Kat Eye Studio

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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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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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The Thrill of Discovery

Do you remember when you discovered photography? Remember the feeling when you first captured something amazing with your camera? Something that expressed an idea or emotion or moment and took your breath away? The first inkling that there was a connection between your image and your heart and soul?

If you’re new to photography, it’s probably not that long ago that you first experienced this feeling of excitement and amazement. For some of us though, we have to reach a while back to remember that first thrill of discovery. Yes, excitement still comes after time, but maybe not with that rush of discovering something completely new. At least it’s been a while for me. As much as I love photography and get great joy from it, as you all who visit here regularly know, I hadn’t realized how long it had been since that “rush” of exploring something new had taken hold. Until recently, as I’ve been getting into mobile photography.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I had no idea what getting on to Instagram would open up for me. And it’s not Instagram per se, it’s using the mobile camera (iPod Touch 4th gen) and the apps. Freeing myself to have a camera in my pocket all the time, to look for interesting things, and then to process them with abandon.

Yes, processing with abandon. I feel positively giddy. Like I’m breaking all of the rules. I’m painting and layering and altering photos in ways I have never considered on the computer. And I absolutely LOVE the results. All of the images in this post were taken and processed on my iPod Touch. You can see more of the images I’ve been posting on Instagram here.

I love them so much, I was inspired to print and frame a little photo collage of a few images and put it on my wall this weekend. This is the first thing you now see when you enter my home:

This morning I realized these are the first photos I’ve put up on my walls that weren’t taken while living in Italy. Is that significant? Maybe not, as I’ve only recently purchased the printer and created the opportunity to do something like this as a quick weekend project. But maybe it is significant, because this is the first work I just want to gaze at for a long time. I want to say go around to everyone available and say, “See? Look what I did!”

At moments it seems silly, as if I’m acting like a little kid, but I’m going with it. I know inspiration when it hits me. I take joy where I find it. There is nothing like this early thrill of discovery, so I’m going to cherish it as long as I can.

PS – Have you entered my big celebration giveaway yet? If not, go here to enter.

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A Love/Hate Relationship

I love these rainboots.

I love the bright flowers and the sense of fun they bring to my feet. When I’m wearing them it’s as if I’m saying, “Here I am, look at me! This is who I am! I’m not afraid to be bright and flower-y!” For so long I’ve tried to blend in, to go unnoticed through life. Don’t look at me. Don’t notice who I really am. But now I’m ok with who I am. I don’t mind people knowing that there is something more to me than the exterior. There are bright flowers and fun living in this skin.

I love that I got them in Venice. When we lived in Italy, I walked my son three blocks to his school every day. When it was rainy, I would come home with soaking wet feet and pants no matter how hard I tried to avoid the puddles. So, I was on the lookout for rainboots when I saw these in a shop window on one of my many trips to Venice. They were perfect. I was so excited to get them home, I couldn’t wait for it to rain.

Upon wearing them in that first rain, I discovered these boots hurt my feet terribly. When I put them on, everything feels ok. That’s why I bought them, they felt great in the store. It’s not until I walk a block or two that the pain sets in. I have wide feet and they are just a smidge too tight. They don’t have any flexibility and it’s as if my feet slowly become pinched in a vice.

They are so painful, I never wear them anymore. I almost gave them to someone this year. But every time I tried to give them away, I couldn’t do it. I love these boots and what they represent. So they’ve been sitting next to our coat rack, looking cute as an umbrella stand.

Until yesterday morning, when we had a break in the rain. As I looked outside at the sun going in and out of the clouds I had the idea to head to the park for some self-portraits in my lovely rainboots and a pink umbrella. At least they could be useful as a photo prop. For an hour, I had fun playing with my camera. I discovered the distance limit of my remote control. I played with focus and depth of field. I played with poses. All in the park in my bright rainboots without worry about what a soul around me might think. See? They bring me confidence. I love these boots.

But after an hour, my feet hurt so much I couldn’t run back and forth to the camera anymore. Nothing, and I mean nothing, ever felt as good as getting back to the car and changing out of these boots. It took a while, even then, for my feet to stop hurting. I just can’t wear them. I’m not willing to sacrifice comfort for cuteness anymore. I hate these boots.

*Sigh*

I love these boots.

In The Picture

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Under the Weather

What do you do when it rains? You get creative with your photography! We generally had nice weather in our week in San Francisco, but one afternoon we had some serious rain. We visited a couple of indoor places and then found a fun outdoor-ish activity – we rode the cable cars around. We waited for seats in the right location (outside bench, on the downwind side of the car) and then rode around the city. The photography challenge I gave myself was to quickly compose interesting scenes from the streets – I called it “umbrella spotting.”

It turned out to be quite fun! It wasn’t about getting a clear photo – that was nearly impossible in a moving cable car in the rain – but about prediction and timing. Here are my favorites from that rainy day. Which do you like best?

Colorful!!

All Blue

The tourists of Lombard Street

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Heading Home

We are finishing up the blur theme at Mortal Muses today, with Muse Mosaic. For this theme, I had gone out to capture some intentional blur one rainy evening, on the street behind my house. I stood in the rain and played for a while, trying different amounts of out-of-focus-ness as the cars went by. I liked the feeling that these images brought to me. I imagined each of these cars were carrying people home, tired and wet after a long day, to a snug, warm house. Interesting how a dark, chilly, rainy image could evoke a warm feeling for me.

You can join in too! Click the button below to hop over and link in your “blur” image and visit the others. Have a great weekend! I’ll be heading home myself, from Chicago.

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