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: "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.

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.

 

Recent Work: "Time Out"

When I go back and see the art I've made, there are some pieces in particular that I'm especially fond of, and this is one.

I made it in March of this year, as the pandemic was gaining traction. We didn't know what to expect, we were isolating ourselves, and time stood still, became meaningless.

So this mixed-media picture began with a big circle, a circle which is a photograph of a watch face. With no hands. There are some watch face bezels, hand-painted papers, and metal tags in the mix as well.

The colors are both bold and strong, bright and subtle. The vertical elements within the frame contrast wonderfully with the big circle. 

I made a square version as well as a full-frame vertical, and it looks good both ways. Because I sell my work online at Fine Art America/Pixels, this gives my buyers flexibility -- flexibility in format and in price. Sometimes a square works better in a certain location than does a vertical picture. 

Click here to see this picture in high resolution at Fine Art America. And, as always, thank you for looking at my work.

Images copyright ©2020 Carol Leigh

 

Car shows this summer

The first article I ever had published was a photo essay in a travel magazine about car shows. Well, not about the shows, but about car “parts.” And the photos were pictures of hood ornaments, door handles, headlamps, etc.

My photographic predilections haven’t changed much since then, back in the early 1980s. I still immediately gravitate to the bits and pieces, rarely, very rarely, the entire car.

Here are a few images from the car shows Chris and I went to on Whidbey Island this summer. There are just four photos, actually, but two different versions of each. Why? Why feature both the full-frame image and a cropped, square version?

Two reasons. Instagram and marketing.

Instagram initially wanted pictures that were square. So that’s what I put there. Then they began accepting full-frame images. But all of my pictures I post online are in frames and they’re low-resolution. That’s on purpose. Makes them less liable to be stolen.

But a framed, non-square picture on Instagram gets chopped up and my pictures look stupid that way. So, square they remain.

And for marketing purposes, by offering my buyers on Fine Art America both a full-frame AND a square version, they have a choice. Easy.

Naturally, a lot of the pictures I make don’t work as squares, but some do, and here are four examples. All these pictures look good both in square and full-frame versions. You may prefer one over the other, but both versions look good. To me, at least!

Images Copyright ©2019 Carol Leigh

Recent work: "V" is for Vivian . . .

This is a composite of the fishing vessel "Vivian," in Astoria, along with a number of other images also taken in Astoria -- one of my favorite photo locations.

I offer two versions -- a full-frame image and a square version -- so that buyers have a choice. Frankly, in this case, I prefer the top picture because the "3M" at the top isn't cropped, nor is the word "Astoria" at the bottom.

Either way, I'm fond of the complementary blue and orange colors, the overall grungy and weathered look, and the subtlety of ropes and masts in the background.

This has been a good year for selling boat "bits" for some reason, and this is a good addition to the mix.

Here's a link to the picture(s) at Fine Art America/Pixels: https://carol-leigh.pixels.com/featured/1-fishing-vessel-vivian-astoria-oregon-carol-leigh.html

Copyright ©2019 Carol Leigh.

Recent work: "Blue Enso on Plaster"

This is one I finished the beginning of May and uploaded to Fine Art America.

A light blue Enso circle seemingly floats above a horizon line of warm red, yellow, and orange colors. I like the comforting colors, the complementary blue/orange combination, and the overall texture.

Copyright ©2019 Carol Leigh

Recent work: "Deception Pass Montage"

I create a lot of my montages by combining a number of photos (often totally unrelated) together. In this case, the photos I selected were all taken in the same place — Anacortes, Washington. I also added some pictures of rigging, and some hand-painted papers, then uploaded it to Fine Art America.

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Recent work: "The Beauty of Imperfection"

Numerous elements came together here, including an old teabag, a paper from the Braille edition of the New York Times newspaper, and a scrap of vintage Japanese paper.

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Recent work: "25 Palms"

I made this a long time ago, so it's not really "recent work," but I'd forgotten about this piece and came across it the other day. I like it a lot, and so uploaded it to Fine Art America and here it is.

This same palm tree has appeared in a lot of my work. Time to find some new ones!

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Latest work . . . "Torn Squares Collage"

I created a gel print, decided I didn’t like it, and began tearing it up. Hmmmm . . . I became more deliberate in my rips and tears, creating a number of squares. Okay, now what? And this eventually happened. You just never know, do you? Uploaded to Fine Art America first thing this morning.

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Recent work: "Red Sun Calligraphy" collage

This is a quite minimalistic collage, consisting of a piece of Braille paper, a very old piece of Japanese paper, a scrap of paper I painted, and then a cut-out circle made of mango leaves and fibers embedded in mulberry paper.

You can see it much larger and with more detail in my "Asian Influence" gallery at Fine Art America/Pixels.

It's not much, but I really like it!

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Latest work: "Dappled Crow in Blue"

When you're sitting in the car, holding a camera, and a crow's on a fence right in front of you, well, what would YOU have done?! This guy was quite handsome and made a fine silhouette.

There are a number of photos contained in this one picture. All were taken in Port Townsend, Washington and then I added strips of dusty pink, orange, and turquoise to echo the colors in the background peeling paint. So much fun to do, so difficult to describe . . .

I've uploaded this image to Fine Art America, where you can see it much bigger and at a higher resolution. Here's the link directly to it.

P.S. Wishing a good morning to Shirley, my friend in Bend.

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Daily photo: 20190124 Moon Phases (1 and 2)

Because I work as a collage artist as well as a photographer, sometimes the two combine. That’s the case here, where I’ve mixed a collaged book page with a piece of textured paper and created something completely different. Because of all the stir about the recent full moon/lunar eclipse, moons have been on my mind. This is the result -- two different versions, which I began this morning, had breakfast, then finished them up, uploaded them to Fine Art America. My day can now officially begin.

Sometimes it's worth getting up early!

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Daily Photo: 20190123 Golden Leaf on Red Paper

I began this picture this morning and it's taken me most of the day to finish it. Man, oh, man. Sometimes they come together so quickly, other times, well, not so much.

I collected and dried a number of these leaves last fall, put them in a heavy book, then took them out today. Most of them broke -- so delicate.

I combined the leaf with some bright red paper, added a hand-scribbled Enso circle, and a Japanese signature from an antique book I got in Kyoto.

It's done. It's uploaded to Fine Art America, and it's my Daily Photo. I do believe it may be time for a Cuba Libre!

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Daily Photo 20190117

I recently got word that my photo of a mosaic bear was purchased as a tote bag from Fine Art America.

It's always cool for me to see how my photos look when they appear on other items (rather than as prints).

Although I don't offer my photos on a LOT of non-print surfaces, for a variety of reasons, the tote bags from FAA are high quality and sturdy. I've bought maybe five of them, and am always pleased.

This is not a sales pitch. In fact, YOU could set up a free account with them, add some of your own pictures, and then buy them yourself -- not only as prints, but as tote bags such as this.

I've included a link to this picture at Fine Art America, so you can see the details better.

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Daily Photo 20190116 Scraped Walls

Wednesday's "Daily Photo" is two photos, pictures I worked on a good part of Tuesday and then uploaded yesterday to Fine Art America.

They actually began a couple of years ago. I was riffling through my photo files, specifically the file called "works in progress," looking for inspiration.

I selected a piece I thought at the time was going nowhere. But this year it looked different and so I gave it a go.

This is what happened. Two different but similar pieces that don't necessarily go together on a wall, but individually look pretty good.

The green one is soft, serene, and calming. And I really love the background.

The red/turquoise picture is bold and flamboyant, exciting, not calming. And yes, the colors really grab me.

So there you have it. Two pictures as my January 16 "Daily Photo."

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Daily photo 20190109 "Burnt Orange Collage"

I made this collage to be included in a handmade Japanese(ish) book I’m making. I used torn papers, gel prints, and, on the far left, faded and folded paper (used to hold chopsticks) that I found in my father’s dresser drawer after he died.

I also cropped this to a square version, and uploaded both to Fine Art America this morning.

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 for your understanding and kindness.

Mountain Ash Leaves

The warm colors of mountain ash leaves look beautiful placed on an antique Japanese book cover. I get a calm, quiet feeling from this, as though I’ve just opened some child’s scrapbook, where he or she has collected and pressed fallen leaves.

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 for your understanding and kindness.