Lovin' Tuesday

Enthusiasm is the fire that makes you soar.  And today,  I have had greater enthusiasm for textures, color palettes and photo manipulation.  

I thoroughly enjoyed the photos I chose to work with.

A bit of background.  A huge bundle of drying zinnias were picked a few weeks ago.  Allowed to slightly dry and wilt, they created all new colors, mellowed from their normal vibrant hues.

They were a perfect mix for an antique statue I brought from India. It too, was worn with time and changing of seasons...paint peeling and flaking, once vibrant colors now graced with age.

Kim Klassen's Antique Overlay was perfect to create a color palette honoring the natural aging of the statue and blossoms for Leaves in Bloom.

Sarah Gardner has a wonderful collection of French inspired designs.  I used Papers 22.

Gaussian Blur, Multiply add to the soft look, like the touch of an Elder's  gentle hand.

Heart Thought: Live in the consciousness of NOW. This is no ordinary Tuesday, is it?

Linking with:

Kim Klassen Texture Tuesdays

Kent Weakley

Leaves n Bloom Studio

Sarah Gardner

Tuesday's Forecast: Rain and iPhoneography

The Funny Bunnies and I were having a sleep over.  We were barely awakening when early dawn lightening and rain crashed down.  It rained rained rained, sometimes a soft pitter-patter followed by pelting firehoses of water. 

We glumly starred out the windows while nibbling on breakfast....

Rain rain go away, Funny Bunnies want to play.

Since the rain didn't cooperate, we found old rain boots, too-small  rain jackets, and one umbrella.

Now we could shriek....

Rain rain please stay we're coming out to play!!!

Romp, Dance, Twirl, Lick the Drops, Soppy wet hair curling on pink cheeks, Boots filling with sheeting rain, Umbrella whipping into a flying saucer!!

ProCreate with Brushes  (sorry can't find link)

Pro Create, Rainy Dazy, Snapseed

ProCreate, Artista Oil , Snapseed

Pictures taken with i Phone. Processed on apps. See links.

 Linking to: Color Me Weekly.   

Dream-it,  Cotton Candy, Warming Filter, Gaussian Blur

Linking to Texture Tuesdays.

My favorite photo of our Rainy Day Weekend.

Linking to Kent Weakley,   Sweet Shot Tuesday

Finding the pink umbrella really set the color mood for today's sharings.  

Heart Thought:  I can never feel "blue" when I am seeing "pink."

Fun Tuesdays

  There are so many fun places to post photos on Tuesdays.  Often I would choose one site a week...well almost a week.  Then I noticed on other blogs that they combined various sites,  giving credit at the end of their post.  Brilliant!!! The best of all worlds.

It is taking me a long time to wrap my brain around creating color palettes. Should it really be that difficult? There are so many possible ways to do it?  

So today, using  Kim Klassen's storybook template, I gave it my best shot of a charming home I walked by outside of Aix, Provence.

This photo I have used as inspiration for at least three paintings.  This is the latest one.

Another palette style using a Kim Klassen texture.  On second thought, I wish I had brought the texture all the way to cover the hearts.  Another time I will give that a try.

There is so much more to photography than taking photos....it is the first step on a brilliant path of learning and creating.

Linking today with:

                                      Kent Weakley

Color Me Weekly

For a long time I have wanted to try my hand at manipulating a photo and choosing key colors from it to form a palette. There are programs galore, various ways of doing this, but some are easier than others. 

So I gave it a try and came up with THREE photos. To my chagrin I can only find one!!!

Color Me Weekly is sponsored by Leaves 'n Bloom Photography.
She has great tutorials and does amazing photography.

We know a picture is worth a thousand words, so take a peek.  

 I wanted something a bit more unusual...like "pretending we are finding Easter Eggs just prior to an Easter Egg Hunt." Those palette circles look like Easter eggs to me!!!
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Another great website for photography tutorials is Kent Weakley.
On Sweet Shot Tuesday,  we all are invited to post a picture. I have taken a few of his classes and they are A+.


I  took this photo after a visit to Costco to purchase GORGEOUS sunflowers.

Tuesday is a busy day at my computer.  Last but not least Texture Tuesday provided by Kim Klassen.  

Today's textures combine Table Red, Vignette and Distress, all provided by Kim. The sunflower petals received a special dusting with the eraser to allow them to stand out a bit more.

Quote brush from Kim.

Well, that's it folks...quite a bit of photo manipulation.  I consider it my THINKING time.

Heart Thought: Enjoy your camera this week....phone, compact or "Big Mamas"....they all create memories to share.

Reflections on Water

Water Water Everywhere

Let the sky open up

Drench us

Nourish us

Refresh us.

It has been two years since leaving our bucolic little village 

A village skirting the Chesapeake Bay

Home of yesteryear

Missed

Tonight as the sky bursts like a ripe watermelon

And seeds of rain scatter 

My thoughts return to this little village

Dotted with wharves

Strutting Cranes

Evening Fishermen in expectancy

Children climbing clouds on the seat of a swing.

Such a privilege to KNOW the mystery of the WATER.