All Hallow's Eve

There is an undeniable sense of magic and turning of the wheel at this time of the year whether you embrace Samhain (Hallowe'en , All Hallow's Eve) or not. The brilliant moon, the owls in flight, the shadows of the landscape all lend towards turning inward , for transparency for walking between the worlds. If we pay attention to what nature is telling us; slow down, listen and observe... magic is ours.

Credits for this collage are images from Luna Girl, Holliewood at Deviantartscraps and Digital Whisper.

Invocation

This is my entry for the Digital Whisper challenge "Cauldron". We were given this cauldron image ( which I have altered in color, scale and added digital brushes for effects). The woman is from Dover , background is from Collage Obsession and added script from Dover. Gradient filters were used for the overall shadows and color blending. The original painting by (John Singer Sargent) shows this woman in meditation with an incense burner, but I also saw her intent and concentration and felt as if she could be summoning the spirit of the cauldron.

Immortal Bloom

Where roses would not dare to go,
What heart would risk the way-
And so I send my crimson scouts
to sound the enemy.
Emily Dickinson

This is my entry for the Digital-Whisper blog challenge where we were given the rose image to work with. Credits also to deviantartscraps (Holliewood) and scripted artist papers.

Winter's Tale

This is my entry for the Theme Thursday challenge "Winter". Simple, stark and silent. The beauty of a winter Barn owl who flies silently in search of prey. My local Barn owls along with the Great Horned owls are busy now at night around my property; a flash of white and a chorus of hooting signal the cooler nights and the coming of Winter. Imagery from Wikimedia, scrapbookgraphics, Dover and deviantartscraps (Holliewood).

In Faeriewood

This is my entry for the Three Muses Challenge "Things With Wings". I have been putting alot of wings on things lately and why not a little more- especially deep in the faerie wood. Old images from wikimedia and vintage-blog, background and vintage frames from scrapbookgraphics. Wings from deviantartscraps (Poet Keepsakes) and digital-whisper image. All blended and painted in photoshop.

The Bridesmaids

This is my entry for the Collage Obsession challenge . We were given this wonderful photo of all the young ladies in their corsets and I thought of a group of bridesmaids getting ready for the big day. I didn't want to alter the photo as it is so charming of the group so I used digital artistic filters to paint with and added a background of roses from my own photos, chandeliers (deivantart) and clip art of a vintage marriage license.

I am entering this piece into the Theme Thursday challenge as well for the color Pink and Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Flights of Fancy

One of the challenges at Digital Whisper is to create a piece that is in the style of a wonderful artist (Maggie Taylor). This is my entry entitled "Baa Baa Black Sheep". A bit nursery rhyme a bit midwest fancy. Most of Taylor's work is vintage mixed with fanciful and somewhat surreal art elements. Credits for this piece go to deviantartscraps, wikimedia and Dover with Photoshop brushes and soft light effects

Vintage Beauty

This is my entry for the Three Muses Challenge where "Vintage" is the theme. Credits go to Scrapbookgraphics , e-vint.com. , deviantart and Christine Renee (glass negative). All images layered and opacity reduced in Photoshop. Soft and gradient light filters.

Liquidamber

This is my entry for the Digital Whisper blog challenge where we were given a beautiful leaf image to use. I tried a number of different collages but this piece came together best in the spirit of the wonderful Autumn weather we are having here in California. Other credits go to scrapbookgraphics, vintage blog and torn bits of Asian inspired fabric scanned.

The Haunting

In late July we took a road trip to Portland Oregon and on our way back we stopped in Eureka, California where one of the most beautiful old "Queen Anne" style Victorian houses still stands ( Carson Mansion) . Whenever I take photos of old houses I always get an eerie feeling that spirits might appear at the windows-reaching out from the past with their stories to tell, longing to move on. I used my photo of the mansion in this piece along with imagery from e-vint.com. and digital elements from deviantartscraps to create a haunting collage . The broken glass negative is from Christine Renee.

Dark Dreaming

I have had some fun creating these dark pieces from a new digital kit from Deviantartscraps (Welcome to my Nightmare). The top piece is called "DragonSlayer" and the lower piece is called "Dark Dreaming". I have also used some imagery from Dover and added gradient light and shadow filters in Photoshop. The Dragonslayer piece I am entering into the Theme Thursday challenge "Red and Black".

Sacred Song

This is my entry for The Three Muses challenge where "Music" is the theme this week. I have always interpreted music through dance whether it was Ballet, Belly, Jazz or ethnic movement. I never had the patience to learn an instrument but spent many years in dance interpreting the flow and rhythms of music through body expression. Ruth St. Dennis (pictured above) was a pioneer in the interpretive, ethnic dance movement which to this day I love, and brought a new awareness combining dance from around the world with classic lines to create visually stunning art . Background and overlays from scrapbookgraphics, main image and tambourine from wikimedia. Layers mixed with multiply and gradient filters added.

Swan Song

This is my entry for the Collage Obsession challenge "Pink". I layered a beautiful photo of Anna Pavlova (Wikimedia) over a background from deviantartscraps and added Fresco and screen filters for the look of an impressionist painting. I added scraps from sheet music and soft light filters.