Slow Stitching 2025 - Feb - Week 4

K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025 Slow Stitching project - Week 4.

I visit several wetlands with my camera during the summer.  It seem appropriate to add this element to this piece.

I have birds, clouds and a sun in the sky. I have trees and water ripples in the center.

In the foreground I put a duck and cattails with water ripples.

Since this was the last week on this piece I added a fall leave and a winter snowflake on the right hand side.

I think I will be assembling my 12 piece together at the end with a backer fabric to hide all my stitching.

Next week we move on to March's piece.

Slow Stitching 2025 - Feb - Week 3

Slow stitching with K3N Cloth Tales Comfort Coverlet 2025.  February week 3. 

I continued my composition of subjects that I photograph.  

The top curlicue got some spring blossoms with tiny leaves, a song bird in blue ( I don't often see blue birds but the color made me happy) and a woodland mushroom.  Again, the ones I photograph are generally in the brown tones.

The shapes I just mostly hand draw to get them into the spaces that they need to occupy.

I am happy with my progress. 

Slow Stitching 2025 - Feb - Week 1

This is my February piece for K3N Cloth Tales - Slow Stitching Comfort Coverlet 2025.

I chose my photography as the subject for this piece.

I have 2 layers - a top layer of light grey 100% cotton on a foundation of 50-50 cotton poly.

I placed a frame of running stitch about 1 inch from the edge. Using light grey 2 strands of floss. 

I drew a top down view of a camera in the top right hand corner stitched in black with accents of grey and champagne.

I will be adding subjects I photograph throughout the year.

Art Show - AAC - Open Art Competition

I squeezed in preparing 3 pieces for the Open Art Show while my transition strips on the floor were drying.

This piece is a close up of a Salsify Seed Head taken against the light. It looks like a giant dandelion.

To me this looks like paintbrushes on my desk.

Title: Brushes

Size: 11.00 x 14.00 inches

Medium: Photography

Mat: 11x14 Black Double 

Print: 8x10 inches

Frame: 11x14 Metal Black Satin

I was working on the idea of glazing where one applies layers of watercolor as you go down the painting and the color get darker at the bottom. Many layers of color then outlined in black marker.

Title: Moonrise

Size: 12.50 x 11.75 inches

Medium: Watercolor

Mat: 11x14 Warm White Double with Blue back layer

Art: 5.5 x 6 inches

Frame: 12 x 11.75 Metal Blue Satin

Captured the morning dew on a spider web on on my walk.  Beautiful and delicate structure.

Title: Morning Lace

Size: 12.00 x 14.25 inches

Medium: Photography

Mat: 11x14 White Single 

Print: 8.5x11 inches

Frame: 12x14 Metal Silver Satin

These are my entries into the show.

Reception: Friday, Sept 06/24 at

7 pm

Some wonderful art to behold.

2022 Photo Calendar - Black and White Abstract

I have been working on 2022 Calendars.  I have created a Black and White Abstract one this year.

It features various shots I took this year converted to black and white.  I wanted images that were graphic and not necessarily readily recognized.

You can just slip this one into your holder from last year.  It has a good sized calendar with the holidays bolded.  By slipping the current month up you can see the upcoming month as well. 

I am happy with the way this one turned out.

Are you a planner?  

Do you want to see a date in the upcoming month?

Is your calendar stored in the black metal holder?

This calendar can deliver.   Just slide the current month up about a third of the way up to reveal the next month dates.

This idea came from one of my calendar users who has had one of these on his desk for nearly a decade.

Thanks for the tip!

Sympathy - Tragedy strikes

This card is for my aunt who lost her granddaughter in an airplane crash this week.

The young lady had moved to California with her husband.  She had just finished her education.  Due to COVID she had not been back to visit and now it will not happen.

She was 33 years old with her life in front of her.  It is very sad.

This is one of my photographs with a filter applied to create a black and white stylized evergreen branch.  Printed on heavy card stock, trimmed to leave a small border and mounted to the front of a Kiwi Kiss card base.

I used a Modern Label punchie with a color printed greeting. Chalked with green to coordinate and mounted with 3D tape. 

Allied Arts Council - 2021 On Line Seniors Show

Our Seniors Show is going ahead on-line as we are still under COVID restrictions.

These are the 3 pieces I submitted for this show.

Title: Distant Hills
Size: 8.00 x 8.00 inches
Signed Photography Print
Mats: n/a
Frame: n/a
Print: 8x8 inches

 

This was created using the technique of in-camera motion.  I took some of my background fabrics and hung them in my small studio.  Set up my lights to capture the reflective surfaces and them moved the camera by hand.  It means taking a lot of shots, hoping a few will be good ones.  

 

 

 

They all received some level of post processing to bring out the texture and pattern in the photograph.

 

Title: Darkness to Light
Size: 11.00 x 14.00 inches
Signed Photography Print
Mats: n/a
Frame: n/a
Print: 11x14 inches

 

This is another in-camera motion image with a filter applied to increase the contrast in the image.

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Leaves
Size: 8.00 x 8.00 inches
Signed Photography Print
Mats: n/a
Frame: n/a
Print: 08x08 inches 

I set out to capture an abstract image from Hosta leaves on my morning walk.  There were several plants and I tool a lot of shots.

This one worked quite well.

The awards and reception will be announced on Friday, May 28th, so I will update this post should I be win an award.

I am happy with getting an Honorable Mention in this art show!

It's always nice to know that my art has connected with the viewers.

You can check out the full show here!

Allied Arts Council - Tantalizing Textures Show

This show was moved to on-line at the last minute because of the placement of further COVID 19 restrictions.

Title: Bright Sunflower
Size: 8.00 x 8.00 inches
Signed Photography Print
Mats: n/a
Frame: n/a
Print: 8x8 inches

This is a very abstract photo which started life as an image of a dried sunflower I took at the community garden.  I applied a solarize filter which gave it these wonderful colors. 

 

Title: Outskirts
Size: 8.00 x 12.00 inches
Signed Photography Print
Mats: n/a
Frame: n/a
Print: 8x12 inches

Another abstract image which started as a frozen puddle in the parking lot.  After processing I saw a town with the roads leading out from it in several directions.

 

 

Title: A River Runs Through
Size: 8.00 x 10.00 inches
Signed Photography Print
Mats: n/a
Frame: n/a
Print: 8x10 inches

This was condensation on glass i found on an early August morning.  I did add definition to the lines.  In my eyes it became a river.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I was out early Saturday morning on a photo shoot.  The weather was warm and the sun was shining so I took the opportunity to be out. 

I found a new park to investigate.  The walking was tough because it was quite icy in places. I fell Thursday after we had a dusting of snow so I was careful.   The park is long along the Fulton Ravine but is used as a off leash dog park.  I was early so it was not too bad for social distancing.

I captured the morning sun on this snow bank.  I just love the sparkle of the snow.

It was a very good 90 minute outdoor adventure.  I made several stops along the way to shoot architecture.

Very successful morning.

I have a plan for a new Christmas Tree for next year.  This one hangs on the wall.  It is made of birch tree branches hung in a triangular shape.  I had drawn up the design on paper but decided to make a mock up and hang it where I planned to see how it fit.

The triangle is 40" wide at the bottom and 48" tall. The trunk is extra.  On my last trip to the outside world I bought a 50 foot string of fairy lights which will light it.  That is enough to cover it twice which will be just right.

I plan of having crystal beads on the ends of each row which will prevent the branch from moving and capture the light.   The branches are about 5" apart which is tall enough for most of my ornaments. I most have clear glass or stained glass ornaments. I have work out the hangers for it yet.  

I hope to keep a few twigs on the branches sticking out to allow for a few special dimensional ornaments.

 I finished this book this week. A World Elsewhere by Wayne Johnston.  A Canadian author who grew up in Newfoundland.

Landis Druken is the son of a Captain on a sealing ship who had hoped to have him take over the Gilbert when the time came.  Landis attended Princeton for his higher education.  He met Padgett Vanderluyden and they became friends, were part of social scene and shared a house at one point. Padgett is very wealthy and plans to build an estate in Carolina and wanted Landis to join him. These two parted ways under bad terms.  Landis returns from Princeton and declares he does not want to head a sealing ship. For this, his father disowned him and he was left poor and living in an attic on Dark Marsh Road. 

He receives a letter from the wife of a man, Francis Carson, who sailed on his father's ship who has died at sea.  It's possible his father is responsible for this death. There is now a small son, Deacon and the mother can no longer care for him so he has been put in an orphanage. 

Landis rescues the 3 year old from the orphanage and brings Deacon to live with him. In some ways Landis is not prepared to be a father. He drinks too much, does not earn enough money to keep them both well fed, and the attic is very cold in the winter. The boy is small and frail and often travels on Landis' shoulders.

After several years, Landis being desperate writes to Padgett in Carolina and asks to come to Vanderland, the estate which was built in Carolina. Landis and Deacon move to Vanderland.  Things get complicated there with Mr. Vanderluyden, his wife and daughter. They are warm, well fed and Deacon is getting an education. Landis is teaching English to the 2 children and there are other tutors who all live in the Bachelor wing. 

Landis is very good at story telling, creating new words for things, creating poetry for songs, but he writes every day and burns the pages.  Things get harry in the final chapter but it has a good end.

I have put up 2 more framed photos on the shelf in the bedroom.  This shelf does not have the channel which the other shelf has but we'll see how it goes. 

After a bit of a exchange with an artist on my Instagram I have decided that I should have as much art on display as feasible.  I will enjoy it till the frames are filled with new photos and I will be reminded of the frames I have.  Why hide them away in boxes!

 

I recycled an old artist board (18"x 24 inches) I had into a photography backdrop.  I primed both sides with 2 coats of primer. 

I decided to have one side in cool tones and the other with warm tones.

This is the blue cool tones side.  I used Blue Velvet and White acrylic paint.  I watched a few videos on line about doing this process. 

I mixed my medium base coat by adding white to the blue. This was thinned with water and painted on.  I had prepared a darker version and a light version as well.  When the base coat was semi dry I applied the lights and darks with a round sponge.  I am happy with the results.

The challenge this week at Flickr Macro Monday is "Ribbon".  I had fun using a large assortment from my stash.  You can find the one I submitted on my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics).  The red one uses my new photo backdrop.  Really happy!

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #114 and with

Mersad who hosts Through My Lens #275

How To: Photographing Bottled Light

My aunt shared with me a You Tube video a while back by one of her favorite photographers - Harold Davis.  It was how to Photographing Bottle Light.  I just loved it!  Check out his videos if you are interested.

I am offering my experience with the process.

Materials needed: Colored bottles, color for water in clear bottles, sunshine, a camera with a macro lens or at least a good macro setting and a very clean white surface.  I will cover some options in each area.

Colored Bottles or containers - wine bottles, vinegar bottles, olive oil bottles, condiment bottles, etc.  Check the kitchen and cleaning supplies.  I found the dark green olive oil bottle did not light a lot of light through so great job for oil maybe less effective for this process. But use whatever you find and see what happens. Think of colored vases as well.

Clear Glass - bottles or vases of clear glass can be used with colored water.  

Glass texture and pattern - some texture or pattern in the glass adds to the refraction of the light.  I had a small etched vase where the etched areas became almost black.  Not what I wanted.

Color for Water - I have lots of liquid acrylic so that is what I used. Harold used food coloring.  It needs to concentrated and transparent.

White surface - It must be CLEAN and smooth.  The material should not absorb the light.  I used foam core board which worked well.   It needs to large enough for the light to be refracted beside the containers. 

Light - I found bright sunshine the best.  Any artificial light I used did not produce results I was happy with.

My experience with stemware was not very successful.   

Setup is entirely up to you.  Does the light go through one bottle to the next creating new color? Do you want the shape of the glass to play a part? Compose your art as you wish based on light, shape and color.

Very Important - You are photographing the light on the white not the light through the containers. 

 

Here are some examples of the photos I took over 2 photo sessions.

Post Processing: I had to trim all of my images because I could not isolate the light from the container.  All of these have been brighten and had some adjustment in the color saturation.  Rotate the image as you may see something you could see from the other direction.

Now, I don't have the imagination that Harold has to see objects within the abstract shapes.  Maybe that will come in time.

How about photographing the light through the glass?  Anything goes really.

This one has the large blue bottle in front of the olive bottle with an artificial light behind the olive bottle.  The bottles are overlapping creating the bright green color in the center.  It was nice to have the 2 small dots in the bottom right hand corner to provide a git of a focal element.

I would encourage you to experiment!  All you have to lose is a bit of time and colored water.

I am so glad I tried this technique!

2020 Photography Show - On Line

I am grateful that our art club - Allied Art Council has adapted and has been hosting our shows on-line.

The photography show runs from June 15 - to July 3rd. We had 67 entries submitted.

I submitted three entries.

The winners were announced today in a zoom meeting.

This photo details are as follows:

Rainy Night
12x12 inches
Photography

I love the great bokeh which reminds me of lights on wet streets.  Beautiful blue and green tones in this photograph.

I have manipulated the original photo with filters to increase the contrast and sharpen the edges.

I really like this one and will hang it on my walls.

Ignition!
12x12 inches
Photography

Someone on Flickr suggested that this shot looked like when the engine of a rocket.   I ran with that idea hence the title.

I love how the yellows are in the center and the oranges spread out from the center to the outer edges.  I like the dark edges.

Fish Feeding Frenzy
11x14 inches
Photography

I took this shot for a Flickr challenge.

I cooled the tone of the original photo to have the background appear more like water which goes with the title.  I really see fish with mouths open waiting for a morsel of food.

The winners were announced today in a Zoom meeting.  You can check out all the entries here.

Gallery Rotation Submission - Delayed

I was wanting a piece in the Gallery Rotation so I check out what I had previously printed.

I had this early morning photo taken near the river with the sunbursting over the horizon putting our Walterdale Bridge and the old Rossdale Water Treatment Plant in silhouette.

Title: Sunburst

Size: 17.25 W x 13.25 T inches

Photo: 8x10 inches

Juried Show Submissions - Postponed

We were to have deliver our pieces for the Juried Member Show today to see which pieces would go into the show but the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted our plans.  The building has been closed for 3 days and the show is currently postponed. We will learn more on Tuesday.

My first piece was taken last March on my morning walk in the river valley. 

It is features a very moody atmosphere.

It leaves one wondering. What lies ahead? Where does that faint staircase on the right lead to?  Kind of symbolic for the current health crisis in our world.

Title:  "Foggy Morning"

Size: 15 x 12 inches

This is another result from my oil on water photography.

I decided to take advantage of the color separation between blue and green.  I lightened the bubble in the top right hand corner to create a "Moon".  Another moody photo which creates an interesting landscape.

Title: "Moon Rising"

Size: 14 x 14 inches

I took this photo earlier this year at the Antique Market.  This sculpture was quite small measuring around 6 inches tall.  I don't really know what the circular structure is but it was being held by a monkey above his head.  I decided the wood circle was the best feature so that is what I made the focus.  I placed it on the floor so that I would have the natural wood boards as a background. 

Worked out really well.

Title: Wooden Sculpture

Size: 14 x 12 inches

Nativity Photo Shoot - Card Samples

A friend set up a different nativity than her usual Willow Tree one this passed Christmas season. It is stained glass which is one of my favorite styles. I found out that it was her mother's and it came to her a few years ago. It was gorgeous so we arranged for me to photograph it with the idea of making Christmas cards. For her, she liked the idea that she could give personal cards to family and I loved the nativity. Win Win.  

I arrived with lights, backdrops fabrics and stand, and camera gear.  I set it up on her dining room table. It had the Holy Family, three Wisemen and 3 Shepherds which were separate pieces so it offered a good amount of flexibility in layout. It was very delicate so I had to very careful. I spent several hours using mostly natural light pouring in from her dining room window. I did run out of light in late afternoon which brought the photo shoot to an end.

Following are the cards I have prepared as samples for her.

This one on the left features the Holy Family by itself.

It is a 5x7 panel card with a 4x6 photo on the front.

The greeting was added to the photo.

A sentiment and credits have been added to the back.


This is a different photo of the Holy Family.  I love how Joseph's robe glistens.  It was printed 4x4 inches and I printed the sentiment above the photo.


It is an A2 panel with the greeting on the front and a sentiment and credits on the back.

This card features the full set including the Shepherds and the 3 Wisemen.

It was printed at 3.5x 5.00 inches and placed on an A2 card (4.25 x 5.5 inches folded at the top).

I printed the greeting at the top along with credits on the back.

This one has a quarter sheet sentiment insert adhered to the inside.

I have used 110lb white card stock in all of these cards.

This card is also an A2 with a top fold.

This photo features the Holy Family and the 3 Wisemen with a different background.

It is much warmer in tone.

This one also has a quarter sheet insert on the inside.

She will have to decide which photo she likes the most, the style of the card she prefers then I will be making Christmas cards. 

It will be so much fun.

Recent Photos

I went for a walk with my aunt on the weekend and finally got a good photo of the Bohemian Waxwing.  I did not recognize their song but she did as she gets great shot regularly in her neighbourhood.

They were in very tall trees and and the coloring was so close to their feather they were very hard to spot.

I just love their vibrant coloring especially their bring yellow tail.  I can see the light in its eye which was great to capture!


Macro Monday on Flickr this week was Sweet or Savory.

Here I have photographed white sugar with my antique silver sugar spoon.

You can check out my photostream and my final selection.

A visit from my sister and brother in law recently saw the return of my TV tables.  He created a small stand for the tables from the wood of the larger table that used to hold them.  I did not need the table and needed the room it was taking so he offered to re engineer the set.

I am so happy with this smaller foot print!  I will have to declutter some more to make the perfect place for them but it is coming along.

Gaining on the keeping the place tidy!

My small quilt box was overflowing!   I delivered these quilts to the rep for Project Linus yesterday!  Now I have room for more quilting.  I also delivered 3 made by my sister. Red and Blue, Animal Baby Quilt, Baby Boy Quilt

She has been quilting a lot this winter as well.

I will likely not be quilting this summer and focus on photography!  I soon will have to trim down my volunteering so I can feel I have a little more free time.

I made a Memory Book for my Mom from the photos I took at our Reunion this summer.  This was a Christmas gift.

I delivered it to her on the Family Day weekend.

Sharing on Mosaic Monday #68 hosted by Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.

Through my Lens #229 hosted by Mersad.

Blog Give Away

I am working on a photography show in 2021. 

There are several options regarding subject matter.  Nature Minimalist, Golden Hour, Black and White, Abstract, Reflections.

I am interested in what my followers' opinions would be. Follow the link above and leave a comment with your choice and what you think about the style.


Thanks so much.

Blog Give Away - Photo Show Fodder

I am wanting to do a solo show of my photography in 2021. That means I have to start thinking about it now.  I have reviewed my Flickr photo stream to see what I have been shooting and gain some inspiration there.

I have come up with some styles which I could pursue.  I have included one of my photos which represents the style. 

There should be a narrative which works with the photos selected for the show.  That is proving to be a lot harder for me.   Should I start with the story?

Nature Minimalist

There is lots of nature of which to take photos.  Water drops, blades of grass, isolated flowers, rocks, birds, leaves, butterflies and a bunch of other subjects.

The photos would likely be macros for me but not necessarily.  Maybe I could mix macros and distant shots.  A distance shot may be a single flower in a meadow or single tree in flat landscape.

The story will be the challenge.







 

Golden Hour

The sun sets every day so that provides lots of opportunities.  There will be days which are cloudy or rainy that will not let the sunshine preventing this kind of shot.

This point of view allows for a wide variety of subject matter from nature, buildings, structures, forest, water,  and stack of other subjects.

The light is very appealing.










Black & White

I may have to narrow the subject matter on this one because mixing nature and architecture may not work.

The image needs high contrast to work well in black & white.  Do I shoot in black and white? 

Subject Matter

• Flowers
• Landscapes
• Buildings
• Structures

Abstract

This style would include a variety of subject matter.  

Reflections, oil on water, macros that are so close as to disguise the original object, shadows, and many others.

I think to story is harder with this style as the subject is not obvious.  

Maybe the story is the mystery.

Reflections

Another wide array of subject matter. 

Reflective surfaces could be water, metal, glass, and mirrors.



Now to the give away!

I have several of my 2020 calendars which I am giving away before the year gets too much longer.

Please leave me a comment below regarding which style you would enjoy in an exhibition of photography.  You can also make a suggestion of our own.


I will choose 5 comments at random on February 29 since it is a leap year!

Looking forward to reading your comments. Anonymous comments will not be considered.