silhouette

February 8, 2013 by Kat

Playing Hooky

Today was supposed to be Exploring with a Camera day, but I’m playing hooky. You see, I’m going to for a long walk in the forest instead.

A long walk with our newest family member, Zoey, a very sweet 4.5 year old golden retriever/Australian shepherd mix dog. We brought her home from the shelter last night.

Getting a dog again was a big decision for us. Our beloved golden retriever Tasha passed away at age 14 while we were in Italy. It left such a huge whole in our hearts, we didn’t think another dog would ever measure up. (I’m tearing up just writing this. You would think more than two years later, that would go away.)

But slowly, slowly the idea of a new dog was creeping up on us. As my husband said, “No dog could ever replace Tasha, but there are other good dogs out there.” Now that I’m out hiking more, I’d love a dog companion with me in the forest. My husband loves to play fetch and frisbee. Our son is almost 12 and is excited and responsible enough to help. We aren’t traveling nearly as much as we did in Italy. So we were ready.

The search began.

We didn’t want a puppy again. Been there, done that, more than once. It would be nice to get a dog already house trained. But we didn’t want a senior dog either. After losing Tasha we didn’t want to open that whole can of worms up too soon. I really wanted to adopt a dog from a shelter if at all possible, although that can have it’s own set of challenges. But there are so many animals that need homes, it made sense to start there.

Good luck, right?

Enter Zoey. My husband found her listing in the neighboring county’s humane society last Sunday. He emailed me the link, asking what I thought. “She sounds sweet,” I answered, “But when can we get over to meet her?” Their hours were 12-5 or 6 and that didn’t work for any of our work schedules. Until yesterday, when my husband had the day off. Zoey was still there, so he went over to meet her, and fell in love.

We all went back at the end of the day, hurrying over there before they closed, to meet this dog who was seemingly perfect for us. And we brought her home.

Here’s the amazing thing… Zoey fits all of our dream dog criteria. She’s 4.5 years old, sweet and well-trained. She is spayed, house trained (already whined at the door to go out), crate trained (went right in at bedtime), doesn’t jump (although does like to give kisses, if you get your face down close enough to hers), doesn’t bark (as of yet) and rode well in the car. She sits, waits and drops items on command. She loves to fetch and wants to play. She seems ok on the leash, but I’ll check that out further this morning. We’ll have to be careful with her around other dogs, it sounds like she can be over-excited/nervous, and keep her from small children. That’s why she was in the shelter: The couple who had raised her from a puppy had a baby and she never adjusted well. She likes adults (especially women) and older kids. She is great with Brandon.

She’d been there a little over a week, and we were amazed she was still there, after we met her and saw how sweet and well-behaved she was. The people at the shelter thought it was the issue with young children… A lot of the families who want to adopt dogs have young kids. We don’t have any very small children in our life, so that’s not an issue for us. Somehow, I get the feeling she was just waiting there for us to bring her home.

So I’m out of here… Off to go on a hike with Zoey. Exploring with a Camera can wait until tomorrow. I’ve more pressing matters to attend to.

January 24, 2013 by Kat

My Blank Canvas

Winters in Oregon can wear on you. Depending on the year, you can have weeks upon weeks without direct sunlight. It can wear on you after a while. Through my creative explorations I’ve discovered an amazing thing this winter, though. The flat, grey skies of Oregon winter are a wonderful blank canvas, when captured with my camera. I can paint any color I want onto them!

With that in mind, I’ll share with you how I created this week’s digital painting for Paint Party Friday:

Even in the winter, there is still light

It started with this photograph. It has interesting branches but is a bit underexposed. See what I mean about the flat, grey sky? Bleah.

Next into Snapseed, for some color shifting. I don’t even bother to try and adjust exposure before I start this process. I’ll do that later if needed. The final image out of snapseed was shifted to blue with a bit of a vignetting around the edges, creating a brighter region in the middle. Do you see it? I liked how the branches seemed to be framing this lighter spot.

Next into a new app I got this week, PhotoCopier. This app creates some interesting color shifts and textures based on famous works of art. I liked the added texture it gave to the image, along with some more color shift.

I wanted to add variation at this point. The sky was still too flat! I used Pixlr Express PLUS to add this inked frame. I was playing around with frames in the app earlier this week, which I almost never use, and discovered these cool watercolor-y frames. Perfect to add some more dimension here, along with a little bit of color as well.

Time to try some more texture, pulling it into Distressed FX. This is one of my go to texture apps. I love some of the effects! The two textures I liked best shifted the color to green. If all my paintings come out green these days, it’s this app’s fault! I need to play around with shifting the colors back. Here are the two textured ones I liked:

Looking at these I realized the Aquarell filter in Autopainter HD would go well. I like the watercolor effect of this app, it’s the best I’ve tried, but I don’t always like how it leaves such a wide unpainted border around the edges. In this case, because I had darkened the edges so much with the border, I thought it would blend really well.

Finally, it was time to blend it all up! Using Image Blender, I blended variations of the different images I’ve shown you. Here’s the part I can never quite remember… which images, blending modes and opacities I used to get the final place. It’s a lot of experimentation. Suffice it to say that I try out all sorts of blending modes and opacities with each of the layers I’m blending to get a look that I like.

Here’s the final painting, again:

Even in the winter, there is still light

While I’ve found a great use for the grey skies this winter, can I have some sun now, please?

January 22, 2013 by Kat

Quiet Power

Do you know, are you an introvert or extrovert? Do you get energy from being alone, or being with other people? I am on the introvert side, definitely. I need my quiet time and my space. I thrive with a good amount of solitude, and time to think. I will always choose small group interaction versus a big party. Add to that a serious case of shyness when I was younger, and I always felt I didn’t fit. I felt that there was something wrong with me, because I didn’t quite meet up to the social expectations around me. I remember as a teenager, being parts of a group activity or mixer, and discovering later no one remembered I was there. I felt invisible. But I knew, deep down, there was more to me, if someone would just take the time to look.

This feeling extended on into college and the working world. Thankfully, I chose to go to a private university with small classes in general and a tiny, fledgling engineering program. I got to know my fellow engineering majors well, because there were so few of us and we spent so much time together. One of my friends from college described me in this way: “You’re like a red hot chili pepper in a cool green salad,” he said, “You think you know what you are going to get and then OUCH! You take a bite.” I loved that description, because it was as if someone had finally seen me. The real me, hidden inside the quiet, calm exterior.

But in each new situation I had to start again. I don’t think I said a word in a meeting my first year in the working world. Not one word. It’s amazing they kept me there! Slowly, slowly I learned to fit into this extroverted world I was living in. I gained experience, I gained confidence, and I gained a thicker skin. I learned to balance my alone time with social time, but I always felt a tension because I had the need for quiet time to think and recuperate. As if I was somehow less, for the need of it. I kept wishing that I could be the life of the party.

All of this comes up because I watched this TEDtalk from Susan Cain last week on the Power of Introverts:

I was in tears by the end of it. It felt as if she had finally validated who I was. That I was ok. That the quiet teenager and young adult I had been, the introvert I still am, is just a different kind of normal. That there is a benefit in being an introvert, not just a downside. There is a benefit to the time I need to think and explore. I can see that in my art, and here too, in my writing. I can see the time I spend in my head, the time I spend alone creating… that time helps my ideas come together into something bigger than myself. Something I can share with others.

Susan Cain gave this message to introverts in her talk, “The world needs you and it needs the things you carry.” I felt as if she were talking directly to me. Maybe the world doesn’t always need the life of the party. Maybe the world sometimes needs what comes out of the quiet power of deep thought. Maybe the world needs what I have to offer. As me, the introvert. I only needed to find a way to comfortably allow these ideas to come out. Which I have, through this blog. It allows me, bit by bit, day by day, to reveal the red hot chili pepper that resides within the cool green salad, which I’d never feel comfortable doing all at once with a big “ta-da!” There is a reason you don’t see me in video here or in my classes. It’s not just because I feel uncomfortable in front of the camera, although there is a little bit of that, it’s mostly because I love the time and space of writing and how it helps my ideas to form. It’s my medium, as much as photography. Both allow me to think and to process before I share.

Regardless of whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, I encourage you to watch the video. And think about how things play out in your life, your environment, your culture. In this age of bold personality, see if you can help encourage someone who doesn’t fit that mold to explore their quiet power. That someone may even be you.

January 9, 2013 by Kat

Storm Coming & Finding Exhibitions

Yesterday there was a storm coming, and I captured an amazing dramatic sky with my iPhone. By this morning the storm had settled in and it was raining buckets, just absolutely pouring, when I got up. There is something wonderful about hearing the rain come down outside and being cozed up inside with a cup of tea, don’t you think? This morning while I was in my comfy chair, I created this image I’m calling “Storm Coming.”

Storm Coming

This image is part of a growing group of photographs with the “Trees in Space” theme. (I don’t think that’s the final name for the series, but it’s the best I’ve got so far.) The first couple of these came about quite by accident but I’ve continued to play and discover what it takes to make a good final image. It’s interesting how the first one or two came easily but the later ones are taking more work. I think I’m getting pickier about the end result, and it’s not just playing around any more. It’s interesting to observe, real time, how random play helped with discovery of this technique and then how it transitioned to artistic intent. I guess that is a transition that any series has to make at some point, to become a cohesive body of work. I think it would be fun to have enough good images in this series to exhibit them as a group someday, so I’ll keep working on them.

Speaking of exhibitions… I received a question on yesterday’s post on how I find out about exhibitions. It was a great question, and I realized that while I’ve talked about submitting to exhibitions before, I had never discussed how I find them in the first place.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I have been lucky to find and join the local photography guild, the Willamette Valley PhotoArts Guild, which is dedicated to supporting photographic artists. I first learned about upcoming exhibitions through this organization. There are a couple of members in the guild who are well connected in the arts community, and they forward on the “Call to Artists,” which is what the notifications of an upcoming exhibition that is seeking submissions are called.

Since I’ve been applying and participating in exhibitions, I’ve learned a bit about where and how these all happen, and I can share a few ideas on how you can find them in your area:

Some ideas on where to find exhibitions:

Join a local art guild. I am a member of two different art guilds in the area, the Corvallis Art Guild (which includes all 2D art except traditional photography) and the PhotoArts Guild I’ve already mentioned. Not all art guilds welcome photographers, but they can still be a useful resource for tapping into the local art community and learning about exhibitions. Not all send on Calls to Artists to their membership like the PhotoArts Guild either, so check on how the guild supports its membership. I encourage you to join regardless, however, because it is great way to learn and connect into a community of artists.
Find a local arts center. Our local Arts Center sends out Calls to Artists, and hosts exhibitions supporting both local and national artists. They have a small gallery space dedicated to rotating exhibits of local artists, and this is where my Market/Wheels series was exhibited last April.
Look at local colleges and universities. Many universities and community colleges have gallery spaces where they rotate exhibits, often in meeting centers that are rented out to companies and organizations. When you find one, look for contact information and request to be put on their mailing list.
Look at town and city halls. Public buildings often have exhibition spaces in their lobbies and will send out Calls to Artists. Again, search out the contact and ask to be put on their mailing list.
Notice non-traditional gallery spaces in the local area. Some businesses, like restaurants or offices, will use rotating art exhibits from local artists to decorate their walls. We have stores in town that offer window space for exhibitions as well. When you see one, ask for contact information for the coordinator.
Ask other local artists. If you meet artists locally at arts fairs, open studios or other events, ask them if they exhibit and then pick their brain if they do! Most artists are open and helpful, and can give you some tips on where to look and how to find out about exhibitions. Each area is going to be different and you will need to learn how to tap into the artist’s network in your local area.

The list so far focuses on local exhibitions, because those are often the easiest to get into and a good place to start your journey into exhibitions, without a lot of hassle with transporting your art a long way. Some other places to look, beyond the local community:

Look for arts centers or galleries in the larger area dedicated to your art medium and get on their mailing list for updates and call for entries. Portland, Oregon is 90 miles from where I live, but it’s the biggest city near me and is home to a great art community. Newspace Center for Photography and Blue Sky Gallery are both located in Portland and dedicated to supporting the photographic arts, both locally and nationally. Since these organizations support a larger base, competition is much, much higher to get into exhibitions they host. (I’m kind of amazed I got a piece accepted at Newspace!)
CaFÉ™, or CallforEntry.org, is a website that supports different organizations with online submissions for exhibitions. You can sign up and be notified via email about Calls to Artists through them.

There are probably many more, but these are the ones I’ve learned about so far in my journey into exhibiting over the last year and a half. Start by doing a web search for local guilds and exhibitions being shown in your area, and go from there. There may be a vibrant arts community right under you nose, and you only need to join it!

January 3, 2013 by Kat

Blending to Perfection

When you are creating, do you find moments when everything comes together and it just feels right? Your know your piece is finished. When you are new to a medium, it’s not as easy. You may not take something far enough or you may go too far, ruining something good. As you learn and progress, I think it’s easier to know when something is “done.” It’s part of the learning process, and our own style, to develop that feeling of done.

In mobile/digital art, I’ve learned that the name of the game is blending. Using multiple apps and blending them together, until it feels “done.” I had already started on this path, as I created some of my earlier pieces like Rain Painting and Winter Flowers. I had only touched the tip of the iceberg of what is possible with blending in those, however. I’m going crazy now. Today as I share one of this week’s pieces for Paint Party Friday I thought I would also give you a taste of the kind of blending I’m doing now, and how I created this one, called Under the Surface.

Here’s the starting image, taken with the ProCamera app. I love it! You can easily separate exposure and focus, and switch between aspect ratios within the app, going from square to rectangular.

Then the fun started. I’ve created this little matrix of images to walk through the process of creation, but it doesn’t even cover all of the steps. To be honest, I get so many layers going I don’t even remember the exact steps but I’m trying to recreate them to share.

From left to right, top to bottom:

The first step was into Snapseed, to shift the color a bit. This also added some texture and vignetting.
Next I pulled that image into Distressed FX to add textures. The next three are the image with various textures added. You can’t add more than one texture within the app, so I save an image of each texture I like on the photo. Distressed FX also will do color filters in addition to textures, but I often turn that off and just use the textures. It’s become my go-to app for textures lately.
From there, I start to blend. The center image is a blend of the different texture images I saved out of Distressed FX. I’ve starting using the Image Blender app for blending, because it is easier to use and has more blending options than Iris Photo Suite. When blending, I just play with the blending modes and percentages until it looks good to me. There is no logical sequence I’ve got for this step.
Once I had a nice blend, I started to use the painting apps. I take the blended photo into the apps and play around with different effects to get some I like. Middle right is the “Aquarell” painting filter from Autopainter HD (a recent favorite) and bottom left is from Glaze.
From there I started blending again, with the textured image and the painted images. Bottom middle is the new blend.
I was starting to lose the colors, so I took that blend back through Distressed FX and added a filter or two.

From there, I did more blending with previously created layers to get the final result.

Under the Surface

There were more steps and layers than these I shared, but it gives you the basic idea of how the final piece was created. There is a depth of color and texture in the final painting that is built through blending layers which won’t exist when you use a single app. It’s really the creative part of the process, and where the unique touch of each person will come in. I’ve started to learn the apps, what works on different images and how to achieve a certain look, as I play. Eventually I might develop a “style” but right now it’s all about play and exploration. Lots of fun!

January 2, 2013 by Kat

Ready for Launch

Three… Two… One… Blast off. Time to launch back into real life. After a glorious eleven days off of my regular schedule, today I go back to normalcy. What a wonderful break! No schedule to follow, no real deadlines to worry about. I went on several hikes, read a bunch of books, hung out with my family and worked on photography projects. I spent a lot of time in my pajamas, I will happily admit. Heaven!

As much as I loved the time off, it’s always good to get back into a routine. I do best with a regular schedule. I’m feeling a bit rusty and creaky in the routine this morning though, even with my blogging, so I’ll be short and sweet.

If you are launching back into reality today too, I hope your reentry goes well. It’s my time to launch… I’ll see you here tomorrow.

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