Juanita Wheels

From my "Parts is Parts" class, I've used the letter "A" from my neighbor's mailbox. I combined it with wheels and canvas and ta da! ©Carol Leigh

Barriers

©Carol Leigh

Ottis

I began conducting a "Parts is Parts" class this week where we're all encouraged to take one subject and create 10 decent photos of it. I'm photographing my neighbor's mailbox, which is rusty and weathered and full of letters and texture. I'm not creating any photomontages for the class, but I had to do one for myself. At least one. And there may be more before the class is over . . . ©Carol Leigh

Bold Tee

My word for the day today is BOLD. This is my beginning. ©Carol Leigh

Time

©Carol Leigh

Childhood

When everything was a treasure. ©Carol Leigh

Time in San Miguel

I combined a photo I took of a decorative iron scroll with a cracked and colorful wall and then added some Roman numerals. It's funny where ideas come from. I saw (or thought I saw) an illustration with Roman numerals all over it. Turns out they were letters, but the "Roman numerals" concept stuck. I made a note to begin including them into my photomontages and here's the first one. I cannot believe how much I love this stuff. ©Carol Leigh

Oil can #3

Yesterday I purchased a new (well, it's old) oil can -- my current obsession. Here I've combined it with gauze, an old ceiling tin, a wooden box, and cardboard. I then played with Channel Mixer in Photoshop and added some shadowing. Do I know what I'm doing? Um, no . . . But I'm finding incredible delight in my ignorance. Remember when you were a child and everything was possible and time stood still? This be that. ©Carol Leigh

Cracked Sunflower

A crack in my garage floor and a sunflower. ©Carol Leigh

Snowy Tree

On my walk around the block this morning I photographed the bare branches of a birch tree against the sky, knowing that I would use it sometime in a photomontage. I didn't expect to be using it so soon! This is a combination of four different photographs taken along the coast, here in my neighorhood, and in Mexico. This has been a really, really good morning. ©Carol Leigh

Below the Ice

Rock hearts appear trapped under ice, created by using a piece of scratched metal. ©Carol Leigh

Oregon Coast

Canvas from an old printing press, trees from Yachats, and a crow photographed this morning on the beach in Seal Rock come together in this photomontage that has a sort of dark and spooky look. The photomontage was finished a month or so ago — all I needed was the bird, who I finally found this morning. ©Carol Leigh

The D Teem

I began working on this piece last June. And it's now so old I don't remember where I got the various elements. The letter "D" is part of a rusty old sign peeling away from an even rustier metal background. The Teem advertisement came from (I believe) a nursery in San Diego. The rest? A complete mystery! I like the warm tones, the monochromatic look, and the overall grunge. ©Carol Leigh

Twilight Trees

During a walk around the block, I photographed these trees against a cloudy sky. I then added part of a mural I photographed in Florence, some stars, and created a reflection. In one of my online classes I have a lesson/assignment called "Walk Around the Block." Photographers moan and groan that there's nothing interesting on their block. The point is to look and to see. You can always find SOMETHING! In that one walk around the block the other day, I've now created three decent photographs -- one of the letter "R," another involving the number "2" I found on a telephone pole (below), and now these trees. ©Carol Leigh

French Blue Two

Sometimes these things just come together so easily. I was thinking about an old algebra book and how I'd scanned some of its pages. Aha! Combine it with some cool texturey stuff! But I couldn't find my algebra photos -- they must be in the other computer and I didn't want to start mucking around with all that. I then found a page of French handwriting from 1892. I combined that with some rust and a number "2" I photographed yesterday on a telephone pole. And voila! I love this photomontage. And I believe I have three more versions of it waiting in the wings for me to finalize. How long did this one take to create? Just a few hours (most of which consisted of sitting and staring and thinking). Once I begin selling prints again, this one definitely will be in the mix. Just a quick thought . . . How often do YOU get really excited about what you've created? Doesn't matter if it's a photograph, a cake, a child, or a painting. Creation and the wonderful SURPRISE of creation -- what a fantastic high. Have a great day. ©Carol Leigh

Totem Cat

I photographed a board covered with peeling paint and staples and combined it with a photo I took in Santa Fe of an ersatz totem pole. I then added some paint and bits of a weathered door, also shot in Santa Fe. ©Carol Leigh

Fire on the River

Trees on a riverbank combine with trees photographed at sunset in this strange photomontage. ©Carol Leigh

Waterfire Two

A number "2" from a railroad car in Santa Fe, a close-up of a Chinese cabinet taken in Portland, Oregon, and the reflection of sky and orange lights in a stream in Breckenridge, Colorado come together in this fire-like interpretation. A few blue strings running across the top and it's complete. ©Carol Leigh

Alsea Tree

A tree I photographed this afternoon at the Port of Alsea looks great with some illumination behind it. ©Carol Leigh

Bare Branches

After a day of high (75mph) winds and a lot of rain (3"), I doubt there's a leaf on a tree anywhere this morning. I put together this photomontage of a bare tree on the Oregon coast and a couple of different pieces of rusty metal to represent the last 24 hours. Happy New Year?! ©Carol Leigh