Getting to know Photoshop

Rice Freeman-Zachery gave me a few pointers about altering my photos. This is the first of my attempts to create a more "artsy" look for pictures to alter clothing with. Let me know what you think.





I am going through some family stuff right now (that I can not talk about yet) and being able to play with the photo's has really helped me escape mentally for a while. I also finished my art studio yesterday. I will take some pictures and post them later. I still need to decorate (I want to paint words of inspiration on the wall and hang some old windows I have around the room), but everthing is organized, labled, sorted and easy to grab ahold of. I put lots of stuff into mason jars so I could "see" what materials I have. I swear, I could open an art store! Did you ever clean out and realize that you have more stuff than you ever thought you did? Yep, me too. Amazing what I have accumulated over the years. Now I am excited to actually use the stuff. After cleaning I finally took the plunge and hosted my first swap. I had so much stuff I ended up sending out four computer paper boxed (the ones that hold eight 500 sheet packages of copy paper) out to the swap folks. Good grief. They are going to die when they get it. I also have tons of magazines and stamps to put onto ebay still. I just have to find the time to take the photos and create the posts. I feel a little overwhelmed by that prospect right now. The situation at home is draining my energy. The good thing, I am not sleeping much so that gives me more time to create! Well, I will close for now. Hope everyone has a great week.

more altered photos, trip to the beach

THE DEEP BLUE SEA


when i think of the ocean, this is what my mind's eye brings forward. the colors, the motion, the total vastness of the sea. it makes me feel small, and larger than life all at the same time. when i am there, all of life's problems seem small, everything seems possible. this is as close to meditation as i get, the only time my mind clears itself from all of the daily clutter. i can become totally involved in searching the sand for shells, sharks teeth, sea glass. my world narrows down to the three feet in front of me, i see every detail of the sand, i become one with the textures, the ripples of the waves as they wash up on shore. the beach is my sanctuary, the place where i feel closest to God, the place where i belong.





i have to admit, i am new to taking pictures, new to the Photoshop program i am using. and, i often go to Nina Bagley's blog for inspiration on how to look at the world through an artists eye.



I was totally blow away by the clouds durning one particular sunset during this trip to the sea. I desperately wanted to catch the beauty, the the awesomeness, the complete "largeness" of the clouds rolling across the dunes, threatening stormy weather, weather that never came, that past us up, went south, so we could enjoy the sunset without the storm.






the last photos i will share today come from the moon rising over the ocean. it was amazing watching the sun set over the dunes and the moon rise over the sea. my friend and i agreed that it was one of the most awe inspiring, magnificent evenings of our lives. art imitates life, and life can be so sweet and touching and beautiful that it can make you cry just at the shear overwhelming beauty of it.