Colorado Sky

If I painted a sky that looked like this, it would look fake.  Unretouched photo.  Northwest of Denver at 3pm.

Art Journal - Devon

I found this preprinted shopping list in a box of stuff in the garage. It is "Things to Get for the Whippet" and includes: cookies, bunny, treats at the bottom of the blank shopping list. I got this when I had Devon The Whippet. I wanted to capture just the colors and curves of Devon. The blue/green is for the winter coat he wore with a flower pattern.

Distracted from Morning Pages

I found myself distracted over this last month by little mundane things like trying to make a living.   And while I was still coming up with ideas for my creative projects, I wasn't putting them into action.  I was too busy spinning in place.  When I let this happen, sooner or later I feel the unbalance that this creates, an unbalance that I lived with for many years and am now consciously trying to drive out of my life.  Writing the Morning Pages, taking even a few minutes in the evening to work on a watercolor sketch, reading the artist's blogs that I have posted here... all these things serve as a counterbalance to the nitty gritty and free up my mind to be more productive and less hectic. So I fell back into bad habits for a few weeks, fuel was added to the fire by my internet problems, and I am climbing back onto the track that I want to be on.  One good thing is that I never put the watercolors away and I carry my morning pages journal and my camera everywhere I go.  I feel saner already.

Computer Editing Photos

fI like playing around with photos in PhotoShop.  Not all photos lend themselves to major changes because I am not a pro and haven't had any training.  My photos that I love the best are the ones that never see PhotoShop; those are the special ones.
This morning I just grabbed a photo from a file of 'leftovers' and started playing with it.  I liked the original, but it was pretty ordinary.

So I just started playing with it, changing the filter effects, making it into an abstract painting (that was ugly!) ..... I didn't have a plan or any idea where it was going.  After applying a cool filter, a mirror image, a sunspot and editing out some foliage I ended up with this.  I like the end result.  Lots of fun too.

I am ready to go back to pencil and paper...

really, I am.
So my internet connection is now slightly faster than dial-up in a thunderstorm, but still not where it is supposed to be.  But at least I can do things online for more than a few minutes at a time.
Work first, then play.  I will be back to try to get up to speed on everything and everybody over the weekend.
yay!

Internet Connection Chaos!

I am having internet problems.  Slow connection, keeps cutting off.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  Call the provider, tech has me rewriting code for the broadband card.  Yay!  it works!  For at least 10 minutes after I hang up.  Rinse, repeat.  I am getting close to a temper tantrum.

Afghan Hound puppy

Bright Water

reflection

Farm Stand

We used to call these farmer's markets until farmer's markets grew into the block long multiple vendor markets they are today.  I guess that's a good thing.  Especially for the farmers who are trying to grow organic and need a place to market their produce.  I still like shopping at these little stands better. This one is on my way home from where I work in the morning.

 This is a corner of the fields where the produce sold in this stand is grown.  The faint colored line across the middle of the field is zinnias and strawflowers.  They will sell them in huge bunches when they are ready.

Today I picked up a fresh green bell pepper, fresh onion and fresh eggs for a yummy omelet for dinner.

TAW check in

This is supposed to be the check in for Chapter 2 and the start of Chapter 3, but I am slowing the schedule down a bit.
I have been doing the Morning Pages and this week I did an Artist's Date (more on that another time) but I have not really had time to do the exercises or even re-read the chapter.  I skimmed through it last Sunday and that was it.
So I am going to stay at Chapter 2 and spend some time on the exercises.  Morning Pages are great, very hard to sit down and do them, but I feel good as I do them and they make a difference in the day.

Art Journal...this is gonna be fun!

My first art journal - title page

I have always wanted to do an art journal.  Whenever I see one on someone's site I have to stop and look at it.  But I have always been too intimidated to try it.  These last couple of weeks of being committed to having time for my art and doing TAW morning pages I am starting to think about my art more like I did when I was young and the process was the fun and the challenge, not the finished product.  I realized that I was looking at art journals like a finished piece of work, which I guess they eventually turn in to.  Then I realized that I needed to do an artist's journal as a way to explore, take notes, have successes and failures and keep them all together as a learning process.  So I sat down and started one tonight.  I have always been fascinated by how some artist's can seamlessly bind collage and original art together into one piece.  So I am going to experiment with collage.
I sat down this afternoon with some old magazines, scissors, glue, an unused sketchbook, and some watercolors.  I did this very simple page almost entirely from magazine clippings.  I like it.  I had fun.  It was like being in first grade only with a cup of coffee, sharp scissors and no Sister Mary PITA telling me that I was doing it wrong.  I felt like a little kid and really enjoyed the process.  I put a bunch of clippings that I like in a folder, stuck the folder in with my watercolors and it will be ready to get me started next time.