Kat Eye Studio

Archives for November 2012

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Beyond “Hobby”

What do you call an interest that goes beyond “hobby?” When it becomes something that seems essential to your expression? When it’s a part of who you are? I’m trying to find the right word to use for my love of photography. The word I want is definitely not “hobby.” To me, that implies a side interest, something you do to fill your time. OK, I do that, but it’s become more to me than that.

Yesterday I met up with friend who was interested in learning more about my prints and how I was doing them. As we sat and chatted about what we were both up to, she used the word “hobby” for what I was doing and then kind of looked at me askance, as if she knew that didn’t fit either. I chuckled and tried to come up with a word for it, and I couldn’t.

I don’t have a word for what it is I’m doing with photography, and why. It’s as if it’s become an essential form of expression. I could stop teaching, if I had to. I could stop blogging, if you made me. But I don’t think I can stop photographing. Even if I had no one to share them with, I would still create photographs. It’s how I see and experience the world. It’s how I learn about myself. It feeds me energy and brings me joy. No matter what I try to do differently, even this whole mobile photography/digital painting thing I’ve got going on, it comes back to the essential element of the photograph.

Maybe I’m really just learning what it means to be an artist. I remember last year, listening to an artist talk about his journey and how, in his younger days, he was desperate to paint. Even when he had no money for materials, he found ways to paint. He had to, he said. He couldn’t stop it. I remember thinking, “Wow, that’s intense. I don’t feel that way.” But now I wonder if I’m starting to. If I already do.

Maybe being an artist, deep down in our soul, means not just that we do create, but that we need to create. That we can’t help it, can’t stop ourselves. There is something about photography that’s put it’s hooks into my heart and soul, and I can’t get away from it. Regardless of what else I explore, it always comes back to this for me.

So can you help me out? What’s the word I’m looking for, for this thing I’m experiencing? Because it’s way beyond “hobby” and I would like to put a word to it, if one exists.

There are several things going on I don’t want you to miss:

  • Today is the last day to enter for the Spark & Inspire eBook giveaway. You can enter by leaving a comment on this blog post.
  • Today is also the last day to link in to Exploring with a Camera: Chiaroscuro. Have you seen the gorgeous work that has been shared this month? Wow! Be sure to visit the links to see what your fellow photographers are creating with dramatic light.
  • The November Photo-Heart Connection link up opens tomorrow! What does your heart have to say this month? It’s time to find out. See you tomorrow!

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Rain Painting

I seem to be in a monochromatic mood with my recent work! I’m creating with very simple color schemes including a lot of black. Maybe it’s the change of the season… after so much bright color with the leaves I am enjoying the toned down color of winter.

This week for Paint Party Friday I thought I would share this recent piece of digital art, Rain Painting, along with how I created it:

Rain Painting

I shared a square version of this work over the weekend through Instagram, but I really like the rectangular version so much better! It seems to emphasize the tall trees and painterly feel.

OK, so how did I create it… First, I started with this image, taken out a rainy window from the backseat of our car last Friday:

Photographing from a car is always a challenge, because you have to act quickly to frame and capture whatever is there. I think using a camera phone helps because I could get it set up and then anticipate the photograph by watching the trees that were coming up ahead. I liked this right out of the camera, but wanted to add more texture and warmth to it, so I first took the image through the Pixlr Express PLUS app to shift the color and add a texture:

I also wanted to add a more painterly feel, so I took the original photo through the Glaze app to create this version:

Finally, I took all three images, original, textured and glazed, and combined them using the Iris Photo Suite app. I don’t remember the blending modes or percentages I used, though! Blending images is typically a one-time thing, just playing around with modes and percentages until the combination looks right. And here’s the final version again:

Rain Painting

I like how it turned out. It brings me a moody, wet feeling – kind of like a rainy day. Winter has definitely arrived in Oregon!

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Whitstable Blues

Do you have people in your life who rub off on you when you are around them? I definitely do. I pick up a little bit of their happiness or enthusiasm when I’m around them. Whatever they have going on, I just can’t help but be swept up in their excitement. I’m continuing on to London today, sharing one final story of creative connection with a person who is like that for me: Kirstin McKee.

I’ve known Kirstin for a couple of years now. I first met her online through the Mortal Muses and we spent a weekend with her family in London while we were living in Italy. Since this trip back to England was all about connection, I was excited to reconnect with Kirstin. I stayed with her and her family for a couple of days between workshops. When she suggested we go to Whitstable, a little coastal town about an hour’s drive from London, I jumped on the chance. I’d never visited the English seaside! We lucked out with a gorgeously sunny day for our excursion.

Photo by Kirstin McKee

Kirstin is fun to be around because she is so full of enthusiasm for photography. Whatever she does, she does with gusto. She’s gotten into film the last year or so, and raves about it. It makes it hard for her to decide what cameras to bring though! On this day trip she carried four cameras: dSLR, 35mm film, Polaroid and iPhone. I was a-goggle with all of her camera bags! But it was fun to watch her choose between one camera or another, to hear why she would choose each one, and to see the outcome later.

Kirstin and her camera bags

We wandered along the shore and through the town, following our interest and whatever captured our eye. We spent a good long time at this house with the gorgeous blue shutters, which reminded both of us of Greece. She even had to run back later and photograph the window again, since her original Polaroid didn’t turn out quite right.

I look at her photographs, and I’m just in awe of what she does. And she is so humble about it too. She creates because she loves it, and follows her joy. What a great example for the rest of us.

Photos by Kirstin McKee

After wandering around for a while, photographing all manner of interesting things, we wrapped up our day with an amazing lunch at the Whitstable Oyster Company. There is nothing like a fantastic meal in a lovely setting to cap off your day.

The whole thing was so much fun. This is the best kind of photography excursion to me: Visiting a new place along with a friend who loves photography as much as I do. My photographs from this day are some of my favorite from the trip.

Photos, and Photo of Photos, by Kirstin McKee

Kirstin’s enthusiasm definitely rubbed off on me. While I haven’t quite caught her bug for film, I can appreciate what she sees in it. And after she saw me using my iPod Touch, she pretty much made sure I got onto Instagram while I was with her… and you all know what’s happened from there. A whole new world has opened up for me with mobile photography.

Kirstin posting to Instagram

Thanks Kirstin, for a lovely day, and for the enthusiasm you share with all you do. It was a wonderful reconnection and I already can’t wait for the next time. Where shall we visit next?

As I wrap up this series of posts, I am excited see how each of the creative connections I made on this trip string together into a story of influences. I can observe what I gained from each one and how they each are a little stepping stone on my creative journey. I would not be in the same place today without them. Thanks for joining me as I revisited my connections in England the last couple of weeks! I look forward to sharing more of my England photos over time.

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Growing a Garden

Today it’s back to England, continuing my stories of creative connection. The day after my Hebden Bridge workshop I was able to gather with friends again for a visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I had seen pictures of this place before, and it looked intriguing. How often do you see sculptures just randomly popping out of the bushes? Not very often. It’s a photographer’s dream, this kind of interesting juxtaposition.

On a rainy Sunday morning four of us met up in Hebden Bridge to drive out to the park: Me, Fiona, Hannah, and this time adding the lovely Helen Agarwal into the mix. Helen is another artist I met at the Do What You Love Retreat in 2011. She is a wonderful photographer with a lovely point of view on the world. I enjoy her dreamy style and her calm approach to life.

We were lucky enough to have a break in the weather as we arrived, so we wandered outside for a while. It was fun to see what caught our eye. There were all of these interesting sculptures, but I think we spent more time photographing the beautiful vines and interesting leaves.

Helen is another mobile photographer. Her dSLR had been broken for a while, so she was trying to figure out what to do about repairing or replacing it, using her camera phone in its place. It was fun to see how she worked with it! Another influence for me? Perhaps. Just seeing other photographers whose work I enjoy using different tools than my own is often enough to get me thinking.

The special exhibit at the park was Joan Miro. I haven’t always been a fan of his work, but seeing so much more of his paintings and sculptures, and reading about his life gave me a new perspective on him. I do love the bold colors and simple shapes he repeats in his work. We couldn’t take photographs of the inside exhibition, but I was able to photograph his outdoor sculptures. I always find it interesting to see an artist who works across many mediums, like painting and sculpture, because you can see their style come through regardless of medium.

He talked about how he works in this quote, posted on the wall:

I think of my studio as a vegetable garden. Here, there are artichokes. Over there, potatoes. The leaves have to be cut so the vegetables can grow. At a certain moment, you must prune. I work like a gardener or a wine grower. Everything takes time. My vocabulary of forms, for example, did not come to me all at once. It formulated itself almost in spite of me. Things follow their natural course. They grow, they ripen. You have to graft. You have to water, as you do for lettuce. Things ripen in my mind. In addition, I always work on a great many things at once. And even in different areas: painting, etching, lithography, sculpture, ceramics.

Yes, things have to grow and ripen. Our ideas. Our art. Our connections and friendships as well. Perhaps my visit to England was a gardening trip, nurturing the connections I had planted while living in Italy. Coaxing them to grow a little further, to see how they might blossom in time.

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The Happiest Monday

And why is this the happiest Monday, you ask? Because I feel better! Woohoo! It’s amazing how happy you are for the little things, like getting up early on a Monday morning, when you’ve been feeling a bit under the weather. The four day weekend was just what I needed to recuperate.

You know how I could tell when I was on the mend? Creativity started flowing again. I sat down with my iPad this weekend and some photos I took with my brand new iPhone 5 last week and created a couple of new pieces of digital art. Well, more than a couple, but I’ll share my favorite two with you here.

Tree, Squared

I am still having so much fun with this whole mobile photography/digital art stuff! My excitement for getting the new iPhone last week was a bit damped by all of the coughing and sniffling going on at the time, but after playing with the images this weekend I am so happy to have this higher resolution tool for image capture. And of course, it’s just plain fun to enter the world of the smartphone, although I really wanted it mainly for the camera.

Reaching

I used my other favorite new tool, my printer, to print and hang a few of my recent creations in my hallway from the entry to the kitchen. You can see them there, in the center. (I found the square shadowbox frames at IKEA, if you were wondering.)

From capture to creation to wall, all in a couple of days! I love it. See, it’s a happy Monday!

PS – Don’t miss the giveaway of the Spark & Inspire eBook I have going on this week.

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Spark & Inspire: A Giveaway

Today I want to introduce you to a project I recently had the opportunity to participate in. Spark and Inspire: 30 Days of Meaningful Insight to Spark Your Business and Inspire Your Soul is an ebook, the brainchild of Robin Norgren. I first met Robin in Kelly Rae Robert’s first Flying Lessons course, back in 2010. It’s been fun to follow her progress since the class. She is a wonderfully upbeat person and full of amazing energy, so it’s no wonder she created this great project.

Robin had this idea of sharing the insight and inspiration of creative entrepreneurs with those who are just starting out. She interviewed 41 creative entrepreneurs (I’m one!) with different questions, and has compiled their answers into an ebook. And not just a book to read, but a book to help you think about the questions for yourself and your business. Each question has the answers of at least 8 of the artists, and then a page is provided for you to write your own answer to the question. Answer one question a day over 30 days, and you will have some amazing insights and the start of your own plans. For me personally, participating has been a great experience, because it brought clarity to me as I answered the questions and had to think about what I would share with others. I’ve learned a lot from reading the responses of the other entrepreneurs too.

If you’ve been thinking about starting a creative business, whether it’s selling your art or any other creative idea is stuck in your brain, this ebook might be a good resource for you. I know many of you have thoughts along these lines, because I get questions and comments from you here and there via email. Imagine having 41 artists experiences to draw from and 30 questions answered. Where else can you get this kind of access and insight? I can’t think of any other place.

And guess what? You can win a PDF copy of the book here this week! Just leave a comment below by the end of the day 30 November to be eligible for the drawing.

Within these pages you will find the voices of over 40 creative entrepreneurs who run their businesses both online and in brick and mortar stores, who run workshops and sell in shows, who have a range of experiences and have been in business from 1 year to more than 25 years and who offer you no nonsense information on their processes and how they have been able to keep moving in tough economic times and how they have found a way to let good ideas go when the money was not in line with the dream. We are talking on a range of topics from collaborations to big leaps that did (and did not) come together as planned. We are talking about how to get at the soul of your business and how to stay excited about the work you offer the world.

Details:

  • 237 pages sent to your inbox
  • Comprehensive insight from soulful creative entrepreneurs
  • 41 artists
  • 30 questions
  • Each question offers insight from AT LEAST 8 artists

Available in PDF Format here.
Available in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon.com
(disclosure: affiliate links)

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