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Saturday, December 7, 2013

waiting for salvation






I have waited for Thy salvation O Lord.
Genesis 49:18

***

Here's a little mixed media still life I made - an assignment for The Thread That Weaves, an online class I am taking with Roxanne Evans Stout. I am excited to be getting my hands dirty again and playing with all sorts of possibilities. Just can't settle down and stick to one thing I guess.

The theme of my class project is Revelation. Here's what I emailed to Roxanne last week:

Hi Roxanne,

I am absorbing all your videos and images, letting it soak in. Notice I didn't say "hard at work." I have learned to let stuff simmer and percolate and evolve. Took years and sometimes I revert to old ways, but here I am.

I just knew your class would be a catalyst for discovery...and I'm right. There is so much going on inside my mind, heart, and soul. A bit of Artistic ADD in me LOL. So beware! Might be a bit of real ADD says my dr.

I don't think or act linearly but often in a web of tangents. :)

My theme is Revelation...in the Catholic, biblical sense...we're at the end/beginning of the liturgical calendar year at this late autumn/early winter season. It always feels a certain way this time of year.

I've collected some revelation quotes and passages that speak to me and periodically review them. I'm not very eloquent.

I've built my base book and am having fun compiling a still life collection of stuff to photograph. Love doing this...makes me be patient and persistent.

Studying wabi sabi lately...it has long attracted me, but for years I have done controlled stuff...mainly quilt and embroidery. Dropped that long held passion about 10 yrs ago, burnt out designing and teaching. Rediscovering my love for stitchery, but can't go back to the way I was. Life has changed me I guess. It's all good.

Creating in fits and starts, early mornings before work. The time limitation due to returning to work full time after years at home with kids is really good for me.

Pinterest has been a great way to collect my thoughts and dreams.


***
So I started with these berries,
which I photographed and collected awhile back.
I found one sprig that appeared heart-shaped to me
(a Sacred Heart icon maybe?).

I grabbed a seasonal page from this old devotional

and layered it with some lace
and a scrap of cardboard
onto this old movie tin lid

and a china saucer (resembles a Eucharistic host?)
I'm liking the circle imagery...Alpha and Omega
and set it all up for photography.


Here's the original photo...

...which I edited in Lightroom,
including one of Kim's LR presets: kk_likeadream.

Then into Photoshop
for some texture play:
(note the unused/invisible clone layer - I experimented with
'enhancing' the heart-shape by filling in with cloned berries,
but realized I was being over-controlling...not in keeping with
my new-found passion for Wabi Sabi-ness).

I was planning to use the image in my little book, which is the class project, but it would need to be quite small - too small to see the details. So here it sits in my studio, unsure of its fate.

***




Linking up with


5 comments:

  1. Dear Connie, this is such a wonderful post, not only because of your beautiful still life and photograph, but because you have put into words your thought processes and brought us along with you as you created. I am so glad you are enjoying the still life/photography segments of The Thread That Weaves and I hope you are creating even more today!!
    roxanne

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  2. I'm a secular kind of guy Cindy but I love the thought and care that went into this creation as well as the aesthetic links that kept me bouncing around from idea to idea...that's the best art I believe, that not only pleases the eye but feeds the mind as well. I hope the link to my Flickr page is appropriate, if not, whack it and I'll do better next time.

    Frank D

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  3. love this Cindy you have put so much of your thoughts in this still life...

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  4. What a beautiful discovery time you are going through Cindy. And to tie personal development and meaning to your project is wonderful.

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  5. I can identify with the designing teaching burn out. I so love your work and how you put your thoughts to paper. I miss seeing your goodies.

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