Pismo the elf! I have been having a very difficult time getting onto this blog. I have to reset my password every time. That is why I have hardly posted anything lately. Life has been crazy with my Mom breaking her hip last week.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In honor of friends who have fought this disease...

Fallen Leaves

Autumn in the Garden by Henry Van Dyke


When the frosty kiss of Autumn in the dark

Makes its mark

On the flowers, and the misty morning grieves

Over fallen leaves;

Then my olden garden, where the golden soil

Through the toil

Of a hundred years is mellow, rich, and deep,

Whispers in its sleep.



'Mid the crumpled beds of marigold and phlox,

Where the box

Borders with its glossy green the ancient walks,

There's a voice that talks

Of the human hopes that bloomed and withered here

Year by year,--

Dreams of joy, that brightened all the labouring hours,

Fading as the flowers.



Yet the whispered story does not deepen grief;

But relief

For the loneliness of sorrow seems to flow

From the Long-Ago,

When I think of other lives that learned, like mine,

To resign,

And remember that the sadness of the fall

Comes alike to all.



What regrets, what longings for the lost were theirs!

And what prayers

For the silent strength that nerves us to endure

Things we cannot cure!

Pacing up and down the garden where they paced,

I have traced

All their well-worn paths of patience, till I find

Comfort in my mind.



Faint and far away their ancient griefs appear:

Yet how near

Is the tender voice, the careworn, kindly face,

Of the human race!

Let us walk together in the garden, dearest heart,

Not apart!

They who know the sorrows other lives have known

Never walk alone.

Avila Produce Barn

Looking forward to our annual stay at Avila beach. Love the produce barn there; great place to take pictures! And buy farm fresh produce and baked goods!

Almost Autumn!

Looking forward to one of my most favorite times of the year. Crisp mornings, warm afternoons, golden-hued sunsets. The sky seems bluer and the fall color of leaves against that blue is breathtaking!

Zetti Fun!

Having Fun with Zetti style at arttechniquesdigital. Got these fun images from deviantart.com's great digi art!

Hot Air Balloons in Abstract

I got a chance to play with Photoshop today. Isn't it funny how you start a project with one idea in mind and then the artistic process leads you down another path entirely? That is how this piece came about.

Happy 4th of July!

Let's be proud of our country this 4th!

Garden Delights

The roses are out in full force. Such a lovely time to be in the garden!

Joy of Life

This digital collage uses three images from photoXpress.com. An oil paint filter was added to the background image. An "edited" poem titled Joy of Life by Mary Russell Mitford tells the story.

Mini Coaster Book for Arttechniques

This was our project for April at Arttehniques Yahoo group. We created mini books using chipboard coasters.

April!

Hard to believe it is April already! Season for gardening, golfing, biking and all things fun outdoors!

Having fun with Deviant Art freebie

Thinking this will make a good birthday card. Stampington.com offered a freebie digital collection through deviantart.com. Fun images to play around with!

Digital Printmaking Technique

A couple of samples of a new digital technique I have come up with for the arttechniquesdigital yahoo group. This is really fun! Images are from photoXpress.com.

Black & White Challenge

Using photos from photoXpress.com, I created two compositions for the Arttechniquesdigital weekly challenge. A bit out of the box for me, but satisfying.

Looking for Spring in the Midst of winter

Winter is back with a vengeance in northern CA. Heavy rain expected tonight but I was able to get my first of a series of golf lessons in this morning. Nice to revisit the same instructor who is great at corrrecting bad habits! This digital collage was made for an Arttechniquesdigital Yahoo group challenge. The challenge was to use the Winter Dover image in your composition.

Weather Wonderful

One of the nicest things about California is the occasional nice weather we get in January and February. Although the rains are supposed to return this week, it has been great to get out and ride a bike or go golfing; just breathing fresh air after being inside!
This piece is for Arttechniquesdigital Yahoo group. Join us at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/arttechniquesdigital/ for weekly Challenges and fun techniques.

Run with Endurance....

This is this week's tool/challenge for Arttechniquesdigital. We are using the smudge tool on an extracted image; I also had lots of fun with layering and blending modes.

Valentine ATCS for Arttechniques Swap

Background is from a vintage notebook; transparency image made from a Twisted Papers CD; various other elements and tiny scrolls made from a vintage poetry book. Hand-painted silk ribbon bows.

Digital Challenge

We have a digital challenge on arttechniquesdigital of Winter Sports this week. These images from photoXpress.com made for a fun composition!

Winter Sports and Pixelate Filter Challenges

In the Arttechniquesdigital group we are playing around with a Winter Sports theme and also with the Pixelate filters in our Adobe software. I created "The Rush" for the challenge and "Living out Loud" was for one of the Digital Montage workshops.

2011

The end of 2010 was filled with a myriad of changes as I became a temporary caretaker for my 94 y/o Mom. I found my life totally absorbed in her care. We were able to place her in a great assisted living facility very close to my home a few days ago. I am looking forward to getting back into creating both hands-on and digitally. Looking forward to this year! I hope you are too!