22nd & 8th, a Digital Watercolor

22nd & 8th

This week I worked on a digital watercolor for Leanne. It was suppose to be her grad present when she graduated from NYU last May but I had so much going on that I couldn't get it done until this week. It's the view from her window. I wanted her to have an artistic reminder of her life in NYC...where she lived when she went to NYU, graduated, fell in love, made her stage debut and started her career as a working actress. She even rode out Hurricane Sandy here. 

I did it all in Photoshop. It took 6 hours over three days and had 16 layers. I didn't save each layer so I can't show the progress like I did with the lion painting from the last post but if anyone has questions about doing a digital watercolor, feel free to email me. 

Catching up on Life

Life has been moving at a rapid pace for me lately. The short version, as to not bore you all, is after the trip to Arkansas, I went to London & Paris with my husband, entertained my family for a week and then flew to NYC for a long weekend, which then turned into a week thanks to being stuck in Chelsea during Hurricane Sandy. I arrived home just in time to make a portrait photo shoot I had to do for my neighbor and her family before turning around again and flying to Arizona for a week of visiting with my friends, family and of course, doing a little birding in Sedona. I've been home for a little over a week and I can't believe how far behind I am on everything. Plus, I had two outings with Lita (one to Key Biscayne, another to Loxahatchee) that yielded even more birds and nature pics! The year is ending and a new one is beginning. This means old goals to try to catch up on, new ones to set for the year.

Birding has been taking up free time. I do so enjoy it. I have plans to begin art projects inspired by all my new feathered friends. I am looking to make 2013 another year of living the best life I can and fitting creativity into my everyday life. I've got some amazing trips scheduled for 2013...both Phoebe and Luke will be coming down to enjoy Florida and Phoebe and I will be hitting Costa Rica together in the early part of summer on a yoga retreat. And finally, my big trek of the Pennine Way is happening in April. I still have in the works, a trip to both NYC and Sedona again next fall for the Fall Migration. We shall see if it pans out, but it's all going on the Dream Board. Also going on there: Peru, Ecuador, New Zealand, Africa and Japan. If you are going to dream, why not dream BIG?  Have you all started your Dream/Vision boards for 2013 yet? Get crackin'! Time is running out! I'll share mine when it's done. ;-)

Until then, It's time to start processing and posting hundreds of photos from all these adventures! Here are just a few from each trip:

 Old World

Visions of Moulin Rouge

Flood Fascination on the Hudson

The day of Sandy's arrival

Naked Cowboy

 Great-tailed Grackle, Thunderbird Mountain, Glendale, Arizona

Lifer #141

 Arizona Sunset

Anna's Hummingbird

Lifer #150

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with my blog a bit better in 2013. If you don't hear from me for a while, don't worry, I'm just off exploring somewhere. ;-)

Glorious Gotham

I just returned from a short trip to New York City where I spent a couple of days with my friend Phoebe and also a couple of days with my lovely "niece" Leanne. Phoebe and I roamed around the city with our iPhone shooting the city with the Hipstamatic, which lends itself well to street photography. I did shoot with the 50mm as well, just not as much. Mainly because it was just too damn hot to have my heavy Nikon hanging around my neck. So, without further ado, a few of my favorites of Glorious Gotham taken with the iPhone:

 24 Fifth Avenue

Park Benches

 The Chelsea Inn

Skyline

No Parking Anytime

 The Electra

The Golden Ratio (also known as Leanne & Etai)

While hanging with Leanne I got to meet her roommate Meera who is an incredibly talented filmmaker. I also finally got to meet Etai, her boyfriend who is currently finishing up three years of playing Boq in Wicked on Broadway. While I was with both of them, Leanne got a call and was offered two roles including a dream lead in an upcoming Off Broadway play. It was an amazing moment watching her get the news and the tears welling up in her eyes, knowing that all her hard work was paying off and that she was getting to make a living at doing something she loves. I'm already planning a trip to go see her perform! And stay tuned for more Glorious Gotham pics as I still have a lot to process including those I took with the 50mm!