading card (ATC) for our monthly exchange.

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.

Happy MOTHer's Day

I found this lovely moth illustration in a vintage nature guide and just had to use it. The background is writing from an old post card and the tree branches are actually photoshop brushes called 'Winter Branches' that I downloaded from 'Room 122'.

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.

When Mother Goose was a Young Girl

A rare glimpse into the childhood of a cultural icon....

Who knew she would be famous one day!

I found this little girl's picture in a midwest antique shop and recognized her immediately.

She now resides up north and has become part of the Shared Visions exchange.

The background is from an old garden illustration and the geese are actually 3 different versions of the same goose (from a vintage children's book), slightly altered in height and orientation. All elements played well together in photoshop.

Just in Time

It appears I'm still fascinated with that old lock from the antique show as well as the 'time' theme so might as well get it out of my system. Here you can also see another version the young man from the previous post.

One of the things I love about working on a digital canvas is that almost anything can be scanned into your work, replicated, resized, repositioned, and placed wherever it wants to be. This opens new doors for the creative experience and has changed the way I now look at everyday items.

Locked

This weekend we went to an antique show in town. There I found an old lock mechanism that wanted to come home with me, and a photograph of a young man. Today I scanned both of these into my computer to see how they might play together. Additional items are from a Dover collection of scientific images.

The Beginning of Time

This was my second journal page for the "Time" theme. Created in digital collage form, it was composed in layers on Photoshop. The lovely jellyfish came from "The Vintage Moth" a wonderful blog dedicated to image sharing.

Here is a link if you want to visit.

The idea of time in the organic form of eggs seemed interesting and yet silly enough to appeal to my sense of humor.

I'll have mine "over easy" please.