Monday, January 30, 2012

Sketchbook Project 2012


I had grand plans for this years Sketchbook project...it was less pages and I signed up earlier which meant more time to make it a work of art. Ha! The little book got shuffled aside, buried under mountains of other, more important papers, ignored for other projects until I just had two weeks to finish it before the deadline. When I had originally signed up with my theme "Travel with Me", I planned on only using ink and colored pencil. In the end, I resorted to watercolor because it was a faster way of slapping color onto the page even though the pages aren't really made for wet media. I did still manage to use ink but instead of thoughtful, detailed drawings, I went for the free-flowing scribbleness of quicky lines.
Still, I liked it. Because it's mine. And, I put little "travel secrets" throughout the book. I mailed it off to the Brooklyn Museum of Art with just a week to spare. Whew! (wipes brow and sinks into the couch for a nap).
Cover Page

 This is the intro page.
 I love this picture because it shows just how much I love to travel
 despite whatever weather I may be facing.

Paris

Places in Paris I love. ♥

London

 Feeding the pigeons in Hyde Park.

 Rome

 Bavaria

 Hallstatt, Austria

The C2C

Hadrian's Wall Trail

The Herriot Way (I had lots of help on this page by the kitten walking into paint and then onto my page! Not to mention constantly trying to chew the corners up and eat the pens)

 Cumbria Way

Rio de Janeiro

Somerset

Stonehenge

Venice

Closing page

I will sign up again this year because I proved this time around that with even just two weeks, I can get something onto the page. :)  As always though, my hope is I will have lots of time to work on it. :)

Sunday, January 29, 2012

iPhoneography Mission #22

iPhoneography Mission #22
Create abstract compositions of electrical wires on a backdrop of sky.                                                         


I have to admit, I pretty much forgot about this mission. I shot some things at the very beginning of the week and played with the images in Pixlr-o-matic, trying some of the new features I had downloaded for the app. But then, Nichole's father-in-law passed away suddenly and I was occupied with thoughts of her and her family. I also was very distracted by my Sketchbook project, which I finished with just a week to spare (photos to come soon!) and also with how little time I actually have to work on my Bunco decorations (I switched to panic mode and got a bunch of stuff accomplished so I feel much more relaxed now). If it weren't for those few photos I took at the beginning of the week, I would have failed this mission!  Not all of them are abstract because I liked some of them just the way they were. :)

And then the rain came...

 4x3

 Camera Shy

 Pop Goes the Wire

 Nature vs. Man-made

 Fenced In

The Watchers

Here's hoping for brighter days ahead with a new mission for the week:

iPhoneography Mission #23: Find something round.

Sounds simple enough...but is it? :)

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

For Nichole...

This post is dedicated to my dear friend and creative soul sister, Nichole, who lost her father-in-law this week. She created an image for me when I lost my mother-in-law a few months ago and that simple gesture helped replace a tiny bit of the grief with hope and love. I hope this image does the same for her. I love you Nichole. ♥

Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by doubling our joy and the dividing of our grief.
~Marcus Tullius Cicero

Sunday, January 22, 2012

iPhoneography Mission #21

iPhoneography Mission #21
Find your image in a shiny metal surface


This mission was more difficult that I thought it was going to be. I didn't realize just how little reflective metal is around me. Of course, Fairies don't like metal so that may explain why I don't have much around my house. :)
I did manage to find a few cool things to shoot my reflection in while I was out & about...

 Vintage Bicycle

 Rolls Royce Reflection

Espresso Machine 

Face within the Face

Time to move on to the next mission! And it looks like a good one!
Mission #22: Create abstract compositions of electrical wires on a backdrop of sky. 
Think I'll start that one today with a stroll around the neighborhood. :)

Sunday, January 15, 2012

iPhoneography Mission #20

iPhoneography Mission #20:
Position yourself as close to your subject as you can get.

I thought this mission would be a perfect one to try out the new iPhone 4s and see just how close I could get to a subject and still keep in focus. It's pretty darn good!  I do notice that the focus is much better when using the Native Camera, however I just can't help my addiction to the Hipstamatic, which doesn't have as clean a focus. Still, I give the iPhone 4s an A+ for closeups! 

Sookie

 Barbie

Bromelaid 

 Coreopsis Wildflower

 Blue Orchid

Sami

I'm especially please with my kitty pics, but of course I'm biased. :)  

Here's the next mission and I think it just might be a fun one!:
Mission #21: Find your image in a shiny metal surface




Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Hump Day Humor


Last night I attended our monthly bunco party and the theme was "You Might Be A Redneck if...".
Two of our players, Nancy and Kelly came in character which gave us all quite a laugh.
Penny, the host did a great job decorating too...what with smashed beer cans in the yard, baby items strewn all over, trash piled high and even a truck parked in the yard and a couch on the porch. All in all it was a smashing good time and made even more so by the fact that I won the big cash prize! Yay! That will help to cover the costs of my next bunco which is next month! My theme is "Mad Hatter Tea Party".  A month away..oh my...I'm late, I'm late, I'm late in getting started on my decorations!

Redneck Nancy

Intimates on the Line

Redneck Kelly

Me, as a Trucker (the extent of my redneckness...I am from the Midwest after all!)

Out of the South and Onward to Wonderland!



Tuesday, January 10, 2012

A Westminster Adventure

Some of you may not know that I have a second blog, one dedicated to the research of my ancestors. This past April, I had an unexpected journey into Westminster Abbey that yielded some great finds for my research as well as a few awesome images. I finally got around to posting about it! Here is a little taste:

Cloisters

To see more and read about my adventure into Westminster Abbey's library visit my blog, The Great Ancestral Hunt. 

Sunday, January 8, 2012

iPhoneography Mission #19

Mission #19: Document your conversation partner and what fills the space between you.


I enjoyed this mission, although I did keep forgetting about it! Still, I did manage to capture a few images mostly from this weekend and with food involved,lol.

Charlie and I had lunch at Cheesecake Factory on Monday. We ordered items from the new "skinnylicious" menu, while waiting for his new Droid Razr. He had smashed his iPhone 4 the week before by dropping it down the stairs at the Miami Dolphins game. Since his contract was up, he decided to get the Droid. It took FOREVER for Verizon to transfer all his info from the iPhone to the Razr. 4 days later, he was back returning the Droid (which he hated) and getting the iPhone 4s. He can recommend the veggie burger but not the Droid Razr! :)


 On Friday, I met my "niece" Leanne for a quick lunch. She was not feeling up to much as she had all four wisdom teeth pulled a few days before. She was worried about a bruise on her chin and her puffy cheeks. Thus, I decided to title this image "cheeky". :) We talked about her role as Irene in Chekhov's Three Sisters and her new boyfriend (who is currently on Broadway in Wicked!). We made plans for an upcoming photo shoot and we planned to meet up in London in the Springtime. 

On Saturday, I met up with Lita for a day at Flamingo Gardens. Here, I was telling her not to move as her shirt was matching the jeep and I wanted to get a shot of it. Later, we went to lunch at our favorite place near Flamingo. A little tea room called Vienna Cafe & Bistro. I was going to take a picture of Lita while there but we both got distracted by what filled the space between us: Her floral, dainty and delicate tea cup. I didn't realize I didn't document HER until after I got home.

The dainty teacup that kept distracting me. :)

I did have a lot of various conversations with critters while at Flamingo but none were as personal as the conversation about food with this White Ibis. I had massive trouble trying to get the quarter into the food-dispensing machine and the Ibis was poking at my hands and fingers the whole time with his beak, telling me to hurry up. When I finally got the food, he gobbled it from my hand.

A usual Saturday night spent in with hubby and cats. Conversation usually is a variety of topics. But this particular one is Sookie telling me with "that look" that she is being held against her will,lol.

On Sunday, I headed out for a jog and stopped to chat with my neighbor, Craig and his 5 month old French Bulldog, Stella. He told me how he placed her in the Mailbox with a big red bow around it and took pictures to send out on their Christmas cards. Too cute! 


For as long as I can remember, Shaun's cross has been along my walking path. He was a teen who died in a car accident on the street that runs alongside here. I always talk to him when I walk or bike by. I give him blessings and ask him to watch over me while I'm out on my own and, most recently, to say hello to my mother-in-law. Today, after I talked to him, this is what started playing on my iPod
A good way to end the week, I think. Now onward to the next mission:


Mission # 20: Position yourself as close to your subject as you can get.

Full steam ahead into the second week of January!