Cold Moon

This is my entry for the Dark Whispers challenge where we were given the image of the woman and the branches and had to blend them into one piece. I wanted to give the feeling of a transformation - part woman/part tree a Dryad being so to speak. I converted the branches to black and white for effect and added digital butterfly brushes,dragonflys, pearl and mask against a background from scrapbookgraphics. Moon from wikimedia.

Summer Flower

This is my entry for the 4x4friday challenge "Raining Daisys". Composed of background layers from artist papers, scrapbookgraphics, images from Magic Moonlight , wikimedia and soft light filters added in Photoshop.

Street Angel

Well just having returned from a roadtrip to Portland Oregon (I drove over 1300 miles and am still wired), I decided to get back into the blogging saddle with the challenge at Theme Thursday this week "Words". This is a digital collage using backgrounds from Scrapbookgraphics -Lorie Davison, my own digital roses, and a lovely angel statue face (wikimedia) with a little graffiti and words. Travelling through Portland was a mixture of old and new ;the city restored with a gentrified yet historical feel. Graffiti murals mixed with modern buildings and a lovely downtown cathedral. My street angel represents renewal with some darker overtones of city life still needing to address the issues of all of its inhabitants.

Field Notes

I never turn down the opportunity to make "Mail" inspired art, so I went to work and made this digital entry for The Three Muses challenge this week. I continue to be inspired by Nick Bantock with his use of far away images, artistic stamps and odd but somehow related images juxtaposed with each other to make a whole. The background to this piece is from scrapbookgraphics ( colors altered with soft and multiply filters) overlayed with images from Dover, stamps from Provo Craft and Paper House Productions. I added ruled lines to give it a notepaper look. What fun!

Flower Girl

This is my entry for the Digital Whisper Challenge. The image of the woman is provided by DW. The background is from scrapbookgraphics (altered and recolored). Botanical prints, script, nest and buildings (wikimedia) blended and artistic filters added in Photoshop. Bird image from(cemerony).

The Book Of Shadows

This is my entry for the Sunday Postcard Art Challenge where the theme is "Magic". A Book of Shadows is a magical compendium of spells and charms that is passed on from generation to generation. Part herbal lore, part myth with a mixture of science and nature - a journal of observations and beliefs. My spell caster is from (e-vint.com), book is clip art from (Stampington)- I added old script and gradient hues. Postal stamps from (Provo craft) and raven image is from (Dover).

Angel Song

This is my entry for the Digital Whisper Blog challenge "Angel". We were given this lovely image and I layered her onto one of my backgrounds and added the exclusion filter for a muted, time worn look. I also added photos from kit and kaboodle, wikimedia, , dictionary clipping, music notes and scanned feathers.

Spirit of the Tao

This is my entry for the Digital Whisper challenge where we were given this beautiful image of a horse and I thought of the wonderful horse images from the illustrated Tao Te Ching. The horses are a bit more stylized in Asian art but they often depict wild , muscular animals which this image conveys. I added overlays of Asian symbols and text and used color from some vintage Oriental stickers for added texture. Background from scrapbookgraphics.

Liquid Blue

This is my entry for the Mixed Media Monday Challenge "Something Blue". A mixed media collage made from a garden sculpture, personal floral photos, botanical text, peeling paint background (scrapbookgraphics) and soft light, multiply and pin light color filters blended in photoshop. Gaussian blur/liquify effects for a fluid watery feel.

Aloe Rose

The theme at 4x4friday this week is "ArtQueen" and needless to say Frida Kahlo will always be the Queen for me, but I decided to pay homage to another brilliant woman artist Georgia O'Keefe. She is known for her beautiful bold florals along with skulls and desert scenes. She was a true pioneer ( a bit bohemian and wild) who took to the desert and rejoiced in the natural landscape often depicting life flourishing alongside death. This digital collage trys to capture a bit of her symbolism and style using images from wikimedia, antique botanica prints, stock photos and artist papers. Black and white and soft light filters added.

Rhiannon

This is my entry for the Theme Thursday Challenge where the theme is "Animals". I love this image from e-vint.com and am reminded of the tale of Rhiannon who is likened to the Goddess Epona (Goddess of Horses). There seems to have always been a deep association with women and horses in myth and history particularly Roman and Celtic. I went through the "Horse phase" as many young girls do. I still love horses for their beauty , strength and their sense of freedom of spirit. I added background imagery from a freebie from Collage Obsession, masonry wall from scrapbookgraphics and script from assorted artist papers. Soft light and multiply filters added.

Rust and Reason

This is my entry for The Three Muses challenge where the theme is "Rust". I used a background and iron rail image from Scrapbookgraphics, Barn owl and Celtic script image from Dover, archway ruins and key from Wikimedia. All layers blended with artistic filters in Photoshop. I wanted to give this piece a metallic, grungy feel of flight through a chamber of ruins; the wise owl carrying the key to freedom and knowledge.

Street Tempo

This is my entry for the Sunday Postcard Art Challenge where the theme is "Street Art". This is a digital 4x6 composed from a background from Scrapbookgraphics ( Lorie Davison) overlayed with photos of my son Aaron when he was in college at The New School in New York (Mannes Jazz Program . I added clippings from one of his free concerts (he gets paid now!) along with a subway map. All images cropped and background erased and opacity reduced. Soft light and pin light filters added in Photoshop for a painterly effect..