Nature's perfume

It was an amazingly cold day, not just here in the city but all across the province. It snowed in Huntsville! On the last day of May! What happened to global warming?

My tummy was warmed up though by a delightful Thai meal cooked up by one of the captain's co-workers. Yes, homemade Thai! I was lucky enough to be the beneficiary of some workplace leftovers: salad rolls with dipping sauce, pad thai and green curry chicken with rice. It tasted even better than it sounds! As a thank-you, I have a batch of brownies in the oven as I type this. Just paying it forward!

It was too cold today to do anything outdoors so I played around in photoshop this afternoon. These beautiful lilacs are now past their prime, but a few days ago when I took the photograph in my back yard they were at their fragrant best. I love the smell of lilacs so much that I will buy just about any scented home or bath product if the fragrance is anywhere near the real thing!

I posted a "softer" version of this image in my photo galleries, you can see it HERE. All I did was use the sepia filter on it, almost full strength. I think I like that one a little better. What do you think ... this one or the one on Flickr?

Recycled relatives

These people are not my ancestors. I wish they were; the images are so expressive that I'd love to lay claim to these folks. But these are the unknown ancestors of Leslie Jane Moran, who gave permission that they be "adopted". Thank you, Leslie -- I hope I have treated them with kindness and dignity. Even the scoundrel!

Many art challenges converged here, in this one piece. The theme at Illustration Friday is adapt, and this piece certainly fits, in many ways. One of the meanings of adapt is to demonstrate that what might seem to be incompatible is indeed compatible. Old images, new technology -- the perfect reconciliation of the past and the present. The entire piece also represents my need to adapt to the art challenges presented yesterday and today and somehow make them all work together. I think I accomplished that.

Inspire Me Thursday happened to post the theme of altered ancestors on exactly the same day that Leslie posted her ancestors' images on her blog. The perfect coincidence.

Finally, the image at Art Creations Friday was a lovely green background, with swirls ideally suited for my creation.

The quote, by the way, is from the song, Bookends -- a Simon and Garfunkel tune that has always been one of my favourites.

A forest of Talisman Trees

Today, another Tuesday, marks my ninth Talisman Tree, a veritable forest. Just last week I had prints made of the previous eight, wanting needing to see how they looked for real. Not on a computer screen. Real. Something concrete. Something forever.

When I held them in my hands, I experienced a myriad of emotions. Relief (they looked as I imagined they would), joy (they looked as I imagined they would), awe (they looked as I imagined they would). I had a lot of self-doubt about these; I was so sure I'd be disappointed. What a wonderful feeling that I am not.

This tree had a mind of its own. It's supposed to be purple. Lilac, to be precise. A pastoral shade. Innocent and pretty. The tree is a lilac, photographed earlier this year, before blooms appeared. To honour that, it was my intention to tint the entire piece an appropriate colour. But the art would have none of that: it was going to be orange, maybe apricot or peach, not purple, whether I liked it or not. It was also supposed to feature a plethora of fairies and, at one point, it did. But they all flew away, leaving one lost soul behind.

Art is funny that way. We think we are in complete control of our art, but often we are not. Sometimes, I think, our conscious self is merely a conduit for a creative force springing from somewhere deep within us. Likely the same place where intuition lives.

How much is that horsey in the window?

Over at Unique Exposure's Photo Challenge, the theme this week is Letters. This poses the same dilemma for me as the Signs challenge last month: too much choice. After spending much time looking at my images, old and new, I decided to use a photo I took while out for a walk earlier this month. Luckily, the image also works for Thursday Challenge, where the theme is currently Childhood.

In the storefront window of a props store -- it used to be a popular local bakery and in fact, the bakery sign is still up -- I spied numerous horses, including carousel horses and this toy. The entire display is quite charming. I just love these wooden letter blocks; I wish I had a set!

The secret life of photographs

It all started when I recently watched a documentary on the history of photography. At one point, the discussion veered towards the idea that photographs reveal not only what the photographer saw when composing the image, but also what the photographer did not see. Doesn't quite make sense, does it? Not at first, but closer examination reveals that this is indeed correct -- and quite fascinating.

Have at look at the artwork above. I could tell you I specifically and thoughtfully took this photograph of a woman jauntily walking south on Parliament Street. I could tell you she's a friend of mine, posing for me. I could tell you all that, but it would be a lie. Here's the truth. The captain and I were in the car, heading downtown, and as the traffic light was changing from red to green I noticed the amazing artwork on a restaurant and quickly took a photograph. That's it. I did not have time to use my zoom and carefully focus on the restaurant's wall, so I ended up with a very busy photograph of the whole corner: people walking everywhere, people waiting for the streetcar, the cars on the street in front of us, etc. And when I reviewed the photograph later, there was this woman, a wee tiny part of the image. I cropped in close to isolate only her, and then had some photoshop fun.

I photographed her, but I never, ever saw her. Something to think about.

Amazing architectural photographs

The postman brought me a real treat today: the "Architecture" PhotoArts journal. I have been eagerly awaiting its arrival. PhotoArts is a group of very talented photographers, a group of which I'm proud to be a member, and approximately every six weeks we create a new journal, a new book of images.

The current theme was architecture and I had a devil of a time selecting just one photograph to include. Yes, it would have been acceptable to submit more than one image -- I've done that with past books -- but decided to force myself to choose just one. It was hard! I ended up selecting a photograph I took in Pittsburgh last year; it's in my Pennsylvania gallery at Flickr. You can see it HERE, although my submission to the book was slightly cropped. And, above, is my design for the back of the image.

I have enjoyed every PhotoArts book, but I definitely think this one is my favourite. A big THANK YOU to Catherine Anderson, the creative genius behind PhotoArts!

Talisman Tree Tuesday: eight already

I am a little surprised to realize I have now published eight of these talisman trees here on my blog. That sure seems like a lot! Creating this one was an enjoyable process; I messed about with the colours a lot as well as the overall design.

While I could go on with these trees for weeks and even months, I think I'm going to limit this series to 12 images. That's the plan right now, anyway.

What did you guess?

First off, I want to thank all of you for playing my little guessing game contest. I am overwhelmed by your messages and emails and so pleased you decided to join in on the fun.

As you can see, the correct answer is: hula hoops!

What surprised me were the numerous responses guessing both the correct answer and also candy. I took the photograph and even knowing the answer, I thought the crop looked like milkshake straws. But candy and hula hoops comprised most of the guesses, with straws coming in third.

But enough of that; you want to know who won, right? Since there were so many responses, I randomly chose TWO of the correct answers ..... and those two are:

Leslie Jane Moran
daisee deb

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Daisee and Leslie have each won a set of my art cards, images of their choosing. Ladies, look for an email from me shortly!

The textured angel

Did you ever experience a time when you're torn between so many different tasks you just don't know what to tackle first? That's where I am right now. The captain totally surprised me on Mother's Day with a gorgeous hot pink iPod. I have been using a very cute but very inadequate Disney MixStick (Tinkerbell) as my MP3 player, so this new iPod is a real treat. Of course I love the colour but, even more, I love the versatility! I have immersed myself in learning iTunes, creating playlists, downloading podcasts, etc. Plus I have been working on many different art projects, not counting the various challenge sites I regularly check out.

Of all the challenge sites, I find that Art Creations Friday really stretches my limits because I am forced to use an image not of my choosing to create a project. Yesterday's challenge features a lovely textured background instead of the typical vintage photographs I have come to expect from that site. I really enjoyed working with it and decided to create a piece of art using one of my numerous angel images. Not straying very far from my comfort zone, I know, but it was what I was immediately drawn to when I started the project.

Let's see, what else is keeping me busy? Shopping for a new sofa (leather or microsuede?) .... reorganizing my art studio (where did all this stuff come from and why can't I part with any of it?) .... scanning old photographs (who knew that photoshop could conveniently divide multiple scanned photos into individual images?) .... plus more mundane enterprises such as menu planning for the week and tackling mountains of laundry.

And stay tuned tomorrow: I will announce the contest winners then. Yes, winnerS!

Inspired by a petal

FALLEN PETALS

Last night's wind has scattered
Peach-bloom on the ground.

Already with his garden-broom
A small boy's going round
Sweeping up the petals.

Small boy, I would say,
Aren't those fallen petals flowers?
Why sweep flowers away?

--Chong Min-Gyo--

(artwork and quotation for Inspire Me Thursday)

Talisman tree, lucky seven

Despite the title of this post, I am not a believer in lucky numbers; I have neither a favourite number nor one I consider fortunate. But today I am posting the seventh in my Talisman Tree Tuesday series, and seven is believed by many to be the luckiest of numbers. Why, I'm not sure. I do feel fortunate to continue to be inspired by these trees; in fact, this afternoon I visited Kew Beach Park in the Beaches area of Toronto and took at least two dozen tree photographs. It wasn't my intent, but the captain and I were walking by the park after lunch and I just couldn't resist. That is just one of the many reasons I always keep a camera in my purse.

Also, a contest update. Entries continued to come in yesterday, so I am going to let this run a few more days and then announce the winner (winners??). Just to keep things interesting, here is a list of all the ideas offered, in no specific order. One is correct. Ah, but which one?

hula hoops
straws
erasers
outdoor citronella candles
swimming pool noodles
candy
toothbrush bristles

It's Mother's Day

I am just about never at a loss for words. But I honestly don't quite know what to say here. I guess I'll just jump right in.

This is my mother, holding me. If you think she looks young, you're right. She was only 17 when I was born, 18 in this photograph. It's a wee little photo, about 2.25x2.00 inches. I scanned it at a very high resolution so I would at least have a chance it would be easy to look at. Below is the entire photograph, but I couldn't resist a little artsy-fartsy treatment, evidenced by the crop, above.



This photograph is the only one I have of the two of us together.

My mother was born on November 10, 1940. When she was just 16, her boyfriend 20, they eloped from Vancouver down to Nevada to get married. Her name, before she married Norman Severud, my father, was Diane Chapell. I spent years believing it was spelled Chapel, but when I finally obtained a copy of my birth records a few years ago, I saw that I had been mistaken. I know you're wondering how I could not know the spelling of my mother's maiden name. Good question. It's complicated. My stars, it's sooo complicated. I am not an orphan, I am not adopted; my parents were husband and wife when I was born (Lenore Darcel Severud, in case you were wondering). But, when I was just a wee young thing, not even two, yet to have a memory of my mother, my parents separated, subsequently divorcing, and my father did everything in his power to keep custody of me and prevent my mother from having any visitation. Why? Again, it's complicated. He was successful. And it was wrong, very wrong ... but that's way too complicated (there's that word again) and detailed to go into.

I'm sorry, that comes across as a bit of a teaser, doesn't it? I'm just not willing to go into more. Not right now, anyway. I wasn't even going to post this photo, make these comments. But it is Mother's Day and even though I don't know her, I do have a mother. Somewhere. And I want to acknowledge that.

Please don't think this day is depressing for me and that I'm having a pity party. Far from it. Long ago I gave up trying to analyze what happened all those years ago; I know that everyone involved had their weaknesses and I understand that. So, no worries. For me, Mother's Day always revolves around my own son and, of course, my mother-in-law. But the captain's mom is cruising the Panama Canal right now, so this year Mother's Day means dinner at home with my son and his girlfriend, with the captain grilling up sausages and burgers. And cake. I've asked for cake for dessert.

So Happy Mother's Day to my beloved paternal grandmother Vivian, who died in 1977, to my other grandmother, whose name I don't know, to my mother-in-law Margaret, and Happy Mother's Day, Diane. And Happy Mother's Day to all of you too!

Art Creations Friday meets Postcard Friendship Friday

So what happens when you first visit a blog that posts vintage images on Fridays and challenges you to create a piece of art with them and then you visit a blog that asks you to post original postcard art on Fridays? I'll tell you what happens...the above piece of art! Early this morning I visited Art Creations Friday and downloaded today's vintage image. Very pretty, I thought. Then as I was reading blogs this morning, I noticed on Irene's Desk that she had participated in Postcard Friendship Friday. Intrigued, I had a look. Hmmmmm. I realized I could create a piece of art by using one of the vintage postcards I had along with the Art Creations Friday image.

Inspired, I tackled the project this evening. I like the softness of the tones and the romanticism of the piece. Perfect for Mother's Day weekend!

Baby me

I don't have many old photos of myself, especially baby pictures. Several months ago I scanned one of the few I do have, one unfortunately dark and in poor condition. But I have played around with it in photoshop and while I'm not completely satisfied with my attempts at restoration, I have definitely improved upon the scan. And so along comes today's theme at Inspire Me Thursday: family. It may be egotistical to use a photograph of myself for this topic, but I am jumping at the opportunity to use this photo in a project.

Photographic restoration is a technique, a skill, where I have the status of absolute rank amateur. Honestly .... I don't know what I'm doing. But I am quite happy with how this project turned out and so, for now, will leave well enough alone. If you like the old photo frame I used and want it for yourself, just visit kpauli's set of old frames on Flickr, where she has many to share. Thanks to her for that! This one is called Straw Hat and it's one I find particularly charming.

Talisman Tree Tuesday: six

Hard to believe, but I'm posting the sixth Talisman Tree today. This project has taken on wings. I have two others that are about halfway done, although you should likely take that "halfway" indicator with a grain of salt, as I am never sure when a project is done. I worry more about adding too much than not adding enough and I have learned through trial and error (lots of error) to trust my instincts when they tell me "enough!"

Such was the case with this Talisman Tree. I just kept adding layer after layer, changing colours, etc. Then I added words. Then I took them away. Then I added them back but showcased them quite differently than at first. And so on and so on. I finally had to listen to my inner voice telling me to stop. I'm glad I listened; if I had continued to add, I think I would have ruined it.

Art card giveaway!

I am in the mood for a contest, in the mood to give stuff away. In particular, a set of art cards -- but not just any cards. These cards feature a selection of my favourite photographs. Well, actually, they'll be your favourites, since I will offer the winner their choice of images.

This is all you have to do: on Saturday, I took the above photograph, so tell me ... what's in the picture? That's it. No tricks here. I have not colour-corrected it at all, I have made no contrast adjustments, I have done nothing to the original photo but crop.

You can post your guess here, or email it to me privately (alphabetsoupstudio{at}yahoo.ca) if you'd rather not reveal your guess to everyone else. If you are perhaps torn between two ideas, email them both to me. I will let this giveaway run until I have at least two correct answers, then I will do a draw to determine the winner. But you never know ... I may decide to have more than one winner, so make sure you get in on the fun. Good luck!

The beautiful Canadian butter tart

Canadian cuisine is a passion of mine. I may not be a french fry fanatic, but I do like poutine. And you won't see me turn down a nanaimo bar or a butter tart. Ah, butter tarts. Mmm. For my American friends, the filling in a butter tart is similar to pecan pie. But only similar. Like pecan pie, they sometimes have nuts -- I have a friend who likes them with both walnuts and raisins -- but they are most often served plain or with raisins. I am a raisin girl myself.

Many years ago I came across a prize-winning butter tart recipe from Wilkie's Bakery in Orillia, Ontario, and I never looked back; it became the only recipe I use. So I was delighted when Kris Honsberger from The Back of the Cupboard contacted me a few days ago, asking for permission to publish the results of her recipe testing of these particular tarts.

Delighted for two reasons. I love these tarts and just knew that Kris would end up loving them too, but I was also delighted that she had the courtesy to ask permission. She found the recipe at my online cookbook and didn't want to just go ahead and put it on her blog without checking with me first. Very classy. Please check out The Back of the Cupboard; it will make you want to head into your kitchen and start cooking!

Kris did give the butter tarts a go -- you can read about it HERE -- and I believe she is possibly now addicted! You will be too. I highly recommend you try them yourself; if you do not want to tackle homemade pastry, the tart shells you find in the freezer section at your grocery store will work just fine. Happy eating!

My latest endeavour

Wow, according to Blogger this my 150th post. How time flies! I even missed my "blogiversary" -- I created this blog in April 2007, an experiment just to see how the whole blog thing worked. I then ignored it for a full year, only starting it up for real last April.

I checked out Art Creations Friday yesterday and downloaded this week's vintage image. After messing around with it last night and this morning, the above collage came together, slowly but surely. To be honest, I think it created itself. As I played -- creating and improvising, adding layer upon layer -- it just evolved before me. I don't think I remember half of what I did!