Sue Turner's Art

A Rocky Scribble

2011-07-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

Scribbler Too is a fun little app to use online for quick sketches that take on a life of their own. I've used it several times and the following scribble is my favorite to date.

I recently added a Wacom Touch Crafter Tablet to my arsenal of artsy enticements. The touch part of it reminds me of the iPod or iPad, of which I have neither. :)

At any rate, it's been interesting to finger paint and surf web pages using touch but I must say that playing the chess game that was pre-loaded on my computer with Vista has been a blast, too. There's something about trouncing a king with a touch that makes me grin with pleasure. Not that it happens that often...

Isn't it a fun little program? How's your scribbling? I don't think it's downloadable. Just use it, copy your masterpiece and return any time you feel an urge. I like it!

♥ ♥ ♥

Tile and a Dry-Erase Marker

2011-04-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

There's hardly anything I won't do to avoid doing what I should be doing.

A small box of subway tile had been hanging out here for years when I read that ceramic tile could be used as a white board. I promptly ordered a pack of 4 Bic low-odor dry-erase markers (big spender, here). The little visitor guy and I drew and erased for an entire afternoon. When we were partially pleased with a doodle, I photographed it to be used for 'stuff'.

Subway tiles with temporary images are now clutter-making every flat surface. I plan to tile a plastic summer table for lazy outdoor afternoons of sketching, TicTacToe, Pictionary or Hang Man - kind of like a poor man's iPad or Xoom. Or an Etch-a-Sketch, or...

♥ ♥ ♥

Dusk of Noon

2011-01-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

The darker the days, the more I search for color and shape.

Or movement and light.

Or something other than black and white which define the exterior world and cause me to seek an illuminated monitor and a selection of faux brushes.

This piece was created using Bamboo Fun Tablet in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop Elements 5. Some parts were 'painted' with the stylus and some with the mouse.

It's been a year or so since I've actually used watercolors with brush and water and sometime in the green spring, I'll give that another whirl, but for now this is another form of color, shape, texture and lends a great deal of fun to a quiet and cold, dark winter. Even though this piece carries a little dark with it!

♥ ♥ ♥

Playing

2010-12-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

My art muse hibernated and I've been playing around trying to entice a response of some kind from her.

This piece was created using Adobe Elements and Bamboo Fun Tablet.

The dream-like quality rather appeals to me and the muted colors play against the snow white/long night that permeates the outdoors here.

The writing on Tumblewords is always presented in draft quality and so are the images here. On occasion, I return to re-work words and color but more often I move on to the next piece.

I've given up trying to decide what that means!

What's your style? Do you work, re-work and then post or do you create something that stirs you in some manner and let it age before deciding the next step?

♥ ♥ ♥

Escape Motions

2010-05-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with me.

Fractals fascinate me, color and shape put me in a dreamy state.

There are so many drawing programs on the Internet and this newest find is capable of consuming days on end so I'd like to share it with you.

http://www.escapemotions.com/experiments/flame/index.html#top

As always, I know only surface stuff but I'll return time and time again to learn more.

Following are samples of an hour's fun!

The figure on the left reminds me of an Indonesian dancer and the one on the right is a fractal, for sure!

Let me know what you learn and if you enjoy this kind of computer play!

♥ ♥ ♥

Tablet Abstract

2010-05-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

An exercise in color and shape using Bamboo Fun Tablet and Adobe Photoshop Elements.

I have much to learn about this process but the challenge is rewarding.

Sometimes the colors please me and the design doesn't and sometimes it's the reverse.

This is a fascinating process, each step is a surprise.

Soon, I'll try another picture. Oh, I just did.

There's a digitally painted pear blossom on Tumblewords Blog at Trembling for OSI.

Let me know what you're doing.

Are you using a tablet?

♥ ♥ ♥

Winter White

2010-01-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

Winter White

It's been a bit of a while since I've felt color inspired.

On the recent gloomy Sunday, I noticed some attractive leaves that refused to be cowed by cold and wind. In the background a low mountain appeared even lower by my urge to shoot straight up into the leaves.

It took only seconds to convert the monochrome of the day into black and white, drop a piece of CD reflection into the background for alteration and manipulation with the Bamboo Fun Tablet and Adobe Photoshop Elements. Then, into FrameFun (free software) which applied the frame. I'm sure I'll return to play again with it, but for now I'm smiling.

Somehow this gray day gleams a little lighter!

♥ ♥ ♥

Black and White or Color

2009-12-28T12:29:00.000-08:00

Some days need a vital rush of color while on other days black and white fits fine.

The full color of this image, created in Adobe Photoshop Elements on the Bamboo Fun Tablet, is on my Tumblewords Blog along with several wanderlust haiku.

A touch of sun today adds its own mellow yellow. Maybe that makes the difference.

♥♥♥

Winter Waterland

2009-12-22T20:11:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to All

and

to All a Fine New Year!

♥♥♥

Reflections

2009-12-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

pixel mystery

winter rainbows come to light

echo summer life

I seem to be hooked on the mysterious ways of light and the 'write' side of DVD disks.

The reflection comes from a nearby plant which is shadowed into the disk rainbow by a low-flung sun leaking through a southern window.

There seems to be a difference in color between CD and DVD reflections and I haven't determined what causes it. The few CD's I've played with create tones of greens, blues and oranges rather than violets and purples of DVD's.

I'm interested in what you think.

This photo from a point-and-shoot Minolta was resized in Irfanview and framed in FrameFun, both of which are free programs.

~♥~♥~♥~

Haiku and Saguaro

2009-11-13T13:47:00.000-08:00

spirits on a stick

circle a lone saguaro

dance the moons away

Maybe it's because cacti aren't found here that I'm drawn to them. This particular piece was one of the first that I drew and painted using the Bamboo Fun Tablet in conjuntion with Adobe Photoshop Elements which was part of the package.

Many of the watercolors, as well as pen-and-ink pieces, that I've doodled have held the cacti as subjects - perhaps because their colors and shapes are vividly foreign to the evergreen tones and pine shapes which I'm accustomed to seeing.

This particular image was created by laying down colors and using the smudge tool to move them around until I was satisfied or bored enough to move on. A few 'pencil' lines completed the session.

I think this gray day would be a perfect time to undertake another digital image and see what shakes loose!

♥♥♥

Quick Flower on Bamboo Tablet

2009-05-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

I watercolored the little flower on the left several years ago as an experiment in looseness. Trying to paint an image in a few seconds was challenging and I did dozens in different colors and shapes.

Thinking about the wonderful feel of watercolors, I wondered if it was possible to do the same thing on the Bamboo Fun Tablet and so...the next step was to try. Admittedly, it took me more than a few minutes to paint the flower on the right but maybe I'll learn to speed it up.

Do you think it's possible to learn how to 'watercolor' digitally?

~~~♥~~~♥~~~

Spokane Radio KZZU Baby Idol Contest

2009-04-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

Please vote for me!
Sofia, contestant #190, in the top 20 of Spokane Radio Kzzu 92.9 Baby Idol Contest, would appreciate your daily vote April 27 through May 1! The link for voting is: http://929zzu.com/pages/4268136.php? Thank you!

Spring Sky

2009-04-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

Painting takes on the shape of space. Chaos or calm, prosperous or penurious. The color of mood. Powerful reds, reflective yellows, serene greens and breathing blues.

Clothing chosen in the morning are the colors most often used through the day. Is body cover inspired by mood or convenience. And which of these will appear on the palette or monitor.

Are autumn paintings connected to a silent buried yearning and the wild spring shades a bursting forth from hibernation. Which is the influence, which is the outcome.

Do you know?

The image above is a watercolor style created on Bamboo Fun with Adobe Photoshop Elements 5, resized in Irfanview and framed with Frame Fun.

~~~♥~~~♥~~~

An April Sketch

2009-04-02T12:37:00.000-07:00

This casual sketch was made on the Bamboo Fun Tablet with Adobe Photoshop Elements, resized in Irfanview and framed in FrameFun.

I still don't have the hang of free hand drawing but neither have I given up... Actually, I'm not much of a drawing person. I just feel my way along with a pencil, brush or stylus without much direction and with a certain detachment and commitment!

The amount of enjoyment available through the computer never fails to astound me.

~~~♥~~~♥~~~

Dark Mountains

2009-03-21T20:44:00.001-07:00

This image began as a drawing on Bamboo Fun and went through more processes than I can remember. Generally, I choose lighter colors but something about the darkness of this piece fascinated me – it reminds me of volcanic flow under a watching sky. Is it far too dark?

A couple of programs I consistently use are Irfanview for resizing and occasional edits, FrameFun to create the finish, and Adobe Photoshop Elements 5 which came with the Bamboo Fun.

It's been almost a year since I've used water, color and paper to produce a painting. The computer permits a surprising amount of creative fun without the hassle of removing paint from the walls or cabinet top.

♥~~~♥~~~♥

A Friday Image

2009-03-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

The image began as a drawing in watercolor style on a Bamboo Fun Tablet with Adobe Photoshop Elements 5. Because it didn't have enough color to make me happy, I opened it in Pixia (free software) and added darker red to a few of the pixels. Framefun (free software) helped with the final digital image.

I decided I liked it. But, as I told you earlier, I'm pretty easy when it comes to liking images. I can spend most of a winter day kaleidoscoping through fractals and abstract images while my mind travels off into other worlds.

I could be cooking.

Or dusting.

Or shoveling snow.

♥~~~♥~~~♥

An Artful Confession

2009-02-19T16:27:00.000-08:00

As a child, my favorite coloring canvas was an embossed paper napkin. Crayolas, freshly sharpened, were the sticks with which I built my art appreciation. Looking back, I feel sorry for Mom. She must have felt a ton of frustration when she found the napkin drawer either full of colored papery stuff or empty.

Over the years I've been exposed to technique and professionals who live with color wheels, who grind pigments for their own use and who compose by strict golden mean standards.

I've been to the Louvre, MOMA, hundreds of galleries on the major side roads and, in fact, once took part in a co-op gallery where I actually sold my paintings and books.

Looking at this newest combination of Bamboo Fun sketching, Adobe Photo Elements and Pixia it's fairly obvious that I like what I like. Hues, shapes and something indefineable that charges my heart and eyes.

And, Mom, if you're looking down from that heavenly spot - are you pleased to see that I've graduated to no muss, no fuss computer screens and that the napkin drawer is undisturbed?

♥~~~♥~~~♥

Fractals

2009-02-11T15:56:00.000-08:00

If you are interested in fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot is a good place to start.

Apophysis, Fractal Explorer and MandaExplorer are free software programs that create what you tell them to, or something like that. You'll find links to these and more once you get involved in the fractal world - it's an amazing journey.

A group on Yahoo posts periodically and, through it, this link appeared. The Orbit Trap is a fantastic blog - it'll make your head reel and please your eyes. I've only just begun to read and absorb...but I did notice that the sidebar has links to much of the available software!

Paul N. Lee has lots of information as well.

Good travels to you - and please keep me posted so I can follow you on the fractal trip.

The image is a piece of fractal post-processed in Digital Image and Irfanview.

♥♥♥

A is for Art

2009-01-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

Art is for fun. I'm mostly self-taught and have learned that colors and shapes earn the A spot in my world. I've never been able to explain other's work nor can I explain my own. It is what it is, I think.

Fractals captured my attention several years ago and with the aid of Fractal Explorer, a free software, I've become enamored with the changing movement, color and shape provided by a mouse click. Instant kaleidoscopes.

Benoit Mandelbrot, a mathematician, wrote The Fractal Geometry of Nature . His study of fractals found in nature contributed to the chaos theory.

Prompt by ABC Wednesday, today A

***

Sunday Haiku and Image

2009-01-10T22:30:00.000-08:00

***

sunlight bursts
sparks off winter white
fine glass art

***

The image was initially created on the Bamboo Fun Tablet, then cropped, altered and converted to a brush. The tree and other oddments were drawn in with the Bamboo Fun Stylus and the color was altered. A crackle texture was added before the image was resized and buttoned in Irfanview.

♥♥

Snow and Apophysis

2009-01-06T15:39:00.000-08:00

You may laugh, if you wish, but you have no idea how difficult this stuff is for me. :)

The image is a fractal created in Apophysis and layered in Adobe PhotoShop Elements 5 which came with my Bamboo Fun tablet.

The first problem I encountered was getting a kinda decent shot of my right hand with my left manning the camera. Gadzooks. Then came the actual part of learning enough about layers and magic erasers to make this happen.

If you wonder why, I have no answer other than that the snow keeps falling. There are more than six feet on the ground, the man who was going to come shovel the snow off the roof before it collapsed hasn't shown up and there's nothing like a new project to keep my mind off the stress that could build if I thought about the roof caving in on top of me and my 'stuff'.

If I last longer than winter, I may be better at these experiments. Oh, I know, that's not much of a promise, but it's the best I can do on this day...

♥♥

Using New Year's Eve

2009-01-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

Tumblewords Blog is nearing three years old with over 500 posts and provides a semi-abstract memoir. It's a reminder of which images and words were submitted and published as well as documenting the changes in my writing style.

At the end of 2006, I pulled together an e-book of that blog, downloadable from my Lulu.com store. On New Year's Eve I completed the 2008 compilation and, when it became evident that 2007 had fallen through the cracks, there was impetus to keep me from sleeping before the midnight hour.

It was a time to look back and a time to imagine what might be possible in 2009 as well as a time to realize how much I enjoyed the previous trio of years blogging, both as a reader and as a blogger.

Wishing each of you a pleasurable, prosperous and peace-full 2009! ♥

**

Image created in Bamboo Fun and Photoshop Elements.

Seeing Stars

2008-12-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

This is a wonderful time to see the night sky. In the north, though, the clouds are deep and the bitter cold is not conducive to venturing outside even if the stars were visible.

This is the time of year when I open Stellarium and huddle inside checking the nebulae, constellations and planetary aspects.

This Open Source program never fails to delight and amaze me. My program is configured to open at my exact longitude and latitude to present the view that I would see - if I could see. Stellar. It's easily altered to view the sky from different locations.

Oh, did I mention that this program is gratis? Free? No Charge? And it's worth far more than that.

Fractal image was created in Apophysis...

***

Susan Tuttle, Mixed Media

2008-12-06T11:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes following a link from the post of a prized person, in this case it would be Juliet Wilson, Crafty Green Poet, lends itself to a new world of thinking.

When I arrived at the blog of Ilkasattic to find a Book Give Away in progress, I almost forgot to enter.

This lady provides enough brain food for months in just a single post or picture. Trying to get my creative juices flowing again after a near-deadly bout of pneumonia, I cruised this site for hours and my head is spinning with inspiration and creative hope. Exquisite!

This lovely book can be found on Amazon just in time for Christmas and gift giving! What could be better? And be sure to get two so you'll have your very own copy. Happy Holidays!

NaNoWriMo in the Rear View Mirror

2008-11-30T17:20:00.000-08:00

Another year, another novel. I'm laughing and yet serious. Each of the most recent four years have produced words in excess of 50,000 and books have been created from two of those years. The third one will be printed in another month.

This year's writing turned into catharsis rather than a novel when I wrote to purge the two months I spent on a ventilator for pneumonia. The drug of choice was an hallucinogen which created fiction in my mind. For the past few months, the images in my mind kept leaping to the foreground but now that I've written it, it's relegated to a safe place. While there may be parts that I can use for a jump off into something else, it may remain just where it is. An eraser of sorts.

YWriter4 was the software I used and it's spectacular. Free, easy to use and keeps everything written in a format easy to edit and move from place to place. Incredible. Check it out!! He also has software that will convert your typed words to book format, computer readable. It's just flat out nifty. All of it.

The image above is one of the first I 'painted' on Bamboo Fun with Photoshop Elements.

***

Johnny Lee and Wii

2008-04-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

My granddaughter, a talented energy resource specialist, sent this to me! Woohoo! This man is incredibly generous and far above regular intelligence. Love it! I do!

I'm not so talented - this clip is viewable only with Internet Explorer. It may take me a few days to figure it out - Obviously, I have a long learning curve and limited time - a bad combination!

While I'm figuring it out: here's the link to Ted - Ideas worth spreading.

Postcards

2008-03-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

Testing only...Thanks.

These postcards printed from an original watercolor titled Down From Under

Mid-February

2008-02-17T20:19:00.000-08:00

I rarely post a link for a company, but this one is absolutely fascinating. Motorola, in a bid to garner sales of their new colored phones, has established a site that turns your cursor into an automatic painting pen. Pick a color, pick a place, click and draw...all automated. The music is soothing and while the site doesn't provide Free Rice for the hungry while you practice your vocabulary, it does provide instant and entertaining art...there are options for your faves to be used for screensavers or e-mailing to friends. I may have saved three trees today!

When the four-year-old comes next time, I'll bet he thinks this site is bigger magic than we've seen recently. Anyway. Or maybe, and this is possible, I'm easy to please. A little color, a few words, a tune or two and I'm well on my way to nirvana or utopia.

Speaking of tunes, I'll mention QuietPath again because her musical CD's are absolutely wonderful.

Life is good.

And, today I received notice that Stranger will be published in Right Hand Pointing, Issue 19.

The Last Piaster

2008-01-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

The bold words were to be used in order and without alteration. Not an easy task, not an easy piece but it's done. If you're up for a little mind stretch go to The Last Piaster and try the experimentals listed there - a challenging boggle.

**

The moon, broken off like sunlight wrinkles

water, opened a spotlight on a red flower

brilliant as blood on fresh fallen snow.

Her fingers, delicate as swan's breast,

gathered the rose from its naked place where
the island stretches off the coast like a rock

on your path that makes you seize up,
makes your backbone rigid like a lightpole
screening bad news while the bicycle careening

down the hill like a runaway forgets time
can be soft as the eyes on that crazy bird,

its song like a drumbeat of fear, who

chants out its tale. She spun of like visions,

humming along with his monotonous

voice like the thump of old tires.

Night covers the moon to lock her in place,
and her days pass like a long week in hell.

Vinca Flower - The Daily Habit

2008-01-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

Trying to winter over a vinca vine, I wiki'd it and the description mentioned a tiny flower. Yeah, right. I'd been watching vincas for a long time without seeing the slightest indication of a blossom. Like snipes, probably. Or submarine races. However, last spring, this tiny lovely blossom jumped forth and made a believer out of me.

Birds

2007-10-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

stealthy hawk
soars astride thermals
winged eclipse

out of bounds
raven on the wing
lobs cackle

This image is a digitally altered fractal originally created in Fractal Explorer. I have a love/hate relationship with birds due to a few harrowing experiences and this image reflects that.

Birds: the prompt issued for October 3 by Inspire Me Thursday.

fractals

Write Stuff. Fiction Friday. Free Write.

2007-09-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

Dip. Drag. Dip. Drag.

Quill was weary of being used and abused. Her nib hurt and the scratching abuse was worse than anything she'd taken in her lifetime of being used. Used. She hated that. Quill longed to jump away from the dip and drag scene and to log her own comments. Feed her own ego. She was tired of being linked to her owner and yearned for freedom.

Freelancing. She'd heard the term, but was only now realizing that was exactly what she wanted to do. She began to lay escape plans and when her owner next picked her up, she leaked a blot, then another. Left a thin trail of pale ink. Nothing legible.

She choked as the hand squeezed her tighter, then shook her as if to remind her who was boss. Not much longer she thought, then she'd be on her own.

Snap. Snap. That small rite ended her future.

Darkness.

This is my first exploration of free write from an inanimate object's pov. I hope it's the last. :) Actually, thanks for the prompt, Fiction Friday. I was dry.

Tumblewords Blog

Portable Rainbows

2007-09-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

This video clip fascinates me. The four-year-old is enamored with bubble blowing - he started waving wands before he walked.

This clip was easily rendered using MS Photo Story, a free program which is probably already installed on your computer or can be downloaded from the Microsoft site.

Other art, fractals, digital photos, watercolor and poetry/prose at Tumblewords Blog.

Edits and Ego

2007-09-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

Two recent happenings encouraged me to keep art-ing. One of my abstract paintings was selected by Blood Lotus for their e-zine and three of my digital photos on Better Photo were selected as Editors' Picks. Now the ego part is over - on to edits!

New technology gives rise to the idea that one can't believe his own eyes. Photo editing software can create whatever the mind can dream.

For example, the upper picture is the initial cropped portion from an original scene. The lower one is the desired portion of the first selection which was then placed on a fractal using the color selection tool to match the fractal color to the boy's shirt.

Not to pretend I'm speedy, this took some great time and many errors but it was well worth it. The fully edited photo was published in I Love Cats Magazine.

I used MS Digital Image software for the photo editing and because it's an older edition it was reasonably priced. The fractal was created in Fractal Explorer which is a free program.

North of Summer, a Decade of Poetry is available at Lulu Publishing and Tumblewords Near Year of Blog is available in e-book format at the same site

poetry watercolor

Quick Photo Editor

2007-08-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

IrfanView is a multi-faceted photo editor. I've used it off and on for several years and still haven't exhausted its possibilities. Recently the company came out with a wide variety of plug-ins which boggle my mind. And all this is free. That's really a boggler.

The 3-D button effect is one of my favorites. Because the program is so simple, it's readily available and works on the fly for quick changes and editing. But it's complex enough to allow a virtual plethora of changes, alterations and editing fun.

This particular photo was sharpened, resized and gamma altered. The raindrops were there originally but if they hadn't been, IrfanView can add them. Amazing, isn't it?

North of Summer, A Decade of Poetry is available at Lulu Publishing

One Hint of Nostalgia

2007-08-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Change comes quickly and leaves me in a state of questioning. When did that building disappear? When did that stand of pines fall for a new gated community? When did the neighborhood grocer leave? When did the traffic arrive? What happened to the little town I knew?

Last fall, I drove to several nostalgic spots to take a photo or two to accompany my gray days - those when I know old has been replaced by new and big.

I like this picture - the bald eagle has been removed from the endangered list. The barn has been re-roofed and added to that list.

Where'd the Yellow Go?

2007-05-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

When did dandelions become classified as plants with the need to be exterminated?

Hanging around all summer in various stages, from vivid sunshine yellow to finely tuned flying seeds, dandelion plant parts can be used for wine, salads and medicinal purposes. They have an innate ability to seed and thrive in the smallest crack of concrete or in the most luscious of lawns.

If the grass seed in my yard had half this staying power, I'd be envied. As it is, my neighbors frown when fuzzy parachutes drift across the fence to take root.

I find them fascinating! I've also learned to wage battles I can win and this surely isn't the one.

Pending Parachutes, Digital Photo by Sue

Near Year of Tumblewords Blog and North of Summer, Poetry are available at Lulu Publishing

Bathtub to Garden Tub

2007-05-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today I moved plants from the guest bathtub to the great outdoors.

In pure FIFO inventory style, vinca vines were the first addition last fall and the first to move out.

My younger daughter brings her leftover plants when they grow too large or too brown and, even though I have a natural killer thumb, I manage to salvage most by ignoring them except for a random drink.

One granddaughter left a large container of something with one stem on it in my garage along with several boxes of stuff when she left for college the first time - I brought it inside several months afterward when it appeared to have a leaf of life left and it's now grown large and full enough to hide my treadmill. Lucky me!

The tub needs vacuumed and spruced up as there are only a few plants left inside. You might notice that the shower door handle, which came off some years back, serves as a plant shelf. The wrought iron plant stand, formerly in the tub on a mat to prevent tub rust, is now outside and sports a small fountain as well as some freshly moved greens.

Fractal Exploring

2007-05-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

A fractal makes a spot of fun in each day. Better than, or at least as good as a multi-vitamin, in my opinion. There are dozens of sites to visit where talented math folks post their luscious designs. Several great freeware fractal programs are available. This fractal was created in Fractal Explorer. Download is quick, the program is user friendly and there are several tutorials posted on the site.

Fractals make wonderful pictures, postcards, greeting cards, magnets, screensavers and desktops. The possibilities are as unlimited as the fractal compositions. My mind is frequently boggled by ideas for their use.

North of Summer, a book of poetry and Near Year of Tumblewords Blog are both available at Lulu Publishing.

Spring Color Pops on the Way to Yoga

2007-04-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

The calendar shows spring. The clock chimes noon. My bare feet beg for shoes and my knees ache from cold.

Patience, I say as I head toward my yoga class where I will warp my blood into a dream of warm. As I walk toward the PE building, there are actual signs of spring and suddenly I feel warm and happy as the hibernation gray of this day releases me.

North of Summer, A Decade of Poetry and A Year of Tumblewords Blog are available at Lulu Publishing

Mosaic Photos

2007-04-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Three granddaughters have birthdays in this 30-day period and I try to do something original each year for their cards.

When I accidentally ran across Andrea Mosaic it appeared to be a nifty idea. It's fairly user intuitive and I've created several landscape photos with it. The nice thing is that you can make as many changes as desired. I haven't settled on the perfect combo yet, but I'll keep trying.

In the meantime, it's another challenging project with unusual results. Even as I post this, I'm thinking of other options to try. The mosaics are better in full size and would make wonderful posters.

The first year of Tumblewords Blog is available in e-book format at Lulu.com

Combination Image

2007-03-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

This piece is a combination. Background is a digitally enhanced sky photo, the left side mountain was scratched with pen and ink and the reeds in front belong to a fractal which was cloned, split, reversed and pasted. Amazing what the mind can do when the nights are long and the days are dark. Color floats in any fashion.

Spring is Coming

2007-02-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

Groundhog Day came and went. The gray hangs on.

Painting is an exercise in color, if nothing else. However, I rather like this new abstract and will use it for my newest book cover. North of Summer is a collection of poetry from my latest decade.

While I watch for spring, I'll print another book or two through Lulu.com and if you have books, large or small, believe me when I say it's a wonderful thing to hold your own book before placing it in a favorite bookcase.

Northern lights Fractal

2006-12-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

A new Fractal Explorer rendition of color. This one reminds me of the northern lights which might have been visible in clear skies last week after the gigantic solar flare. Cloudcover and city lights prevented real-time visuals, so I designed an inhouse splash.

Color

2006-12-05T13:47:00.000-08:00

Northern Idaho is white with feathers of evergreen and the naked branches of deciduous. Sky is the gray overcast that cries for a touch of raspberry or a stroke of yellow.

An outdoor person only when the outdoors is my limited parameter of perfection (minimum 72 degrees, clear blue sky, bright yellow sun, baskets of blossoms and air stirred only by colorful hummers) I spend a lot of time indoors drizzling watercolor here and there on snow-white paper and designing fractals by software.

Raspberry Smoothie, watercolor

Watercolors and a Fractal

2006-11-05T16:54:00.000-08:00

Tree House of the August Moon, Watercolor

Sun over Cyprus, Watercolor

From the Heart, Fractal

Art Comes in Many Forms plus MyYouTube

2006-10-30T14:20:00.000-08:00

This is my first step into the global world of video. For nearly two years, I've played with small video pieces and tranformed them into fairly presentable home DVD's. Who knows what happens next?

I don't.

But this short blurb is good for one anytime laugh.

Surreal Bamboo

2006-10-29T20:37:00.000-08:00

I have a tendency to sketch bookmarks using Micron pens on watercolor paper, sometimes adding a little watercolor, and hand them out with books.

This bookmark was altered with Pixia software which I haven't learned to use to its optimum, but there was something very satisfying about what took place here.

Admittedly, color fascinates me.

Fractals, Watercolors, Digital Photos

2006-10-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

Night Bell. A digital photo reversed to black and white.

Merlot. Framed fractal. Designed in Apophysis, Framed in Digital Image Suite.

King of Grim. A fractal designed in Apophysis, Unframed and Altered

Papyrus. Original Watercolor using Daniel Smith Watercolors

Envy. Framed fractal designed in Apophysis, Framed in Digital Image Suite