Kat Eye Studio

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Back to the Party

Back to the Paint Party, that is. Paint Party Friday! It’s been quite a while since I participated. My painting interest tends to go in fits and starts, mainly in the summer for some odd reason. But with my recent foray into mobile photography and the discovery of painting apps, I have a new-found obsession. I’m painting almost every night. It’s digital painting but I love it the same! I contacted Kristin and Eva to see if I could participate in Paint Party Friday with some digital entries and they said, “Sure!” So here I am!

After being inspired by my friend Kim’s fingerpainting on Instagram, this week I purchased the PhotoViva app. I played around with a lot of different things, but I was most happy with exploring this idea of painting one element within the photograph, having it go off the edge into a frame. I’ve always loved art that goes off onto the frame or mat, breaking the boundaries and expectations. Both of these began as an image of a single leaf photographed on wet pavement. I explored different brushes as well as seeing how much to overlap the frame.

There is definitely a learning curve with these apps, but it’s a blast. I can’t get enough. I even (gulp) bought an iPad this week so I could have a larger “canvas” to work with. The iPod Touch screen is just so tiny. Yeah, just call me “Ms. Obsessed” at the moment. But I’m happy as a clam!

I hope you have a great weekend! I’m going to have fun with more painting…

PS – I’m in the midst of drawing the winners for my big 1000th post giveaway. I’ll announce them here tomorrow!

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Photo-Heart Connection: October

Who am I?

I don’t recognize my reflection here. That’s me, but not the me I know.

There is something different. Different in the silhouette, different in the frame. I love it. I fear it.

Gah. Change. Why is it so fun and exciting, yet so hard at the same time?

I love this new direction in my photography. I love the painterly mood and emotion that I am evoking in my images. Within myself. It’s not about perfect focus or the place I am right now, but the feeling. The impressions of light and shadow and color and how they convey a sentiment beyond what is physically there.

Yet I am scared, too.

Scared because I thought I had myself all figured out as an artist and this is so radically different. I don’t know where this will lead. I’m not sure how it all fits together within my self. Within my heart and soul.

Exciting. Scary. The raw material for a period of growth. I don’t know who I am at the moment, but I’m moving ahead anyway. I will continue to reflect, and figure out how the pieces fit as I go along. Learn to recognize myself again.

This month I’ve been exploring some new directions with my photography, and it turns out the top images for my Photo-Heart Connection were all painterly in feel. Whether from my mobile camera or from my dSLR camera, these were the ones that called to my soul. I’ve always thought my painting and my photography would come together someday. I just never thought it would be like it’s happening right now. I’m reveling in the excitement but also stunned at the fear that it’s evoking in me. The questions. The rules and the “shoulds” it’s revealing, about my art and who I am as an artist.

I didn’t want to do the Photo-Heart Connection this month. I was really resistant. I think, deep down inside, I didn’t want to face my fears. But that’s what the Photo-Heart Connection does. It cracks you open and lays you out for the messages your heart has for you. It’s a powerful thing.

For that reason, I’d like to do a series of guest posts at the end of the year. I want to hear how the Photo-Heart Connection has impacted you this year. How did you approach this monthly practice? How has it fed your personal growth? Has it changed your photography? I would like to know, and I think others would too. We learn from each other, in this community of kindred spirits. Here are the submission guidelines:

  • To be eligible, you must have participated in the Photo-Heart Connection at least 3 times throughout the year.
  • Write an original (unpublished) piece about how the Photo-Heart Connection has impacted you this year. Length is up to you. Use as short or as long as you need to communicate your experience.
  • Send it to me by December 15 at kat [at] kateyestudio [dot] com.
  • Include a few of the images you selected from your Photo-Heart Connection practice this year, and a 2-3 line bio with links to your blog/site/social media.

I plan to select 5 to 6 posts from the submissions and will let you know by 20 December if you are selected. I hope you will consider participating. I’ve found the Photo-Heart Connection practice to be powerful and I know, from reading your posts each month, that many of you do too.

So what’s your Photo-Heart Connection for October? It’s time to share with us here. Link up remains open through November 7.


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Addressing the “Shoulds”

What are your “shoulds?” Throughout the day, without even noticing it, many may run through your head:
I should call my mom.
I shouldn’t eat that brownie.
I should pay the bills.

Yeah. Lots of “shoulds.” They invade our artistic process too. We have a great discussion going on in the comments on yesterday’s post, and inevitably the “shoulds” have popped up there too. They do in almost any conversation about photographic process…
I should get it right in camera. I shouldn’t need to post-process.
I should use a tripod.
I should take a photograph every day.

What are your “shoulds?” I bet that you have some immediately that come to mind. We all have them. We carry them around, a lot of time without noticing them. And you know what? They drain us. They are an insidious way of saying, “I’m not good enough as I am. I need to change.” They are the voice of doubt. Fear in a subtle form. “Shoulds” are a nagging weight that pulls us away from our creativity and purpose, because instead of moving ahead with confidence they keep us chained to indecision, always questioning ourselves.

We need to address the “shoulds” and make a conscious decision on what to do with them. Make them to a “do” or “do not” and then move ahead. How?

  • First, you have to acknowledge the “should.” Write it down. Give it voice. You can’t address something if you don’t first consciously recognize it. Acknowledging there is a “should” does not make it truth. It just brings it to a place you can work with it.
  • Ask yourself, “Where did this ‘should’ come from?” Did it come from someone else? Who? Try and be specific. The statement, “I should call my mom” could come from internal means, you just miss your mom, or as a result of your mom repeatedly saying you don’t call her enough. The feeling “I should take a photograph every day” could come from your photography teacher or it could come from your own internal desires. Do your best to identify the source.
  • Next ask yourself, “Is this ‘should’ of value to me? Does it help me in some way?” The feeling we “should” do something can indicate that we want to learn something or grow in a certain direction. Look at it as objectively as possible. What is the outcome if you follow this “should?” It may mean you learn something new about yourself. Maybe more information is needed to answer the question, and that will define your direction. Ask yourself, “Do I want to follow this ‘should’?” If the answer is “no” or “not right now” then you will know your direction. The “should” may mean nothing to you, add no value, once you examine it in the light of day.
  • Make a decision. Ask yourself, “What is my choice around this ‘should’?” Move it to a “Do” or a “Do Not” and then set the “should” aside. If your “should” is, “I should be using a tripod,” decide if you will or you won’t. Maybe you need to practice with it and see what it brings you. Maybe you already have tried it and you know. Either way, make a choice and then move ahead. Write down your choice. Consciously say goodbye to the “should.”
  • Finally, give yourself permission to change your mind later. Nothing mires us in indecision more than the fear of making the wrong choice. But here’s the truth: You can always change your mind. Very few decisions are truly final. Thank goodness, or we would be living with choices we made in our teens or twenties that no longer fit our lives. If you struggle with the idea of changing your mind, thinking “I should stick to my decisions,” then maybe take a look at that “should” sometime.

None of these steps are easy, especially if it’s a “should” you’ve been carrying around a long time. It can be so ingrained you barely notice it. It can be difficult to tease out the source and what value it has to you.

It can be scary as hell to make our own choices, but we are always going to be the better off if we consciously choose our direction than if we live under the nagging doubts of the “shoulds.” Think of the parallel to our art. When we create photographs, we get to choose what is in or out of the frame. Our images will always be better when created with a conscious choice rather than a “should” picked up somewhere along the way. It seems so clear when put that way, doesn’t it? It’s the same with life.

So I ask you again… What are your “shoulds?” Start a list today. See how much these little things are hanging over your head. Pick one and work through the process. Let me know how it goes.

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