Always up for a challenge

It's all about the journey

There are several blogs I read with regularity, with Marie Otero's Lost Aussie on the Loose being one of them. Yesterday, she passed on an intriguing challenge she found at a blog new to me, Kate Heshan's This Disordered Life. The challenge? Take a background Kate created and just run with it. Do your own thing. Create!

Kate says:
One of the things that most fascinates me about art is how you can have a group of about thirty people give them the same task and they all come up with something different. It's amazing.
This is a collage and paint background i created. I was about to work over it but then i wondered what other people would do with it. So if you have the time, download this image and work your magic with it. Just remember to show us what you do!

This was a challenge right up my alley! I started in on this last night but it took me three times, with three totally different pieces of art, before something just clicked and I realized I was finally creating something I wanted to keep.

So I pass the challenge along. If you create something too, make sure to pop by This Disordered Life and post your link! Here's the background:

Just call her Destructo

Both of our previous dogs, Madison and Terra, were very hard on their toys. Tippi is definitely following in their footsteps. (Pawprints?)

You may recall a very cute photograph I posted of Tippi a few days ago, with a red and white vinyl toy. Much to my amusement now, I titled that blog post, This toy is still in one piece. Silly me. This is what the toy looked like last night:



Yes, she was in the midst of demolishing it. By the time we went to bed, this is all that was left:


Fast forward to this morning. Here's what was going on in my house:





And later today, this:



And in case you're interested, she finished her demolition project this afternoon.

Indestructable toys. Right now, I heart indestructable toys.

I won Photo of the Week!

I am very psyched this morning! You see, there is a group at Flickr called Color My World Daily -- the theme each day is a different colour and the daily winners have their photo displayed on the group's main page for the entire week. The quality of the winning photographs is always very high and I have been submitting photos consistently for about a year now. But have I ever won? Nope .... UNTIL TODAY! I just got an email that the photo you see here was chosen as this week's black and white winner!

It's so nice to get recognition -- a little ego stroking every now and then is a good thing!

Finding time now for art

Life with a puppy -- even an older puppy like six-month-old Tippi, our new family member -- can be hectic. Does she need to go outside? Does she want to play? What's she doing now and why is she so quiet? Today is her one-week anniversary with us and it's been a full week. A few days ago, on a cloudy, grey afternoon, we took her down to the boardwalk to let her burn off some energy before the rains came. Of course, I brought along the camera. And while I naturally took many photographs of Tippi, I trained my camera on other subjects too. Back home, reviewing all the photos, I was particularly struck by one photo: a purple dahlia bud I photographed at the lawn bowling green in Kew Beach Park. And so, during some down-time while Tippi was sleeping, I played around with the photograph in photoshop. Above is the original image, sooc (sooc = straight out of camera); all I did to it was add the copyright watermark. And below, the results of my photoshopping.










I love all four images but I may try my hand at more variations; this photograph is proving very versatile. I think the bottom image is my favourite. So far, anyway. What's yours?

This toy is still in one piece

Another puppy picture for your viewing pleasure. Miracle of miracles, one that isn't fuzzy or a blur! The quantity of blurry photographs is enormous; Tippi is a going concern and when I pull out the camera it's very tough to focus.

In the past few days she's demolished two of her toys, but this one is still hanging in there. She did somehow manage to break the squeaker inside it though. Toy shopping is in our immediate future!

Our newest family member

I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our family! Her name (for now) is Tippi, which is a Scandinavian endearment meaning sweetheart -- or so I read online. The family who gave her to us had already named her Tippy (I changed the spelling) but I feel funny having a pet I haven't personally named, so we are working on a new name.

She is so, so sweet. And yes, she looks a lot like Terra. In actuality, if our first dog, Madison, had had a puppy with Terra, this is what that pup would have looked like. Tippi's mom is a border collie and her dad is a black lab. We met both and they're great dogs. Tippi just had her six-month birthday -- and she's already 50 pounds! The vet says she won't get any taller but she will fill out and likely gain another 10 pounds or so. Big girl!

You may wonder if it's a bit odd to have a dog in the house again and, yes, there are some adjustments. It's been almost eight months since the tragic loss of Terra and not a day goes by that I don't miss her. We weren't actively looking for another dog and as it happened, we didn't have to go looking. Along came Tippi. A notice and a photo on the bulletin board where the captain works and, well, that was that. Funny how life works.

This is one great dog. She's friendly and affectionate and smart and we love that she's now part of our family!

Happy Birthday to Rob!

I think parents feel the passing of time in a very acute way. Today is our son's 26th birthday. Twenty-six! How is this even possible? A year ago I blogged about his 25th birthday and now here we are, a full year later. In the blink of an eye.

I couldn't resist sharing this photograph taken during our family vacation last month. You see, I am a huge 101 Dalmatians fan and I just think this photo of Rob and his girlfriend Joanna is so sweet.

So a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a son who truly is the light of our life! As always, we are very proud and happy parents and Rob, if you're reading this, we love you soooo much!

The opportunity to experiment

Even when I go gangbusters with my art, it's so easy to come to a thudding halt and experience a total creative block. Take the past few days, for example. I've been working away on a few different projects and even managed to get some new work uploaded to my Flickr site. But today? No inspiration to be found.

But I knew where to turn. Every Friday, Art Creations Friday posts a background or photo (usually vintage) and the challenge is simply to create something with it. I don't always participate but every Friday I do have a look and download the image. And so this evening I brought up Friday's photograph and just went at it, no holding back. It's such a relief to have the opportunity to experiment with no pressure whatsoever. If I don't like what I create, I just don't post it.

I do like what I came up with tonight and so happily share it here. It's a combination of the challenge image, multiple textures, a layout template I downloaded months ago, and a page of old text. Please click on it to see it full-sized. I do believe that creative block has been lifted!

At my birdfeeder

Outside of my living room window, hanging off the front porch, there is a simple wooden birdfeeder. Well, sometimes it's a "squirrel feeder"; other times, it's a "raccoon feeder". And when it's received numerous visitors, it's an empty feeder.

I have noticed numerous blue jays flitting around both our front and back yards this summer. That's such a welcome sight from a few years ago, when they all seemed to disappear. I managed to get this photograph from inside my living room before this handsome fellow flew off -- ask anyone, I have the worst luck trying to get decent bird photographs; they always seem to sense the camera and quickly fly away from me -- and then had a little photoshop fun with it.

Hope this makes you smile

Sometimes I just sit at my computer and play around in Photoshop -- especially now that I have CS4 to occupy my spare time. I am discovering all the similarities and differences between it and Elements6 and having a great time. So today, I offer up one of my experiments. Just a little something to give you a wee giggle.

The photoshopping here was not too intense: conversion to black and white, fiddling with the settings to get the conversion where I wanted it, art history brush to recapture the eye colour, poster edges filter, a square crop and then, finally, fitting the image into the layout.

These adorable stuffed toys were prizes I spotted last month in Orlando at Sea World's small midway. The captain and I didn't play any games and so did not win one, but thanks to the magic of photography, I still brought them home!

Tiger, tiger, burning bright

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

--William Blake--

(tiger photographed at the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Indiana;

artwork created for Art Creations Friday and Photo Friday)

PhotoArt: Discarded

It's always wonderful to receive a package in the mail and it's extra-special when it's the new book from my Photo Art Journals group. The theme is Discarded, a topic open to such a wide range of interpretation. My copy arrived in the mail this week and it was a delight to slowly savour each and every page; the participating artists did not disappoint!

My contribution is above; as always, click on it for a better viewing experience. I went back and forth so many times when trying to choose what to include, but when I realized I had photographs of two different discarded chairs, both left at the curb, I knew my search was over. I typically do not do any extensive photoshopping on the images I submit to the group, but decided selective colouring was the way to go for both these photos.

The quotation reads:

do you watch
from the curb
as the world
passes by
afraid
you might get in
its way
--ann mortifee

As always, a world of thanks to the talented Catherine Anderson -- the creative genius who makes belonging to this group such a pleasure!

Gnomes, yes; Clowns, no

Sue wants clowns. She stated so in the comments section on the one-and-only clown photograph I've posted on my blog; she reiterated that request in the comments section on my blog posting yesterday. And she's told me many times, too.

But Sue knows that I find clowns creepy. Nevertheless, I combed through my photographs this afternoon, thinking that surely, somewhere, I had other clown photographs. After all, I take pictures everywhere. But my search was in vain.

So I offer up gnomes instead. Not clowns, I know, but the best I could do. I will keep my eyes open for clown opportunities though. If they pass my way, I will photograph them. Promise.

I do love stone angels

This angel is for Leslie. I promised her I'd work on creating a piece of art using this angel image; not a hardship, she's gorgeous. I photographed her in Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery earlier this year. It may sound strange, but it's the prettiest graveyard I've ever visited.

It's Independence Day in the U.S.

First, let me wish all my American friends a happy 4th of July! May you have picnics, fireworks, parades -- all that makes the holiday happy for you.

According to my uncle, some of my ancestors on my paternal grandmother's side of the family were UEL (United Empire Loyalists, supporters of the British during the Revolutionary War who sacrificed their homes etc to leave the newly-formed United States and come north, where the United Kingdom still reigned supreme ... or something like that), so I'm guessing that hard-core monarchists do their best to ignore July 4th. That's something I've always wondered about: what do Brits think of July 4th?

Anyway, in recognition of the friendship between Canada and the U.S., I offer up a photo I took in downtown Buffalo. I loved seeing the two flags fly side by side!

When times are tough

When I started this blog, I really had no idea how personal I would let it be. But over the past 15 months or so I have shared many of my highs and lows, everything from birthday celebrations to vacation updates to our loss of Terra. But I don't share everything; I don't expect other bloggers to constantly lay bare their souls either. So I will just say that the above "thinking of you" art, originally started for Art Creations Friday, evolved into this final creation because I am having a down day and my mood and emotions just took me down this path.

I've had worse days, waaaay worse, but I've certainly had better. But then again, don't we all have times like that? There's a reason, I think: we can never know true happiness if we haven't experienced sorrow, the rough days make us appreciate the good days. What do you think?

Poutine and peameal

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Yes, we are back from vacation, arriving in the city yesterday afternoon. It was a fabulous trip, one with moments that will generate memories for years and years to come. There are many photographs to post here ... but, for now, I just want to share a picture I captured at last summer's Port Perry fair. What's more Canadian than poutine and peameal on a bun!

Enjoy your Canada Day celebrations my friends, whatever they might be!