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.

The last day of summer

Wednesday was the last day of summer. "Let's go walk around Langley!"

Our first stop was the Whidbey Art Gallery, which always has unique art and at affordable prices. I asked the man manning the desk which art was his. He's John Kloecke, a potter and does a lot of raku firing. I made sure we saw his work, and one piece in particular stood out -- a very elegant pot, a rich blue color, and a unique glaze that he said had glass in it, which melts to a lovely sheen. We bought it -- to be photographed soon.

This pink hydrangea flower is one of the last bloomers of the season, and looked good against a still-green leafy background.

And then down to the marina to see what we could see. Lots of crows, gulls, and pigeons, as well as dramatic clouds off in the distance.

I rescued a large starfish a gull had pulled off a piling and then left on the sidewalk. I grabbed an arm, gave a tug, and gently put him back in the water, watching him slowly, slowly sink down to the bottom.

Had an enjoyable conversation with the dockmaster, who showed us a photo he'd taken that morning of a bright orange (and huge) jellyfish. "That's Sandy Point. See that house with the sun on it? That's my parents' house. They've been there 45 years. Sometimes I call them and say, 'I can see what you're doing!' And they never fail to laugh."

A fine little exploration and an excellent way to celebrate the beginning of fall.

Wishing you all small celebrations such as this.

©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: "Crow Walking the Line"

My Drobo is full again. So I'm going through my photo files and getting rid of all the extra stuff I don't really need. It's tedious, but the fun thing is that I'm coming across pictures I'd forgotten about, such as this crow walking along a very thick mooring line in Newport, Oregon. There are boats behind him and beautiful bokeh glints of sunlight on the water.

And then I found a picture I'd taken of a weathered old buoy. I grunged it up some and included it here. I like the warmish combination of blue and brown colors.

I also like how sharp the crow is, how I can see the hairs under his chin, as well as the sunflower seed he has in his beak.

Apparently it pays to clean house every once in a while . . .

©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.

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.

Walking Crow

I created this image back in 2010 but wasn’t quite satisfied with it. And, poor guy, he’s been completely overlooked all these years until this morning, when I rediscovered him and decided to re-work the image.

(And thank you, Jan Hagan, for recommending the Nik filters. They are making a big difference in what I'm doing.)

There are lots of torn papers, images of old papers, a reflection of a fishing boat (!), a hand-painted number “4,” which is impossible to see, and some hand-painted squares over there on the left.

I like the really aged feeling of the background and how the crow stands out so well against it.

So glad I rediscovered him. And saw him with new eyes.

 ©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: "Coastal Crow"

There was a pair of crows that hung around our house on the Oregon coast. I loved seeing them interact, one sidling up next to the other, head down, wanting to be groomed. Or flying past, sticks in their beaks, as they built their nest in a tree on the next block.

I would sometimes give them some of Abby's kibble, tossing it down from the front deck as they stood in the driveway below. As I came out the door, they would immediately fly over to see what I had.

They say crows recognize faces; they remember those who have done them wrong and remember those they feel comfortable around. Shortly before we moved, I took a few final photos of them and I love how this one looks. And, like a crow, I will remember them as well.

 ©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 works . . .

I'm sort of in a postcard rut these days. My actual photography doesn't seem to exist at the moment (taking care of various things lately and not carrying around the big camera; disenchanted with the quality of the iPhone), so when I need to create something, I'm rummaging around in previously-taken images to see what I can put together.

Here we have one rather monochromatic image ("John Dory Fish Postcard") and a colorful one ("Crow in Orange and Pink").

Have I told you how much fun I have making these? Well, I'm having fun making these!

©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: "Northwest"

I've lived in a lot of places -- Norfolk, Virginia, San Diego, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Long Beach, California, Palm Springs, San Francisco, Hawaii, Vienna, Virginia, Japan, Nevada City, California, and more. With so many moves under my belt, I have no real concept of "home."

Gotta say, however, that the Pacific Northwest just feels right to me. I'm drawn to Santa Fe (well, who isn't?), but the sights, sounds, smells (fresh air!), and the green, lush environment here in the northwest make me feel more alive somehow. But Carol, isn't it cold? Yes, but those of you who constantly remind me that I wore shorts pre-dawn at the Reno Balloon Festival in 2000, I'm a warm-blooded person, and the temperatures here are perfect for me. Luckily, Chris feels the same way. Luckily, he's not wearing shorts!

Is this our last house? Probably not. There's probably one more move in the future, to a place with a bit less rain, a bit more space for a studio, and a place where Chris can set up power saws and things and have a woodworking shop. But will it be in the Pacific Northwest? Oh, yeah.

About the art . . . a faux poste card that incorporates my photos of a crow, postage stamps, an Oregon cancellation stamp, painted papers, and more. Made it yesterday morning.

©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: "Looking Eastward"

I created this cool image of a crow and have used it before as a stand-alone picture. This time, however, I combined it with a couple of mono prints I'd made as well as a vintage piece of Japanese paper. I added photos of a few old stamps and it's done. I like how everything is sort of indigo in color and how the treatment I created on the crow makes it look like it was created with ink and a brush. What fun this is 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. Thank you!

It's hard to sneak up on a crow . . .

Once again, I'm sort of in a slump, but instead of fretting, I continue trying this, trying that. I'm making a lot of monoprints to use not only in physical collages, but also to include in photomontages. I have lots of ephemera, too, to photograph and then use. And then there are a variety of painterly effects I'm testing out.

But what I'm also doing is simply riffling through my photo files, looking at old pictures with new eyes and (hopefully) new techniques and talents.

This crow showed up in 2009, as I and my workshop participants here on the Oregon coast were shooting at the Waldport Marina. I was able to move in fairly close and he didn't seem too concerned. But he definitely knew I was there.

I then added some textures, some scratches, some painterly effects, and came up with this version of my original photo. I like it. It's different. It was fun to make. And it reminded me of a lovely morning in Oregon five years ago, among like-minded folks, all admiring our surroundings and shooting away.

Wishing you lovely surroundings this Saturday morning.

©Carol Leigh

Latest work: "Facing Future"

A raven faces forward, his posture echoed in the faint swirls behind him where we see, perhaps, the head of another raven ahead of him. I used all sorts of photographs to create this, including pictures of torn paper, a bit of a physical collage I made, one of my favorite shots of scratched metal that I use in a LOT of my work, letters, lines, and more. I may end up turning this into a postcard, but for now, I like how things stand. ©Carol Leigh

Latest works . . .

I've been generating a prodigious amount of work lately with no lack of ideas and with the luxury of having a decent amount of time to create. I'm not sleeping much at all (which isn't good), but I'm loving what I'm doing.

What I especially love is the surprise, the way images turn out that bear no resemblance to my initial concept(s). I try an effect, something bizarre happens, and so I run with it, often tossing it out later but that doesn't matter -- it's the process that's important, and everything I discard gives me a stronger foundation for future images. (Did that make any sense? Am I taking myself way too seriously?)

As I'm working, I'm constantly uploading my pictures to Fine Art America, where I currently have slightly more than 800 available. And sales have been good. I'm excited at how well I'm doing there, and am extremely grateful.

Here are five examples of current images. The prayer flag project continues. I'll probably upload one more "set" (three individual images plus a triptych) and then, even though I've got many more for this particular series, am going to change the look, see if I can come up with a completely different series of them.

Old papers, cement, my own sketches, lines, and marks are forming the backbone of what I'm currently doing. I'm also looking at previous "failures" and seeing if there's anything I can do with new eyes and more skills to create something better.

It's 3 a.m., 19 degrees outside, Chris and the cat are sound asleep, and here I am in my little office, bleary-eyed but very pleased with how things are progressing. Wishing you equal pleasure in your work, whatever it is that is capturing your heart, but hoping you are sound asleep right now and that your weather is a bit warmer than we're having here.

©Carol Leigh

Latest work: "Corvus Star Chart"

The basis of this piece is a part of a map, a map called the "Pilot Chart of the North Pacific Ocean," printed in 1944 by the U.S. Navy. I got it at a flea market. (It was brown, ripped, torn, dirty -- perfect!) Other items are a star chart, a crow I photographed on the Oregon coast last week, a diagram showing how a seagull flies, foreign currency, and more. What I like is how the crow, dark as night, stands out against the star chart and the map.

Some of you (who shall not be named) aren't particularly fond of crows. So you (who shall not be named) should just look away!  :-)

Oh, and it's snowing right now here on the coast. Very gently. It's still dark so I can't see much, but what I can see is lovely. Hope some crows show up . . .

©Carol Leigh

Being thankful . . .

We had a good afternoon the other day up at the docks. Lots of walking, lots of looking, lots of (really bad) photos taken, a tasty lunch. We have so much to be thankful for . . .

At one point this lone crow (hello, Laura!) walked along a heavy rope, something unidentifiable in his mouth. I was shooting straight into the sunlight and look at how the sparkles on the water turned into a lovely bokeh. (Pronounced with the stress on both syllables "bo-keh." The out-of-focus circles.) It was so pretty I added a few more sparkles down at the bottom using Photoshop. Not so many as to be really obvious and gimmicky, but enough to repeat the pattern and to keep your eye moving up and down in the frame as well as horizontally along the rope, following the crow.

Next is a simple shot of the door to a boat's cabin. I liked the dark triangular shadow lower left and how it echoes the dark glass of the window upper right. But the cool part was the patina on the lock/doorknob.

And finally, Chris snickered when we walked past a dumpster and I said, "Ooh, great paint drip! You scoff now, but I will use that!" "I know you will," was his response. "And you'll use it well!" So here it is combined with lettering on the side of a fishing boat. A very messy "S."

In this season of giving thanks, of being especially aware of gratitude, I thank you all for being here, for taking the time to stop by my blog, and, every now and then, taking the time to comment. May we all never take any of this for granted.

©Carol Leigh

Looking Seaward

Yup, another crow! ©Carol Leigh