Eight years of February blog photos . . .

It's fun to look over the pictures I've posted here over time, and this morning I decided to look at my February photos since 2009 and selected one from each February for the past eight years.

in 2009 I was doing a lot of "drive-by" shooting, taking photos through the car window as we were out driving around. I particularly like these trees, taken at Ona Beach on the Oregon coast. There's a lively, whimsical feeling to them that I find appealing.

In 2010 Chris and I were down in San Diego, visiting relatives and Rich and CJ. We stopped in Encinitas to check out the sunset. The sea was glassy smooth, a pewter look that echoed the color of the clouds. I like all the horizontal layers, beginning with a dark strip of beach at the very bottom, the incoming waves and foam, the silvery smooth section farther out, the peachy glow of the sunset, and then a strip of ominously grey clouds at the top.

The folks in lower Bayshore, Waldport, Oregon, certainly remember February of 2011, where, after a night of heavy winds and rain, they awoke to find their yards, driveways, and streets covered in huge, wet sand dunes. The homes are built on a spit, right on the ocean, and Oregon weather such as this can wreak havoc. Unlike snow, which shoveled and it eventually melts, these dunes (some so heavily pressing on garages that the doors collapsed inward) do not melt. A company is contracted to come in, load up all the sand, and take it elsewhere. I've heard of homeowners removing the plates off electrical outlets inside their homes and having sand come pouring out. It gets in everywhere.

In February of 2012, I was thinking about giving my online photo students an assignment to take pictures of jewelry, and so I photographed a silver charm on my mother's bracelet, part of a series of charms she got while we were living in Japan in the early 1960s. It's a lovely image and brings up warm memories.

Always a sucker for shooting letters and grunge, the two came together beautifully in February of 2013, where I was in Toledo, Oregon shooting whatever I could find on train cars.

A big wet snow in February of 2014 was fun to see, and I went out into our back yard where we had an old mailbox (given to me by my neighbor Juanita when she moved away) draped in buoys. Wore my wellies to get out there and tromp around, taking pictures.

In February of 2015 I processed a few photos I'd taken in Kyoto the previous fall, and this one I particularly liked, taken inside a temple.

And then finally last February of 2016, our first winter on Whidbey Island, I took advantage of good weather and went out photographing the military bunkers here on the island. I was drawn to the wall texture, the black and white look, the shadows, and the combination of straight lines and the circle. Fun, abstract stuff!

And now we are on the cusp of March. The rhodies are just beginning to bloom; what might be crocuses are showing their leaves, soon to be eaten down by deer; the owls are remarkably quiet, probably nesting; but the towhees, juncos, and varied thrushes are out in force, gobbling up the seed we scatter for them. The ruby-crowned kinglets have come and gone. But I think I heard a chickadee the other day. Spring is about to spring!

©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: "One Off the Counter"

As I work making physical collages, I clean my brushes, experiment with various elements, paint, write, etc. on the paper that protects my counter.

When the paper gets too messy, I take it off and replace it with new paper. I don’t throw the messy paper out, however, because there’s often cool stuff on it that I can tear up and use in the next collage.

This is an example of what I saved while making a handmade book. I’ve tweaked it a bit in Photoshop, but basically it remains true to the original.

©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.

Indian Valley Reservoir in 2005

Indian Valley Reservoir in Colusa County, California. Taken April 11, 2005. I dare say it's probably much fuller this 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.

Color or B&W?

As I was playing around with my photographs, I focused on a shot I'd taken of an old airplane at Castle Air Museum in California.

I created a series of color images and then, just to see how they'd look, converted them to black and white.

I wanted to upload them to Fine Art America, but didn't know which to select: the color images or the black and white.

Although I think the color version looks pretty cool, the colors throughout weren't consistent enough to make an effective series.

All the black and white ones (seven of them) "worked together" to make a stronger whole. For me, they have a sort of masculine, contemporary vibe, and I could see them in an upscale apartment or condo that has a relatively monochromatic color scheme.

It's interesting to see the mindset change when we begin marketing our work. I like the color version, but as a series, believe that the black/white/grey combo is more marketable.

©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.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A special day to show love and affection and kindness.

May it last forever.

©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.©Carol Leigh

Walking to Port Townsend

It was a fine, fine day on Sunday, so we got in the car, drove a few minutes over to the ferry landing, parked, then walked aboard the Kennewick to Port Townsend, a cute town where there’s always something to see, to photograph, to admire.

There’s a very large, very old building on the waterfront that’s being completely redone and outside they’re selling old, grungy bottles they’ve found while excavating. Two bucks and one’s yours. Very cool to see, but as much as I like old, grungy bottles, not this time . . .

Farther down at the marina, a little sailboat caught my eye, looking clean and crisp with the Olympic Range way in the distance.

And then over to a small boatyard where, of course, I photographed all sorts of textures and patterns and then, feeling I was being watched, I turned to see this little cutie on the side of a boat.

Yet another example of “faces in unlikely places,” an assignment I give my students. And for the rest of their lives they’re going to notice little things like this. Heh, heh . . .

While in the boatyard, I talked with a guy who was refurbishing a 1936 Berthon Gauntlet 41 named Syrinx. It’s been sitting in the boatyard for years, uncovered.

He’s got a lot of work ahead of him, especially since the masts have been ruined by woodpeckers. Told him next time I’m over I’ll check out his progress. He hopes to have it in the water by August.

Back aboard the ferry for the trip home, the tall ships Pacific Grace and Pacific Swift were not about to give way to the ferry, no matter how often and long the captain blew the warning horn. This is the Pacific Grace; the Pacific Swift (slower, despite the name) was still blocking the captain’s departure.

The tall ships are from Canada. Sigh. You just don’t expect those friendly Canadians to be so rude and pushy . . .

Great day spent with a great guy. I’m so lucky.

©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.©Carol Leigh

Faux Poste: Fish Postcard from Indonesia

I've not been making any weird postcards lately, but this one's been waiting in the wings since last April, so it's time to get it off the table and show it here.

I created a "faux poste" collage using a photo of a fish I took in South Carolina, a piece of paper money from Indonesia, a postage stamp with a contrived cancellation stamp, and a scrap of paper from an antique Japanese book.

This was fun to create -- inspires me to get back into making more of 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.

What I'm working on: Ledger Book

I have an old ledger book, full of empty pages, and it sits on my work counter.

As I'm making other things, leftover bits and pieces of scrap paper go onto the pages in this book.

The fun of it is that it doesn't have to be perfect, that I'm free to put things just anywhere without thinking it to death.

©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.

Nipping it in the bud

Okay. It seemed like a good idea, but it's only day #3 and I am bored with the project. I have all the 2's I need, nothing new is being created . . .

THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!

Thus I'm not going to continue. There are so many other new things I want to do, to eventually show, that to post a 2 a day is just a waste of time and mental energy, you know?

The writer Annie Dillard said, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." I do not wish to spend however many days I have left posting photos I'm not jazzed about.

©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.

2017-02-02

This 2 is part of a series of 10 that I did for Fine Art America, each number a different color, with a different background, and then I made a sweeping line of colored dots at the bottom that, to me, makes the number look like it's floating in water.

Hence the title for the series: "Numerical Flotation Devices."

Have any of them sold? No more than one, if that. Ah, well. One keeps trying . . .

Here's a link to the gallery of 10.

©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.

February -- the 2nd month of the year

Last year I decided to post a picture of the number 3 every day during the month of March. Toward the end I was wondering what the heck was I thinking.

But February is a shorter month. How hard could it be?

So my plans are to post a picture of the number 2 every day this month.

Wish me luck!

©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.

Balance and artistry

I've got a "Photomotivation" group over on Facebook consisting of about 60 former students and friends. Every month I give them a new assignment -- some frivolous, some more serious. They post their photos and we talk about a variety of things, not just about the assignment, but about art.

I can't seem to leave the teaching stuff alone, and this helps me keep my brain in the game, as well as interacting with people who have, over the years, become my friends.

Here's something I posted to the group this morning which I believe has overall interest and works well as a blog post.

Balance and artistry.

What you see here is a photomontage that features two immediately recognizable circles. Your eye probably went to them first.

To balance those circles, which are sort of huddled in the upper left, I added a “stack o’ sticks.” Those dark horizontal lines create a vertical rectangle, which leads your eye up and down. The horizontal lines in the stack also lead your eye over toward the right.

My collage, even though it’s technically top-heavy toward the upper left because of the big circle, works (for me) because I’ve balanced that circle with a block of dark, repeating shapes lower right.

Notice, too, how I’ve linked the smaller circle to the larger one, and then how the smaller circle intersects with, or links to, the vertical block of “sticks.” Do you see the movement that creates? Those subtle connections lead your eye along a subliminal diagonal line from upper left to lower right.

When I create a collage or a photomontage, it’s different, in a way, from taking a “regular” photograph with a camera. With a camera I deal with the subject at hand. I work with what’s been given to me.

When I create a photomontage, I pretty much begin with a blank canvas. Or perhaps a canvas that has one thing on it, such as the big circle. I add a texture, perhaps a photo I’ve taken of a painted piece of paper. I keep on adding, subtracting, moving, blending, rotating, etc., until I’ve created something that’s pleasing and meaningful to me.

With a camera, even though I’m working with what I’m seeing in front of me, there are similar decisions to be made. What was I initially attracted to? Is that “good stuff” therefore filling the frame? Am I eliminating all the unnecessary elements, elements that will distract my viewer from what I thought was important? What about the light? Is there so much brightness behind my subject that I run the risk of creating a silhouette? A black blob against the bright light? What if I move to the right, or to the left? Is the background too sharp? Is it not sharp enough?

Whether we’re drawing, painting, weaving, quilting, we, as artists, are constantly making choices. Where’s the balance? Where’s the focal point? Are we including enough? Too much?

Those choices, whether done consciously or subconsciously, are what sets us apart from the casual snapshooter and are what makes us artists.

©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.

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.