Playing With Digital Collage...

Hi Everyone!
  Since I am not used to posting everyday, I think I will keep it short today, and ease into longer submissions once I actually have something to share, sound good?

 So today I decided to play around with digital collage. My first step was to paint up a selection of backgrounds, so I worked on them and posted last week...

 I scanned them into my computer, opened them in GIMP, ( a free image manipulation program) and started to play...

Some of the graphics are from online sources, and some are from book/cd sets I have purchased from Dover Publications. They have a huge assortment of royalty-free electronic clip-art and send out free sample e-mails weekly. I love how this one turned out, and am thinking of printing it as a birthday card. I can't quite get the hang of adding text in this program, not in the ticker-tape look that I like, so I am adding it later using a program I am more comfortable with.

Hope you like my little project, until next time...enjoy!

Bidding Summer Goodbye...

 Autumn is in the air. I knew it was coming, the big yellow school buses were a tip-off. But everything has been so green and my begonias are shaking off the burning heat and thriving in the cool shade, lush with new blossoms .

Some part of me must have thought it wouldn't happen. Silly of course, seasons change, year after year, for millennium, but hope springs eternal, even in the heart of the weary. 

  But last night, I stepped outside to admire the full moon, and there it was. That smell, the crisp clear chill. Ozone perhaps? I don't know what to call it, but it smelled cold.

 The leaves on the trees are still green, but it won't be long before they begin to turn the most amazing shade of gold and drop over night. For a couple weeks it will be glorious! Green, gold, rust and smokey blue, as far as the eye can see. I love this time of year, it appeals to all my senses. But it also marks an ending, we are fast approaching winter, faster every year it seems.

So now is the time for one last push, finish up projects and tidy the acreage. I will miss my beautiful lawn, but not the weekly mowing. Soon the snow will cover my unfinished projects, giving me a reprieve until Spring.

The subject for this weeks Every Inchie Monday is "boat". In keeping with my fall clean-up theme, the tree is beginning to turn gold, there is already a skiff of snow on the mountain and my boat is pulled in off the lake, ready for winter storms.

Until next time...enjoy!

Layered Background Canvases...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working on another 50 blocks for the Art-o-mat Project . Somewhere about block 29, I realized I was going to need a larger variety of backgrounds to work with. I really don't like the idea of sending in 50, or even 10 exact same pieces of art. So this week , besides harvesting more veggies from the garden, battling a swarm of hornets at the cabin and cleaning out yet another rental, I decided to focus on background canvases. The plan is to scan these into my computer and assemble collages digitally, using my own art work and some elements from my collection of purchased royalty free clipart. I kept the colors compatible with the MDF blocks that I already painted, and am pleased with the diversity.

  Deciding it would be more convenient to keep the originals small, for purposes of resizing, I dove into my stash of 5" x 7" canvas panels. These are very economical, and make a sturdy piece that is flat enough to scan beautifully on my flatbed scanner. I could have also used the 4" x 6" panels. The 4" x 4" are nice, but being square, I end up cutting off much of the fun detail in order to get them to the finished size of 2 1/8" x 3 1/4" required to fit the blocks. I also made a couple of the backgrounds on heavy watercolor paper, and even though they curled just a bit, they still scan just fine.

I watched the movie Clash of the Titans this week, and that got me reading my Greek Mythology again. I had the idea for a larger canvas, featuring the Greek Goddess, Athena. After all, she was in charge of not only wisdom, but also creativity, art and handcrafts. Here is my initial sketch, which will eventually be transferred to a layered canvas and painted. The sketch will change drastically, but you got to start somewhere, right?

The theme for Every Inchie Monday is "wind", and I found it a difficult challenge. I mean, how do you paint something you cannot see? Then I realized that, though you don't see the wind, you do see it's effect on objects. Since the wind singing through the trees is on my list of favorite things, that is what I painted.

Until next time...enjoy!

Tempus Fugit...

Time really does fly, and cold weather is quickly approaching. I am in the middle of a whirlwind of activity, trying to harvest, clean, build and create all at the same time.

  The garden was bountiful, and the flowers stunning, and it is all breezing past as if I were standing still. I snapped this photo of one of the last roses in my garden Saturday morning...

 It is just coming into it's own, not quite open. By yesterday afternoon, it was in full bloom and already starting to look a little sad. Why is it the seasons seem so much shorter as I get older...

My theory is that it is all in the percentages. When you are a child, say 4 years old, a year is a fourth of your life experience. That is a huge fraction, right? Well as you get older, one year represents a smaller and smaller fraction of your life, say at age 50, one year is only a fiftieth of your entire life experiences. A much smaller fraction, get it? Well, that's my take on it, have a better one?

All this to say, time is fleeting and we don't have a way to slow it down, it just keeps speeding up. If you are waiting to finally do something you have always wanted to do, reconnect with a friend or family member, start a creative business or climb a particular mountain, now is the time. Don't wait to do the things that matter, stop trying to fit them in when you get the chance. You will find there are always other priorities, life has a way of creating them even when we don't pay attention. But do try to honor your heart, pursue your passions and sing your song!

Now is the time; this is the moment...

This weeks theme for Every Inchie Monday is "wall" and here is mine.

Until next time...enjoy!

Harvest Time and Family Gatherings...

I have been a little lax in posting these last two weeks, so here is my chance to catch up.

  We traveled in our RV to our annual family reunion over Labor Day weekend, an event we haven't missed now for 20 years. Our numbers are a little bit down, we are at that in between stage where all the cousins that were small children together are all graduated and building lives for themselves. Now it is mostly all us empty-nesters and the grand parents. This is a natural ebb and flow, soon these young adults will find their mates and start families of their own, ( not too soon, I hope), and the campground will begin to fill up again.

  I did bring my art kit along on the camp out, but I didn't once crack it open. I just spent my time talking around the camp fire, yard-saling and exploring the farmers market. As you can imagine after 20 years, there are a lot of traditions that have developed and so many stories to tell  and retell of gatherings past...

  I think the thing that amazes me the most is how, even though we don't see some of these people more than this one time a year, there is really no awkwardness in our connections. We just pick up where we left off, with more fodder for our storytelling. I have teased Mr. How2, telling him that becoming part of his amazing and huge family was the best reason I had for marrying him. Don't worry, his ego can take the hit!

One of the traditions is to go yard-saling in and around the town of Twisp. Because I am still determined to eradicate all the extra clutter from my life, I only picked up a couple things, a spice wrack to hold my small bottles of paint, and this little Chinese Calligraphy kit for $1.00. I am intrigued by this art form, and am looking forward to giving it a try. The Twisp Farmers Market is another place we go, and on Labor Day weekend they always host the library book sale. I scored a couple novels for Mr. How2, and a small book written entirely in Chinese, which i plan to use in my art. I had so much fun with the book of German poetry and the a copy of Romeo and Juliet in Russian that I bought at the book sale last year, I just couldn't resist it.

   I finished my "harvest" ATCs this week, about the only art I was able to get to, and will be sending them off tomorrow. Here is a look at them...

I made five this time, our exchange is usually send three, get three back, and most of us make and extra for the hostess to keep. This month, the granddaughter of one of or members asked if she could participate, so one is for her. We again decided to include an inchie, and here is mine...

Lets hear it for an autumn filled with beauty, bounty and warm family gatherings! Until next time...enjoy!
 

 

  

Welcome to My Little World...

The theme for Every Inchie Monday this week is world, and since my little world is the only art I was able to finish this week, it took front and center today!

This is it. In an entire week; one square inch. That's just so wrong...

I am sure any of you that are gardeners understand, the garden just went nuts! I thought I planted small this year, I tried out the Square Foot Gardening technique, and it really did make a difference. The plots are tidier, the produce is spaced adequately, the single zucchini plant is producing just one or two at a time, easy to use up as they appear. But this week, it just so happened that the beans, the basil, and the cucumbers are all ready right now. If I want to make my dilly beans, pesto and sandwich dills, they have to be done NOW!

That isn't necessarily a problem, except, and isn't there always an except, there are a few other things happening at the moment. My nephew is back in town, and this time he is my helper, rather than Mr. How2's, at least for a little while, until he gets stolen away. This means that we have started tearing apart the garage, the side garden and the tool shed, sorting, cleaning and purging. Since he is only here for a limited time, I've got to make use of every minute. We are also heading off to our family reunion this weekend, which is a camping trip, therefore requiring a LOT of prep work.
Last but not least, tomorrow morning, at the crack of dawn, we have to drive up to a very remote piece of property and pull musk thistle. I realize that if you don't live here in the Okanogan Highlands, you probably don't understand the significance of this activity. Let me explain.

 We have something here called the Noxious Weed Board, and they have the task of governing how property owners handle the presence of dangerous or noxious weeds on their own property. A noxious weed isn't necessarily something dangerous to living things, it is usually a designation assigned to a weed that can become invasive and threaten native plant species. The weed board sends out representatives all over the county looking for these criminal plants, and if they are spotted on your property, then you get a phone call. In the goverment's infinite wisdom, they gave this agency the power to demand that you eradicate the plant. If you are not compliant with their demands, they have the authority to bring a crew onto your land, spray and/or pull the weeds, then send you the bill. If you do not pay up, they are then allowed to put a lien against said property. As you can imagine, the fees charged are exorbitant, so we take care of the issue ourselves. It means an entire day in the broiling hot sun, hacking down stalks with a machete, and then nipping the blooms off and bagging them. If left on the ground, the seeds will continue to develop, turn to fluff, fly away and start the whole cycle all over again. I am all for taking care of my own properties, but there is no system in place, it seems, to clear these plants from public lands, most likely because there is no one to charge for the work. Because of this, we can never truly eliminate the threat, as the seeds for next spring are borne in on the wind from unattended land.

So that will be my day tomorrow, but I will be with family and we will likely treat ourselves to lunch back in town when we finish. It is a huge interruption in an already busy schedule, but there is nothing much I can do to avoid it. On a lighter note, I am already packing my brushes and canvases, looking forward to getting some art done on the camping trip. I am hoping to leave my first piece of abandonment at the local farmers market we always attend during the reunion. I can hardly wait! In case you are interested and haven't heard of Art Abandonment, go check it out. I am brand new to the group, and still learning the ropes, so they can explain better than I.
 Until next time...enjoy!