fall scenes

its been awhile since I had a chance to just get in the car and wonder

 taking all the back roads and finding the best photo opportunities

---

a few weeks ago I planned a weekend trip to

prince edward county

I have only every been once and that was a long time ago

it has grown significantly in the past decade

featuring over 20 wineries

b&b's, antiques, arts and crafts

and wonderful sceneries

perfect timing, coming back from a tasting

just as the sun was setting

I would love to find out who hung this door!!

lots of barns

we only managed to visit 2 wineries

only because we had such a wonderful time

wondering the properties and taking photos

and of course enjoying a glass of wine

change in weather

i've been hibernating this winter, mostly due to a "popped rib"

its been a problem since late november and i've done everything possible to make it better

some days better than others

going a little stir crazy, watching too much tv and no art

on the weekend there was a huge change in the weather

temperatures reaching 13c 58f 

the 2 foot layer of snow on my front lawn is now completely gone

i decided to head out with my camera, i got as far as the bluffs near my house

the marina was filed with ducks, geese and this wonderful swan

i really wanted to play in ps  when i got home but sitting at the computer is difficult

so i finally "rigged" a spot on the couch, with lots of pillows and got some time to play

i found several interesting masks and bokeh at shadowhouse

a half and hour later i was happy with the results and getting a chance to create

now back to rest!!

square foot show

if you haven't already gone there is still time

the square foot show is on until this sunday

a few of my favorite artists this year

andreas schneider

heather gentleman

marina hanacek

steven crainford

lindsey kemp

and cortney stephenson

and one of my encaustic paintings

resin and photos

i've always wanted to try this

adding  resin over my photos

i had tons of small wooden boards just siting around and

lots of my photos so i finally decided to give it a try

with all the supplies laided out and a level table i got started

i was a little nervous but my friend carmi, aka the resin goddess , assured me

that if i used a brush and "painted" the resin on my photos

i would get great results.................fingers crossed......

and a little prayer for no bubbles

the next day i woke to some beautiful images

i wish the pictures did it justice

but take my word for it , easy peasy, then perfect photos that really pop!!

resin and wire jewelry

my favorite so far

on my last trip to   john bead   i bought several bezels with matching wire

my friend carmi gave me a package of the new jewelry resin by envirotex 

she also has a fantastic resin blog where you can find out all kinds of tips and tricks

i used some of my favorite photos to get me started and then used the resin

it worked wonderfully, no bubbles!!!

next i drilled some holes around the bezels and then they sat

i wanted to add the wire but with a twist, so i kept looking and deciding

finally a spark!!

one i started twisting i couldn't stop, the beads started flying and before i knew it

i had several done

black and white ball

if you get a chance head down to

propeller centre of the visual arts
feb.16-27

works of arts from over 30 artist

featuring all mediums

including one of my photos seen below

"reflections"
10 x 18 metalic print

sight unseen

last week as i was channel surfing i found this documentary on hbo called

dark light:the art of blind photographers

i was so amazed i had to watch it 3 times

---------

it started with curator douglas mcculloh

who spent 10 years searching for these photographers

from around the world and in 2009 exhibited their work

at the california museum of photoraphy
the documentary -a noel leifer film

features three of these artists

--------

pete eckert

video and website

henry bulter

website

and bruce hall

website

-----------

set your pvr's for tomorrow at 5:30am

or dec. 24th at 9:05am
dec. 25th at 3:50 am

dec. 31st at 12:30 pm

------

above photo by peter eckert, henry butler and bruce hill

i know this woman

well, not really

but it could be me or any number of my friends!!!

(probably ludgera)

while in paris i was wondering the 3rd by myself'

and turned a corner and saw this wall of photos

of course i went in for a closer look

moi en exposition

cool idea

hundreds of photos

me and my dog

my feet to the beach

me in the mirror

me through the web cam

me and my first fish

etc..........

... A great initiative of Gabriel Buret

---------------
as i followed the wall along rue charlot

i came across this photo store

images and portraits

that's where i found the business card

i laughed and said

"i know this woman"

the owner just looked at me

a day at the ago

galleria italia

---------------

my favorite spot in the whole building

over 400 ft long and 50 ft high

connecting all the galleries on the north end

it's nice to be able to take an break

and sit in the light

over looking the city

everything is make of wood

the floor, beams, furniture and art

the architect

frank gehry

i could live in this room

one of my favorite exhibits

"I realized that electric light would be

my greatest ally in getting variety into fashion pictures.

In the later years of my work for Vogue and Vanity Fair,

there were lights going all over the place.”

– Edward Steichen

i was pleasantly surprised by the calder exhibit

i had never heard of him

which is funny because i love wire

encaustic class

my encaustic class mate, ron

has this wonderful style and ability

to "see" something in the wax

he uses the heat gun a lot

( which is one thing i haven't experimented with enough)

i got to work along side him and

learn his technique

what fun!!!

we worked with 2 boards and the same
2 colours of wax
just layered them in different orders
heat, add oil paint
heat some more , add some wax
heat some more
added more paint
etc....................
something very calming about the whole process
reminded me of the water
ron saw a coral reef
so, when i got home i decided to
see what they would look like with
one of my photos on top


this photo, taken a few weeks ago on lake simcoe
the sun was reflecting off the rocks
looks really cool on the background




this shot was from my california trip a few years ago
it works well with the "whirl pool"

Shadow Shot Sunday

i'm always interested in "who's" been

visiting my blog

c.m. jackson has a wonderful photo blog

called

states-of-mine

that's where i noticed

shadow shot sunday

hosted by

hey harriet

another beautiful photo blog

so i decided to play along

---------------

above

a photo from my trip to nyc

a few weeks ago

early morning in bryant park

i also got some great reflection shots

i'll post them later this week

don't try this at home

or maybe you should???

last sunday before leaving the hotel

to go to the lynne perrella class

we turned the air conditioner on full blast

it was hot and humid and very sticky in ny

when we finished class we came back

to a "walk in" freezer!!

which was wonderful

quickly changed and grabbed my big camera

headed out for dinner

well we didn't get very far

when i saw something i needed to photograph

zoomed in, it was blurry

played with the focus, still blurry

OMG!! it's finally happened

"they" said it would

"someday your eye sight would just go"

i found something "up close to photograph"

still blurry

so i got out my little camera and took the picture

it was perfect

what a minute, i can see!!

looked a big camera again

it was frozen!!!

i cleaned the lens

and quickly with the heat

it was back to normal

oh........shoot...........

i should have kept taking more photos!!!

these came out really cool!

character project

i rarely take picture of people

this fellow intrigued me

last summer during the italian festival

while sitting on a patio enjoying

the food, drinks and music

i couldn't resist taking this picture

and of course , the one time i do snap a shot of a person

i get caught!

he was sweet and said he didn't mind

======

while flipping through one of my fashion mags

i noticed this "pull out" advertisement

CHARACTERPROJECT

i was intrigued by the photo

so i looked inside and found some wonderful shots

featuring 11 photographers

from alaska to new york

set out to capture the character of america

they have an amazing site and book

my favorite

(you can "skip into" to go to their photo page)

david eustace highway 50

joe fornabaio salon style

which i could relate to being a hair stylist

mary ellen mark ny festival in b/w

eric orgen michigan music

close to my hometown and some really

cool photos of bootsy collins and iggy pop

sylvia plachy spirit of the south and

richard renaldi the 49th state

they have also started a flickr page

for everyone to join in