i'm never really ready for this...

...but after an unusually warm October

(I was just on my bike the other day - in shorts!)

near-zero temperatures

and blizzard-like conditions

are indeed a

shock to the system.

***

Yesterday I watched

out the window

as it began

to snow.

I felt compelled

to draw.

Soon the white stuff

began to collect

on the few remaining leaves

still clinging to

the aspen trees

in our back yard.

As my eyes saw

my hand drew...

and

in my heart

I sensed

their plight.

I felt

their fear.

I knew

how it would end.

***

Early this morning

I felt compelled

to capture

this unfolding drama

with my camera.

It was so cold

I didn't want to risk

damaging condensation

in my 'big' camera,

so I made a few quick captures

with my iPhone 5.

Version 1

Editing done on my iPad

with the following apps:

LEONARDO - adjust exposure, contrast, brightness

PHOTOGRID- create layout

STACKABLES - add textures:

Winter Frost (Multiply 20%)

Glacial Ice (Color 25%)

Bleached (Soft Light 75%)

Worn Canvas (Hard Light 25%)

Version 2

Editing done on my iMac with

LIGHTROOM (preset: kk_truecolor)

and

PHOTOSHOP

The 'platinum' Gradient Map adjustment layer

(Lighten Blend Mode 32%)

toned down the bright

yellows and greens

just a bit.

***

For everything there is a season

and a time for every matter

under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

***

Linking up with

Friday Finds

Texture Tuesday

Thank you Roxi and Julie
for getting me hooked

with your

30 Day Scrap with Apps Challenge.

This is seriously

too much fun!

c'mon summer

Here it is May 1st, and it's snowing.

Again.

I mean, really?

Sure...we need the moisture.

Indeed...it is a beautiful sight - on the distant mountain tops.

True...it's a spring storm and it will be melted in just a few days.

Flatirons Vista

April 20, 2013

Enough already!

I am so ready to get on my mountain bike and explore new trails.

***

Linking up with Beyond Beyond and Texture Tuesday.

xoxo

Cindy

winter haiku

Winter??

Don't you mean spring? Yeah, don't I wish. Here in these parts we're finally getting the precipitation our drought-stricken land has been craving for months. And in true Colorado style, April is turning out to be more wintery than January. Even the oft-repeated mantra, "we sure need the moisture" is wearing mighty thin.

So...I've been back in my studio in recent weeks, just casually playing around in my art journal with gesso, paint, paper, stamps, crayons, stitching...whatever I can get my hands on. While I thoroughly enjoy and love creating with camera and computer, I gotta admit that I have sorely missed the hands-on, real-time stuff in my studio.

I promised myself I would do  just one layer of something each day. Non-committal, no worries or expectations, or pressure to create a masterpiece or anything. Just play around and enjoy the process. That is what an art journal is for.

At some point in my layering process I dug up a spare print I had made years ago: a scanned favorite snapshot of young Bob and his friends on the makeshift skating rink at the park across the street from his house. Growing up in Canada meant strapping on ice skates at an early age...and, in Bob's words, "literally crawling home every night, exhausted from hours of hockey..." Fond memories indeed. He loved skating, and to see him on his hockey skates now...well, it's as if he'd been born with skates on. Which, as I said before, is not far from the truth.

I finally turned to haiku to express the sentiments I had unearthed and discovered that I can write...and poetry at that!

A strong contrast to his recent mutterings about winter, which I will leave to your imagination. I mean, the guy just wants to get out to the range and teach, and get on his bicycle and ride. I heartily concur.

***

Linking up with Tuesday Muse.

xoxo

Cindy