Fall is Well in My Little Town

Photo excursion this a.m.

some lightroom tweaks, Canon 70D with the 40 stm lens.

Bright Leaf Canyon

Fun on Christmas Day with my new Lensbaby!

Sweet 35 optic in Lensbaby Composer Pro with both macro extensions. Lots of fiddling! Never say finished! Play on!

Grape Ivy Leaves

Packing to move, rediscovered some lovely dried leaves tucked into a stack of papers. And some naturally dried ones for flavor. Canon 70d, 100mm f2.8L lens.

Interesting how the leaves and basket are matching colors.

Natural Fall Beauty

The lensbaby spark is a fun and arty addition to my lens lineup.  Tho my professional photographer friends might not agree, I am thoroughly enjoying the spark's ability to capture the beauty of imperfection.

shadow me with leaves

or could be called "Shadowbox". I call it expressive. makes me want to see more ;^)

Leaf/Katie Project Mixed Media artwork

Mixed media is interesting to do, so open ended and tho you may have a plan, it builds itself spontaneously as well. The media interact in ways the artist may not control, but she/he ultimately decides when the work is finished. The layers of "stuff" feel like something beyond the mere visual, something about the bits peeking out from under I find very appealing. I also like using words and my handmade paper and incorporating a drawing or painting into the work--makes it seem like more than one moment, a culmination of my art work, a little "herstory". Katie is my daughter who died of leukemia in 1999 when she was 15. She was a wonderful artist, we did a lot of art and craft projects together.
I don't know how well the dried leaves will hold up, most were dried in the microwave, and both applied and covered with acrylic medium. I attempted to paint with thread and gold paint on top, it did not work well, probably should've used string or maybe wire curled into a shape.
Materials include: modeling paste, acrylic paint, packaging, gold leaf, dried leaves, rose petals, paper, handmade paper, a poem, a drawing, a flower catalog page. All on a wrapped linen canvas, 11x14". This is now hanging on the wall, and I really love the personal statement it makes. So much more than a photo or even a painted portrait, it's something like a scapbook memory page that is hanging up for visual enjoyment, rather than stuck in a book on a shelf. I am calling this "Art Flotsam" making art from trash, recycled materials, keepsakes, and what-have-you. An economical way to create art.