"for.pray.ers"

Back to Cory's beautiful piece. Some other samples as well. Hope you are all well. Here it is a continually chilly wet spring. Need a warm, bright day. Honestly.

"a.field.of.snipe"

Additional exploration of images in last post. Added fragments of a dusk deep blue sky and overlays.

Have less time to experiment these days - these are quick studies using small file sizes.

Snipe are marvellous relatively uncommon marsh preferring shorebirds. Every time that I have seen this gregarious species it has been in beautiful quiet fresh water wetlands, far from even sparsely populated suburbia.

"details"

Here are details of a sample I am working on involving a tobacco box Madonna and Child shrine created by Cory of Art with Moxie. Cory is a painter and she makes beautiful jewelry. She has created a heartfelt shrine to honor her son and granddaughter, Mitch and Nicole.

Cory's shrine and others are being auctioned at Recuerda Mi Corazon to benefit the street children of Oaxaca.

Thank you, Cory, for allowing me to sample your art. My sincerest sympathy for your loss.

"towards.spring.on.cherry.hill"


"detail"

Last night's image altered and some slightly new techniques, not to forget and to explore.

Feel confident lately creating, although I need to work with larger image files.

About the name. Cherry Hill is a section in Central Park just adjacent to the row boat lake, a location used in many movies to show New Yorkers in love. Adjacent to this hill is an area of the Park called The Ramble which has undergrowth which attracts birds in migration because there is cover, and that means a better chance of survival.

Cherry Hill is a long gentle slope with lawn and many large, huge shade trees.

Birds go there and it is a delight to be there at sunrise. The links in this paragraph are to New World warblers, small songbirds that pass through Manhattan, some species starting from wintering grounds in the Amazon and headed towards Canada.

"once.blue.marble"


"detail"

Sampled here - a gem photo of a marble on a mat. Lovely blog of a family enjoying the nature and even birding.

There is also some Andrea canvas board sprinkles..... thank you, Andrea,

Worked very late, got home close to midnight. Pulled this out a hat...I am tired.

My best.

"twice.dream.nt"

Babaloo, Andrea, Lexi sampled. There is a sacred niched icon, an enlightened window (revisited) and another wondrous Babaloo tree.

Then, there are random characters (chicken scratches) - some in English, others not - all were found here and there, everywhere.

Because of the window and the tree, I thought of an old song on an album of my youth.... I do beleive there is a reason for today.



I have been listening to a lot of early Fleetwood Mac and some Yardbirds lately...."Badge" probably is my favorite Cream song.

"win.dow.blind"

Not much time for art lately- too much work and home and freezing weather. Tonight it will snow and sleet and then tomorrow a high in the low teens? I am not a northeastern Canadian laughing at hail the size of golf balls.

This was made with some altered Andrea barn doors image. Windows, car, dry grass, and sky. Not all is reflected here. In an artistic rut, I have been drinking Kryptonite malt liquor. At first it was green and bitter.

Hope everyone is well. My best, always.

"roses.are"

Andrea's mosaic, Joanne's found bag, some southern tree limbs and my dust broom. No charge for alterations, here. a.blue.boquet

Cousins are slow dancing in the basement.

Vaya con MS Paint.

"daisy.chain"

Lisa's wetland daisies photograph is sampled. Bit of Andrea here also, but it is pure DNA versus anything obvious. Words overlaid and masked, like a hundred people yelling not in unison.

This is in ways closer to work I did a year ago. My best.

"san.diego"


"when.in.ire.land"

Two samples, based on tree images - Ireland and Southern Califormia. One straight forward the other chewed and color.dot.composted.

"a.question.an.answer"

Fire.worked, again. Inspired moments. Too much wo.rk

"river.bed"

Sampled to the point of little re.cog.nit.ion. Calm, dry and faded under a bright July sun.

I have not used the spray paint feature in Paint for a couple of months, it was employed here.

"fence"

This one jumps from Neda's collage, to Lisa's duck reeds to Andrea's fireworks. An international fence. World art.

"civil.i.zation"

Neda inspiration - inverted, cut, pasted - no glue here....some there. A lovely image by a gifted artist that can be clicked and enlarged. Somehow slivers of Andrea's fireworks crept in too, here.

Lately I work on images very quickly - no time and it is quite bothersome. I do think quality is suffering and see no end in sight....work, family, lawncare.

Marie and I watched a most beautifully lit and photographed movie last night on DVD - "Girl With a Pearl Earring." Period piece - impeccable settings and costumes. But what was amazing was the lighting and also the pure love of paint and pigment....how artists ground and created made their oil paints before there were tube colors. Chemistry.

"You wouldn't think a movie could look like a Vermeer painting, but Girl with a Pearl Earring is filmed with an amazing range of luminous glows that evoke the Dutch artist's masterworks." Amazon.

The cinematography is much better than the storyline, but I can live it that, here.

My best.

"fireworks.fireflies"

Andrea's fireworks, simply sampled. On the Fourth I noticed both fireworks and fireflies - one doing it on its own power and possibly with the chance of getting lucky....ahh, and without the likelihood of having fingers blown off.

"green.piece"

"sea.coal.emb.ers"

Andrea tide pool inspiration. I remember the most amazing tide pool fauna along the Northern California shoreline. Sea palm and snails and sea stars and fearless tiny surf line fish, all and so many more in niche that affords statistical adequate level of survival.

Nature is tougher than most humans who now destroys it. Mankind is stronger, not tougher.

"again"

Snippets are pan.caked and now lint.free.

"for.kappa.1"

The Altered Page left a comment atop a flap.jack and I found his blog and I enjoyed photos and content....go here.. There are some excellent shots of NYC art he took on the street. Explore. Excellent site and he truly appreciates what NYC has to offer, what most cannot appreciate.

Page includes a photo of a painting that was spectacular. When I saw the painting "Kappa,1" at MOMA at least two months back, it was the painting "in the room" that I wanted to take home. I always like to pick one thing in each room that I would take home. I try to stay with what was most amazing rather than what I would have to look at the rest of my life.

A truly great painting makes me laugh with joy. Happens less often with music, something that I also need a daily dose of.

Somehow I needed to continue work - seduced by color and here is where I went.....



In the end, I added Andrea's backyard tree and a snippets of a mandala from the artist formerly known as Sweet Irene - Nora. Not a great image, but experimenting.


"early.morning.mist"

A circuitous route to comment on how I had wanted to do something with less color, minimal. With a U-Turn. Like chasing a sun dress in the rain.

"sea.ford"

Smaller version of a Paint.net image based on Andrea's tree, with a bit of Lisa's dog on a hot tin hut. A learning process.

Have gotten a copy of PhotoShop 7 as a generous present, but have not loaded it. I am cautious, looking at a book.

Yesterday, Saturday, spring was abundant - daffodils, magnolia and fairy laced light pink cherry trees were in high bloom. Forsythia was at its height - golden yellow flames against the still brown landscape. But, as we drove home, getting on an Expressway we saw long stand of common large bushes with just a strong hint of grayish green. It was the most subtle perfect sight within a gloriously beautiful day.

It was the first day we were out without jackets. No one should suffer on a day like that.