Ole Man and De Cat

sometimes i see a photo and just HAVE to work a

little painting mojo on it. the colors in this one sucked

me right in!

here is the original... my neighbor…Lannie…and his

new friend:

i brought the photo into brushstroke and gave it 

an oil painting look:

once this was done i opened the altered photo in 

procreate and added some white highlights and

gave kitty some whiskers and a few scraggly hairs

for the finished piece.

btw….HE named it Ole Man and De Cat

i am not in a position to be calling anyone

old. i only see a kind soul that rescued a

precious baby someone dumped by

the roadside.

My Gypsy Soul

so…another morning filled with altering

a photo. it's wonderful to be able to play

in a virtual studio.

to begin i opened this image (found on pinterest)

in icolorama…changed the style to tensor and

adjusted the exposure...

to get this:

took the above image to brushstroke app

and applied illustration a5:

i cut out the background with eraser app

and layered it over a photo of a green..

graffiti covered wall with the exclusion

mode selected to get the pink/purple color.

this was done in ps cs5 to get this result:

next the image was blended with the first

alteration in image blender app:

i finished by opening the above picture in 

icolorama and changed the effect by adding

noise which softened the look. in the form

mode i applied a mirror effect to flip the

image to get the end result at the beginning

of this post.

The Lightworker

do you feel the ENERGY?

she is a HOLLOW BONE...

it does not come from her

...it comes through her

i started this piece with a stock photo from 

kittythecatstock on deviant art:

in Brushstroke app i applied illustration a3 with 

a faded tint:

this was opened in photoshop cs5 where i added 

the kneeling woman and a texture overlay:

next i added the ENERGY flare using

Lenslight app:

 

i got the finished photo by adding scratches

with Analog app.

 

 

He Said Her Name

"it's been an ugly day" she said

"tell me something beautiful….."

and  he said

her name

i read that somewhere….maybe pinterest

and thought it was beautiful. 

i opened this image (an ad for fake

freckles from style.com) in Brushstroke app:

and gave it an oil painting effect with a tinted overlay:

next i took this image to Procreate app and did a few 

brush strokes in her hair and painted over her face

and freckles to even out her skin:

 in photoshop cs5 i added the stains

and the quote:

i finished by adding the scratches in

Analog app... as seen in the first image.

Live Wild Flower Child

who knew altering magazine pages could

be so much fun....and addicting....

this is the original page that i scanned:

i opened this image in icolorama and changed

the style to simplify then took that to Analog app

and applied the scratches. i added the heart shaped

wording using Path On app. easy peasy... i

love the look.

In Her Heart....

along the path of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage,

on a hill top overlooking the village of Uterga,

is a sculpture depicting pilgrims on foot and on

horseback with the inscription:

 

"Where the path of the wind crosses that of the stars."

 

i like the sound of that.

i want to live where the path of the wind

crosses that of the stars....

today i tried something different in my journal...

altered magazine pages.

Serious Business

such serious business

this graduating

kindergarten

Love…Peace…and Chicken Grease!

what self respecting aging hippie chick could pass

up buying these glasses?

not me…

love

peace

and

chicken

grease!

A Gathering of Seekers

there is an amazing group of women that gather each week

at an artist's studio. we are artists…healers…writers…

indigos...

creatives…

SEEKERS… 

we come from all walks of life…

some are from different cultures…

the ages are diverse… 

but we all sojourn to this small studio with the

purple door and leap…head first…down

The

Rabbit

Hole

our conversations run the gamut from the Divine Feminine

to Astrology…Animal Spirits…Soul Work…

there is much love…encouragement…support…

laughter…sometimes tears.

our only rule: no judgement

next week we will build a Native American

Medicine Wheel behind the studio. we've all

contributed stones from the Sacred Spaces 

that soothe our Souls. we've been asked to

bring an Offering to the Medicine Wheel…

some small part of ourselves that will reside

in it's center. 

i thought about my own gift for several days and

 decided to make a small wooden figure with some

type of stone insert. while i was in my shop looking

for just the right piece of wood i saw some scrap

pieces of deer antler…remnants of my jewelry making.

every time i picked up a different piece of wood my 

eyes would be drawn back to the antlers. finally i

just picked up a scrap of antler and as i turned it over

in my hands i saw a face. i had found my gift….

i took this piece in to my studio and used a wood burner

to bring the face forward. on the base i scribed the

four directions: 

North - (Air... My Breath)

East - (Fire... My Spirit)

South - (Water…My Blood)

West - (Earth…My Body)

i adorned her with a Turquoise Stone necklace…

for protection and healing energy…

 for all those who walk this Wheel...

may they leave knowing

peace….

Walking the Labyrinth

i did a little stone balancing when i reached the center

of the labyrinth….

sun shining
birds chattering
trees whispering

centered

I Gots Hair

just a little follow up from my march 18th post...

Whoop…..

i gots hair!

burnt the crap outta my head trying

to use the curling iron…but….

i gots hair!

And It Stoned Me to My Soul…...

i spent yesterday in the company of stones.

i've always been drawn to their energy.

the pictures above are a front and side view of

my first attempt at balancing stones.

my second balance was a little easier after 

concentrating on the feel of the connections…

both physical and energy. 

my final balance of the day stoned me to my soul.

earth alchemy

stone balancing

stone whispering

call it what you like

i call it...

love

Tender to my Soul

wise words 

for every woman

 tender to her

 soul….

Mini Me…..

Because I worked in Law Enforcement for thirteen years... I've

never liked to post pictures of my family but I literally laughed out

loud when I saw my little Fire Child's school pictures.

This child…

She is soooo

me!

Published Again….Happy Dance!

I've been published again.

A picture I took of an old truck then applied a little

digital magic to is in Somerset Memories.

It's nice to see your art recognized.

…..smiling

Nosy Neighbors…...

What are these girls so curious about?

The little ones were being introduced today to

acclimate them being outside. Notice anything

a little….off? One of these new kids is a real Quack!

**Update on the fire ants in my raised garden bed….

After all that heating and pouring water on those mean little critters 

they were STILL there the next day. I mixed some Orange

Oil and Dawn Dish detergent with water then poured that

through. Today when I checked I only saw one 

straggler….so…fingers crossed. There's a new mound

a couple of feet away on the ground that I'm thinking is

their new digs. THAT I can handle.

Now…if the weather will stabilize so I can start planting. 

Out…Out…Damn Ant!

 yesterday afternoon was spent trying to get my raised beds

 ready for planting. i always leave the dead plants

over winter for the critters. i found two caterpillars and a

praying mantis egg sac that i relocated near the garden

while weeding and turning the soil (the grubs were fed to 

the chickens).   and…..of course…..there

were fire ants. today... for an hour... i boiled huge pots

of water and poured them through the bed…over and 

over ...for an hour. after waiting thirty minutes i took a 

shovel and turned the soil and those darn things just came

 pouring out. soooo…i boiled and poured for thirty more

 minutes turning the soil after each pour. i'll check again
tomorrow to see if i got them to move. (the wire and
bricks are to keep the neighbors cats from using the
beds as their personal potty until i get them planted and
mulched.)

as you can see the grass has grown up in the gravel over

the winter. here in the country we have bermuda grass that

runs up through everything. when i made this garden spot i

got a neighbor to use a bobcat to scrape and remove all the

grass…put down landscape paper…and a good four inches

of gravel but that doesn't stop MY grass. the good thing is

that it's easy to pull out….just time consuming (and back

breaking). i garden organically so i don't use any type of

chemicals for grass or pests. it's hard work but

definitely worth the battle.

now i'm sitting here with a sore back thinking of that first

asparagus quiche and fresh tomato sandwich…yum.

ant and grass skirmish to be continued….

Oh Yes I Did…...

I did something today that I've wanted to do for years…

Yep…I shaved my head!

Buzzed….

Gone!

I thought I might get that "OMG what have I done?" feeling
but…nope!
I'm loving it!

Crazy….
She be Crazy!

The Best Moments in Reading...

Truth….

Monsieur Pepe Le Pew

Look what a fine fella has moved in to the neighborhood.

My daughter added this new rooster to her flock…a Polish.

I call him Pepe Le Pew with all his chasing around

of the girls. They haven't warmed up to him yet and

kind of do the Penelope Pussycat thing when he 

tries to get jiggy with 'em. I feel sure that will change

soon.

"What is this? Oh, but of course. This little one wish to commit 

suicide to prove her love for me. What a sweet gesture.

 Nevertheless, I must prevent it."