More from the Wheel o' Pith

Three more Rolodex cards from my famed "Wheel o' Pith." A quick scribble-sketch, a reminder that I want to photograph graph paper to use in photo montages (which I've done, can check that off the list), and then a reminder to me of what Scribbles paint looks like and maybe I might want to use it somewhere. That's it! Fun little colorful ideas, thoughts, examples, all tucked into one place. ©Carol Leigh

High key effect

I've been playing around with purposely overexposing my photos, from one to two stops, just to see what happens. I've had this rattlesnake grass for years in a jar in the studio and thought it might look good against a white background. Next to the jar o' rattlesnake grass is a jar containing some of this year's poppy pod harvest. I selected two that had really wonky stems, put them against a white background, and overexposed by two stops. This way the curving forms are really exaggerated.

The overall look is clean and spare and, to me, quite appealing.

Faux Fall

When I have extra paint on my brush, I'll slap it across a piece of watercolor paper, just to see what happens. Well, in this case, I took a closer look at the paper, this brush-cleaning paper. The paint looked like a strange fall landscape, so I got out my macro lens and took a photo. Isn't it cool what we find when we really, really look? ©Carol Leigh

Definitely the last of the summer color

The rain has begun in earnest here on the Oregon coast and will be here for the foreseeable week. It's raining in New England right now, so I hear. A bit of colorful brightness is in order, so I present the very last of these vibrant flowers. ©Carol Leigh

Color, Texture, Repeating Patterns

There's a store in Eugene, Oregon called Mindy's Needlepoint Factory which just sucked me in. With an aversion to needles of all types, and not being a person who sews AT ALL, I still found this shop intriguing simply because of the colors, the repeating patterns, and all the texture. It almost made me wish I were a quilter, or a needlepointer, or somebody who did something with fabric embellishment. Almost. I did buy some ribbon to use in collages, but mainly spent my time simply admiring. And touching. Ahhhh... ©Carol Leigh

From the wheel o' pith ...

Pith: Soft, spongy cells which store and transport nutrients throughout a plant. Pithy: Having substance and point, tersely cogent.

Remember Rolodex files? Offices used to store (some still do) names, addresses, telephone numbers on small (1.75 x 3.25 inches) notched cards which were attached to a "wheel." You spun the wheel to find the card holding the info you wanted.

I have so many photo ideas, art ideas, and quotations I want to remember that are scattered throughout notebooks that are scattered throughout the house. How to keep all this info in one spot? How to find a pithy quote? How to remind myself of ideas I had maybe five years ago? How to inspire myself to keep on going? Enter the Rolodex.

Note: The cards that come with the Rolodex are incredibly thin and flimsy. So a lot of the time I make my own, cut up a photo I'm throwing out, let's say, use a special punch to create the slots, and voila! Instant (more substantial) card. Or I'll glue a scrap of painted and torn watercolor paper to the card to give it substance.  The result is a Rolodex wheel bristling with mismatched and often colorful cards. A visual treat (to me) as well as a mental one.

I showed the Rolodex to some of my workshop students who thought it was the coolest idea and who sat at the table just rummaging through it. I offer you a few examples here, hoping you'll find it interesting as well. These cards are not meant to be polished works of art, just colorful little pithy quotes, ideas, reminders. As usual, click on each one to enlarge. ©Carol Leigh

Things that have come into the house lately

A few things made their way into the house last week. Fun gifts from friends, fun photography for me. First is the box of rusty washers and coins from Elena, who knows the way to this girl's heart! And the box they came in? She created the coolest texture on the lid, which I photographed close-up and which will undoubtedly find its way into some of my photomontages.

And then a close-up of a daisy plucked from a bouquet from Janet and Ira. This flower is no bigger than a half-inch across, so I used a macro lens and a couple of extension tubes to fill my frame with it. A blue scarf creates a natural-looking "sky" behind it.

A bouquet of bright orange Chinese lanterns (Physalis alkekengi) is now hanging upside-down to dry, but not before I photographed part of this stem. The pods are so colorfully saturated that I took an opposite tack and toned them to a bluish-grey color. (The opposite of what Janet, the color maven, would have done!)

Chris, while our group photographed fishing nets last week, picked up a couple pieces of rust, thinking I could do something cool with them. So you see a photo of the two pieces he found, and then my close-up macro shot of one of them, looking remarkably like some rocky landscape. He's got a good eye for this sort of thing, doesn't he?

The rusty washers and coins will make their way into photomontages and collages. The textures? Same thing. The flowers? Always in my heart. The wine, bread, biscotti, and other goodies people brought have, unfortunately, made their way into my stomach! ©Carol Leigh

Local car show

Waldport's annual "Cruzin' for Crab" car show went on today — always a good turnout, always lots of beautifully maintained cars to be photographed. As usual, I concentrated on color, reflections, and simple lines. The last photo is a self-portrait. Sure wish I was as tall and slender as this car made me look! ©Carol Leigh

Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Yaquina Head Lighthouse on the central Oregon coast last week. Click to enlarge. ©Carol Leigh

New collage: Metal Button and Linen

"Metal Button and Linen"
 This collage is made of vintage papers, tracing paper, ink, paint, linen and a vintage silver-colored metal button. I bought a jar of old buttons at a flea market and this one stood out, looking kind of dilapidated and textured and weathered (and I mean that in a good way). I sewed it onto a piece of frayed linen and made it the focal point. Size: 5" x 5" in an 8" x 8" mat. Price: $60, which includes First Class Mail shipping. To order, please visit my online store: http://shop.carolleigh.net/

For information about the rest of my collages, please visit my website at http://www.carolleigh.net/collages.htm. Thanks! ©Carol Leigh

Texture Tuesday

Our group worked the Yaquina Bay Bridge yesterday afternoon, which gave us lovely photos of architectural detail. A feather on the steps caught my eye. Okay, I'm lying. I saw a feather on the grass and placed it on the step. Is there no TRUTH in photography any more? But was there ever? ©Carol Leigh

Monochrome Monday

 We've got a photo workshop going on right now and it's fun to see "my" neighborhood through others' eyes. I took them to shoot the fishing nets and found I was particularly attracted to these two very monochromatic scenes. Lots of texture, lots of flowing lines, and classic Rule of Thirds. ©Carol Leigh

To zee five

These three have been sitting around for awhile. Time to get them out of the folder and into the light.

The "2" is part of a collage I began but, dissatisfied with it, never completed. As I create physical collages, I photograph bits and pieces of them along the way because, well, because you never know...

The "Z" is a photo of a child's block and then combined with a photo I took of the texture on a wall.

And the "5" is a combo of a picture I took in a bunker in Astoria, Oregon and a 5/flag I photographed on a building in Williams, Arizona.

Happy weekend, everyone. ©Carol Leigh

Why yes, we DO have a room available...

And there's a pool!

In April of 2005 I drove from Oregon down to Tucson to conduct a photo workshop. Along the way, on Highway 40 in Arizona, I passed this fine establishment. Screeching a U-turn, I stopped to photograph a bit.

I never really processed these photos until this morning, when I came across them while rummaging through an older external drive.

This was six years ago. The motel is probably gone. Wish I'd taken even more photos while I was there. Why, why, why do we not spend more time at the time? There always seems to be some internal pressure to keep moving.

One of my dreams is to spend two weeks in one location, wandering about, photographing by day and making collages in the evening. Silent. Exploring. Creating. Ahhhh! ©Carol Leigh