May 2017 exceed your expectations.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Gratitude 2016

I had a very good day Tuesday at Fine Art America, where I sold 10 different very large metal prints to a condominium association In Portland, Oregon’s artsy Pearl District.

They e-mailed me, saying in part, “...we placed an order for a lot of your beautiful work to grace the halls...” and “...thank you...for producing such beautiful images to decorate our lives.”

The Pearl is a well-known hubbub of art. Fine Art America represents tens of thousands of artists. The buyers had a huge selection of artists they could have approached.

They said, “...after considering many, many pieces our eyes and hearts always came back to the work of one artist. You do nice work.”

To sell 10 big prints in one day is wonderful. And to cap it off, someone else in Minnesota bought two small framed prints, prints of Japanese-esque collages I’d made.

What a lovely way to slide away from 2016 and gently approach 2017.

I leave this year with a humble and grateful heart.

And yes, I appreciate the irony. “If you’re so damned humble, why are you bragging on yourself?!” Ha! Obviously I’m not that humble!

To see the images that sold on Tuesday, see the post directly below this one. I know many of you are curious.

©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.

Yesterday was a very good day . . .

Yesterday was a very good day, selling 12 images to two different buyers.

The first 10 will be residing in a beautiful, modern condominium building in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District. They're all around 40" or so on the long side, printed on metal.

The last two are small, nicely framed, and are going off to Minnesota.

I have another post almost ready that will appear on top of this one, but at the moment, we're off to Bellingham to check out the fishing boats, have lunch, and stop at a Trader Joe's. Not a bad day at all.

©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.
 

A word for the upcoming year?

A word for the upcoming year? Many are giving it thought.

My friend, Laura Lein-Svencner, has decided on NATURAL, a word that, for lots of reasons, resonates with her, has meaning for her, and will be something that’s always in the back of her mind.

So I wondered, should I have a word? A meaningful concept always floating around in my brain, consciously, or sub-?

This past year has been a challenge. I’ve always been apolitical, far removed from the fray. But this year? It’s been hard to ignore, hasn’t it? Never has politics been so repugnant, repellent, repulsive than what we saw in 2016, no matter which side you were on.

Name-calling, misogyny, bigotry, pettiness — all shoved in our faces, every minute of every day.

Where was decency, empathy, kindness, and objectivity?

It all came to a head this past week when a crony of the president-elect said the most despicable and hateful things about the outgoing president and his wife.

It made me cry in despair. And it made the word I’d chosen for 2016 come into sharp focus:

RISE

The word RISE is nothing but positive. An “upward movement.” To ascend. To go up. To do a better job.

Hot air balloons rise upward. “A rising tide floats all boats.” Rise from the ashes. Rise above expectations. Rise to the challenge. Rise to the occasion. Boost. Prosper.

Get up, stand up. The sun also rises. Sunrise. SurpRISE!

So that’s my word for 2017. RISE. Rise above the bigotry, meanness, hate, pettiness, aggression, the ordinary, the stupidity, the average. “We rise by lifting others.”

It’s a short, monosyllabic word — RISE. How hard could it be to put into practice? We shall see. In 2017, we shall see.

Wishing you all the best of everything in 2017.

Carol Leigh
Chris Smith
Abby the Psycho Cat

Winter Solstice

Wishing us all peace, tranquility, and kindness this 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.

Snow days!

We had snow on Whidbey this past weekend and were trapped at home. Even though it wasn't much (relatively speaking), it was the terrain that did us in.

Our driveway is kind of steep, and with a bit of snow on it, should the car begin to slip, slowly descending the driveway could easily turn into Mr. Toad's Wild Ride down into the street.

Once on the street, one encounters the "dip." And the dip is a significant one. I've heard about one of our neighbors who puts on chains at the top of the dip and then removes them once she gets to the other side!

So we cancelled the party we had scheduled for Saturday and just hunkered down and enjoyed the show.

The top photo is our back yard as seen from the living room windows. So pretty.

And the second photo was taken from the front porch. Equally pretty.

We put out lots of birdseed, which attracted juncos, varied thrushes, towhees, kinglets, and a hawk. Who was attracted to the birds. We could tell when the hawk was near -- not one little bird to be seen.

Snow. A novel experience for us. And absolutely lovely, don't you think?

 ©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.

Eight years apart . . .

The top photo is an image I took in 2008, using a Canon EOS 20D camera. And I processed the image as I usually did back then.

Looking at it today, eight years later, I find it rather dull. But what I like about it is the strong vertical slightly curved line and how it meets the highly curved line bottom right.

I also like the way the vents create a series of horizontal repeating lines. Horizontal lines that move your eye from top to bottom, echoing the strong vertical line on the right.

It's a combination of soft curves and straight lines. I like the texture and I like the color.

I found it in a directory I'd labeled "monochromes."

I opened the file yesterday morning and wondered what I might do to it now, eight years later.

Using Adobe Camera Raw, I lightened and brightened the image. I also increased the contrast, and, using the clarity slider, enhanced the sharpness.

Not content with that, I looked in a directory I have of metal texture photos. I selected a picture I'd taken of scratched metal, desaturated it to remove the greenish cast it had, and then added that picture to the mix.

Is the bottom photo better than the top? Eight years later, have I learned anything? I'm not sure.

The bottom image is lighter, brighter, more vibrant, has more contrast, more life.

But notice this: You see a stronger sense of line and design and composition in the top photo. Why? Because it doesn't have the color "distractions" that you see in the bottom shot.

So I'm going to go with the second photograph. Overall it's more appealing (to me). But I do like how the design pops out in the first.

What's my point? I don't really have one, other than to say it's fun to revisit old photographs with new eyes and new skills. That this learning process never ends, and how lucky we are that it doesn't?!

©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.

Latest work: "Bits and Pieces"

A potpourri of small vintage Japanese papers gathered together to make a larger piece. I like the elongated look, and have a few more in progress.

©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.

Experiment #9269

©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.

Latest work: "Painter's Tape"

At least it looks like painter's tape 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.

A couple of boats . . .

A couple of boats in the Nova Scotia fog. Lovely.

©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.

What's It Made Of?

The other day I was rummaging through my photographs and ended up creating this.

Frankly, I don't know what I'll ever do with this picture (other than use it as a teaching tool), but it was fun to make, and here's what I used:

There are two versions of the picture -- the original vertical format and then the squarified version. Why? Because each version gives you a different feel.

In the top image, there's both vertical and horizontal movement. There's a horizontal line up top, which echoes the horizontal line of the "4665" at the bottom.

Then there's the hand, which sort of links, in a vertical fashion, those two horizontal elements.

The square version does not emphasize movement. Your eye goes plonk, right to the hand/number combo. It looks around a little bit, but always sees the numbers and the hand. Not nearly as much movement as the first picture, but rather immediate impact.

There are basically just three pictures I used to make this. And I found them all in a boatyard.

First, there's the background, which is a photo I took of the side of a boat that was being refurbished, so you're seeing scraped and sanded paint, dirt, grunge, grime, and a number of dusty, faded colors.

I LOVE PHOTOGRAPHING THIS SORT OF THING!

Then there's the hand. I think it's really a painted glove that someone slapped on a wall.

And then there are the numbers, which caught my eye because they're pulling away from whatever they're stuck on, which gives them a certain depth and texture. Didn't need all the numbers; four worked fine.

And that's about it. I've shown you the sorts of things I take photos of, and then how I've combined them into one semi-weird photo that darned if I know what I'll do with.

Except show it to you here.

©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.

Experiment #9924

©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.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

As I meandered around a boatyard last month, I found this little creature apparently shampooing. He's actually just some peeling paint and weathered metal, but his cute face really stood out.

I was shooting with a macro lens, so it was easy to move in closely. Much to his dismay, I'm sure!

©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.

Experiment #9375

I am loving these weird creations I'm making.

But there's a problem, and you may know the answer.

I have a lot of images in my iPhone 6+ that I want to download into my Mac Mini. I usually do this via a WiFi connection and software called, I believe, Photo Transfer.

This requires a fair amount of data being transferred out of my phone and then into my computer. I'm sensitive to data these days (ad nauseum), and to send and then receive more than a gigabyte of data impacts my limited data plan.

Is there a way to physically download/upload my cellphone photos without using WiFi? Maybe even from the cellphone to a flash drive, and then from the flash drive into the desktop computer? That way I could use the WiFi at the library or a local restaurant, then bring the flash drive home to do the rest.

Any suggestions would be most welcome!

NOTE: I figured it out (thanks to Chris). Adobe Bridge has an import feature. All I do is plug my camera's USB into the Mac Mini. Open Bridge. Import photos from my phone. Easy. It was Chris who suggested using the USB cable. I found the rest (after struggling with iPhoto for way too long -- do NOT like that application and just wanted to get my photos OUT of there). I don't use iPhoto at all, considering it a snare and a delusion. End of min-rant. All is well photo-wise. And it's 31 degrees at the moment. Winter has arrived.

©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.

Sgraffito

For this photomontage I combined photographs of Japanese lettering, a painted piece of paper where I’d scraped the paint away, and part of a "cigar store Indian" statue. The warm colors appeal to me, as do the scratches, scrapes, and bits of red.

©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.

December is here . . . already

Everybody's gonna be saying it: "December already? This year's gone by so fast!"

So I won't say it.

The Winter Solstice is coming up. I was reading about it, what people do to celebrate it. And a lot of it has to do with contemplation, quiet, and simplicity.

The irony was that so many of the websites I visited to research Winter Solstice were packed with ads, encouraging me to simplify by purchasing books about simplification. Ads that blinked, changed colors, jiggled up and down, desperately wanting my attention so I would buy their products.

"Please, Carol, buy more so you can simplify your life!"

But what if I have no more room in my bookcases for yet another book? Well, then, there are links to Ikea, where I apparently have a huge selection of bookcases to choose from. Yes, maybe another bookcase will simplify my life!

But what if I have no space in my house for one more bookcase? Well, there are hundreds of DIY books all about home additions. Obviously I'll need some power tools. . .

Gotta love this Winter Solstice holiday. I'm going to relax, contemplate, and simplify. But first, I have some major shopping to do . . .

©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.

Eight Years of November

I took a look at all the photos I've posted in the month of November over the past eight years and selected one from each November for each year. (What a confusing sentence. Darned if I'm going to edit it, though.)

In 2009 snow covered a still-blooming fuchsia bush as well as a cute little birdhouse in our back yard in Waldport, Oregon.

Another year I was out on the beach in Oregon, looking for patterns in the sand. That's one of the big things I miss here on Whidbey Island -- big empty beaches. Miles to walk, and if there were four people out there, it was crowded! There are lots of beaches here, too, but many are private, others are smaller. No huge expanses of sand during minus tides. Not a complaint! Just something I miss.

Below that is a photo taken at the Seal Rock overlook in Oregon. A long exposure helped emphasize water movement and the spray from the waves.

And the fishing boats in Newport, Oregon? I miss them, too, although I've found a few extremely cool places here in Washington to photograph. Just takes a bit more driving to get to them. The fishing vessel "Finn" looks pretty good there on a foggy morning.

Below "Finn" is a photomontage I made out of paper and copper and rusty metal that I call "Northern Lights."

The weird photomontage below that is called "And the Rains Came." I would have to go back to see all the elements I used to create it. But I do remember that the vertical "raindrops" came from a photograph I took of a carved and painted wooden support pole in Santa Fe. Gotta say, the results surprised me. In a good way.

The sepia-toned image is the Coupeville Wharf, taken in 2015 when we moved here to Whidbey Island.

And this year's November shot is called "Experiment #9504." An ongoing series that is simply fun at the moment.

So there you have it. November's been a pretty good month photographically over the years.

©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.

Nautical bits

A gathering together of various nautical shapes, textures, bits and pieces.

©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.

City graffiti

A couple of fun things found on walls in Seattle earlier this month.

©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.

Clean and simple

Rummaging around in old photographs, I came across this one that had been mis-filed. (Yeah, like my filing system is so fine-tuned!) And it took me aback.

It's a really good shot!

I wasn't taken aback because it was good; I was surprised I hadn't done anything with it. So I began working on it.

The dark blue fishing net behind the buoy really sets it off, and I like how the rope stands out. Even the little knot of rope at the bottom of the buoy is kind of cool.

Overall a clean, simple, pleasing little photograph. Patiently waiting over the years to be discovered.

And aren't we all?

©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.

Latest work: "Standing Ground"

This has a definite Native American vibe to it, which I really like. The wide center strip is a piece of corrugated cardboard I painted, and so is the smaller center strip.

A political message? Perhaps. A simple graphic, composition, line, design? Perhaps.

But really. Have we not done enough to these people?

©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.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yup, my iPhone camera no longer focuses. Taking it in next week to have it looked at/replaced. In the meantime, feeling grateful today for friends, love, and the fact that I have a couple DSLRs to turn to!

Thankful, too, that I saw this graffiti on a train years ago that I could pull up and use in this space.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

©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.

Experiment #9132

©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.