Container Is In Motion

This is kind of weird, and Chris doesn't like it all that much (well, he likes it except for the "container is in motion" bit), but I'm growing fonder of it the more I look at it. As usual, I've taken photos of torn paper, a Chinese matchbox label, kraft paper that I use to clean my paintbrushes, and much more to put this while thing together. It's also featured at my art website at http://carol-leigh.artistwebsites.com/art/all/collage+and+photomontage/all

©Carol Leigh, where the container is currently stationary

Montages du jour . . .

For these two photomontages I pulled out some colorful postage stamps and built the background around them.

"Australia Antarctic Territory" sits on top of handpainted papers, papers I've used to wipe off my paintbrushes, a Braille newspaper, ink, and more.

Three New Zealand stamps sit on top of some of the same handpainted papers. I switched out the center panel, however, and used photos I took of vintage rice paper, large ink washes, and, up top, markings on a fishing boat hull.

Both of these pieces are available as prints, gallery wraps, note cards, etc. at my website here: http://carol-leigh.artistwebsites.com/?tab=artworkgalleries

©Carol Leigh, who still loves creating these things!

127 minutes on the beach

When I first saw it, I thought it was a piece of paper plastered onto a wet rock. Then maybe it was part of a fish. But when I got closer, I saw it was a fossil of a shell, encased in rock. Part of the shell had worn away, but the darker grooves of the shell remained, looking almost like shell shadows in the photograph. The rock was pancake flat, encircled by a little moat of sea water.

We spent 127 minutes on the beach this morning at low tide. How long has this shell spent embedded in rock?

©Carol Leigh, seemingly embedded in a computer chair ...

Ready for a picnic!

Students in my current "Mini Macro" online class have been working on shooting silverware. Since "silverware" doesn't have to be silver, I photographed some plastic utensils as an example for them. Fun stuff! Just waiting for the weather to clear up a bit and these "props" can be used on a picnic. ©Carol Leigh

Spring is here!

Spring is officially here. Can you feel it in the air? Well, maybe when it stops raining you will! ©Carol Leigh

Happy Act Happy Week!

Yes, it's that time of year — it's Act Happy Week this week — so I thought I'd post a few happy photos. The little car looks like it's trying very hard to put on a happy face, but the smile looks a bit forced. The parking meter in Balboa looks happy to be by the sea. Metal things on the side of a green fishing boat come together nicely to create the semblance of a little happy face. And the golden Buddha, photographed in L.A.'s Chinatown maybe thirty years ago, looks just as happy today.

So, whaddaya say? Just for a week, at least act happy, even if you feel a bit cranky on the inside. And besides, how can you not be happy when I tell you this: it's also American Chocolate Week! Hey, it doesn't get much better than that!

©Carol "don't worry, be happy" Leigh

Moonpies

These two were particularly fun for me to make, using basically the same components and then rearranging and changing them just a bit. The images come from railroad cars, a bus salvage operation, arrows from Astoria (Oregon) and a sewing pattern, numbers on a hotdog sign, a fishing boat reflection, and then the "MOONPIES" sign taken near Santa Fe.

Both of these are featured on my art website here: http://carol-leigh.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html

©Carol Leigh, who has never had the pleasure of a moonpie but who loves the name . . .

Curlew Day!

Today, March 16, is "Curlew Day." I'd never heard of it until a few days ago. Turns out it's a real thing. Not unlike the swallows returning to Capistrano, the turkey vultures to Hinckley, Ohio (which was yesterday, by the way), more than 500 curlews return to Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon to nest. They're probably settling in right this moment!

Anyway, since the curlew holiday struck me as rather humorous, I made a postcard to celebrate the event. There's one regular reader of my blog who will find it particularly humorous.

So Merry Curlew Day everyone! Celebrate however you see fit. ©Carol Leigh, resident birdiologist

International Pi Day!

It was right in front of my face and I would have missed it but for Fay H. posting something about it on Facebook. It's International Pi Day! Here's the link to the official website (good luck, though, it's BUSY today): http://www.piday.org

The day's almost gone, but it's never too late to celebrate.
©Carol Leigh, more of a word person than a number person . . .

New photomontage: "Close to Shore"

Most of my photomontages are made from photographs/bits of photographs, and this one is no exception. Seen and unseen are photos of a tea bag that was hand painted by me, peeling paint, a photo of paper that I'd cleaned my paintbrushes on, parts of a physical collage, the scratched surface of a fishing boat hull, and much more. I like the feeling of warm brown cliffs, the ocean, waves, spray, perhaps birds, and a mysterious focal point.

©Carol Leigh, who sells prints and note cards of this and other works at her website here: http://carol-leigh.artistwebsites.com/galleries.html

Eight inches of snow...

We stayed up until about 11 or so, watching the snow, listening to all the rescue activity on the scanner. And this morning, instead of a winter wonderland where I could wander the neighborhood photographing, we have rain. And wind. There's still lots of snow, but the trees are rapidly shedding that Yosemite-esque look of delicate snow-covered branches. This is the same view as yesterday's post, taken using an iPad from the guest room window looking out at part of our back yard, beautifully lighted (not) by the glow of a motion sensor detector. ©Carol Leigh, bundled up on the Oregon coast

Snowing right now on central Oregon coast

Big, wet, floppy, thick flakes coming down right now. And it's sticking. Apparently roads are impassable between Cape Foulweather and Depoe Bay. Very tough going for anyone on the road. Complete surprise. We've gone from 70mph winds and rain to 3mph winds and mountain-like snow. This is a horrible photo of my back deck taken with an iPad, lighted by the outside motion sensor light. Trees are apparently falling along Highway 20 and they're closing the east-west corridor between the coast and inland. And we're here safe and sound, listening to the scanner while things are getting crazy out there. Kind of exciting!

Salvage Art

I just posted about 10 "salvage art" photos to my Flickr site, with this descriptive paragraph:

I'm the only one I know who, when traveling, marks on maps where there are salvage yards so that, if there's no time to stop today, I know where I can go back someday. Just the thought of visiting and photographing at a salvage yard makes my adrenaline rush and my heart race.

Hello. My name is Carol and I'm really weird.

©Carol Leigh

Signs of the times

It's good to know that, in Mendocino, this artist is in. Clever sign. Wish I had one. If I were an artist, I could make one...

Along the Oregon coast, a seagull warns that "valuables are not secure in vehicles." The way the gull appears to be reading the sign strikes me as humorous for some reason...

In San Diego, we're warned not to give money to people, just to machines.

And again on the Oregon coast, a sign in the window of a fishing boat lets us know how salmon-snatching sea lions are impacting the industry. What I especially like is the shrimp pattern on the curtains!

©Carol Leigh, whose only sign here in the office is "the crab is in."

Letters du jour

A grouping of "S" photos is my offering for today. The first is a photomontage of the "S" on the fishing vessel "Master Chris," which I combined with texture from a boat hull.

The second is an "S" photographed in Astoria, Oregon, on a textured wall.

The third "S" was recently sold to a textbook publishing company, where it will appear on the cover.

And the fourth "S?" Well, it's totally weird and I'm probably going to throw it out, but it's something I created in Photoshop. Why keep it? Because it took forever to do! It'll eventually hit the wastebasket, but I'm keeping it for now.

Happy weekend, everybody.

©Carol Leigh, back from a quick trip to northern California where she took some of the most boring photos of her life . . .