Best of 2015 -- July through December

What? You think these are your best? Come on! You've taken better images than these. And some of these aren't even photographs.

Yeah, but these mean something to me, so my selections definitely aren't objective. And I'm old now, so I'm not here to impress anyone but me!

I posted the owl photo because the experience of having a juvenile barred owl hanging around was a first. He was on the deck when it was still fairly dark out, so I went for some silhouettes, but then as daylight was just around the corner, he flew into a nearby pine tree and sat there looking at me. The photo (taken with a DSLR) was soft, so I tweaked it considerably and came up with this spooky image. The picture evokes a wonderful memory for me, and that's why it's here.

Same thing with the next shot, reminiscent of our first days on Whidbey in August. We were having breakfast at a restaurant on the water where an open window created a perfect frame for isolating the Coupeville Wharf. Cellphone camera and Camera+ app using the Lone Star effect, for those of you keeping score . . .

The lighthouse at Fort Casey in September looks particularly good, I think, again with the cellphone, Camera+ and Lone Star. I was there early morning, poking around by myself, thoroughly enjoying the quiet.

The blue and red abstract image I created in October appeals to me because it shows me what I can make with just the simplest of things, such as a piece of deli sandwich wrap that I scraped some paint onto and then added some circles I'd cut out of cardboard. To make something from things that normal people would just toss away is incredibly rewarding to me, and I'm loving the process.

Same thing with the November photo, which, frankly, I can't remember what I used to create it. And it was just last month! Sheesh. I went back to look, and I see I used photos of papers I'd painted as well as some India ink slashes I'd made. Once again, something bold and interesting made with the simplest of materials. Makes me feel good.

And then there's the faux matchbox label I made earlier this month, which I particularly like because it's just so different. I used an image from an antique dictionary, hand-colored it, combined it with some old paper and then created everything else -- the circles, the lines, the lettering, etc. in Photoshop. It was an experiment, it was fun, I learned something, and it's bright!

So what's ahead for this coming year? I want to make more physical things, things that can be handled, rather than strictly digital images. I've made a bunch of collages that might look good on cradle boards. We shall see. I also came up with a fun idea yesterday that I'm eager to begin that involves lots of paper, lots of paint, lots of ink, and lots of room. And old clothes.

Are you ending this year with a sense of excitement for what lies ahead? Is there something new you're going to be working on? Or with? A new camera? A new way of seeing? A different way of processing? Of creating? Something challenging yet fun? I would love to hear about it.

It's an exciting time to be an artist. Go make something this year. If it's awful, make something again. And again. And again. If you're stuck, there are thousands of tutorials online that can point you in the right direction, can inspire you, can trigger a creative idea.

You're here reading this blog because you're an artist of some sort, whether it's photography or anything else. Not to mention that you and I have a connection that we've made over the years, through an online class, a workshop in the field, the newsletters and guides I've published. And so I hope that maybe my enthusiasm for what I'm doing is contagious and will motivate you to take some time this year to create, to notice the little things, to learn, to have fun, to grow.

Wishing you the very best in 2016. And I know you wish me the same.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Best of 2015 -- January through June

So far this year I've written 218 posts for my blog, each post containing at least one photo. That's a lot!

On a whim, I tried to choose my favorite images from the year. Came up with one from each month. And was surprised to see that most of them were collages/photomontages.

Why? Because although I'm a good photographer, I feel most creative when I'm making something from nothing, making something that I don't know what it will look like when I'm done. And although I use my own photographs in these montages, I alter them considerably to become part of a greater whole.

My photomontage process feeds my creative soul much more than "straight" photography. My images are unique, don't look like anybody else's, and are always a surprise to me when I'm done.

These six pictures, representing January through June, are all photomontages. There are a couple of "normal" photographs in the next post, but yes, my photomontage work outweighs everything else.

I began the year in January with the top image, "Celestial Spheres," with its planet/moon-like shapes throughout. Nice warm colors.

February's picture is actually a straight photo of an envelope I made, a physical collage created with Japanese book pages, ink-stained paper, and three squares glued on here and there. Nothing more.

Our impending move to Whidbey Island inspired the third picture, made in March, the postcard of a crow looking toward the northwest, and with stamps depicting owls, owls that definitely make themselves known up here.

And then there's the soft blue-colored image called "Writing on the Wall." Off the top of my head, I don't know what I used to make this in April. I would have to go back to the original PSD file and take a look at the layers. I used to be able to say immediately what a particular montage was made of, but I've created so many now that I often don't even remember having made some of them, much less remember what all the components were at the time.

The next one, though, with the two circles, I definitely remember making in May because it was based entirely on a "straight" photo I took from a hotel window looking down at two bicyclists waiting to cross a street. I challenged myself to make a photomontage that captured the stronger elements in the photograph and I was really please with how this one turned out.

And then in June, having been watching the deer on our property, I created a tall, thin Japanese-ish postcard.

It feels good to look back, seeing not only the photos I took but the photomontages I created, reading over some of the posts, seeing the progression through this year, a year that saw me at my father's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in 12-degree weather, a visit to South Carolina (and 21-degree weather!), the decision to leave the Oregon coast, to settle on Whidbey Island.

Next post I'll continue with this, posting my favorite image from each month.

Take a look at your own work. What are YOUR favorite images, projects, artwork from this past year? It's fun to take a look back.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

"Tis the season . . .

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Latest work: "Splattered Ink Postcard"

I am making a series of collages and partway through this one I stopped, brought it into the computer, toned it down, added a few things, and created a more muted version of my original collage. I love the ink splatters, and it was fun creating them. Messy, but fun! And the circle behind the stamps upper left? My photo of the bottom of an old oil can. Of course!

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Merry Christmas!

This is an image that I brought home from my parents' house last year, and I believe it's from a Christmas card they received from someone they knew in Japan in the early 1960s. I was attracted to the serenity of the scene, the way it reminded me of my trip to Kyoto, and the quietness of snow gently falling.

May your days be merry and bright, today and always.

Carol, Chris, and (sigh) Abby the Psycho Cat

Latest work: "Enso Layers"

Hand-painted papers and an ink Enso circle stack up to form this collage. Something a little different. And oh, wouldn’t this look good printed on metal?

 ©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Leaves . . .

Whole lot of experimenting going on these days! Here are two photos I took in the studio using a ring flash, then tweaked in Photoshop afterwards.

Not sure where I'm going (if anywhere) with these, but it's good to shake things up.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Latest work: "Colorgraph"

I’ve been trying to learn about the stock market and so have been looking at a LOT of charts and graphs. I’m not a numbers person, but I do enjoy seeing the patterns, and here it appears to have carried over to my work. Hand-painted lettering, India ink stripes, and lots of texture went into this piece. Aren't the colors striking? 

 

P.S. Craig, maybe I should have called this one "Moving Average!"

 

 ©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

James Dean: HOT!

I found a poster of James Dean partially ripped from a wall in southern California and photographed it. I changed the look, added the word "HOT" I'd found painted on an old billboard in Bakersfield, California.

Interestingly, the day James Dean died, he'd been issued a speeding ticket just south of Bakersfield.

Coincidence? I think not!  :-)

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Sort of like reading your own resume . . .

In the past, I went through a lot of ups and downs, doubting my skills on multiple levels. When things really seemed black, I simply read my own resume. Since no one ever includes the bad stuff, resumes make us feel we can walk on water.

After reading what an incredibly talented person I was, and all that I'd done so far in my life, I felt much better, more self-confident, more worthy.

Same thing in art. This morning I was working on a series of images and they just weren't "right" yet. Uh-oh. I'm a crappy artist. I have no new ideas. Look at that person's work. Look at what he's doing. I'm a failure. I'll never create anything unique again.

I don't have an artist's resume to fall back on, a listing of feel-good artsy accomplishments. So I went to my next-best thing -- my artist board on Pinterest.

I post my work there from time to time, always linking it back to Fine Art America. Do any sales result? I don't know. I just like having it there for people to see. And, apparently, for me to see.

So I looked. And I saw work I didn't even remember making. And I loved what I was seeing! All of a sudden I realized hell yes -- I have an incredible body of work. And it's good. And it's different. And it helped me see the bigger picture, comparing this body of work created over time rather than a couple hours of work this morning, seemingly going nowhere.

And as I wrote this, a single coyote walked out of the trees, gleaming a pale, silvery grey, fat and healthy and wary. Coyote looked around and then turned and melted back into the trees. Significant? Probably.

Like the trickster coyote, the shape-shifter coyote, my mind can play tricks on me, making me doubt, conjuring up feelings of inadequacy.

And now I know how to make those doubts melt back into the trees -- Pinterest! Pinterest to the rescue!

Bottom line? Our work as artists, as photographers, takes place over time. One photo taken this morning does not define your work nor your worth. It's what you do over time. I suggest taking a look back at your work right now, whether you have it on Flickr, on Pinterest, at a stock agency, on a blog, wherever. Look at all you have done. Look at the wonderful things you've created. And know that art doesn't happen all at once. It's a process. It's a journey. Never a destination.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

The only zone . . .

Not just the zone, the only zone! Five years ago, while conducting a workshop on the Oregon coast (attended by my three North Carolina buddies), I found a "Loading Zone Only" sign. So I mashed it up, broke it apart, reassembled it, tossed out all the leftover bits, and came up with this.

A new dimension in time and space. The ONLY ZONE . . .

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Just because it's fun . . .

Matchbox labels . . . You don't see many of them any more. (Well, unless you go on eBay and accidentally end up winning a bid for 14,000 of them. But I digress.) I decided to create my own "faux" matchbox label and chose black, red, and yellow for the color palette. I hand-colored the cockatoo (from an antique dictionary) to use as the centerpiece. It's up and online at Fine Art America where, frankly, I think it looks especially good as a tote bag.

You can't see it from here, but over on the left there's a little marking: "PRODUCT OF WHIDBEY ISLAND." Yup, just having some fun.

 ©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Latest work: "Circles and Rectangles"

Monoprint where I used a lovely blue paint as well as a bold orange. Off to the left and right are splashes of purple, leftover paint from a previous print. See? It pays not to clean up!

 ©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

It's still fall . . .

In my book, it's still fall. Do not want to give in to winter just yet. Last month I gathered some fallen leaves and twigs and stuck them in a phone book to dry. The other day I pulled them out, watching with dismay as a few leaves separated from their twigs, but no matter. Stuck them in an old bottle I had nearby and decided to photograph them.

The overall lighting in my studio is, shall we say, challenging. There's a big light in the middle (the typical light that comes on when the garage door opens/closes). Then there's an overhead light fixture we got that has maybe six lights on it, all high-intensity LED bulbs. Then there are two ceiling-mounted fluorescent light boxes over on the other side of the room.

I do have two lights set up on a waist-high light table which work very nicely, but over my apothecary-ish cabinet, the LED lights make some cool shadows on a stark white wall, and I like the effect. Nothing will be hung on that wall because the white is just great for a clean simple backdrop. And the height is perfect -- no bending nor stooping required.

So I used that wall to photograph my leaves. I like how the top one looks, almost as though it were shot on a light table. And you know what's important about that shot? See the little tiny bit of space between leaf #1 and the leaf right next to it? To me, that little bit of separation is incredibly important.

In the second photo I took advantage of the shadows on the wall to add interest. And I also used a grungy piece of paper in the background, again to add interest.

No. Winter isn't here yet. Still celebrating fall. My favorite season. Well, favorite along with spring.

 ©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!

Latest work: "Imagined Calligraphy"

Thank-you to Kathleen Amt for sending me such wonderful vintage (and not-so-vintage) papers. I used a few in this photomontage, as well as an Enso circle I'd cut and painted, and then some ink squiggles.

The warm colors with just a touch of blue really appeal to me.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you!