Things I love . . .

Wandering around Anacortes, Washington, I made two photographs that incorporate things I love:

Boats! As a Navy brat, things nautical have an appeal. I love being around boats, don't want to be ON boats (except for little harbor cruises), but I hyperventilate when I find things like this.

Diagonal lines. They imply movement and power. They lead your eye from one part of an image to another. Both these photos contain diagonal lines, and, in the top image, repeating diagonal lines.

Quick note: The second photograph is of a "pilot ladder" hanging off the side of a ship. They're built to strict specifications, and every four to eight steps there's a "spreader." Why? To keep the ladder from twisting around in wind and weather as the pilot makes his/her way up or down. Never knew that.

Numbers. Numbers have intrigued me since I first began in photography.

Abstract simplicity. I'm not especially a "big picture" sort of photographer, but rather a "move in close, see what others don't, and keep it simple" person. So, voila! Weird pictures.

And there you have it. Two souvenirs from a wonderful time spent just wandering around and looking.

©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.

A Saturday morning on Whidbey

We had a great morning yesterday, beginning with seared oatmeal at Braeburn restaurant in Langley, and then a walk around the town, camera at the ready.

At the Star Store, we ended up talking about photography, art, composition, design, etc. with two of the store employees — Kelsey and Margaret. The conversation was fun, inspiring, interesting, with a wonderful sharing of ideas, nobody hogging the time, an even give and take.

Respect, humor, intelligence, curiosity. No politics. What a refreshing change.

I bought a sweatshirt.

Next, we drove down to the marina, walked out onto the docks. The mountains in the distance were lovely, but the overall light was drab and dreary. A dozen cormorants on the next dock over were hanging out together, as cormorants do. My 70-200mm lens too short to do anything exciting with them.

Then we hear the chortling of an eagle. Maybe two eagles. Maybe three! Two adults and what I presumed was a juvenile approaching from the north. They were fast. I wasn’t ready. I shot as they approached, one going right overhead.

Not frame-filling at all, so I combined two versions of the same eagle here, one with him farther away, and the other as he passed overhead. (Neither is enlarged, but individually they didn't fill the frame.) The shots are two seconds apart, but I thought comparing the wing angles was interesting.

The marina manager came out with his binoculars and a “Birds of the Puget Sound” book. He was thinking the juvenile bald eagle might actually be a golden eagle. Which of course wasn’t in his book, because golden eagles don’t hang around up here, apparently. A photographer down the dock, with a 200-500mm lens, said nope, juvenile bald eagle, not a golden.

Again, a very enjoyable conversation talking about what we were seeing, sharing the information, curious about the birds (who nest nearby). And the marina guy had great eyelashes...

I wanted a copy of that bird book, so we headed back up the hill to talk to Josh at Moonraker Books (no website). Nope, they didn’t have the book. “Does it have a red cover?” “I don’t know. There’s a bird on the front, though.” She gives me a look that implies “smartass,” leans over and whispers something very snarky in my ear. We laugh. She goes downstairs to order it for me.

I bought “House at Pooh Corner” by A.A. Milne.

We walked over to a terrific store called Artisan Crafted Home. There’s a new window display featuring the most interesting floor and table lamps. We chit-chat with the owner. The lamps are handmade by two sisters. One on the east coast, one here on the west. One makes the glass and metal stands and the other makes the exotic silken shades. They’re lovely. (The lamps, that is. But the sisters probably are, too.)

Time to head home. We drop off some things at the Senior Services thrift store en route.

That was our morning. We were outdoors and in. Talked with a variety of people. Saw cormorants and eagles, heard a kingfisher. Looked at lovely artworks and learned about the artists. And I got one photograph that isn’t very good, but I’m sure that sometime soon it will appear in a photomontage and will be just perfect.

Wishing you all days like 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.

Idea to fruition

A number of years ago I had a vague idea for a photomontage and I scribbled it into what I call my "idea book." My memory isn't so good and it's nice to have a book like this to constantly refer back to.

Although I didn't act on the idea back then, it lodged somewhere in my brain, so that when I came across a picture I'd taken of a metal locker tag, I subconsciously remembered my idea from years past.

The result is this photomontage, which I really like. My original idea was to call it "Directional Forces," but it ended up being called "Celestial Spheres," and it's sold a number of times at Fine Art America. I also had it made into a tote bag, and it's great for groceries or for collecting driftwood on the beach.

So here you see my original concept in my "Idea Book," as well as the final piece.

You just never know . . .

©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.

Back-to-back-to-back . . .

There’s a certain someone in my life who sees things, sends me a link, and says, “maybe this is something you could try.” I, of course, think it’s very cool, make a note and usually do nothing. So then she subtly includes a particular supply in a Christmas gift package so I can make this thing.

Sigh. Now there’s no excuse. I go down to the studio and give it a go.

This is a picture of what I made. It’s the first (and probably only) one I will ever make, because it drove me insane!

It’s a back-to-back-to-back book, requiring no sewing, just some cool papers and double-sided tape. And that’s what CJ dropped into my Christmas package. A big roll of double-sided tape.

The concept is to make a bunch of papers all the same size, fold them in half, and then, one by one, glue the back of one folded paper to the front of the next folded paper. Until you have a stack. I mean, how hard can this be?

Well, if you want things perfectly stuck together, perfectly aligned, this project will make you crazy. Which I think was CJ’s goal. In the name of love and friendship, of course!

So here you see what I made. It’s not great, it’s not even mediocre. And guess what CJ’s getting for Christmas next year. . .

NOTE: I wrote this yesterday afternoon and scheduled it to be published for early this morning. Since then, however, I have totally changed my tune. I now have a BRILLIANT idea for what I'm going to do with this b-2-b-2-b concept. Brilliant. So thanks again, CJ, for your oh-so-subtle Christmas goodie. I think I can make something very cool.

©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.

A quiet Sunday morning on Whidbey Island

We had about a two-hour window before showers were supposed to hit, so over to the Coupeville wharf, where everything was quiet, lovely, and softly lighted. (Panorama mode on iPhone 6+)

A pair of bald eagles is apparently nesting nearby and we saw the changing of the guard twice.

And what I thought at first might be a harbor seal turned into a large otter, checking out the logs and the pilings.

A welcome respite after the political shenanigans that seem to be flooding into my brain. And speaking of flooding, here's hoping all my California friends are safe and dry. I know you need the rain, but all at once?

Wishing all a serene week.

©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.

Bad day in the studio . . .

I used my studio light table yesterday morning. No problem. I want to use it again in the afternoon, it doesn’t come on. Could the bulbs be burned out? The power strip light isn’t lit. Do power strips go bad? Let’s replace it with a different one.

The plug to the power strip is behind a heavy cabinet full of slides. A cabinet with a bookcase on top. Okay. Maybe I’ll work on that later.

I go to the counter where I’m making an accordion book. It’s all nicely folded. I just need a cover for it. I have one all prepared. I brush glue onto the substrate, place the cover paper on top. FACE DOWN! What the . . .

I immediately pull it up and attempt to remove the glue. The paper isn’t liking me rubbing it with a wet paper towel. I can “fix” it (maybe), but in the meantime the glue on my accordion book substrate is beginning to dry.

I set the ruined cover paper aside and quickly pick up another paper that will work fine as a cover and set it onto the already-glued book. I turn on the tack iron to heat the page so that the glue will incorporate itself into the cover paper and the substrate I’m gluing it to.

The power strip that the tack iron is plugged into doesn’t come on. What the heck is happening here? All my studio lights are on. The plug to the power strip is nowhere near the light table plug. The studio has power, but the power strips are apparently power-less.

I put my brush into a container of water to clean off the glue. The brush pops out and water splashes everywhere. Onto the counter, onto some extra papers I had set aside, AND onto the newly-glued cover of my accordion book.

I go for a walk. The artist has left the building.

©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.

Finicky? Gumption?

When's the last time you heard/saw those two words? I was sorry the shop was closed. Would have loved to have met the person who wrote this sign!

©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.

Cranky observations . . .

I follow an artist's blog. Every time she adds something new, I go see what she is showing and what she is writing about.

I visited her blog today and was greeted with the announcement that she was no longer blogging, "but you can follow me on Instagram!"

I clicked the link to her Instagram site. Just a few pictures, no writing.

I deleted her abandoned blog from my feed.

I did not follow her on Instagram.

Pictures with just a few words don't interest me. It was her combination of writing and images that made her blog worthwhile.

As I contemplate why the heck I'm still blogging and if I should quit, I found my reaction to her "paring down" interesting.

She's too busy to offer substance. I'm too busy to accept less.

And yes, I know how I sound. Arrogant, petty, and egocentric. For all I know, she's gone back to school, or is taking care of aging parents, or has a child that needs all her attention. She's probably downsizing to get some of her life back. I understand. I don't like it, but I understand!

And today at 1:30 . . . Go Seahawks! Pizza! Friends! Maybe I should post it all on Instagram...

©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.

What I'm working on . . . "Kimono Package"

I stumbled upon, online, a "kimono package" for sale. It's a large, padded, multilayered, old, soft, weathered, hand-made packet that, when opened, would contain a Japanese kimono.

And I'm slowly, slowly photographing bits and pieces of it to use in photomontages.

These are examples of what I've made so far, and I haven't even begun to photograph the interior.

I have similar yet very different old Japanese papers from a roll that Kathleen Amt so generously gave to me. That, too, is its own project.

And eventually, the two will merge, creating a third series of images.

For me, the key is slowness. I am giddy about all three projects. Giddiness comes with a price, however, and it would be easy to quickly burn out, and/or become overwhelmed.

Slowness is the watchword for these projects. Difficult to accomplish when one's feeling like a nine-year-old on Christmas Eve . . .

©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.

What I'm working on: "Oyster Shell Assemblage"

I have some friends here on Whidbey who are grandparents to a delightful 10-year-old girl. I've met/seen this child maybe twice in the past five years or so, but I hear stories about her. How she's interested in nature (especially orcas), reading, and art.

Yesterday I sent her this oyster shell that has a little silver bird's nest attached to its interior. And here's my accompanying letter:

Dear Caroline,

I made this the other day and for some weird reason I thought of you.

We don’t really know each other, do we? We’ve seen each other just a couple of times, right?

So why would I be thinking of you when I was making this? How did it happen?

I was cleaning my art studio and I came upon an oyster shell.

I almost threw it away, but then I saw a tiny, tiny hole in it.

Hmmmmmmm . . . A tiny hole. What can I attach to this oyster shell?

Oyster, oyster, oyster . . . What do oysters make? Pearls! I have some pearls.

Pearls, pearls, pearls . . . They look like little bird eggs, don’t they?

Birds, eggs, birds, eggs . . . Nests!

I have some silver wire. I made a silver nest with pearls inside and attached it to the oyster shell.

Ta da!

And then I thought of you — someone I don’t really know — and decided this should belong to you.

So here it is — the idea of an oyster, pearls, eggs, birds, nests — an idea that all came together as a special gift for you, Caroline. From someone you don’t even know!

Love,
Carol Leigh
Your mom’s friend on Whidbey Island.
Your grandmother’s friend on Whidbey Island.

--------------------
©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.

What I'm working on . . . "CellMates"

I'm using a cellphone (iPhone 6+) to photograph faces and then am using a variety of in-phone apps as well as Photoshop techniques to alter, in often bizarre ways, the images.

I don't really know what I'm doing yet, which is half the fun. And the results are often surprising, which is the other half of the fun.

Learning, experimenting, and simply playing.

©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.

What I'm working on . . . "Marbles Found"

To show you what I've been working on, I've broken it all down into individual posts.

For these four images, I photographed hand-painted papers and then combined and tweaked them in Photoshop.

I like being able to submit a series of images to Fine Art America, thinking that perhaps a grouping of similar images might encourage a buyer to purchase more than one.

Options are good, but I try not to offer too many. For instance, I created maybe eight more of these, but didn't upload them for sale. Too many can become overwhelming and confusing to a buyer.

So this particular project is done. But I'm tempted to paint some more in this same style, but with a completely different color palette. We'll see. This was fun; creating a similar series runs the risk of becoming work!

Tomorrow's post -- another day, another project.

©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.

This year . . .

This is a sample page from my artist's journal, a page I made a number of years ago. You may not be able to read my handwriting, so here's what it says:

Ahem . . . You aren't paying attention. You have all these ideas that you collect, that you write down, that you illustrate, but you rarely go back and follow up. Are you a dreamer or a do-er?

My years-ago writing holds true today. I never feel I'm doing enough, but I have hundreds of ideas for what I think I want to do.

Since moving to Whidbey Island, however, I'm actually making a lot of art.

So in my next post, I'll talk about what what I've made, and what I'm currently working on. And don't think that doesn't make me uncomfortable!

©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.

May 2017 exceed your expectations.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Gratitude 2016

I had a very good day Tuesday at Fine Art America, where I sold 10 different very large metal prints to a condominium association In Portland, Oregon’s artsy Pearl District.

They e-mailed me, saying in part, “...we placed an order for a lot of your beautiful work to grace the halls...” and “...thank you...for producing such beautiful images to decorate our lives.”

The Pearl is a well-known hubbub of art. Fine Art America represents tens of thousands of artists. The buyers had a huge selection of artists they could have approached.

They said, “...after considering many, many pieces our eyes and hearts always came back to the work of one artist. You do nice work.”

To sell 10 big prints in one day is wonderful. And to cap it off, someone else in Minnesota bought two small framed prints, prints of Japanese-esque collages I’d made.

What a lovely way to slide away from 2016 and gently approach 2017.

I leave this year with a humble and grateful heart.

And yes, I appreciate the irony. “If you’re so damned humble, why are you bragging on yourself?!” Ha! Obviously I’m not that humble!

To see the images that sold on Tuesday, see the post directly below this one. I know many of you are curious.

©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.

Yesterday was a very good day . . .

Yesterday was a very good day, selling 12 images to two different buyers.

The first 10 will be residing in a beautiful, modern condominium building in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District. They're all around 40" or so on the long side, printed on metal.

The last two are small, nicely framed, and are going off to Minnesota.

I have another post almost ready that will appear on top of this one, but at the moment, we're off to Bellingham to check out the fishing boats, have lunch, and stop at a Trader Joe's. Not a bad day at all.

©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.
 

A word for the upcoming year?

A word for the upcoming year? Many are giving it thought.

My friend, Laura Lein-Svencner, has decided on NATURAL, a word that, for lots of reasons, resonates with her, has meaning for her, and will be something that’s always in the back of her mind.

So I wondered, should I have a word? A meaningful concept always floating around in my brain, consciously, or sub-?

This past year has been a challenge. I’ve always been apolitical, far removed from the fray. But this year? It’s been hard to ignore, hasn’t it? Never has politics been so repugnant, repellent, repulsive than what we saw in 2016, no matter which side you were on.

Name-calling, misogyny, bigotry, pettiness — all shoved in our faces, every minute of every day.

Where was decency, empathy, kindness, and objectivity?

It all came to a head this past week when a crony of the president-elect said the most despicable and hateful things about the outgoing president and his wife.

It made me cry in despair. And it made the word I’d chosen for 2016 come into sharp focus:

RISE

The word RISE is nothing but positive. An “upward movement.” To ascend. To go up. To do a better job.

Hot air balloons rise upward. “A rising tide floats all boats.” Rise from the ashes. Rise above expectations. Rise to the challenge. Rise to the occasion. Boost. Prosper.

Get up, stand up. The sun also rises. Sunrise. SurpRISE!

So that’s my word for 2017. RISE. Rise above the bigotry, meanness, hate, pettiness, aggression, the ordinary, the stupidity, the average. “We rise by lifting others.”

It’s a short, monosyllabic word — RISE. How hard could it be to put into practice? We shall see. In 2017, we shall see.

Wishing you all the best of everything in 2017.

Carol Leigh
Chris Smith
Abby the Psycho Cat

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.

Snow days!

We had snow on Whidbey this past weekend and were trapped at home. Even though it wasn't much (relatively speaking), it was the terrain that did us in.

Our driveway is kind of steep, and with a bit of snow on it, should the car begin to slip, slowly descending the driveway could easily turn into Mr. Toad's Wild Ride down into the street.

Once on the street, one encounters the "dip." And the dip is a significant one. I've heard about one of our neighbors who puts on chains at the top of the dip and then removes them once she gets to the other side!

So we cancelled the party we had scheduled for Saturday and just hunkered down and enjoyed the show.

The top photo is our back yard as seen from the living room windows. So pretty.

And the second photo was taken from the front porch. Equally pretty.

We put out lots of birdseed, which attracted juncos, varied thrushes, towhees, kinglets, and a hawk. Who was attracted to the birds. We could tell when the hawk was near -- not one little bird to be seen.

Snow. A novel experience for us. And absolutely lovely, don't you think?

 ©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.

Eight years apart . . .

The top photo is an image I took in 2008, using a Canon EOS 20D camera. And I processed the image as I usually did back then.

Looking at it today, eight years later, I find it rather dull. But what I like about it is the strong vertical slightly curved line and how it meets the highly curved line bottom right.

I also like the way the vents create a series of horizontal repeating lines. Horizontal lines that move your eye from top to bottom, echoing the strong vertical line on the right.

It's a combination of soft curves and straight lines. I like the texture and I like the color.

I found it in a directory I'd labeled "monochromes."

I opened the file yesterday morning and wondered what I might do to it now, eight years later.

Using Adobe Camera Raw, I lightened and brightened the image. I also increased the contrast, and, using the clarity slider, enhanced the sharpness.

Not content with that, I looked in a directory I have of metal texture photos. I selected a picture I'd taken of scratched metal, desaturated it to remove the greenish cast it had, and then added that picture to the mix.

Is the bottom photo better than the top? Eight years later, have I learned anything? I'm not sure.

The bottom image is lighter, brighter, more vibrant, has more contrast, more life.

But notice this: You see a stronger sense of line and design and composition in the top photo. Why? Because it doesn't have the color "distractions" that you see in the bottom shot.

So I'm going to go with the second photograph. Overall it's more appealing (to me). But I do like how the design pops out in the first.

What's my point? I don't really have one, other than to say it's fun to revisit old photographs with new eyes and new skills. That this learning process never ends, and how lucky we are that it doesn't?!

©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.