Thinking Spring

I think this is going to be my facebook cover.... I don't know. One of my friends asked me if she could use the last post as her cover which got me to thinking. The previous post really was not formatted for facebook. So I have no idea if it is going to let her do what she thinks it will.

But it did give me an idea for this one.

So more noodling........

Application is In

And now the wait. My friend Amy http://www.artbyameliakay.com/ sent me a link to a gallery that accepted her work and encouraged me to do the same. So tonight, while suffering a bout of stress induced insomnia, I've been uploading images for submission.

Only the uploader isn't doing what I want it to do... which basically means that I am missing something in the properties information that would let me change something so that it can be uploaded. But like I said... I am too tired. I am a bit stressed out so I can not figure out what magic thing I need to do to make this work. Come to think of it... Picmonkey was acting all weird and junk today too. Man... I might have a virus. The last time that happened it didn't do anything to keep my from uploading things so I don't know it that is the answer either.

All I know at this point is that I am waiting to see if the samples I uploaded will be accepted.

I will know soon. Thankfully they don't keep artists in suspense for very long.

Over Winter

As is the rest of this half of the world.

It's been a long cold lonely winter.... well not so lonely. But certainly long and cold.


West Bay is frozen over and it looks like a shanty town out there with all the ice-fisherman taking up root. And who knows when it will thaw enough to take those shanties off the water.

Lake Superior is frozen over so I expect to hear that some half wit has decided to grab some gear and head for Canada. Wouldn't that be a thing to tell the grandkids!

I forgot canned goods in the back of my car and they are frozen solid. That should be a fun conversation with myself when I try to open them.

And then there is the ever frigid drive to work. Which, will quadruple if we get the apartment that we are hoping for. And then the inevitable moving stuff in the snow. Because.... well.... this stuff isn't going to melt any time real soon and we are hoping to be in and settled before Easter.

Today, in the hope that Spring will come faster if we think on it really hard.... I have been noodling around on Picmonkey. Took three hours to erase the background of my watercolor and add in the whites that the camera made grey and then just a short little 15 minutes to add text and assorted goodness to the thing to have some thing to share. Not too shabby.

Digital Collage

 

 

I love that I can take a bunch of stuff off the computer and edit it with picmonkey. As I am playing with these settings I am thinking about how to achieve the same kinds of looks with the inks and paints that I have on hand.

 

And then getting a little depressed that I am moving soon and do not exactly have that all hashed out yet. It's a daunting thing to think about even with a helping network in place. But it is motivation to be proactive instead of waiting around for the right answers to fall into place. 

New Collage: New Technique

 

So here's something that I learned while playing around with picmonkey.....
I can stretch or squish letters. After you have the wording, the color and the blend mode set you can use the shift + cursor  to stretch or squish your letters. It gives the text a distortion that you don't normally get.

Edit your overlays by holding the shift key and grabbing the sides of your box and pulling in one direction or the other. Thanks for the heads up www.picmonkey.com

die Libelle

And we're back to the digital arts:
using the free images from the British Library archives recently released to the public.

Swatches: Byzantine Colors

Apparently they are the in thing these days. I find them all over Pintrest. I have to admit, I love picking up paint samples and letting the colors seep into my soul.

Since the interest in Byzantine art is rekindled and I've been drooling over the Alhambra and Constantinople (Istanbul.... Yep. The song is in my head too.) I decided to make a swatch of the bold, beautiful colors used in mosaics and iconic paintings of the Byzantine Empire.

All the tedious research can be done here. If you have the National Geographic magazine from 1983 you are a few steps ahead of the curve, especially if you got to keep the map. Otherwise there is inspiration to be found right here.

The pun is just a bit of extra fluff.