in this place

...and I knew it not.

Genesis 28:16 

Sometimes it is hard to believe

that God is

present

in our lives,

especially

in

trying times.

If He seems distant

we have only to

reach out

to

Him.

I remind myself of this on a regular basis.

***

LR preset: darkmood

Textures: kk1 and kk-magic0916

Linking up with

Be Still 52 (week 27)

My Still Sunday (via Instagram)

Texture Tuesday

playtime

mouse over to see the original

***

Notes:

SETUP

teddy bear

belonging to

young Bobbie Swainson

c. 1960

+ 

wooden top and plaid scrapbook

belonging to

young Aldo Notarianni

c. 1930

+

wooden crate magazine rack

belonging to

my late sister Elissa

before I painted/distressed it 'shabby chic' style

setup

(+ tripod)

original photo

SOOC

Numerous shots in Manual mode,

playing with depth of field,

focal point

and shutter speed.

***

 In Lightroom

I cropped (4x5),

cloned away the dark corner,

played with

multiple adjustments

...

and then I scrapped it all

and started over

with Kim's

kk_oldendays preset.

Perfect!

Just the effect I was looking for.

***

In Photoshop

I added two layers of

kk_waterfront1

Hard Light 20%

and

Multiply 30%

(I lowered the saturation on this layer)

I masked the texture

off of the bear and the top.

Font:

2Peas Just Plain Little

***

Linking up with

Start to Finish 2

Be Still 52

be still: a beginning

This little

Beleek creamer

of my mother's

has always been a favorite.

Just a few lilacs

survived

our 

spring snowstorm.

I don't remember

where or how

I acquired

this wonderful

old, old

children's book.

I put it all together

with

an old

cutwork linen

doily

and set it up

with

some makeshift

painted plywood

backdrops.

And I played...

I'm shooting

in Manual Mode

now...

various f-stops,

shutter speeds,

exposures

and

auto-focus points.

Set up everything,

shoot some pix,

run downstairs

with the

flashcard

and load 'em

into Lightroom.

Study them closely,

mostly checking

for

'tack sharp'

focus.

Then

head back upstairs

and

try again.

The light is different
just a few feet away! 

Lillian

patiently

watched...

...and seemed to
understand
why I am
compelled
to do
this.


***

Thanks Kim
for
Be Still 52


***

I painted one side
of each of two
plywood scraps
flat white
then distressed them
by rubbing them
on gravel.

Top photos
edited in
Lightroom
and Photoshop
with Kim's
Texture Tuesday
recipe
this week
(I chose
the Beleek creamer
because of its
soft yellow
'ribbon'
and interior glaze).

I added
 kk_simple
to the top photo only
(just one layer at 38% Soft Light)
The other photos
needed the clarity
with all their busy-ness.

***

re: ephemera, wabi-sabi, still-life, and light

Start where you are.

Use what you have.

***

So

I started with

a scrap of

ephemera

from my Dad's

old stamp collection

'stash'

and dug up

this old chunk

of wood

and sifted

through

some

old potpourri

and

sorted

through

some

old buttons

and

in a

free-flowing

wabi-sabi

state of mind,

I

quickly

composed this

little

still life

it was if a story

was unfolding

as I assembled

the bits and pieces...

I've been to Wyoming

'though I don't know exactly where

Upton is.

Champa Street

is in

downtown Denver.

I searched for

some

early morning

light

and

the rest

is

history.

Or

rather

photography.

***

CAMERA SETTINGS:

Camera: Canon 6D (full frame)

Lens: Canon 28-135mm

Focal Length: 135mm

(Lens Image Stabilizer turned off for tripod use)

Mode: Manual

Auto Focus (center point focus) with Evaluative Metering

ISO 400, f/18, 1.3 sec

(I was going for 'tack sharp'

to emphasize the

assorted textures

and

light/shadow play)

***

PHOTO EDITING:

Lightroom:

lots of experimentation

with

cropping, snapshots

presets (mainly Kim's LightAiry Workflow)

then edited in

Photoshop CC:

just a bit of

layering

from Kim's Home Sweet Home Set

kk_hsh3 (Multiply 52%)

kk_hsh (Overlay 17%)

***

Linking up

with

Start to Finish 2

Friday Finds

(late as usual)

what we need to know

for Erin...

following Kim's recipe
from this week's
Texture Tuesday
I added another layer of Waterfront 7
(Multiply 53% opacity)

Original photo

SOOC

***

Linking up

with

Start to Finish 2

Texture Tuesday

good friday: why focus on the cross?

It's somewhat Pollyannish to say, "Christianity is just about the Resurrection, and not the Cross." To say that is to deny the gritty evil in the world. But once you get past childhood and start reading serious books and watching more sophisticated films, you find people desperately wrestling with evil. That's what any serious novel, film, or play is about. Just look at any of Shakespeare's plays--there's always someone engaging profound evil. Therefore, it doesn't make sense to say, "Let's not focus on the Cross; it's too sad, too dark, too evil." 

Pressing the issue theologically, what is the Cross? It's God journey into God-forsakenness. God enters into human dysfunction in all of its forms. In the Passion narratives you have cruelty, violence, hatred, injustice, stupidity--all of human dysfunction is on display. And Jesus enters into that, thereby redeeming it. 

The Church fathers liked to say, "What has not been assumed has not been saved." Jesus assumes the human condition in all of its dysfunction, going all the way down, so to say. And it's only for that reason he can bring us all the way up. 

The Resurrection without the Cross is superficial, just as the Cross without the Resurrection is despair. It's the play between the two that matters. 

~ Father Robert Barron

http://www.lentreflections.com/why-focus-on-the-cross/

I made this little piece awhile back, and it hangs next to our front door. Symbolism abounds:

• the color red = the blood of Christ
• dried rosebuds = the five petals of the rose symbolic of the five wounds of Christ - enclosed beneath the crucified Christ (a vintage remnant, sans cross, from an ebay lot of religious medals)
• which I nailed to the wooden support = the cross itself
• (freshwater) pearl - symbolic of Godly wisdom

I assembled it all on the back side of a small stretched canvas (4x5"), which I painted and distressed, then added mica, fiber and metal.

***

For God so loved the world

that he gave his only begotten Son

that whomsoever believes in him

shall not perish

but have everlasting life.

***

Linking up with

Friday Finds

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!

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.

***

An InLinkz Link-up

Linking up with

Texture Tuesday

Vintage Fest

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

friday finds: albuquerque part 3

Today I am concluding my armchair journey to Albuquerque. It's still in keeping with historical, cultural, and architectural themes, but I am fast-forwarding a few hundred years to the late 1940's.

It's time to "get your kicks on Route 66" and here's a little music video to get you in a nostalgic mood:

I couldn't help but hear the fabulous velvety voice of Nat King Cole

on that hot sunny day five years ago

as I made my way along Central Avenue SW (the old Route 66).

Admittedly, this is a little before my time, but it puts me in mind of the many summer vacations

with my family, when I was a kid in the 60's and 70's. 

We stayed in more than a few motels like this -

many with a quaint name or homey atmosphere

to remember them by.

We ate in many an eatery back in the day.

Some of the old places have been restored and/or are still in business today.

I'm not so sure about "steak fingers" and eggs. Meh.

This old neon sign is wonderfully grungy.

I hope someone rescues this bit of Americana

but it's kinda big...where would you put it?

Do you suppose today's big SUVs would even fit in these carports?

Here's a place with some attractive features.

No WiFi though, and thanks, but I've got my cellphone.

Many sites are now obscured behind chain link fences,

I suppose to keep away vandals and vagrants.

Or nosey tourists with cameras.

I wonder who actually owns these run-down old properties

and what, if anything they plan to do with them.

I can still picture my mother doing a 'recon' before the whole family trouped into the place

(motel or restaurant).

She sure had an eye for a clean bed and bath, but sometimes

we had to settle for somewhat 'less than hygienic' accommodations

(aka a "flea bag")

especially out in the middle of nowhere.

If Mom saw tablecloths on the tables, then chances are it was safe to eat there.

She also checked out the menu, with taste and budget in mind

(Mom + Dad + four kids + two grandparents...that's a lot of tired, hungry people to feed).

***

I know there was probably a more efficient way to 'batch process' these photos, but I wasn't in the mood to spend the time to figure it out. So here's what I did:

In Lightroom 4  I cropped each photo, keeping the original size ratio, then treated them with the following presets:

1. Dave Delnea's CyanSkies Look3
2. His Backlight Vertical Left 
3. His C+V Washed Vintage 001
4. Lightroom's Rounded Corners White (in hindsight, I would have increased the width a bit; as you can see, only the corners show up)

Here's a screenshot of my Photoshop CS6 processing:

***

Linking up with

Friday Finds

Texture Tuesday

Weekend Walk