Beltane

O Goddess we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the angels, Queen of the May.
O Goddess we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the angels, Queen of the May.
___ Celtic song of Beltane

This is my entry for the 4x4Friday challenge (Beltane/May Day). Beltane , a cross-quarter (half way between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice) sabbat represents the coming of summer- a bountiful time of fertility and growth. It is celebrated often by wearing a garland of flowers in the hair and dancing the Maypole with family and friends . This digital piece is composed of an image (e-vint.com) which I thought represented the feel and enchantment of this celebration, background layers from (scrapbookgraphics and Digital Whisper). Dragonflys from (Wikimedia). All images layered and artistic filters added in photoshop.

Old Film

This is my entry for the Theme Thursday challenge "Black and White". I have used this image of Frida before but wanted to do a study in black and white. The background here is from scrapbookgraphics and I added old text and a film strip (assorted artist papers). I then converted all images to black and white and reduced opacity and lighting levels for a grainy old photo collage.

Mandolin

Music. It has the power to take you places and move you. It stirs up memories and can make you depressed. I studied piano as a child but did not have the patience to stick with it and that's okay. I expressed my love of music through dance ( San Francisco Ballet) for a while in early adulthood. I still love music but it has a different effect on me now than when I was younger. I find my taste is running towards quieter, more calming sounds. Music is not something I have to have turned on the minute I get into my car or come home or create art to. It used to be. Why that is I don't know. Maybe I am more comfortable with my own company and thoughts now. I have an ipod filled with all of my fav's and occasionally "escape" into a little dream world with it. This digital collage represents that dreamy place- a place where you can recall what was , what is and what could be. This is my entry for this weeks theme (Music) at The Three Muses.

Wildflowers

I decided to combine two challenges for this piece that interestingly were very similar in theme. The Digital Whisper challenge gave us the image of this vase to fill with something beautiful (for Mother's Day) and the Collage Obsession challenge gave us an image of a floral bouquet. I cropped and re-colored the flowers giving them a more wildflower look and placed them in the vase. I added text and the wistful young girl to create a vintage message of love and tribute to her mother.

Sorceress

I had total fun with this one! This is for the Darkness Inspiration challenge "Bewitched". Image is from e-vint.com . Wings and things I cropped form Dover, ironwork and background brushes from scrapbookgraphics. All lighting and color filters I mixed in Photoshop. She is definately summoning up some power with that hair!

Lotus Blossom

The theme at Sunday Postcard Art this week is "Oriental". My 4x6 postcard is made from several layers of artist paper backgrounds overlayed with image blended in Photoshop. I added symbols and script and added inverse filters for highlights.

Art Journal

Ah it's Friday. Time for my quiet Friday morning pajama art session. All week I'm kind of rushing to get out and get things done but not Friday. I could stay in jammies all day and play at my art table or do digital art. This is a digital envisioning of an art journal cover. A bit worn and rustic with metal effects and patina. This piece came together magically again because I just let it happen. I've been struggling with pieces based on themes and just surrendered to what I 'felt' like doing. Now I'm ready to face the day!

Vintage Blush

This is my first entry for the Soartful Challenge where the theme is "Shy Beauty". Multi layers of background artist papers scanned and painted digitally. Image from e-vint.com. Steampunk metal embellishment from Lorie Davison.

Sovereign Heart

This is my entry for The Three Muses challenge (Hats and Crowns and Wings and Things). A little bit Zetti style a little bit medieval. Images from Dover, artist papers, digital text all layered and painted in Photoshop.

Anderson Valley

I decided to try a little digital landscape work with a beautiful area that we used to drive through on our way up to Mendocino in mind. The Anderson Valley is situated about 35 miles from the coast and is dotted with scenic wineries and lovely sheep farms along the way. Our trips were always a step back in time and place and a reminder of quieter, simpler ways. This is a collage of different images all cropped , layered and painted in photoshop. I liked that it turned out looking quite a bit like a photo from the area.

Awakening

This is my entry for the 4x4Friday challenge where the theme is 'Spring Garden'. Right away I thought of a closeup photo I had taken of a beautiful flower sometime back as it represented the blossoming of spring and renewal of color to the garden. I merged the face image from my vintage beauties collection (e-vint.com) and added gradient hues and brush work digitally.

Solace

This is a digital piece I made for the Digital Whisper challenge this week "Love Doesn't Hurt". A tough subject about abuse but one that needs attention . I chose to use an image from Julia Margaret Cameron to portray the comfort of a strong parent and the birds represent a hope of escape and freedom. I overlayed digital layers of backgrounds from (scrapbookgraphics) and used gradient filters and brushes to color.

Shadowland

This is my entry for the Darkness Inspiration Challenge where the theme is (On the Grave). Dover images, personal photos and artist papers combined for a gothic-stlye collage of remembrance and release.

En route

This is my entry for The Three Muses challenge (Maps). Over the course of the week I made four attempts to come up with a map collage - all very colorful and detailed but they left me uninspired. I ended up liking the subtlety and lack of color in this piece which left it more dramatic and expressive, with a little sense of mystery. I mixed all elements in Photoshop reduced opacity , converted to black and white and then added soft light/multiply filters.

Gilded Rose

This is my entry for the Collage Obsession challenge that gave us this beautiful image of Marie Antoinette. I wanted to put her in an opulent atmosphere so I used one of my personal photos of some extraordinary doors at Grace Cathedral in San Francsico. I added gradient filters to create a rich gilded hue to the doors and cropped and erased segments of the image and lowered opacity for a somewhat ghostly Marie and her cherished roses.

April In Paris

This is my entry for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge (April In Paris). Never been to Paris. I dream about it; the architecture, the art, the city and all of its delights. I have met some wonderful bloggers from France and their art displays a love of beauty in color and form. This digital postcard collage is made from vintage wallpaper, digital text, archive photos of Arc de Triomphe and e-vint.com. Artistic filters added in photoshop.

Fable

This has been a heavy week for me with taxes , bookkeeping, rental contracts (all the things that really bog me down). So I wanted to lighten things up and played around with some fun images and created this digital piece which borrows from the fable "The Peacock and the Crane". I really never know what will happen when I throw a combination of images and elements together and mix them up in Photoshop. The magic that happens is what I really like about digital art. Not everything works out for sure, but the unpredictability (the complete opposite of bookwork ) thrills me. I'm sure many digital artists have a total plan in mind (plus they also know the program a whole lot better than I do) and execute their piece with skill and intention. But for me the really creative aspect is not knowing what will happen. The spontaneity brings me peace.

Dreams of Peace

This is a collage piece that I made for the Digital Whisper challenge "Peace" using the lovely background image of the sky that they provided. The arches are from a journal page of mine and the beautiful dreamer is from e-vint.com. An antique world map and dove symbolize the dream of world peace- something we all share.

At Redwing Hollow

In my neck of the woods the Red-winged Blackbird is a common sight. You wouldn't take much notice of them except for this wonderful flash of red against the open fields when they take to flight. They spred their wings and because they group in large numbers it can be a beautiful sight to see- a sparkling of red against the black solidness of their bodies coloring the landscape and the sky. This is my entry for The Three Muses Challenge (Blackbird). I used a personal photo from a trip to a ruins as the background and added collage elements from Dover and e-vint.com. Gradient filters in Photoshop. This is a very old photo of the children- (not great pixel quality) and I discovered by using the Blur filter that it helped smooth out the images.

Easter Postcard

This is my entry for the Sunday Postcard Art Challenge where the theme is "Bunny People". I want to wish a peaceful and Happy Easter to everyone.

Tangiers

This is my entry for the Friday 4x4 challenge where the theme is Mail Art. I am a huge fan of Nick Bantock and this piece trys to incorporate some of his style of mixed ethnic elements and mail art(postage ephemera). Multi layers of mixed images, personal photos, vintage stamps and artstic filters designed and blended in photoshop.