Kat Eye Studio

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Random Radishes

This morning I came to the blog… and had no idea what to write. So I just looked through my photos and picked this one of radishes. Kind of random, but I love radishes. Both the taste (the stronger the better) and the pop of color they provide. This bunch was spotted outside a fruit and vegetable market in Bologna. There is something so wonderful about a storefront lined with boxes of fruits and veggies. As if there is so much abundance it has to spill out onto the street and get in the way of passers-by.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! There is still time to join the giveaway and blog hop that started yesterday. Come on by!

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Thankful for YOU!

Yes, you. No, don’t look behind you. If you are reading this, I’m talking to you. I want to thank you for joining me here. Thank you for reading my words, commenting on the blog, dropping me a note via email, visiting me on Mortal Muses, liking me on Facebook. Even the lurkers who read via feed – I see my stats, I know you are there. And I’m thankful for you. The stats are not just numbers, they are connections. Each time I post, each time you visit, we connect. Thank you!

This blog and the interactions with you all in the online world have brought me so many wonderful things – it truly has been an amazing journey. Today I want to not only share my image and words, but a little something “real” with you too. To thank you I’m going to giveaway some of my new postcards, the Burano Color set. To win, leave a comment here on the blog through Monday. I know it’s a holiday weekend in the US, so I’m giving you some extra time! I’ll do a random drawing and announce it on Tuesday.

(You can find more info on the photos I used for the Burano Color postcard set in the following posts: Color is Like Music, Be Still My Heart, What do these colors make you think of?, Complimentary Color, Color and Texture)

Now it’s time to Hop! Link your blog in below, and join us in visiting blogs from all over the world. (If you want to display the link tool on your blog too, grab the code here.)

Oh, and by the way, thank you!

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Seeing History

Through the Ages

After all of the color lately, here is a little relief for your eyes. A scene right out of history, you can practically go back in time. Can you just imagine, the Venice of old? It is such a unique place, I think it’s easier here to lose myself in history than almost any where else, especially in black and white. Removing the color minimizes the distracting modern details, like the scaffolding on the building or the tourist’s clothes in the gondola. It becomes a photo of place and not of time.

A bit of contrast as compared to yesterday, no? When I took yesterday’s photo I was thinking of a title something like, “So Bright it Hurts.” Heehee.

Is everyone ready for tomorrow? It’s not only Thanksgiving in the USA, it’s the Mortal Muses “We are Thankful” blog hop! Join us from wherever you are in the world, as we hop around and visit blogs to see the reasons you are thankful. I’ve got a special surprise for you here too, so please come by!

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Pieces of the Puzzle

In the last day, I learned something new. Another piece of the puzzle that is me, my creativity, my art fell into place. I started to see how the exploration of other art provides insight into my own. Influences my own. Directly.

In September, during my solo weekend trip to Paris, I recognized that I was really drawn to colorful abstract paintings. In a post on that observation, I wrote:

What does this mean for my art, my view of the world? What does the appeal of color and form and abstraction tell me? I don’t know now, but I do know it will show up in some way.

Well, here it is, in the form of the colorful abstract images I captured in Burano a couple of weeks ago. My desire to capture color for color’s sake, the interest in the color and form as the primary elements of the photograph.

I’ve known for some time, that seeing art in its various forms has been a huge influence on me during my time for Italy. I’ve known that this is an important part of my creative journey. I’ve just never recognized the direct link between the two like this – the viewing/observation of an interest in other art and then the relationship to it in my own.

I think many people believe that my creative inspiration is all Italy. “Of course your photography is beautiful/great/improving, you’re in Italy!” I hear. But I know that’s not true. Being in Italy has helped me for sure, but only because it’s caused me to take an active role in exploring and observing and creating, and then learning from it all.  I believe that you can too, no matter where you are in the world.

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I Colori di Burano / The Colors of Burano

I mentioned that on this latest trip to Burano I was attracted to color for color’s sake, and this little mosaic captures a few of those images, to show you what I meant. Such interesting colors, broken only by texture and a few forms and shadows. Even more interesting, when grouped together, to show the variety of it all! Burano is a candy store for photographers who love color.

When I finished this mosaic, my brain immediately saw a cover page to something, although that wasn’t the intent when I started. Maybe a calendar? I made a mental note on this as a project for next year, when I return to the US. For now, there are too many images to capture in Europe!

Along with this mosaic I must give a little thanks to Kim Klassen for the square mosaic template, which she posted in the Photoshop Test Kitchen. I am loving the Test Kitchen! It’s a membership site that I joined because I liked the idea of a place where tutorials and things were posted on a regular basis, so I could pop in and learn something new when I had time rather than commit to weeks-long classes. I love Kim’s videos, they are bite-sized mini-classes on using Photoshop.  This weekend I watched a couple and learned some tips on making a (better) blog button, and using the high pass filter for sharpening. Along with downloading this mosaic template, I downloaded all of her past freebie textures, which she offered up to members. Fantastic! If you are interested in learning more about Photoshop or Photoshop Elements (which I use), I highly recommend visiting Kim’s site and checking out her Photoshop Test Kitchen.

Apparently I had time to play this weekend because yesterday, after posting this photo on my blog, I decided that it would look good with some textures. Again, reaching into my toolbox from Kim, I used some of her textures and created this version. I like this one – it conveys the mood and the age of this place better than the original. The “recipe” I used (textures and blending modes) can be found here.

I hope you had time this weekend to play too!

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The World is a Canvas

Wandering the back alleys of Burano, I found this. Sometimes I wonder, do the people who leave these things out, for me to see, know what they are doing? Do they see what I see in them? The fusion of textures, the contrasts, the repetition of color? Sometimes I think they do, and I am lucky enough to see it with them. Sometimes I think no, this may just be a chair someone set here, to sit outside their house on a summer evening. I wonder.

This morning I picked up Eric Booth’s book, The Everday Work of Art, for the first time in a long while. Here is something I read on this topic:

The moment we see that the world we inhabit is not just a sequence of hard, dead surfaces with fixed absolutes, but that it also can be seen “as if” it contains many non-logical truths, many mysteries, we head into a better future. The “as if” transforms artifacts into live media for the work of art.

I don’t quite know if that makes sense outside of the context of the book, but I see it in this photo. This chair, in this location can be a place to sit, or it can be seen as a work of art. How do you see the world?