ad libitum

NANCY'S TUESDAY TEXTURE CHALLENGE

For Nancy Donaldson's texture challenge this week, I picked a liturgical theme for myself.

Below is a photo of an ancient hymnal that I took in Sienna, Italy.

I also used a photo of an angel from a cemetery in Houston.

Here is the hymnal after I played with the two photos in PhotosShop, using Nancy's textures and a mask.

Here is the photo I took in Ireland at a cemetery.

I paired it with a photo from South Africa

This is how the two photos looked after playing with the textures.

Another photo taken at another Irish cemetery...

turned into this with Nancy's textures and a mask.

PAINTED FACES

Here are some of the faces I posted. I've painted and varnished and antiqued them.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

I want to wish you a very Happy Valentine's Day!

I took this photo in an antique store in Missouri during my last visit to Cape Girardeau.

This is from a photo of some valentine candy (in spite of the danger to my fillings, I love taffy).

Sweet valentine wishes...

I know it's odd to send out a giraffe for a valentine, but I enjoyed giving this one some extra hearts.

A FEW FACES IN THE CROWD

I made a new face mold and tried out Delight air dry modeling clay. Now I have to wait for the faces to dry. Then it will be time to paint them and use them for dolls, jewelry, and collages.

By the way, this is my first attempt at blogging by my phone.

TIME FOR SOME JEWELRY

Last week-end, I indulged in what I called "counter programming."  I don't watch sports on TV, so I decided to spend my time finishing up two necklaces and making a new necklace full of vintage jewelry finds (thanks to the inspiration of Deryn Mentock and Ruth Rae).

The first necklace I finished is a black and white beaded necklace I made last summer. As with most of my projects, it is deliberately asymmetrical.

I started my mermaid necklace back when I thought my round robin necklace had gone missing (thankfully, it was found). It sat around for a long time waiting to be finished.

And then, I wanted to make one of those beautiful necklaces full of vintage jewelry and other bits and pieces. My attempt is not as full and rich as the ones Deryn makes (where does she find those incredible vintage jewelry pieces?); but I used what I had and I'm pleased with it.

Here it is again, scanned so that you can see some of the details better.

VARIATIONS ON A PHOTO

Below are variations of a photo I played with in Photoshop. The photo (a picture I took of my younger daughter a few years ago) in the top left corner is the photo I started out with. The arrow points to my usual easy photo fix (duplicate layer, Gaussian blur of 55 over copy two, set blending mode to overlay or soft light).

In the following 6 photos I replaced my backyard with a photo I took of the California coast 2 years ago. Then, for each photo, I used different textures (all from Nancy Donaldson) and blending modes.

This is all in my attempt to improve my portraits. I have to start taking notes on my techniques so I can replicate the things I like.

YESTERDAY WAS TEXTURE DAY

I'm behind in posting (my fantasy is that there are people who actually noticed). Anyway, Nancy Donaldson shared more of her wonderful textures and here are my before and after images using them.

The changing houses at Muizenberg Beach...

Birds in Kapama...

 

Figures at Lesedi...

 

Lion in Kapama Game preserve...

 

Owl in Kapama Game Preserve...