baby spoon

a simple little still life

for our

Be Still 52

assignment

for Week 10:

playing with

lighting direction...

and spoons.

***

Notes:

Quickly assembled

Friday morning

before work:

The silver spoon and dish

were my mother's

as a baby.

(I know I should get out the silver polish

but the tarnished patina is so lovely!)

+

a wonderfully old, humble washcloth

from I don't know where

+

daisies from our garden

+

a very old children's book.

I played for over an hour

with various

ISOs, shutter speeds, apertures and angles.

I tried flash, but it diminished the shadows,

so I practiced holding the camera

v e r y steady.

I repeatedly repositioned the little table

with an eye for directional shadows.

Lillian helped with the setup...

...and then she just relaxed

and let the process

evolve on its own.

Feline 'insight' maybe?

CAMERA

Canon EOS 6D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens

Manual Mode

both photos:

ISO 1600

f/5.0

1/30 sec

LIGHTROOM

I 'painted' in some basic edits

to emphasize

dramatic light/shadow play;

applied two of Kim's presets:

sharpen still life

&

kk_summersun

then I kept playing around

in the Develop module:

I de-saturized the yellows and greens

and applied a faded split tone

(blue highlights + pink shadows)

to keep things cool.

Then I synced the edits

with the second photo

and fine-tuned things there too.

PHOTOSHOP

Just two layers of

kk_pinitonly4

Soft Light ~30%

Vivid Light 15%

masking off the spoon

***

Linking up with

Be Still 52

Friday Finds

Texture Tuesday

a job worth doing

Etching brush and ladle

belonging to

Joe Toomey

I often heard this saying from my mother, who likely heard the same words from her father. I assumed that Grandpa Joe had coined the phrase himself, but eventually realized that it is an old proverb.

***

John Joseph Toomey, my "Grandpa Joe," was born August 7, 1894, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, to Michael and Ann (Murphy) Toomey. Joe's father, a railroad worker, was "gone a lot," leaving his wife and two young sons to fend for themselves. Ann died when the boys were very young, so their aunt, Ellen (Murphy) Baker, raised them.

Joe's childhood was spent in the loving care of his Aunt 'Nell' and her family, where he learned the value of hard work and a good education. There on the Baker farm in Wisconsin he grew up, working alongside the hired hands, and attending the local one-room school.

After high school, Joe worked on the railroad while taking correspondence courses from the University of Wisconsin. He eventually saved enough money to attend classes at the university, working in a fraternity house kitchen and typing term papers to make ends meet. He never did graduate.

In his late twenties, Joe went to work for the Minneapolis Tribune, which was founded by his cousin, William J. Murphy. Eventually, he was sent to Los Angeles to learn the rotogravure process, including photoengraving and etching, so that he could set up such a department at the Tribune. Joe worked at the Tribune until 1940, when the newspaper was sold.

***

Notes:

SETUP
Backdrop: plywood scrap, painted white and roughed up
I actually 'skated' the plywood over gravel.
+
Shop rag from Home Depot (already a bit dirty!)

I didn't spend a lot of time setting up;
just figured I'd see what happened
and deal with it
in a Wabi Sabi fashion.

original photo

SOOC

LIGHTROOM

Lens Corrections:

fix distortion, perspective, and angle

Crop:

Rule of Thirds - sort of

ample empty space

Presets:

Kim's Light&Airy Workflow

after Lightroom edits

cropped and ready for
Photoshop edit

PHOTOSHOP

Cloning to fill in the right side
kk_rainyday Soft Light 35%
another layer of the same at 47%
+ a layer mask to bring back some clarity
kk_grungedup_2 Multiply 35%

Fonts:
Old Newspaper
Dear Joe
(I know...too easy)

***

Linking up with

Be Still 52 - Day 3

Start to Finish 2 - Day 10

a mother's day album

So here's where my heart is

on this 

Mother's Day

***

Let me

illustrate with

some photos

from

the past

May 1960

Wheat Ridge, Colorado

Our family

with Mom

at the center

(I'm just 2 weeks old here)

Mom was 8 months pregnant

with me

+

three small children

in tow

when they moved in

this brand-new house

just a few weeks

before

June 1989

Toronto

My parents

came to visit

when Kelly (our first)

was born

 Grandma and Kelly

Grandma, me, and Grandpa

with Kelly

Not quite

two years later...

Grandpa and Grandma

came to Toronto to meet

our little 'Enna'

with Kelly (22 mo) and Erin (3 mo)

And now...

a few 'selfies'

from

Kelly's

Instagram

album

this year

 March 5

March 28

May 8

***

Making the decision

to have a child

is momentous.

It is to decide

forever

to have your heart

go walking around

outside

your body.

Elizabeth Stone

Happy Mother's Day

Mom!

and

to Kelly:

Welcome

to the

Club!

hands to work part 3

As is often the case, I wasn't quite sure of the end product until well into the process. In this case, I started with Nellie Wortman's online class, Tattered and Timeworn Banner, which I discovered via Pinterest when I saw images of her amazing work. An excellent class, with fascinating videos of Nellie's creative process. Nellie is very generous with her talent, and I learned a lot from her.

See Part 1 and Part 2 for the 'backstory' on this piece. As I was assembling my own banner I realized that the photo I had been playing with would be perfect for a focal point. And once I had a focal point - a raison d'être - I had the necessary fuel to drive the creative engine in me (I think they call that synchronicity). Soon I was happily in My Zone, with assorted bits of fabric, threads, lace, buttons, paper, and a rusted tin lid, all shouting, "Pick me!" It just doesn't get any better than this!

I gave this to Mom for Christmas, and she now displays it in her sewing room...where she likes to play with needle and thread.

***

I'm a bit late with the Show & Share link-up, but I would love to see what you might have made for Christmas...or whatever you'd care to share. This week's link-up will be open thru Tuesday, January 7th.

An InLinkz Link-up

***

Happy New Year!

show & share: peg 'o my heart

In honor of what would have been my parents' 60th wedding anniversary, here's an altered book I made for them over 10 years ago:

I gotta say this is my favorite way of working: gathering artifacts and mementos of a special event or loved ones, then pulling it all together and telling a story with all of it. I had a lot to work with here:

• my favorite wedding photo of Mom and Dad (Mom says that Dad had just cracked a joke as the photographer pressed the shutter button. This was so Dad!)
• photocopies of assorted newspaper clippings, plus the handwritten receipt for rent for their first apartment, in Dad's own handwriting
• snapshots from their courtship and wedding rehearsal
• bits of vintage chantilly lace from the 1950's
• crucifix

On the back of the book cover is the text of the Denver Post newspaper article.

I was greatly inspired by by Cindy Pestka's article in the Jan/Feb 2002 issue of Somerset Studio magazine. I played around with the concept, adapted it and made it my own, eventually teaching an Altered Book class at a local scrapbook shop, where I worked at that time. I later wrote an article about my books for Legacy magazine (Oct/Nov 2005). I will share more of these books later...

***

Here's a more recent photo of Mom and Dad, one which I took just five years ago at Thanksgiving - which we have always celebrated simultaneously with their wedding anniversary. I love this shot!

Have a listen to this old tune 'Peg 'O My Heart' which was a favorite of Dad's:

Peg o' my heart
I'll love you don't let us part
I love you I always knew it would be you
Since I heard your lilting laughter
It's your Irish heart I'm after
Peg o' my heart
Your glances make my heart say
How's chances come be my own
Come make your home in my heart

***

Kim's Beyond Beyond lesson for Day 34 last week happened along at the right time: making a 'magic' texture and applying it to a photograph for a subtly rich effect. It was just the right touch for the white background in these photos, which seemed a bit sterile for my tastes. Thanks Kim! How do you know just what I need at the right moment?

I used Kim's kk_waterfront20 for my 'experiment' and tried the Color Dodge blend mode @42%...just perfect for my purposes!

I converted the 2008 photo of Mom and Dad to b&w in Lightroom, playing around with the duo-tone concept, and even made it into a preset. It seemed to need warming up, so I added a layer of kk_waterfront12 (Overlay 34%, and then desaturated it a bit).

Linking up with

Beyond Beyond Day 34

Texture Tuesday

Vintage Fest

***

An InLinkz Link-up

random friday finds: hands to work part 2

See Part 1 of this post here.

My mother has been my 'stitch buddy' for most of my life...and my "best girlfriend" for all of my adult life. (She knew better than to try to be my friend while I was growing up; then she was simply Mom.) 

Here is a random sampling of Mom's quilt artistry. These few examples of her handiwork tell the story of a woman who creates with needle and thread for the pure joy of it...and for the love of her family and community.

Mom has won several ribbons

at the Boulder County Fair

over the years

including Best of Show and Viewer's Choice.

This is one of the quilts

she made for each of her seven grandchildren.

***

Mom also made a baby quilt for each grandchild.

I "documented" ours in

the girls' scrapbooks

a few years ago.

Here is Kelly's:

(quilt made in 1989)

...and Erin's

(quilt made in 1991)

Mom submitted the photo of herself with wee Erin

to Quilters Newsletter

and "got published"!

***

Many years ago

Mom helped make this quilt

with her friends on the 

Lakewood Arts Council

commemorating the city's 25th anniversary.

She was instrumental in all phases of its creation:

organization, design, and construction.

It is hand appliquéd and hand quilted.

The quilt is displayed

in the lobby of

Lakewood City Hall.

***

Mom and I have shared our love of stitchery

over the years.

We were both long time members

of the

Columbine Quilt Guild

and

Colorado Quilting Council

Here we are making baby quilts

at a

Charity Sew-In

in 2000.

***

Mom also made a quilt

for each of her four children.

This Grandmother's Fan

is mine.

Mom machine pieced it

and then had it hand quilted.

Each and every quilt

has been documented.

Lillian likes to nap here.

(she is the only one allowed

to sit on a quilt in this house)

***

Hands to work,

hearts to God.

Shaker proverb

***

Linking up with

Friday Finds

Random 5 Friday

Stay tuned: there's gonna be a Part 3 really soon...

hands to work - part 1

Pulling together the many threads of my thoughts of late, I searched for and found these two photos of my mother. (Don't even try to follow my train of thought when I'm in The Zone.) They were part of an assignment for Karen Russell's online photography class, which I took in 2008. If you ever get a chance, do take this class! I believe the assignment was about exploring depth of field, and my own Mom and Dad allowed me to 'shoot' them. Thanks to Karen's class over five years ago, I have some  wonderful photos of my parents...

While I was thinking about what I wanted to do with these photos, what should appear in my Inbox but two important emails from Kim Klassen:

1. The long-awaited release of Kim's new Waterfront Collection.
2. A brand-new post for our Beyond Beyond class, complete with a new Lightroom preset and tutorial as well as one for texturizing in Photoshop.

Kim was thinking 'still life' and, naturally, I had portraiture in mind. But I figured I could make it work. I applied her new DarkDay preset, as well as her SummerHaze. Jumping into Photoshop, I did a bit of texturizing, but I used a different texture: kk_waterfront20 - a little more subtle for my needs. The little tip about selective sharpening was perfect for Mom's hands.

Look for Part 2 next Friday - I should have it pulled together by then.

***

Hands to work,

hearts to God.

Shaker proverb

***

Linking up with

Texture Tuesday

Beyond Beyond

show & share: every child is an artist

Every child is an artist.

The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

Pablo Picasso

You would never have known it by reading my blog that I have done some serious stitching. I have mentioned it in passing in a few posts over the last year or so. Four, to be exact. Click on my new sub-heading, 'Stitchery' - or click on the 'Stitchery' category to your right to see those posts.

I actually defined myself as a Quilter for almost 20 years. I was into quilting big time. More on that later. Early in my quilting 'career' I discovered crazy quilting...and re-discovered a childhood passion for embroidery.

Last week, while searching for something else I stumbled across these 'artifacts':

My first embroidery

cotton floss on polyester cotton fabric

age 5

(signed backwards - natural for a lefty)

Crewel embroidery pillowcase

wool yarn on linen

age 10

My mother taught me

while she embroidered

a bedspread.

Embroidered sampler (purse)

wool yarn on woolen fabric

age 12

I believe this was from

an Erica Wilson book

Folk Art embroidered purse

cotton floss on muslin

age 14(?)

Yesterday I was showing them to my daughter, Erin, and telling her about this Show & Share link-up. She suggested that I make this week's theme Kid Art. So here we go...

Take a photo of some childhood art - your own or that of your children or grandchildren...or any child you know. I hope you will join me. It's not nearly as scary as showing your First Quilt.

***

An InLinkz Link-up