Kat Eye Studio

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What do you do with Defeat?

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. 

 – Marilyn vos Savant
I was struck by this quote as I read it in The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women this morning. Think about what constitutes defeat: Rejection, criticism, negative comments – these are all external factors. These are not of us, they are what comes at us from other sources. 
Giving up, however, is all internal. It is a choice, a decision we make. Our choice is what makes the “defeat”  permanent.
This is something important to remember. As artists, we are all going to suffer defeat. We have a choice in how we respond. If we give up, we cannot point to anyone other than ourselves as the reason, no matter how much we might want to blame the defeat.
The images in today’s posts are from a Sunday excursion into Milan, using my phone camera for the current Mortal Muses theme. Visit me at Mortal Muses today to see another subway shot that captures something uniquely Italian.

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A Conversation between Summer and Winter

Summer leaned in to Winter and whispered, “Watch out, I’m catching up to you.”

Winter answered, “I know, but right now, I’m still front and center. You are yet a memory of seasons past and a wish for the future.”

We discovered the Four Seasons, all together, during Venice Carnevale. I liked the side conversation captured between Summer and Winter the best. 
There is a lot going on here on my blog right now:
– Don’t miss the giveaway I have going on, hop on over to enter.
– Did you notice the square format of today’s photo? As always, my current Exploring with a Camera theme influences my work. Come visit and see all of the square format images so many wonderful photographers are sharing.
– If you missed it, I did an interview for Diana Mulder’s blog on Sunday. Stop by to say hi and see her beautiful paintings as well!

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Inspiration for a Giveaway

I’m taking the year-long Picture Inspiration online course through Big Picture Classes. There is a weekly prompt, and here are my last couple of images for the prompts. Above you see “rhythm,” found in a men’s clothing store in Taormina, and below is “motif,” created from a journal and collection of Florentine papers.

I knew it would be challenging to make the journal the focal point with all of the patterns in this image, so here is what I did to get the final look (all editing in Photoshop Elements 8):

  1. Captured the image using a 50mm lens set at f/1.4 to get the papers in the background blurred relative to the journal on top. A wide open aperture was necessary in order to blur the background papers, since the journal was not that thick.
  2. Cropped into a square format, since that is on my mind as this week’s Exploring with a Camera. I took the image with square format in mind, and arranged the papers in the background to show the motif I wanted.
  3. Adjusted levels to get more contrast, and slightly sharpened the image to make the journal pop a little more.
  4. Created a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer that was masked to effect the background papers only, and set Saturation to -30 to desaturate the color. The background papers were already blurred by the aperture I chose in the original shot, but by desaturating the colors a little bit more I made the journal more obvious.
I just love these Florentine papers! I never use them, but I always want to buy them. I solved my craving last time by buying some – to give away! This week I’m going to give away this set of 10 cards/envelopes. Comment on this post by midnight EST Thursday to enter. Aren’t they pretty?? I can’t wait to send them, maybe to YOU!

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My Day in the Sun

This image holds such a warm memory for me. As I shared the other day, I woke up before dawn this morning and watched the sunrise. I loved how the sun spilled over the edge of the mountains and clouds, and was happy to be able to capture the moment. It was such a warm morning, I sat out on the balcony in the sun and wrote my answers for Diana Mulder‘s interview series “Women Who Create Beautiful Things” which is posted on her site today. You can read about how I ended up in Italy, found my passion for photography, and what’s coming next for me.

It was a great experience to do this interview! I was nervous at first to put myself out there in this new way, but answering the questions helped me look at my story from a new perspective. Since I have enjoyed Diana’s art and her blog for nearly a year, I felt as if I was talking directly to her as I wrote.

Diana and I met during Kellie Rae Robert’s Flying Lessons course last summer, and connected to each other’s art immediately. Early on, she had looked at the photographs on my blog and asked me if she could paint this image of my son Brandon on the Oregon Coast.

I had forgotten about it until Diana sent me the list of questions for the interview, and attached her mixed media version of this image. I love what she did with it! She created a wonderful interpretation with the addition of the red and brighter colors. I also love that this painting links our art together, gives us a connection we wouldn’t have had otherwise. This is how artists inspire each other!

I hope you visit Diana’s blog to read the interview, and then stay a while to look around at her wonderful art! 

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The Power of Nature

It’s hard to believe that a little over one week ago we stood on an active volcano. Located in Sicily, Mt. Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe. We rode the gondola up on the south side, stood in the snow as the locals skied down the hill, and ogled the peak puffing away. We marveled, “We’re on an active volcano!”

It was a beautiful day, as the blue skies attest (no color enhancement to these photos). It would be hard to believe that it could change in an instant, but you can’t predict nature. On the north side of Etna you can see the most recent lava flows below the smoking peaks.

As I hear the reports and see the videos of the Japan earthquakes and tsunami, I am rendered speechless. In the face of nature’s power, we are helpless. We are mere passengers on this ball of rock hurtling through space. The earth continues to re-shape itself as it will, regardless of how the humans on the surface try to monitor, predict or even control it. We easily forget that in our everyday lives.

My heart and support goes out to those struggling with the aftermath of this natural disaster in Japan.

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Reminiscent of Casanova

Have you ever heard of Casanova? You probably know the name, in relation to someone who is good at attracting and seducing women. Giacomo Casanova was a real person, a Venetian living in the 18th century, the height of Venice’s glory days. For some reason, this photo brought him to my mind. Can’t you just see it? The cool Venetian noble, surveying the scene, looking for his next partner.

Even though you know the truth about Carnevale, it’s still fun to imagine, isn’t it? I find that I can hold the “real” and the “imaginary” Carnevale in my mind at the same time through my images. This guy picked a perfect spot to just hang out and be photographed. Even though there is a pedestrian walkway behind him, no one lingered and I could get a wonderful full-length shot to show his costume with a truly Venetian background.

I want to share something completely unrelated with you today too. Have you ever heard of Brave Girls Club?  They have a daily inspirational email called “The Daily Truth” you can sign up for, and some days the words just click for me, arriving at a perfect time. Today’s email was one of those times, I and I want to share them with you too. You can sign up for the daily email at the link above.

Dear Joyful Girl,

Joy is good. Did you know there’s a difference between happiness and joy?

“Joy is untouched by circumstance.”

You see, happiness is sometimes fleeting. Joy is a state of mind; that no matter what happens, no matter how much we had planned on a different outcome, that we will always center our lives on what is RIGHT rather than what is WRONG. We will trust the moment and the unexpected gifts that every moment holds. We will trust the moment and the unexpected gifts that every moment holds, even the scary, strange, and unexpectedly difficult moments. Especially those moments, actually.

Even Oprah said it perfectly:

“What I know for sure is that you feel real JOY in direct proportion to how connected you are to living your truth.”

Living your truth means listening very closely to the very quiet voice that is constantly trying to get your attention. Living your truth means being very very still and seeking truth and beauty and goodness and small miracles all the days of your life. Living your truth means being exactly who YOU are, in spite of who and what others around you are. Living your truth is a joyful life, a path that no circumstances can every rip you off of.

Joy can be felt anywhere, at any time, in any situation. This is the truth.

Go forward in JOY, Brave Girl!

Here’s to finding joy and living your truth! Happy Friday!