Saturday, September 6, 2014

Grayson Perry Makes Me Happy!



there are some pictures that just beg for a little digital magic.
this one of Grayson Perry was one of them! i did a little
manipulating with iColorama to get this image. he is such
a fun and interesting person…also a wonderful ceramic
 artist. want to take a peek into his world…
check out this interview.



Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Red On My Mind a Digital Collage Tutorial


Geri Centonze over at Art of Mob issued a challenge
on instagram to create a face collage using parts from
different photos. this is one of my favorite things to do
so i created Red On My Mind. i thought i'd walk you 
through my creative process to show how i made this piece.

i began with a picture taken with my iPhone at a ceramics
exhibit.


i opened this in iColorama app and changed it
to a painterly look.


opened this in Procreate app and then opened
my color outside the lines collage as another
layer and erased everything except the eyes.


below is what i ended up with. i also brought in a layer
with a letter written in a childs handwriting and erased
it all except what you see on the cheek.


then i opened the above image in ImageBlender as
the background and opened the picture i did below
as the foreground.


i played around with the opacity modes and
slider and then masked out all but the hair and glasses.


i took this photo back to iColorama and again
applied a painterly look. next i wanted a better
background so i opened my Tintype collage
in ImageBlender as the background and then 
brought in the above image that i had painted.


i moved the woman off center and then masked
out all but her figure. next i took the combined
photo back to iColorama and used brush/paint
to do a wash of color over the numbers to
make them fit my colors. i wasn't too happy
with top of her nose so i took the picture back
to ImageBlender and brought in the original
painted ceramic picture on top and masked
all but the nose to cover that light patch under
her glasses. i like how it turned out. i'd also
like to say that i'm sure all these steps could
have been done in iColorama…i'm just not
that good with the app…it's a powerful app and
one that i would suggest you add to your
collection.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Hello September….


for those of us of "a certain age" september always
heralded the return to school..our year was september
until june. i could have cared less about new clothes and
 shoes but the school supplies…oh how i loved them!

the new book satchel (we didn't have book bags)
smelling of vinyl…


pencils..paper and the box of fat…flat backed crayons…
all added to a sacred brew of smells that
morphed into a great love of art supplies.

it doesn't feel very septembery today…the thermometer
on the screened porch reads 93 degrees.. but just knowing
that it's september and autumn is around the corner causes a 
little quickening in my soul.








Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Standing to Applaud Lucy Hilmer


vulnerability….scary stuff



why is it that we would chew our own foot off rather
than expose ourselves to others?
this was especially the case in my younger
years although as i age it becomes less of an issue…
(which is kinda scary considering a glimpse of my younger
 self was way easier on the eye). 

i think for women body image is one of our greatest 
vulnerabilities so when i came across photographer
Lucy Hilmers series of selfies taken each year on
her birthday…dressed in only her underpants..socks..
and shoes…i wanted to stand and applaud!

she began taking her pictures on her twenty ninth
birthday and continues today at the age of sixty nine.
she did admit that she kept them to herself until
recently but is now publishing a book of the series.

at an age when society tells us we should just fade
into the background Lucy Hilmer has the courage to
shout…
look at me….
i'm still here…
i matter…
i am enough...

Monday, August 25, 2014

You Sure Did Grow Up to Be Old…...


i had a good laugh today as a read a journal entry from
a couple of years ago on my birthday. one of my grans
told me "you sure did grow up to be old"….i wonder what
that makes me now?

i was looking for a new journal when i found this one on
etsy by ZeebenDry:


i MUST have this!

Sunday, August 24, 2014

We'll All Become Stories…..



today finds me beginning my 61st year.
my inner child looks out the portals of this faithful old body…
filled with the battle scars of life (physical and mental) and
tries to reconcile the inside with the out. how is it that we
have a Peter Pan spirit while our physical body breaks
 down with the living of life.

i spent the day quietly…listening to soft voices whispering the
stories of my past ….sensing somehow that the best
is yet to come with the turning of this new blank page…my pencil
is sharpened…poised to scratch out the rest of the story.

in the end…we'll all become stories…..




Friday, August 15, 2014

Finally……an Update

(image via wildwomansisterhood.blogspot.com)


Just to let you know….
this is what I've been up to….

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Just a Shadow of Myself

I found this guy on my walk today and brought him home
to do a little digital magic on him. I was both creeped
out and fascinated with him and found myself waiting for
him to strike out as I shot a series of photos. 


I used Snapseed, iColorama, and Mextures to get 
this effect. Here's the original shot:


I carried this guy all around the yard shooting in 
different places. This shot was on the concrete
in front of my steps. When I started shooting I
noticed the shadow which I thought was wonderful.
After loading the photo on my laptop the one I wanted
to use was blurred….I have such a hard time taking
pictures with glasses on but don't manage well without
them for close up. Carried the little guy back out to
try for a clear shot and the clouds had rolled in so
I lost the shadow. I had to wait for about a hour before
the sun reappeared to get this shot.

Ssssssssssss!

This one was done with ShockMyPic:



Friday, June 13, 2014

Sea Salt…Thyme..and Chocolate

Yes….another unexplained Missing in Action
Sorry….

I found this on Pinterest today…
oh my…



Thursday, May 22, 2014

Lucid Dreaming


Lucid Dreaming
Shamanic Journeying
Time Traveling
Soul Walking
Aho...

Composed with iColorama, Tangent, 
Tinned Cam & ShockMyPic


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Summertime...


I'm not a country music fan but Kenny Chesneys
Summertime was stuck in my head today. Played around
with icolorama brushes again then opened the 
image in Oggl to add a vintage camera lens and 
film effect. Added some texture with DistressedFX and
finally the lyrics with Word Swag.

I know….it's not a Ford….but it's the only shot
I had of a truck.

Yoo-Hoo!

Monday, May 19, 2014

The Ancient


I've been looking at the icolorama app for a while
now. I've seen some wonderful things done with it
so I finally plunked down the $2.99 to add it to my
arsenal of photo manipulation tools. 

This is my first piece and to be honest I can't really 
tell you how I did it! I opened one of my digital
collages and played around with brushes in the
artist mode….I think….

After getting something that caused that little
"yeah…that's it" kinda thingy in my stomach
I saved it and then reopened it in Tangent and
added the geometric elements….and 
The Ancient revealed herself.

I've got a LOT to learn about this app but it
looks like a great purchase.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Rainy Morning Walk….

Here are a couple of pics I took this morning on a 
walk around my yard. 



Yes….I HAD to snazzy them up with a couple of apps.
I've become quite obsessed with apps….BIG bang for
little bucks!

Here's the raw shot of the succulent:


I used Oggl (Hipstamatic) to get the effect above.
I have Hipstamatic on my iPhone…it lets you shoot
using a combination of lens and old film types but
I like shooting raw and opening the image in Oggl 
to see which combos I like best.

And the chives:


I opened this image in Snapseed and converted it to
HDR then saved and opened in my new favorite…
Tinned Cam and added the light effect and color
change. Easy peasy!

A little snazzing up makes all the difference!

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Lola #2


Here's #2 in my Lola series. To keep with the theme
I used the same process as in the previous post. I played
around with more color choices in this one and really
liked the result. 

"Well I'm not dumb but I can't understand
why she walked like a woman and talked like a man
Oh my Lola
la-la-la-la Lola
la-la-la-la
Lola"

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

L-O-L-A……LOLA


Do you remember the song "Lola" by the Kinks?
It was stuck in my head all day and ended up in my
art. The original picture is an old high school photo.
I opened it in Tinned Cam and added the overlay
with the white lettering and distress marks. Next I 
used Procreate to add the "makeup" and saved the
image and then opened this image and the original
 in Image Blender. After blending the two pictures
I opened the result in Word Swag to add the lyrics.

I've recently joined a group on Facebook moderated
by Karen Divine where she suggests a direction and then
she and other artists discuss your post. The current 
challenge is to develop a series based on one idea.
I'm thinking I'll continue to bring out the "Lola" in
more old photos for my entries.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Bird is the Word



I haven't had much of a chance to play around with apps
lately. After watching my gran while 
we waited for her sister to arrive I woke up the
day after she went home with some kind of cold/sore throat/
nausea thingy…..yuk! Still not feeling all that well but I did
play with a new app….Tinned Cam… to create this picture.
Fun app! I can't wait to feel better so I can really explore
what this one will do.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Welcome Ever…….


My newest gran….
Everleigh…
'Ever'
Little Miss Blondie…

She should be home tomorrow.
I haven't seen her yet 'cause I'm 
keeping her big sister Lila..
Miss TERRIBLE two!!!

Ever weighed in at a whopping
6 lbs 11 oz and is 18 3/4".
My daughter says all the nurses
are commenting on her white
blonde hair. This Grama is
looking forward welcoming
Ever home!

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Words of Wisdom


ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!


Saturday, April 26, 2014

My First "Girl Crush"…..





Ok……..I'm just gonna put this out there….
I have a huge "girl crush" on Carla Hall.
I think she is the coolest….funniest….
wildest woman ever and I want her for my BFF!
I always look forward to her instagram
videos and watch her on The Chew just
to see what she's gonna wear. She 
cracks me up with her facial expressions 
and humor….and she cooks!
I want to be just like her!