Painterly!

Heavy texturing and bold effects. The opposite from the first 4 weeks. Thought it would be an easier exercise, but no! Finding the right photos for the effect has really proven to be the hardest part. Kim’s well-laid out and detailed “recipe” made the process flow easily and her textures KK_sienna and Kk_finale are great, as usual.

I’ve done painterly before, so it was really cool to see how an expert does it and how my process stacked up. Kim’s tips and the little things really make a huge difference in the end product.

This week- the challenge – to be happy! Choose to be happy, to be happy.

Make a list, refer often. Choose to be happy. So here goes my happy list..in no particular order

• ocean views
• cheese and crackers
• daily piano concerts
• afternoon naps
• hugs and smiles
• birds and bees and flowers and trees

Looks good to me.. Now on to part two, the fun picture part. From start to finish. An assignment including a vintage gradient, a new font called Vintage Typewriter, an action set, and an awesome texture called Revolution. Create a set-up area with good light, white background and create something special – from start to finish.

It was a  team effort in the set-up, lots of help with props and holders, fun angles and loads of fun. I confess I went down to the wire on this assignment, the week went by way too fast and it just didn’t come together until after my three hours of steady snow shoveling this morning. I am still contemplating what to write on the images with that new font. Any ideas??

So without further ado the link to the images at Flickr and sneak peak in The WEEK 4 Beyond Layers Image Gallery .

We are to be challenged this week by documenting the ordinary, the trivial, the trials, the smiles, found in everyday life. But not just everyday life, rather our own unique everyday life. And not a whole life – but a wee snippet, a morning, an outing, a day … I like this idea. A mini-series rather than an epic. A sexain of photos to represent the essence of some part of our ordinary day.

I’ve been contemplating and making pictures and preparing. On Thursday, the process is unveiled and the challenge issued. So, I invite you to come back for a collage of the ordinary, presented, I hope with extraordinary meaning.

But alas, the big reveal will have to wait for a less important day, as our Thursday is already destined to be one of those not so ordinary days.

Edit: (Feb 4, 2012)
Week 3 had several challenges – Check out the my 52 Weeks – Beyond Layers Tab.

Think too much, do too little.

January 18, 2012

Is it in Me?

I’ve never been known as the crafty, creative type. In my first career, I was an office clerk, bookkeeper, accountant …loved it – was very good at it, too. Then, 25 years into my career, everything changed. first my Mom died suddenly, followed by upheaval and change in my workplace. I decided to leave. Though, I didn’t know or suspect it at the time, it was the beginning of the end of my ordinary, well-ordered life.  Over the next few years, that decision to leave my job, took me to a new city to live and work, and then back “home” again, to unemployment, to college and university, to entrepreneurship, to China, to teaching, to China, to surgery, to China, to finding faith, and to discovering a love of “creating”.   These twist and turns ultimately brought me to this place… here – with all of you – creative and talented artists.

So, fast forwarding, here I am today, a SAHA (stay-at-home-Auntie) to 3 beautiful girls. I have the privilege to help home-school them. We get to do all manner of fun and creative things—and I am still not at all crafty, can’t draw or sew, but we manage to make some interesting things.  And we love to take pictures. Along the way, I discovered that I had a knack for creating good advertising posters and flyers when I was learning to use Word and Publisher, learned to code and to design Web-sites, and for fun, create an annual family calendar.  As luck would have it, I saw a reference to “RedBubble” when I was looking for a new print-on-demand source to print the calendar 3 years ago.  I was wowed by the art and photos I saw on RedBubble, and secretly wondered if any of my shots might be good enough to post.  One evening I decided to upload one, and got feedback almost immediately…positive feedback – good feedback—and, well ever since then I’ve been trying and learning.  I often wonder what would have happened if there hadn’t been any response – I likely wouldn’t have continued.

I love Photoshop, started with v6, but I really started to use it with V7. Last year I managed to afford CS4. I’m mostly self-taught but have taken a bunch of on-line courses that really helped.   It’s opened up a whole new world for me. What I can’t even imagine creating with real brushes, pencils, papers, I can see and do with my virtual tools- does that make any sense? Textures, wow- so awesome, blending and layers, adjustments, vectors, they’re all so powerful!

I think what I want to know, to learn from this year, is whether I can move beyond my technical skills, and really get to the next level and create ART. Is it in me? Am I an accidental Artist?

Thanks for reading.  I have really enjoyed reading and sharing all your “creation” stories thus far.

Linda