Little details

Small details found in the town of Edison, Washington. I liked the unusual shape of the "NO TRESPASSING" sign, and the fact that the scene was in shade really enhanced the original pale blue color.

The heart on weathered wood, however, was in bright sunlight, creating a feeling of depth and dimension.

I love finding little things such as these. And, as usual: small pleasures.

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.

A month of hearts: February 28

Taken in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I particularly liked the dramatic shadow, which adds interest and sets off the heart nicely.

I am happy to see this "month of hearts" come to an end. I don't know why I do things like this, frankly, but it's been a short month and I've certainly had a plethora of heart images to show.

I have a "Photomotivation" group going over in Facebook, and this month's assignment for everyone has ALSO been hearts, so I've been inundated not only with my own images, but with pictures from 70 other people. They've posted some really good ones, and it makes me happy to encourage them to all be out there looking and photographing, or drawing, or quilting, or whatever...

If you would like to participate in the Photomotivation group on Facebook, let me know and I'll include you in the mix. It's not a "class," but a lot of info is shared regarding improving and creating.

See you next month! I am now officially "heartless."

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 27

I bought these two mugs at the Dollar Store specifically to photograph and then gave them to someone else afterwards. I like the light, soft overall feel to this shot.

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 26

Knowing my predilection for hearts, a number of years ago a neighbor gave me these three wooden hearts as a Christmas gift.

What to do with them, oh, what to do?

They had a rustic, shabby chic, country look to them, so I placed them on some worn blue boards and took the picture.

I like the resulting image -- weathered, worn, and symbolizing love. Nice.

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 kindness. 

A month of hearts: February 25

Chris and I were having lunch at Whidbey Pies yesterday (I recommend the seafood chowder) and a little girl at the next table was drawing with crayons. We heard her dad say, "And you can make skinny lines by using the edge of the crayon." "Ohhhhhhhhh!" She was excited to learn that.

Nobody took the paper with them when they left, so before their table could be bussed, I picked up her drawing. HEARTS! Woo hoo! See? You just never know where the next surprise might be lurking!

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 24

"Below the Ice." I have a rock in the shape of a heart. I scanned it, turned it over, scanned the other side. Now I have two pictures of the heart, each one slightly different.

I combined the two images into one frame. I then used a photo I'd taken of scratched metal and combined it with the photos of the heart. Voila! An image that looks like two hearts embedded in ice.

Did I pre-visualize this? Did I plan it? Heck no! What's the fun in THAT? After a lot of what-iffing, this was the result. Done. A happy surprise.

We are off to explore -- it's no longer icy nor snowy nor rainy today, so we are outta here!
Wishing you a day of exploration -- whether inside or out -- and may you have some happy surprises.

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 23

A heart from a mixed-media piece I made eons ago. Brought it into the computer, tweaked it a bit, and here it is today.

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 22

Why create something like this? I didn't think it would work all that well as a framed print. Had some doubts. But I still liked it. Should I upload it to Fine Art America?

It was when I saw the artwork as a throw pillow that I knew I'd made the right decision. It looks GREAT as a pillow! I ordered one to be used in the guest room and it's perfect. It also looks good as a tote bag.

What's my point? I know why I create images, and I always have those "whys" in the back of my head. So if I see a heart, I immediately think of my online class "heart" assignments, I think of stock photography, I think of Valentine cards, I think of teaching tools, I think of FAA, I think of use in a photomontage. And sometimes I just think, "Cool!" Snap.

In my little world, not everything has to be frame-worthy. There's so much more to the images I create.

Why do you take the photos you do? Why do you create, paint, draw, images? Is it practice? Is it an excuse for being out just looking? Are you selling your work? Might you be? Are you creating photo books for your family? Are you teaching? Might you be?

In this case, I was just experimenting with painting hearts, tearing up the paper, placing the hearts on more paper, nothing else on my mind but "what if." So it was for practice, for possible sale at FAA, as well as part of an ongoing fixation with hearts.

Throughout my professional life, my intent was to encourage you to look. That was my main goal -- to help you see. And if sending you on a quest for hearts helped you notice more things around you, I was happy. Still am! Wishing you a heart-filled existence always.

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 21

A hearty saguaro!

And I know what you're thinking: did you make that heart in Photoshop? And my answer is no. I would tell you if I had. But nope, it was like that out in the wild -- Saguaro National Park. And the photo is so old that I don't think I had the Photoshop skills back then to create the heart. (I don't think I have the skills NOW to create the heart.)

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 20

This is a heart-shaped lock I found on a gate (or a door) in Half Moon Bay, California. Metal, rust, AND a heart? Oh, my. Works for me!

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 19

A purple heart doodle. Nothing more, nothing less.

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 18

The ceramic hand was a (delightful) gift from (delightful) Judy Tillson. So I put a glass heart in it, directed a flashlight beam onto the heart to make it glow, and voila!

No angles or tilting in this shot. Notice I lined up the thumb with the top of the frame. Had I tilted anything, gravity would set in and you'd be nervous about the heart falling out of the hand. And a broken heart is something we all try to avoid...

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 month of hearts: February 17

We were wandering around a mattress store and voila! I spotted this mattress that featured hearts as its pattern. Asked permission to take a picture -- "no problem," and happily added another heart to my ongoing and ever-growing collection. See? You just never know when you'll find something cool.

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 month of hearts: February 16

Gotta love hangers!

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 15

Photographed back in 2006 using a Lensbaby 2 lens on a tripod. A bit of red ribbon, some Battenberg lace, an old-fashioned charm, and the result is a rather dreamy, ethereal-looking photograph.

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 kindness.

A month of hearts: February 14

Happy Valentine's Day! Photographed at the Oregon Coast Garden Center (no longer in business, alas) on a rainy February day many, many years ago. The sentiment still holds, though.

And I'm especially wishing Chris a happy Valentine's Day. Any man who can make me laugh has my heart. And we've been laughing together since 1985. It just keeps getting better and 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.

A month of hearts: February 13

Photomontage made with:

1) A design from Jan Nicholas's shirt. She attended my Oregon Coast workshop and we were at Yaquina Head Lighthouse watching a pair of peregrine falcons on the cliffs and I noticed a cool stitched dotted line on her shirt and took a picture of it. I've used it a LOT in subsequent montages.

2) The big background curves are part of a sign I saw at the Getty Museum.

3) A hand-drawn and -painted heart.

4) And the background is a piece of paper I painted and then brought into the computer. It's a sort of golden brown color with some black at the bottom.

I made this a very long time ago, but it never fails to please me!

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 month of hearts: February 12

I found this chalk-drawn heart in a parking lot in Bellingham yesterday afternoon. It's not a picture I would normally take. Why? There's a black shadow moving through it. There's a painted white line at the top. The picture's wonky. It's messy. Normally I would throw out something like this.

Except. Except there's something about it I like. Maybe it's because I gave my students an assignment many years ago to find and photograph hearts. And once given that assignment, it sticks with one over the years.

Maybe it's because it's whimsical. Someone with two different colors of chalk quickly scribbled a heart on the street, added a smile and two eyes and moved on. It won't last long in the rainy Pacific Northwest, so maybe the fact that it's a short-lived bit of whimsy is what's appealing.

Or maybe in our divisive, angry, snarky political climate, it's a cute, simple, quickly scribbled spark of joy and happiness.

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 month of hearts: February 11

Remember Oriental Trading Company? You could (and perhaps still can) buy a lot of stuff for next to nothing. I used them to purchase photo props. So I bought a dozen of these glass hearts for a couple of dollars and set up this little scene.

I placed a glass brick on a gauzy red scarf (look up "dance scarves" at Oriental Trading Company and you'll see what I used). I ran a ribbon through the loop at the top of the heart, placed the heart on the brick, and there you have it -- a pretty little photo for a Valentine's Day card.

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 month of hearts: February 10

I found this heart on the sidewalk in front of the John L. Scott office in Langley, Whidbey Island. Gotta love little surprises such as this.

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.