Washington State Rhody winner..

Today I am over at Wonderland  with a guest post on Ana's blog, upon her gracious invitation.  Ana lives in Porto, Portugal and her blog is popular among beginning to advanced photographers.  Please stop by for a visit.

This is the 2012 Washington State Rhododendron winner...isn't she beautiful?  Is is our state flower.  A hardy and fragrant deciduous, plant it is actually a hybrid azalea with yellow to orange and white petals with pink ruffles. I'll be back this weekend.
                           

   Photos is courtesy of the American Rhododendron Society

Daisy glow...

For  Photo Art Friday  I chose the daisy with the finer petals that I'm fond of.  They glow at night without a moon out...

Painterly piece of digital art..with quote...

Photo Art Friday

I have been working on this for some time.  Between problems with the old computer and not 

taking many tutorials on texture, going by what I've learned as I've been blogging along here, this is 

what I came up with. The idea began with a quote challenge, but I was not ready.  I first superimposed the image of the woman in Berthe Morisot's impressionistic painting, Reading (1874)  and a gramophone separately onto the scene (which is a view from my back yard looking south across the creek). \

 Using a "painterly finesse" texture of Bonnie's and then a Shakespearean texture, I tried to blend or fade them into one.  I erased the area where I wanted the focus because the various settings of opacity (overlay, multiply, normal,)  that I tried did not give me the desired result.......either too much light, not enough, or loss of lettering. I am using Pixlr only right now since Picnk closed, where I knew how to get the desired effect.   Then, of course, I added a 

favorite quote.  It's  a learning process...but it's fun to see ideas materialize 

on canvas, albeit digital ;-)  BTW, I won't be able to comment on other 'painters' blogs until tomorrow.

Negative space in a photo......PAF...

Linking up with  Photo Art Friday,  we are asked to post a photo with negative space.  This photo was SOOC and all I added was a vignette border...I think it qualifies for that category, although I have more to learn when applying it to other photos. ;)

The Mountain...

Sharing with Ana's Earth Wonders where the theme all month is Nature...

By zooming in on the space at the end of the cul de sac where I live I can see Mt. Rainier, barely.  

Usually she is highlighted in pastel colors in morning or evening, but many a day there is a circle of clouds crowning her brow.  In this photo the sun is shining on her northeast side.  She comes out many times a day, no matter the weather unless it particularly is a dismal period.  Very few days go by when one doesn't see her from one angle or another at many intersections, hillsides, or while driving on the freeway.  It is amazing how many people have a personal view of her from their back yards or upstairs windows.  At times, she appears as clear as a bell, magnified and oh, so close; other times she seems much farther 
away in the distance than she really is.  


Everyone agrees she is beautiful in the 
spring for her meadows of wildflowers, in autumn for her multicolored treeline, and for her 

showy snow whiteness in winter, when her entire face if covered.  All year hikers traverse her.  Lately the earth has shaken beneath her as she is close to one of the major fault lines in Washington State, but she has been dormant for many, many years.

I feel privileged to have this peek at her from my mailbox, however the wires stringing across the photo take away from the scene.  Anyway, I decided to blend in the profile of  the famous Suquamish Indian,  Chief Sealth,  as his people believe mountains have spirits and he does look quite handsome looking over his kingdom from the sky, I think.  I left the sepia tones on purpose and added a little smoky blue texture.  Thousands of photos of Mt. Rainier abound so this will win no prize, but it's nice to
 have a peek-a boo view.Earth Wonders at Ana's Wonderland web-site...http://anasofiaeugenio.com/

500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art...

Credit for posting to UTube below:


I really have not wanted to use my blog to share as one shares on face book, but this particular video, shared with me via a face book friend, touched the ganglia in the creative side of my brain.  If you have already seen it, I apologize for adding something so popular or mundane (from 2007) to your day. But, if you haven't, I think many will appreciated the art involved in producing it. 


Moreover, perhaps from the viewpoint of a player in a like game of 'Concentration', you might enjoy pairing and identifying the artwork or women with their artists/creators/originators in history.  

I certainly don't have all the answers to such a game or test, nor do I have the time to research each face, but I recognize many..and am sure you are as curious about some, as I am. One could use a pencil and paper to write down as many names one knows, I suppose...;)

Textured window...

One attempt to add texture to a photo I took last summer...more to come in the days ahead..entry for  Photo Art Friday......I still do not have photoshop so hope this result from picnik.com will work for now.

    Before...




          with only one layer with a vintage focus...




   ....and after....

Yes, we have snow bananas?...

Forgive me for I had not planned this nor do I think it is particularly artistic...why and how does one combine the bananas and orange and the icy snow storm for a story?  I am snowbound, have all I need, but not much fruit which is the prompt for Ana's Wonderland photo shot over at her blog and this is my contribution.

Nothing fancy here with the camera either.  To be sure, the storm here in the PNW has caused many to face dangerous circumstances, and I am fortunate to live on a pretty creek, away from the traffic, and not have to leave home.  But as you can see, there are branches that have been cracking and falling due to the heavy weight of icy snow.  I've been hearing the noise all day and see that they are continuing to populate the creek and the yards in the neighborhood.  Plenty of cleanup work for someone in a few days, after the rain.

Silly I suppose, but the thought did occur to me that both the tangerine, yellow and titian colors combined with photos of the white and brown and blue-green of the trees are a fun play with color.  Am I kidding myself?  Then,  I imagine both snow and fruit can be plentiful, ubiquitous - as opposed to barren, empty, or unfulfilled.  Might I be stretching the analogies here?  But there must be a point to this post...or must there?!

It's not about Fire and Ice, a good book by the way.  It could be about frisky animals running about, but there is not a toad or rodent tale here to tingle the imagination.  The 'yield' or result here is simply that it might be close to the height of smugness on my part that I even think there is a story here to tell...or there is,  and someone else would do it better justice.

From my humble office window I see two ducks scouting  for more bread to be tossed their way.  Earlier they were slipping on the foot deep icy crusted snow, racing for food.  




Fortunately I feel safe during this time, but I have a torn Achilles heel tendon which means
I have to wear a boot and keep the foot immobilized for several weeks from a week ago.  So I will feed the birds and squirrels and 

now go back to the jigsaw puzzle on the table. Luckily, I still have power, so there are options of watching a movie, baking banana bread, or perusing the Internet.  My mind is not as prolific as the snow and icy rain have been, however.  Nor is my head producing any fruitful ideas, so I will heed the loud voice inside that tells me to forsake this course of prolonging  anyone's boredom.  Consider it another experiment in blogging, and I trust that,  if there are no responses, it could indicate or prepare me then,  for my future blogging prospects ;-)  I hope all affected by the storm have better weather tomorrow and not a lot of flooding...and safe and bountiful days ahead.  
Kathy

January Night...

by klr

                         

Whilst we gaze on high

suppose the stories are true

January night

I took these photos one late evening last week when driving home.  Before I added the snow, adjusted the exposure on the branches and made the moon more yellow, I realized how nicely the three look together as a group and the collage turned out better than I thought it would...kind of a coincidence;  and that is the extent of my creativity this week ;-)  Then, someone who saw these photos suggested there might be a story behind them.  I want to thank Jeanne;  this is what I came up with as a result:

    Moonlight is the theme.  Be it light streaming through a stained glass window, moonlight casting shadows on forked tree branches, or the grandeur of a classic yellow moon, which we are privileged to look at most months of the year, they all touch the very light in us that longs to speak back.  In the form of a certain qualified holiness, we respond with admiration and love in the forms of wistful poetry and inspired songs. We long to transcend that magical, invisible stairway to heaven where all life mysteries' answers are given and our souls set free.

     Many a moon (pardon the cliche), I have planted moon flower seeds in my back yard, taking care that nothing disturbs them; and just as often they have not survived.  The white blooms that result glow in the dark of the night, as do other seasonal species with white blossoms.  By placing them in a hanging basket outside a bedroom window, or by an entry door, the vine stemmed flower sends a lovely fragrance indoors.  So this year I hope a moon flower's little light will beam against a night sky..starry or not.


     We have been captured by the moon's powerful haughtiness, as we are grateful and heartened by its kindly phosphorescence as a lamp or lantern to gently guide our way on a path, be it spiritual or actual.  As a beacon in a lighthouse, we have romanticized it to the point that its mantle can make us tremble.  It can be a welcome incandescence in a time of need, or a cue to a proposal.


     So the light of flowers that provide a show in the garden at night will not be as luminous as the moon, but they will inspire us by exuding exquisite scents.  Perhaps it is part of that same childhood moon of fairy tales we remember, and again sparks our wishful thinking.  It's what hastens us to dare say from a small window in a country home nestled in a meadow, or from the rooftop of a city dwelling, "Goodnight, Moon." 


     

Scavenger Hunt Sunday...

 My selections for this week's word prompts at Ashley Sisk's website: Ramblings and Photoshttp://www.ashleysisk.com/search/label/Scavenger%20Hunt

1.  One Color:                           Pinkish sky

2.  Laundry:                   Antique washboard

                                             

                                                       3.  Empty:   Pitcher

             

4.  Dozen:  Depending on how you 
count these stone pillars, whether they are attached in places or not

 5.  Soft:         Winter Solstice sky 2011

http://ashleysisk.com/search/label/Scavenger%20Hunt

Ramblings and Photoshttp://www.ashleysisk.com/search/label/Scavenger%20Hunt

My Sugar Plum Memory...

My first contribution to the creative website twoscoopz.com in the focus 52 category...prompt for this week: Sweet...as in sweet memory...

by klr

Glowing memories

in flickering candle light

Grandpa nudges me

Christmas bells resonate,

birds announce the hour,

tricycle under the tree

Morning chore at hand 

as we step outside,

lacy white flakes kiss my face

The screen door squeaks to a close;

his wool wisky white beard

tickle my round red cheek

Sugarplums keep guard,

Silvery reminders of

long nights, years ago, 

the winters he carried me

to the old gray barn

through moon shadowed snow too deep

Time to milk the cow

A lantern lights the distance

from the front stoop to the barn

Mittened hands hold tight

around grandfather's shoulder

I wonder if he 

somehow watches o'er me

He had a nickname

for me that I loved so much:

"..hello, Sugarplum.." 

From that walk in the snow until

just before he passed,

he always called me his "Sugarplum"

focus 52

Scavenger Hunt Sunday...

First, I must tell those who are familiar with or who visit my blog that I made a huge mistake while fine tuning the template design yesterday!!  I accidentally removed most or all of my  blog photos!  I thought I was simply moving them from my profile page only ;- (  -  I have of course sent my request for help but it may not arrive quickly or I may have to start all over re- loading them to the previous 60 or so posts...grrr. I  will hope they can be retrieved more easily than going to all that work again.  Or, I will just begin again!  


And so today I found myself scavenging through past and present photos for something to submit for my first entry to this popular websites' challenge.  These will have to suffice as I am indeed needing to replenish my stash. The objective is to choose photos that show our interpretations of the 5 word prompts given this week:
                                                                                           

1.  Waiting


Obviously this antique clown doorstop is waiting for a little boy or girl to buy one of his balloons...why do they have sad faces?  This photo is not original but is from an eBay seller's page.

2.  Foliage


I am ignorant of this tree's name and unfamiliar with it's fall blooms which I captured last week.  It does remind one of cotton, though.
   
















3.  Candid

My daughter did not know her picture was being taken at the time while with friends in Las Vegas.... 

                          

4.  Knife, fork, or spoons

I chose this pretty Mozelle grape patterned silver plate ladle which is a favorite of mine.                                                                                                               

5.  Rule of the Thirds

A common choice perhaps, but the ocean is always a good example  because of the layers of land, sea, and sky..plus

it is a favorite place of mine.

http://thebook-readersblog.blogspot.com/

Happy Thanksgiving...Over the River and...same tune, different words...

 by  klr

Across the harbor and through the trees

in soft pink glints of the sun,

 angels are your guide, chariots your ride
last red ochre leaves of autumn

Sweet scented smoke of apple wood fire

snow dusted boughs of blue spruce

the wink of any eye, some pumpkin pie

Fill your heart with warm gratitude 

I took these pictures from a small park in Steilacoom, WA while the small ferry was heading for Vashon Island in the late afternoon.  The apple and maple trees stand starkly bare and there are benches engraved with local people's names. Early settlers' names are on the older renovated homes and on benches for sitting. In the distance one can see the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and a small strip of a beach and picnic area....plus there is an old fashioned wooden swing for two.  A nice place to watch the sun go down.

Color bursts...

Photo Art Friday ~

For today my best intention was to read a tutorial on texture in photos.  However, I went back to picnik, and played with a few effects with this photo I took SOOC of a pink dahlia (right).

First I added a simple soft border.....then 'puddled' or 'rippled' it for this artsy result:

Then I made a 'waterfall' of pixels and a hypnotic setting for this original  kaleidoscope effect. (Below) For the last one I used black, white and sepia tones and the cross process with color focus at the center for a vintage look:

With the upcoming holiday there will be little time,  but I will have something else to share for that occasion. In the meantime, please visit the other outstanding photos submitted to Pixel Dust Studio this weekend:

                     http://www.pixeldustphotoart.com/

Chambers Bay Golf Course...

Until I take a tutorial on textures, picnik color focal point, sepia, and black and white vignette matte effects are my tools.
Local links modeled after St. Andrews in Scotland...which do you prefer....SOOC (straight out of the camera)or textured a bit.

Silver spoons vignette...

Shiny silver spoons

Hints of golden times to be?

Share some light today

For more photos by talented people please visit Lisa Gordon Photography here at:

Thank you for stopping by - Kathy

Grass by water's edge...

Submitted to http://anasofiaeugenio.blogspot.com/  for the Earth Wonders challenge theme:

                                                       
                                                                   ~ BROWN ~

                     
I am taken by the various browns of this grass -  almost like wheat.  I should have made a Macro of one stem for a really good study of the hues.  In this view of Puget Sound from Day Island, a small community,  the top photo is SOOC and the one below it is enhanced by picnik.com effects to give it a more vintage look...almost sepia but with the center focus on color.  I'm adding the other two because they were in the same location.  And I love the door with the porthole window....and they all seem to go together.