Thursday, September 29, 2011

Geronimo

I love cows.  I love their lowing, their plodding, their slow way of moving, their great bulk.  So this challenge from Kim Klassen was just fabulous since she supplied the image!  I've never taken a great picture of a cow - they're generally not in the city, and if I'm in the country I'm usually just passing through.  But maybe next time, I'll stop and take a few shots, just to see if I can get them to look at me.  (And please cows, no pooping while I'm taking the picture.)

I used Kim's texture 'ladder' and then took a painting of mine (well, the first run at it) and layered it over the entire thing, with a strong blue hue adjustment.  And then I need a quote, of course!  The rebel cow - no enclosures will hold her back from her dreams!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

love - texture tuesdays


I used Kim Klassen's 'Fall In' texture with an overlay, which warmed up the photo and added some grunge to the edges. 

I love this photo because.... that's my nephew and I just showed up at his Spanish immersion school to read a story to his class and he hung off me the entire time I read the book ("Bashful Bob and Doleful Dorinda" by Margaret Atwood - yes she has some children's books!).  He's such a sweetheart and is all about getting hugs (no kisses, Auntie Shell, you have girl germs) and holding hands and giving me a whole bunch of love.  Which, of course, I return in spades.  And I'm so excited because I get to go and visit the whole family next week!  Maybe I can get a picture like this of my niece and I too!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Serendipity

Years ago, while wandering through Inglewood, I stopped in to Cherry Four (http://www.cherryfour.com/) and saw some paintings on the wall.  I thought "Hey, I can do that!" and promptly started painting, but painting small (like 2" x 2") and gradually went up to 12" x 12" and then 24" x 24" (yes, I like squares).  But I never went in to Cherry Four to talk to the owner about maybe selling my art.  And then one day, I went to Inglewood to do just that.  And guess what?  The store had moved to Kensington.  (sigh)  And the extra energy to go to Kensington just didn't transpire.  But I have thought about it.  Quite a bit.

Fast forward to today - 1st class of Level 2 Abstract Acrylics with Samantha daSilva.  Everyone is introducing themselves.  I'm last in line, and I relay the story above.  Fev, a fellow student, pipes up "That's my store!!"  "Really??!!" says me "Well I think you should sell my paintings!"  How funny is that.  But here's the issues - she's in the painting class with me, so I doubt she'll put my paintings on her walls before she puts up her own.  So, even though I've met and stated my main objective to the owner of the first place I ever thought of selling my paintings, I think I still have to go and look elsewhere.  I wonder when I'll get the nerve up to do that?

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

soar confidently

Okay okay, so I've been away from the blog for quite some time.  I've popped in to share an image I took last year, and I think it applies to Kim Klassen's request for us to provide an image on the theme "do" and use her Autumn texture.  Here are a friend and her daughter, caught in extremely low light, hence all the shakiness and blur.  However, it illustrates beautifully how KA chases after M to capture photos on this lovely All Hallow's Eve, and even more so, what she wishes for her daughter, as the quote illustrates.  If you can't tell from the blur, M is a butterfly, and she's carrying her little trick or treat bag.