AROUND THE YARD: February Snow!

This past weekend the most beautiful snowstorm hit the Pacific Northwest. It approached slowly, with no attendant winds, no wet gloppy flakes, no power outages, no trees down. Nope. Just soft, dry, slow-falling snowflakes. Slow, but constant. And we awoke to pristine, footprint-free, acres of snow. Well, there were a few footprints where a couple of deer had walked through, but that just added to the charm.

Low temperatures froze the water in the rain chain. I stood warm and dry on the front porch and simply admired the view.

Looking out the back windows, there was nothing but beautiful trees (and a few rhododendrons), all covered with snow. So pretty.

And then I focused on just two tree trunks, one seemingly wearing a snowy skirt, for sheer simplicity.

All photos shot with a cellphone.

©Copyright 2021 Carol Leigh

 

Giving care and remaining sane . . .

When someone you love needs your care, of course you help. To make their situation as good as it can be. No question.

In my case, it means suddenly doing things I've not done with any regularity (if at all) in the past 30+ years.

Things he was better at than I, things he enjoyed doing (grocery shopping, for instance) that I loathed.

And it also means being less selfish, being more other-directed. A novel concept for me.

I am getting better at it. Step by small step. One task at a time.

My big achievements this past week? Cooking meals.

In a previous life I cooked a lot. Was decent at it. Until I married someone who managed restaurants and loved to cook. It became easy to take a back seat. Good food magically appeared.

Poor guy. Now I'm in charge of grocery shopping, food prep, and cleanup.

I call him from the grocery store. "Where's the pesto we like?" Or "I can't find Hunt's canned tomatoes. Is Signature brand okay?" 

And he knows. And I learn. 

So here are the ingredients I prepped for a quiche last week. (Broccoli, onions, zucchini, multicolored new potatoes, mushrooms, etc.) And he allegedly liked it. A few too many veggies for his taste, but there's a new sheriff in town (me), and these things are gonna happen!

Photo copyright ©2021 Carol Leigh

This makes me happy!

I sell prints of my work through Fine Art America/Pixels and usually never know who purchases my pictures. I get announcements from FAA letting me know what's just sold, the size, and the city/state in which the buyers lives. So when a buyer leaves feedback like this, it's always welcome, giving me a small connection with an actual person as well as insight regarding what they liked.

Here's a screenshot I took of these two reviews that were posted on FAA a couple days ago.

 If the print is too small for you to read, here's what each one said:

"When I saw this piece, I fell in love with it and knew it was 'the piece' I was looking for, to add to my kitchen wall. It's so beautiful and I will be back for more of Carol's work. (I purchased two already!) Thank you"

"Beautiful work! I love it! It goes so perfectly with a few other pieces on my wall. I love the look and feel of the wood, as well. I'm for sure a new fan of Carol Leigh! Thank you!"

Here are the links to these two images on FAA, which can be seen in high resolution.

"Burnt Orange Collage"
"Seasonal Shift"

As an artist, it doesn't get much better than this! Woo hoo!

Images copyright ©2021 Carol Leigh

Recent Work: "Digging for Gold"

 I've certainly got a circle motif going, don't I? Not only do I find them appealing, but in this case the colors are just wonderful. Ahhhhh . . .

©Copyright 2020 Carol Leigh

Artist's block . . .

Artistically, I'm stuck. I know it seems I'm always creating, and I've made a huge body of work, but every once in a while it all seems to slam into a wall. Everything appears uninspired.

I keep on, however, trying to break through and make something different. Something good. 

But mostly it's all just crap.
Like these pictures.

Eventually it will pass and all will be well. But right now? Nope! As you can see. (But I do believe there are possibilities with the sea lion . . .)

Images copyright © Carol Leigh

Recent work: "Fenced In"

When I first began putting this picture together, I liked the blue/ochre complementary color combination, the cold/warm contrast. To hold those elements together, I opted for the rich darker blue stripe along with a touch of salmon and yellow. The abstract round form of a watch face then holds everything together and marks time.

Around the world we are watching the seasons change, the days change, the colors change — as though through a porthole on a ship. And off in the distance a rising colorful “sun” awaits. None too soon.

"Fenced In" photomontage.
Copyright ©2020 Carol Leigh

 

Recent work: "Yellow Enso Sun"

The months have all run together this year. Does it seem that way to you, too? Although I continue to make new work, darned if I know when I did it (unless I check the picture's data). Here's one -- created in September or thereabouts -- that has a rather circular theme. More circles to follow (fair warning!).

 

Yellow Enso Sun, created with hand-painted papers and a circle drawn with sumi ink.

Around the island . . .

A few months ago I went over to Fort Casey to continue with my ongoing project of photographing the buildings, concentrating (obviously) on the smaller details, the textured walls, the signs of weathering and age. These are three iPhone images I particularly like.

Pictures ©Copyright 2020 Carol Leigh

 

It's a good day . . .

It's a good day to be on Whidbey Island, sitting in the car, watching the raindrops form on the windshield, waiting for Chris to finish getting a haircut. Ahhhh!

Image copyright ©2020 Carol Leigh

Positive Feedback . . .

Fine Art America posts random reviews from their buyers and I take a look at them regularly -- to see what products are consistently good, what buyers might be complaining about, and to see if any of my pictures that people bought made them happy.

This is one that made me VERY happy! Apparently my picture, taken from a ship in Alaska's Inside Passage, was one of four that she purchased recently from FAA. I'm pleased that my photo, done in black and white, was a part of the mix.

She took a picture of the four photos in place on her wall, which was also wonderful to see. When someone buys my art on FAA, I rarely know who it was nor how they liked the image. Loved seeing that this person liked it enough to put it on her wall.