Foto Art Friday - August 26, 2016

Tuscan Autumn

Tuscan Autumn

This week’s art is inspired by a couple of different things.  First, my oldest niece is traveling Europe and has been in Italy this past week.  It reminded me of our trip last fall, and I found an image that sort of captured a distant view of a Tuscan home, perhaps now abandoned.  I wanted to do something a little different with it and that brings me to my second bit of inspiration – a new online photo course.  I have just signed up for it, and I haven’t done any of the actual coursework yet, but I’m not letting that stop me!  I downloaded some extra content that I can use as background, ephemera, framing, etc., and played with my Tuscan image.  I kind of like the way it turned out.

Enjoy!



Foto Art Friday – August 19, 2016

Whitehorse Road

It was just about 2 years ago today that we were on the return leg of our 84 day Alaska trip.  It was a cool and rainy morning as we headed down the Alcan Highway, back toward Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territory of Canada.  The road stretched out in front of us, the clouds were low overhead, and the moment had an earie quality to it.  I took a view images thru the window of our RV.  One of those images is the foundation of this week’s piece.  The background consists of an abstract background I made using Citra Solv with National Geographic magazine pages, vintage book text and a vintage postcard.

Enjoy!



Foto Art Friday - August 11, 2016

Sunbonnet Drive

One day this week, I noticed a classic car (and a convertible!) in front of us as we drove thru our neighborhood.  I grabbed my cell phone and snapped a few quick shots.  One of them worked up well as a watercolor painting.  I thought the softness of a watercolor captured the overall feeling of these two sunbonnet clad folks coming back from their morning drive.  I decided to make this image the focus for this week’s Foto Art Friday.  I imagined these two as they perhaps meandered some country roads and the songs they may have sung along with the car radio.  I also thought about postcards that could have been sent to friends in other places sharing the enjoyment of their ride.  So, I incorporated some sheet music and postcards into the piece.  I merged all of those with some fun background paper, added my image and finished it all off with some specialty brushes.  I decided to call this piece Sunbonnet Drive because it’s the sunbonnets that sort of “make” the image!

Sunbonnet Drive

Enjoy!

Foto Art Friday – Star Grazing

 A few years ago, we visited my husband’s brother and his wife at their home near Spokane, WA.  They had just recently gotten a new horse, and were understandably very proud of her.  Her name is Star, and I visited the meadow where she grazed so I could capture an image of her on her “home turf” so to speak.  This week, I heard about a silent auction that is going to be held here in the little town where I live to benefit our local animal shelter, and I decided to create a piece that will hopefully be acceptable to the folks organizing and running the auction, and I can donate a finished piece to the auction to benefit some fuzzy souls here while they are waiting for their own “home turf”.

Star Grazing

Enjoy!

Morning Musings

The other morning, I was sitting out on our back patio at sunrise, writing in my journal and I was struck by the absolutely beautiful morning sky……

Dead Calm Morning

What made the sky so breathtaking was all the different colors and tones that were reflected in the sky…..

Sky Ribbon

….contrasting with the much more muted colors of the buildings and ground below.

Dawn

And, I couldn’t help but think that it really is the same in our world today.  All the different views and opinions help to make our world fuller and more vibrant.  And yet, there are people who are only interested in what their opinion, their point of view is, and don’t seem to want to hear or listen to what others think.

Morning Colors

What would our world look like with only one perspective?  Let’s think about that.  And, yes, do notice the irony of the title of my last image!

Enjoy!

Hummers in the Morning

First, for all of you who were hoping for a blog post about those large vehicles…..sorry!  No, this post is about a much more delicate creature – the hummingbird!

Early Riser

These little birds range in size from only 3” to 5”!  And, they do get their name from the humming sound made by their wings beating at about 50 times per second!  That’s why I can’t get a clear view of this little guy’s wings! 

Breakfast

They are able to fly at about 34 mph – when I see them flitting to and fro off our back patio, I did think they were really zipping along, but I had no idea they were actually moving that fast!  They have the highest metabolism of any homoeothermic animal.  When they do rest, at night, they go into a state similar to hibernation.

Sipping

One thing I recently learned about hummingbirds is that ancient Aztecs often wore hummingbird talismans, because they felt they represented energy, vigor, and brought them skill at arms and warfare.

Sunrise Dining

I find that last bit of information very interesting.  I have noticed that they seem to be very territorial, and have watched what I call “hummer wars” as they do battle guarding the feeder that I keep fully stocked over the summer months when they are here.  Altho I know it’s serious business to them, I find their little chirps and squeaks too cute to find their battles anything but a source of entertainment!

Enjoy!