And So It Grows

Our grandbaby Aowyn is celebrating her twoness today. She brings so much light and love to our world. Just when you think she can't get any cuter....she does! Now with her adorable tiny voice she says things like, "I know"...."I don't know." She is already 3 ft tall, knows all the letters of the alphabet, and her numbers up to twenty. Aowyn gives more hugs and love than ever, and she has her fairy grandmother and grandpa in the palms of her sweet little hands.

The Google Art Project

Now through mapping technology you can visit museums around the world through The Google Art Project. Google is using it's familiar visual mapping program on the art world and giving us a chance to visit places we may never experience in person. There is also an Art Project You Tube Channel to help you learn how to navigate through the site and the museums. You can choose a favorite painting along your tour and zoom in really close without getting yelled at by a guard. Yes, they yell at me for breathing too close to the paintings! Yes, I do have to get my face all up in it, to check out the old master's painting technique. Just look at that gorgeous painting above! This Art Project lets you make your own art collections as well. So I suggest you take some time one day, or evening, to take your own twinkle-toes, museum hopping around the world!

Here we are at The National Gallery In Washington, DC. I am magically invisible. Those guards can't get me now!

 Here we are skipping over the pond to The Palace of Versailles. Checking out the gardens before we peek inside!

Enjoy your visit to The Art Project and press your nose against your monitor...you can almost smell the paint! I won't yell at you either. 

Learning To Paint On Photos Digitally

I have been seeing a number of photographs that looked as though they were painted, and I went searching for how people would accomplish such a technique. I did not want to use a filter that was a one button push to the end result. I wanted to learn something more than a quickie solution. There were many tutorials just doing a Gaussian blur and hitting multiply. Most people who do a more serious job of painting over photos use a Wacom tablet and Corel Painter. I have neither, so I needed a little information for photoshop and a mouse. Of course when I do have the biggest bad ass Wacom tablet made, along with Corel Painter, I will be doing digital artwork from scratch too. For now it's me and the mouse. I actually tried using a Wacom at Faerie Con a few years ago when a digital artist brought hers along for people to try. What a cool experience. More natural for the artist's flowing hand, than a clunky mouse where the eye hand coordination is not as intuitive.

I found a tutorial by 'Photoshopmama' whom I have watched in the past for learning photoshop skills. Her video "Simulate Acrylic or Oil Portrait' was the main basis for transforming the SOOC photo of my lovely niece you see above, into the image seen just below. It may be hard to see the canvas texture, but I tried to show it in the close-up section of the final painted eye area at the top of this post. You can click on the image below for a larger view of the painted photo.

This video was only 25 minutes long, and you can pause it as you do each step on your own portrait photo. If you know of any other good tutorials on this technique please let me know. This was a good exercise in going over some basic things that I should know anyway. It never hurts to reinforce some basic knowledge and keystrokes to make things go more smoothly in the future. Every little bit helps.

Over The Paper Moon For My Valentine

 Just like the old fashioned days of yore, I made a Valentine Card for my sweetie. Since we are both just finally getting over a nasty flu that kept us down for two weeks, I had not been out to buy a store bought card. So I thought a little something handmade by me and photoshop would be nice. Hope you like it my love...

I have to say that I am happily married to the kindest most thoughtful man I have ever met. We are truly soul mates that enjoy every moment together. I feel grateful and blessed everyday to be with my King! Saturday we had an early Valentine celebration at a favorite restaurant with my daughter, her man and our grandaughter. Our little big girl (she is three feet tall haha!) Aowyn, just turned two and the restaurant staff did a little cake, candle, and singing, which put a look of surprise on that baby's face that was totally priceless! We enjoyed sharing our romantic Valentine dinner with family! Spreading the love around! Everyone had suffered this flu bug and we were all so glad to get out from under our sickly cabin fever!

Photo of The Queen is from our wedding and taken by Robert Smith Photography. I had to piece together four different shots to include the entire dress that is hanging down from the moon. I think I faked it out pretty good! The awesome vintage paper moon background was provided by Kpauli on Flickr. Texture used over all was a gorgeous tone from Jerry of Shadowhouse Creations.

The Mentality Of Being An Artist

I have been asked many times to speak or write to college age people who want to pursue creative fields. Usually it is about 'becoming an artist' because that is what I am associated with in my career. What I have to say may not be what they are expecting to hear. I think my sage old wise woman advice really is for anyone, at any age, or stage, in this life. Certainly it comes from my own experience and is coming from the viewpoint of my life circumstances. That being said, it took years to be the person I am now. Most often people need to live through things for themselves to "get it." Still I hope a few thoughtful breadcrumbs will be of help to someone out there. So I've added the page link above under my blog header called 'On Being An Artist' to express my thoughts on that subject. I actually wrote this piece in October 2009 for a Squidoo lens. It has been sitting there unpublished for various reasons. I decided to add it to my blog to celebrate my new dot com status!

Because I have been a creative person in my employment for my entire working life, I have been called "brave." Am I? What I believe about being a creative soul comes from the core of my being. I have always known I wanted to be an artist in some form since I was a child. Period. No doubts. 
In high school I was called "lucky," because I already knew exactly what I wanted to study. For me the answer is that "it" was already there before I incarnated. It is Spirit. 
It is being who I really am.

You see that digitally altered portrait up there of that little first grader...she was getting these artzy ideas in her head back then. In fact my parents for some strange reason had sent my tiny school photo to a company that hired artists in France to paint real portraits from photos. A very unusual thing for my parents to do. They then shoved the rolled up canvas in a drawer and there it sat for most of my life. Now that was more like my parents. I think their Spirit prompted them to put this painting in my reach, even if in a drawer all bent and cracked. I would as a child pull out the painting and be in amazement at the artist who could paint such reality. 
I studied this painting, and I thought it was made by the greatest artist in the world. Yet there was no signature. Around ten years ago I got that painting and put it in a frame to hang near the oil painting I painted of my own young daughter. I thought it was time to give that unknown artist and the child in the painting some respect.

Has this choice to be a full time artist been easy. Heck no. The other people in my life and family made me pay for my choice over and over. Did you hear that? It was other people. Not the choice. Not the art. Whether I was working as a 9-5 corporate art director, or running my own mural business, it was numerous people in my life and their "good opinion" of what "they" thought I should be doing instead of art that caused any problem. There were a few times when 
"I allowed" their thoughts into my life...their doubts... about who I really was and what I was doing. Once I took a temp agency job during a slow period to please someone else. They claimed since I did not make a certain income, I was a bad mother. 

I always felt you can learn from anything, even if it's a fork in your road. This period taught me basic computer skills which led to my working in the television industry. 
I continued doing some faux-finish jobs on the side. I was back being an art director of sorts working on nationally known Television programs in marketing and promotions. 
I also made some wonderful life-long friends while in those positions. In a few years I did return to my own mural and faux business full time, and you guessed it...living on my own again with my children. Huge lesson: It's so much better just to say "no" to some people and their "good opinion." Happiness and kindness matter.

So my take is not the usual how to become an artist...it is how to remove the obstacles to being an artist. This comes from someone who fought the good fight of many other peoples opinions about my "job" for thirty years. It always felt better when I was true to myself. You are born with "IT." But do you believe "it"?  As a single mom raising two children with all that brings, I was able to do it, with hard work, however difficult financially at times. Only when living with people who did not know who I really was, came the problems for me. When I stayed focused on 'my vision' new doors always opened, and the next job was always there!

For anyone who wants to become an artist, or work in any creative field of endeavor check out my in depth article on the tab page above called "On Being An Artist." I have included images created from my own artwork and photography to illustrate this article.