Month: July 2012

Well, we once again find ourselves at the end of another challenge. I must say I was surprised at how much I actually enjoyed the watercolor explorations! 

For today’s challenge, I focused my attention to interesting leaves (on the ground!). About 2 minutes into my walk, I stumbled upon an interesting little leaf. The thing that grabbed my attention most was its shape. It was bone dry–bent and twisted into a dance-like position. So, taking that leaf home–as well as an extra emergency leaf of the same type, I painted the following:

Once I began exploring the leaf, I decided to use the interesting, jagged edge of my emergency leaf as a stencil to create my background–focusing on the dancing leaf as my main subject. Very enjoyable exploration!

I hope you all have enjoyed this challenge as much as I have! As always, if any of you gave this challenge…

Happy Fourth of July!! I wish you all a wonderful day of celebration as we remember the bravery of our forefathers as they fought for this beautiful, democratic country in which we live!

I’ll keep this relatively short, as I am headed to a bbq (unique..I know!). Today’s challenge didn’t turn out quite as I had hoped. As I’m sure many of you are aware, the west is on fire. Literally. So, due to all of the smoke that is currently polluting Cheyenne, I was unable to go for my walking adventure this morning. I love exploring the natural world…but not at the expense of my respiratory health!

That being said, today’s resulting painting was a reaction to my window observations–as well as the smoke smells that inevitably enter the house.

For tomorrow’s challenge, we will explore one of my favorite natural subjects: the leaf. Select a leaf with an…

With every new challenge comes the risk of failure. No, failure is too strong of a word. The word FAILURE would suggest that the end result has no redeeming value; the word FAILURE has no place in the art world. So rather, let me say “With every new challenge comes the opportunity for GROWTH.

Today’s challenge proved to be one of those “growth opportunities.” I say that because the result, while successful, was very different from the one that I had pictured in my head. That being said–if I were to do this challenge again, I would change the following things:

1.) Use a thinner paper (or canvas/cloth) or wet both sides of the paper before beginning the texture rubbing.

2.) Use several different colors and consistencies (darker colors for deep areas in texture)

The subtle textures in my finished composition were surprising, but still successful in accomplishing the goals…

My camera and I decided to take a mental (sensor?) health day and cruise out to Asbury Park for some photos. This neat little beach town is half abandoned, half not with relics in stasis or slowly being renovated. It was a lovely stroll and I stopped at a local pub which turned out to be a NJ landmark – the Stone Pony. Apparently that is where Bruce Springsteen was discovered. Had I known I would’ve taken a shot for posterity… oh well.

Ordinarily I try to keep my photo sets pretty cohesive when it comes to editing but today I just kind of did what I felt for each photo. My blog, my shots, my rules!

This is the old casino

Coolest pantomime ever, the clockwork man

The old carousel building

Street art:

Not on purpose but I think it looks pretty neato

Some random things from the boardwalk

This little guy (relative to other mantises he’s pretty small) took a ride with me on my windshield, then made himself comfortable in the front seat. My kids were super excited about the big bug so I put him in the bug catcher we have.

After deciding he’d enough captivity my husband opened up the cylinder, not coincidentally right next to a huge, nasty mosquito. You can figure out the rest…

I received an unexpected gift today.  A package from a family member who has been dealing with great tragedy.  Yet she’d taken the time to send me something out of the blue.  On the back of the package she had written that she had found the enclosed item in her father’s effects and thought that I might like it.  I opened the package to discover a magazine celebrating African American history.  The words quoted on the cover struck me, and made me want to share (and pair) with an image I took of a dusty toy.  Old words but still quite fitting in these times.  Have a good day, folks.

 

I photograph a lot of leaves.  Today I have decided I will one day write an essay about these things.  I may reference the sensuous as an ode to Georgia O’Keeffe.

Or I may give a nod to Walt Whitman who described a leaf (or at least a leaf of grass) as the journey work of stars.

I can write of spidery patterns and blood-filled veins.

Of jagged ridges and rolling hills.

Of silhouettes in blue and green.

Of people protected and hidden half-seen.

Of autumn’s first leaves submerged and later frozen …

… and then go on to describe the new growth that emerges each spring.

And what sparked this thought of writing about leaves? A note from my brother who wrote, until he paused in his day and sat outside with his 2-year old son, he never really noticed the simple beauty of leaves blowing in the breeze.

For many people, including myself, it seems that this has been an especially chaotic year.  And so it is a great honor to have one of my images appear in the pages of Alive Now in the July/August 2012 issue focused on rest.  It is a small, lovely publication that I highly recommend.  And get this, the editor paired my image next to the words of Maya Angelou.  How cool is that? 😉  Have a good day, folks.

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This is part two of my journey to explore the pine barrens.  This time I went to see the ruins of an old paper mill of the once thriving community.

As I was leaving I found a bonus cactus!

Next was the preserved town of Batsto. It was a scorching day but I nonetheless enjoyed the relaxing walk through this historic town.

I found this weird bug – any idea why this thing is?!

Last but not least, a quick stop by an old cemetary

Thank goodness for sunshine! Last time I attempted shadow explorations (Nature Photography Challenge), I was greeted by a week of cloudy days! As I was eating my breakfast this morning, I watched clouds begin to form and shadows slowly disappear. So, I quickly finished my breakfast and ran outside to collect my shadows before they disappeared for the day! Using a pencil, I traced a variety of shadows to create an interesting composition. Here is my tracing:

After I had finished outlining my composition, I then began exploring the shadow shapes that I had collected using watercolor washes, glazing techniques, and sgraffito! I also decided to play with my border (which I usually leave white, using painter’s tape to block it off). If you’d like to try a similar technique, I began by painting the entire paper. Once dry, I used tape to block off the sides of my composition…

Happy Sunday! Pfew! It’s a scorcher out there! I shouldn’t complain though–the firefighters that have been working so hard to put out the fires in Colorado and Wyoming have it much, much hotter than I do!

Aside from the heat, it was (and still is) a gorgeous, sunny day–perfect for a little photography adventure!

For today’s challenge, I focused on the textures around me. While I found several interesting textures in the dirt, grass, and leaves, I was definitely drawn to bark textures. Here are a few photographs from my venture that inspired my watercolor explorations:

Based on these photographs of bark textures, I then explored the watercolor techniques from Day One and Day Two of the challenge. Here is my resulting mini-work:

For tomorrow’s challenge, focus on SHADOWS. This time, take your paper outside with you, collecting shadows on your paper to create an interesting composition. Depending on the…