Senior Show Submissions

Our Senior Show at the AAC is being juried and hosted on line.  We are fortunate to have a tech savvy gallery manager.  We have hosted 3 shows since the middle of March.

This beautiful pink bloom is on the Flowering Plum.  I love the moody shot where the flower is the focal element.

Title: Nature - Cheaper than Therapy
Size: 17.5 x 13.5 inches
Mats: Double archival mats in black and granite green
Frame: Black wood
Print: 8x12 inches

This is my Mercury Glass votive holder with a tea light burning. Love how the body is lit from the inside. We need a bit of light in our world to bring hope for the future.


Title: Light Dispels the Darkness
Size: 14.25 x 10.5 inches
Mat: Single archival mat
Frame: Black metal
Print: 9x12 inches

I took this shot for the Macro Monday challenge - shadow earlier this year.  You can see more examples here. I really enjoyed taking shadows.

I loved how this clear plastic spoon turned into a ladle when the light was at the right angle.  I added the words on card stock above the photo.  I thought it was appropriate for the attitude we need in these challenging times.

Title: Life is Fuller
Size: 8.5 x 10.5 inches
Mat: Single archival mat
Frame: Silver metal
Print: 5x5 inches

The submissions in the show are on the Allied Art Council website - On-Line Senior Show.

Recent Photos

This is the puzzle I am going to make this week.  It is from Eurographics Puzzles and is a reproduction of Marc Chagall's - The Blue Violinist done in 1947.  He was a Russian French painter (1887-1985) raised in the Jewish faith who spent time in Paris in the early 20th century.  He traveled extensively and lived in the in several countries during his long life.

I see that I will need a bigger space than I thought to put this one together.  I will work on that.

I hope all the pieces are there as I did acquire it second hand.  Here' s hoping.












I did some coloring this morning the gorgeous sunshine which was really warm!  Considering that it was -18C at 7:00 am.  That's enough reason to stay inside.  This will become a card.  The coloring book originally appeared in this post.

I finished this book this week.  It was different to read a book written by a man with Kabul, Afghanistan as the setting for the story.  It takes place after the Taliban has taken over the city and affected the culture and place dramatically. The two couples in the story Moshen & Zunaira - wealthy and had careers and Atiq & Musarrat - now a prison keeper with his wife very sick and dying.  It is a very difficult life.

It has made me want to research more about Afghanistan history as they had very different lives before the Taliban.  The couples were more equal it seems before and now there is a drastic contrast in their every day lives.

Yasmina Khadra is the nom de plume of the Algerian army officer Mohammed Moulessehoulm, who is the author.  He took the feminine pseudonym to avoid submitting his manuscripts for approval by military censors while he was still in the army.



I took hundreds of photos this week in the above mentioned sunshine.

This is one of my shadow macro photos.  The object is a small black mesh half sphere in shape. Could be the top of a microphone possibly. 

I love the intersection of the actual metal mesh and the shadow the sun created.  I find the shapes that result appealing.  The dark crescent shape created by the overlapping of 2 shadows is very cool.

The Flickr Macro Monday theme this week was "Shadow".

The mosaic on the right are a few of the photos I took.  You can check out my photo stream at www.flickr.com/photos/smdpics .

I am sharing with
Mosaic Monday #75 hosted by Angie
Through my Lens #236 hosted by Mersad
My Corner of the World hosted by Betty

Share Your Cup #210

These are a couple of books I finished recently.

I really enjoyed Robin's book.  She comes across as a regular girl as she describes her early years.  She clearly expresses the decisions she made along the way to change how the her own family would be compared to the one she grew up in.

Karen's books was filled with hope, despair, and much of the emotions in between.  I had a hard time to put it down.

This is the sun shining on my bedroom closet doors.  It's only there for a few minutes.  I noticed it the other day and made a point of taking a photo of it this morning.

Mom had surgery this week at the age of 82.  She takes good care of herself so I am pleased to say that she came through very well.  I will with her on the weekend to support her during her recovery.  We are fortunate to be several girls and each has taken part in the process to help Mom as needed.  Picture of the building.  In the morning, a wonderful marble sculpture in the foyer and the rainbow in the sky when we departed at the end of the day.  I took the rainbow as a good sign as to Mom's future.

Sharing with Share Your Cup #210 hosted by Carol at Art & Sand.

Share Your Cup - National Park

I visited the Elk Island National Park today.

There are several Red Chairs around the park and I managed to find 3 sets.
This set is overlooking the large lake at the north end.
I love the tree shadows on the snow.  The black spot in the middle of the lake is a beaver lodge.  I love the tracks leading across the lake.

There are several snow covered roads through the park.  I traveled several and they were mostly snow covered with these great shadows.
I love the Canadian flag. This one was at the visitor center.  As you can see the wind was pretty strong.  At the lake, gloves, a good windbreaker and winter boots were a must.  The bottom photo is an island in the middle of the large lake.  People were walking to it and maybe around it also.  Love the contrast of dark trees against the blue sky.

I was really hoping to see bison but not a one appeared.


I was not able to link to the linky party. You can see the links here.

Card Club - November - Christmas Penguin

We made Christmas cards tonight.
I selected my colors based on the central image of the penguin.  The card is black and I cut the red layer to leave just a small border and glued it to the card front. I cut the white layer with the Spellbinder Nestabilities Labels 22. The yellow oval was cut with SB Nestabilities Ovals. These were added to the top half of the card.  The penguin is a sticker and was set in the center of the oval.  The greeting was cut with the Stampin Up Bitty Banners Framelits.  I cut another banner of the same size from card stock matching the card to create the shadow. The shadow banner is cut crosswise then glued offset to either end.  The banner was there added to the card front with 3D foam tape.  I added the dots around the oval with a black marker to create a frame.  The alternative was a red card with a black background layer.

June Photo a Day Challenge - Week 2

Here are this week's photos for this challenge hosted by Kati at Kati's Little Corner.  We could post every day or once a week.

Day 8 - Childhood

I chose a coloring book and Laurentien Pencil Crayons.  I filled many coloring books in my childhood.  I loved staying inside the lines and making it look really nice according to me.  I had my name on each of my crayons so I would not lose them to siblings. When there is lots of kids things can get territorial at times.  I loved coloring because it was an individual activity and quiet time.

Day 9 - Macro

This is a yellow dragonfly and you can see her looking at me and my camera wondering what is going on!  I loved the focus I was able to get on the nearly invisible wings.  I took tons of shots to get this one.

Day 10 - Upside Down

I staged this photo because I wanted similar shapes in different colors and one was upside down.  I wanted a shape that it was obvious that it was different. Not sure I was all together successful in that aspect. These vases are complementary in their shape so it accommodated the closeness better. I chose to put the metallic on in the center because the others were more solid.  The fact that it has a reflection adds interest.  The black was has some reflection as well.

Day 11 - Jewellery

I chose the jewellery I wear most every day because I don't often change it.  On a special occasion I may wear something different but on average this is it.  I like pieces in silver.  A Timex watch, a brooch that I hang my reading glasses on when I don't need them, a magnetic bracelet, a white gold cross, and a set of Stella Dot Hammered Ball stud earrings.

Day 12 - Flower

I chose this Alberta Rose photo. They are blooming right now. I try each year to get a few good photo of this great pink flower. They can range from very deep pink to almost white.  I will keep an eye out for them on the back country roads.

Day 13 - Shadow

This is a picture I took of my sister and I.  We had been out on photo shoot for a few hours capturing all the cool things in nature around where she lives. There had been birds, flowers, ponds, cattails, dragonflies, and much more. At one point, I saw this shot and I'm glad I did not miss it.

Day 14 - Red White and Blue

I'm working on a stash of decorative paper using a variety of techniques.  Today, I chose these colors so I could include it in this challenge.  I rubbed the with wax candle to create a bit of a resist.  Then, I painted the paper with Tim Holtz Distress Stain in Faded Jeans and Aged Mahogny which I had dabbed onto a palette and then spritz with water. I applied it to the paper with a foam brush.  It was feeling a little blah so I decided to take a piece of acetate and brush some blue onto it with the dauber end.  It create these light brush strokes.  I then placed the acetate paint side down onto the paper and they squished and became much more visible.  I really like the way it turned out.