Open to the experience

"To receive everything, one must open one's hand and give." 

--Taisen Deshimaru

Linking up with Texture Tuesday over at Kim Klassen's cafe.

offering jars at Wat Pho
processed with three layers of Kim Klassen's "Warm Sun" texture
(overlay @50%, linear burn @75%, and linear light @11%)

Here are some images from our first day in Thailand:  a visit to Bangkok's Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha.

flowers for sale outside the temple

an offering tree

miniature Buddha beside the great reclining statue

I fell in love with the peaceful, gentle nature of this country! 

 (Is it possible to be a Christian Buddhist?)

Time Traveller

Our family spent a wonderful two weeks in Thailand over the Christmas holidays.  Between preparing for the trip, enjoying the trip, and then recovering from the trip, I've been away from the blog world for awhile.  I have barely begun to look at my photos, let alone play with them, but I will share one now just in time to link up with Texture Tuesday over at Kim Klassen's cafe.  It was processed with three layers of her "Embrace" texture (two in color burn @100% and one in soft light @100%):

Reclining Buddha at Doi Suthep Temple, near Chiang Mai

We had a wonderful time exploring Thailand, and discovered that the Thai people are some of the most heart-centered in the world... there was a palpable sense of kindness and compassion that can only come from their strong Buddhist faith.  The food was incredibly delicious, too:  imagine, Thai food three times a day!!!  I especially enjoyed my holiday from Western breakfasts, and ate nothing but soup, noodles and rice in the morning instead of cereal, eggs or toast.  

On another note, I did have a shopping mission, too: I was constantly on the lookout for interesting fabric to use for quilting.  Here is some of what I found:

cotton

cotton 

hand-dyed hemp

hand-dyed and printed indigo on cotton

a rainbow of silks -- the fun part was that the solid colors only cost about $10-$13 per yard

hand woven silk in a traditional pattern 

ikat pattern in silk

Jet lag from Thailand is miserable, though.  There is a 12 hour time difference between Connecticut and Bangkok -- that's about as much as you can get!  We've been home almost a week now, and I think we are just about back to our usual sleep schedule; I tell you, it's no fun waking up at 3 am, raring to go, and falling asleep over dinner at 6....

Here is one of the first pieces I made for my new online class with Jane Davies on "Exploring the Self-Portrait." Jet lag does a number on you, alright -- I never noticed that I gave myself a beard, until I loaded this photo onto the class blog.

I hope to be back to normal next week!

It's about time

I have been having so much fun with my online classes this fall!  My "text and image" class with Jane Davies has just concluded -- and Jane is such a wonderful teacher that I immediately signed up for her next class on self-portraits, which starts on January 2.  I think there is still room so by all means, check out the class description and join if you are interested.  

The final assignment in my current class was to create a series of small pieces that suggest a story or common theme, but leave enough room for the viewer's own interpretation.  I learned a lot through this exercise:  On the one hand, I prefer to work on a larger scale because there is greater scope for playing with color and texture, which is what I love the most.  On the other hand, I really enjoyed the smaller ATC format because it was easier to find useful text at this size from old books or newspapers.  I discovered that I like working on several pieces simultaneously because there is always something to do next, even when you are waiting for other things to dry.  Finally, it reinforced my sense that ideas need time to percolate before being expressed.  I had been mulling over this assignment for days, so when I had time to work on it, everything just flowed. 

Gratitude

What amazing weather we've been having here in Connecticut this week!  People were outside in shorts and t-shirts in November!  It feels like time is on some kind of a weird fast track:  it's spring right now, following our 8 inches of snowy weather last month... now I'm ready for summer!  Well, that's just a fantasy, I know, but I am grateful for this short respite from the cold.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday here at home, so "gratitude" is the perfect theme for Texture Tuesday.  Make sure you visit Kim's site to see some really amazing work!

Textured with Kim Klassen's "Chamomile" (color burn @100% and soft light @100%)

I know I've said this before, but my family does NOT appreciate textures.  My husband says this looks like the serving knife has rust all over it.... The pie was delicious, in any case.

"And then some" (soft light @100%, multiply @100%) and "Thursday" (soft light @100%)

Our centerpiece was beautiful, too.  I love how the textures really saturate the blooms here:

"Phoebe" (overlay @100% and color burn @100%) and "And then some" (multiply @100%)

I've been trying to get more intense colors from my photographs, and have been playing with creating high dynamic range images by combining several different exposures of one shot.  This one isn't a great composition by any stretch, but I love how the colors came out, even without adding any textures:

hdr image -- four different shots, blended on soft light mode

original images:  over- and under-exposed

I am grateful for all the wonderful aspects of the day:  the food, the flowers, the weather.... but in the end, the most important thing of all is having family to celebrate with.

My parents

Shooting on "blur" at Grand Central

Sunday was such a glorious day!  The weather was unseasonably warm and sunny -- perfect for photography.  My husband and I spent the day in New York, taking a class from the Digital Photo Academy, entitled "Composition in the Field:  Grand Central Station." Our instructor, Morgan, combined technical information on using the camera in low light situations with practical tips on composition and style. It was the perfect level class for us, giving us hands on experience of techniques that we had only read about, but never worked with before.  Both of us were feeling energized and excited about using our newfound knowledge, and were getting lots of great captures.

Except.... that in the hustle and bustle and noise of the city, I kind of forgot to listen for the "chirp" of my autofocus.  I must have accidentally moved the setting on my camera to manual, and the result was that I lost most of my images to blur.  [Sigh.]  And there I was, thinking all day that I really needed to visit the eye doctor!

Here are a few shots that escaped the blur... I'll salvage some more for next week.

This one is great for using the heavier textures; there is a lot of empty space just begging for layers of meaning (see my post earlier today, on why I love layers)

Processed with Kim Klassen's "Warm Grunge" (soft light @100%) and two layers of
"Scripted Autumn (soft light @100% and multiply @100%)

A beam of light illuminated the ticket window just for a moment, and I was there to catch it!

One layer of "Phoebe" (soft light @100%)

Outside, a taxi driver was walking down the line of waiting cabs:

Three layers of "Phoebe" (soft light @100%, overlay @28%, and color burn @14%)

Linking up to Texture Tuesday -- be sure to check out all the wonderful submissions over at Kim's site!

Layers

I should know this about myself by now -- I do not do my best work in a hurry. This is true in all aspects of my life. If I rush through dinner preparations, the meal is lackluster. On the other hand, if I follow every step mindfully, the results can really be spectacular. The same thing is true of my art. I find that if I try to finish a journal page all at once, it ends up flat and dull.  It takes layers of color and texture to convey a sense of meaning.

That is why I love Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's "30 Days in Your Journal" online course. Julie's style is wonderfully forgiving -- anything goes, just try to spend a little time every day on your art (but no guilt if you can't!) By eliminating the pressure to "finish" anything at one sitting, the ideas you journal about can percolate over time, and you can make serendipitous connections that would have eluded you otherwise. I am behind in the assignments -- my trip to Houston kept me from my studio -- but that's the beauty of this class:  it's self-paced!

Here's my current page:

I guess you can tell my favorite colors!

As if this wasn't enough, I am simultaneously taking Jane Davies' online "Text and Image" class.  Jane is the queen of layers, and her painterly style is so inspiring.   When I work on my assignments, I go into the "zone" and time just doesn't exist anymore... I don't want this class to end!

Past and Future

I love to participate in Kim Klassen's Texture Tuesday, but I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to go out and take any pictures.  So for this week's submission, I am relying on my archives.

Here's a shot that I took of my daughter about ten years ago (hard to believe that my baby is now a senior in high school!) All I had to do was add one layer of the challenge texture, "Phoebe," and instantly the colors popped.  Now that's my kind of texture!

My daughter, Sam, textured with Kim Klassen's "Phoebe" (one layer in soft light blending mode @100% opacity) 

SOOC

While I don't have a lot of current photos to play with, I have been dreaming of the images I will capture next summer.... we are planning a hiking trip in Ireland, combined with a stay in the Italian countryside.  These are probably two of my most favorite spots on earth, so there's lots to dream about!

Here's a cottage on the west coast of Ireland where we stayed several years ago:

Textured with Pixel Dust's "Grunge Surprise" plus  Kim Klassen's "Golden", "Warm Sun" and 2 layers of "Crackerjack"

And here is a picture my husband took in Bologna.  (I forget the recipe, since I textured this awhile ago).  I know my husband took the shot because it's the view from a tower, and I do NOT go up that high without having walls and glass between me and the sheer drop below....

I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with!