Nature Photography Challenge :)

Hi All :)

Happy Valentine's Day :)

I recently did a Nature Photography Challenge on FB. 

I don't usually do things like that but in 2016 I am trying to embrace a few things outside my comfort zone :)

This was the premise; 

Post Nature Photos, one a day for 7 days, tag the person who nominated you to participate and then tag someone else to join in :) Simple :)

I guess I do not like to feel pressured to do something & also as a "Professional" Photographer I feel I have to come up with something special to fit this "label" that is attached to taking photos for a "Living" (well, if I made a living out of photography by itself that would be one things but I don't ............lol :)

Anyway, I thought I would give it a go, especially as it was amount friends on Facebook :)

Here are the photos I shared :)

DAY ONE - Icicles hanging from a Maple tree in my garden - January 2016.

DAY TWO - Sunset from our street - (I have never seen a cloud formation quite like this :) 

- March 2015.

DAY THREE - White Pelicans on the Salton Sea - California - November. 2014

DAY FOUR - Beautiful Silhouette of a tree against a California Sunset - Poway Park 2014. 

DAY FIVE - A beautiful Wave at Cardiff Beach, California  - August 2015.

DAY SIX - Gorgeous full bloom Magnolias - West Linn, Oregon - March 2015.

DAY SEVEN - A twilight shot of the lovely Willamette Falls, Oregon - March 2015.

I hope you enjoy these & I hope it inspires you to look at the amazing world around us from a different perspective - just for a moment - and hold on to it forever :)

I Hope everyone is having a Wonderful Weekend :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

HAPPY (BELATED) NEW YEAR :)

Hi All :)

HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR :)

Long time no see, sorry about that, I have missed so much in the blogging world but Life has been CRAZY, the kind of CRAZY, where I didn't even get to send Christmas cards out (which I have NEVER, EVER not done before in my whole life, even if I was down with bronchitis or a CFS/Fibro relapse leading up to a Christmas, NEVER!!!

The kind of CRAZY where I only managed to produce 4 blog posts in 2015, WHAT!!!!!

It's been the kind of CRAZY year that I am seriously thinking about leaving my Christmas tree in the corner where it is, all dressed up and just unplugging the lights, leaving the ornaments in place and putting a sheet over it until next year, before you all panic, it is an artificial tree, lol :)

But CRAZY nearly had me defeated at several points, not good :(

I'm not the kind of Girl to be down for the count for long and it has been a long, long time but I'm back to my beloved blog and my lovely Blogger Buddies :) 
Even if it is the beginning of February 2016 already, WHAT!!!!
(Not sure where January went) :(

 And if you are interested I will tell you the tale of my CRAZY 2015 - I will try not to bore you with too much of the dross and it will most probably be in parts (oh joy, I hear you all groan, lots of narrative, lol :)

I promise I will include some pretty photos to break the monotony of my bitching :)

If this was a Tardis (I know it is the wrong type of phone box, I am a Brit, after all, I should know, lol :) I would beam (I know, it's a different show too, lol :) myself to a land where I had a personal assistant or better still, a Fairy Godmother or both and could get on and do everything I would like to do, possibly creating artwork again, rather than the boring things I have to deal with right now :(

Now, where would that land be??? 

Well, for now I "beamed" myself back to Oregon :)

This is what I posted about the start of the adventure in January 2015 :)

2015 was very challenging. :(

As I was in Oregon most of the organisational work on our house fell to me. I am a great planner and love to be organised :) I felt confident I could get the task done. So, with my notepad in hand I got planning, scheduling, calling people, etc., But there were definitely too many people involved in this move for it to go smoothly. 

To start with it was a corporate move; we were reassured that the assigned moving co. would work with us and it would all go smoothly and we had an ever so bubbly relocation "Expert" to help us navigate any problems, unfortunately, neither the Moving Co.'s go to person nor the bubbly relocation "Expert" had any idea of what our lives were like or how my health impacts our daily lives and how this was going to be a HUGE physical challenge for me, regardless of how much I tried to explain, they feigned understanding but it was just empty words. 

Anyway, based on how the real estate market seems to operate in our part of America, we decided to put our home on the market at the beginning of the "Selling" season which is Spring time. With the first week in April as our target time to list our home. Our real estate agent brought in a "Stager" to advise on how to "stage" our house for sale. Well, I spent nearly 2 hours going around our home and her telling me that I needed to paint everything neutral, I needed to neutralise the carpets, I needed to take down all the family photos, declutter areas, lose the personal items, basically turn our home into a show home. Seriously, I'm an Artist my walls are yellow & red & blue; I have red carpet & blue carpet in places, & tons of original artwork & photography on the walls, it all seemed like a load of nonsense to me. We LIVE in our house for goodness sake. But to sell a house in America that seems to be what it takes; it would have cost a fortune to do everything she and the realtor wanted us to do. Seriously, you would think that our house was a complete messy ramshackle hut the way they were talking :(

 1st clue  that we had the wrong realtor but did we realise it at the time, NOPE. :(  

Because my health is unpredictable, at best, I really do need to be extremely careful where I use my energy everyday. With so many people involved in our relocation, even my meticulous organising went out the window in a hurry.

People would show up unannounced to give me a bid on a job (oh we were in the area, GREAT (read "great" as sarcastically as you can), people would show up, out of the blue, to do work that couldn't be done that day because someone else had to do another job the next day BEFORE these peeps could do their work. You get the picture, like the guys who were scheduled to refinish the hardwood floors wanted to go hunting or something, so were going to put the final coat of varnish on the floor the next day, I told them we had agreed to get the job done that day and it needed to be done as the painters were coming in the next day, talk about an unhappy camper, (him not me) he grumpily agreed to finish the work that day but I watched as he and his buddy just slopped the last finishing coat on to the hardwood floors that were just sanded and no completely cleared of sawdust, yet again GREAT!!!!!. He also got the jab in that I should bring a check for the full amount with me when I came back to the house. (I was staying in a nearby hotel (sounds WAY more glamorous than it was) while these "workers" were doing the jobs on our Home. 

I'm just going to say here, that if I never have to organise people to work on my home ever again it will be too soon ;(

We had decided, because of the work that needed to be done to our house, that we would move everything into storage first. A word of advice to anyone thinking of selling a house, NEVER, EVER move everything out of your house to try and sell it, people will think you are desperate and will make low ball offers and that is exactly what happened to us. :(

But I digress................. I'm thinking you guys most probably have read enough so far, so here are a few new photos in my Etsy shop for you to enjoy :)

"SUMMER CALM"

"CATHEDRAL ARCHES"

"RED, RED AUTUMN"

"MYSTICAL BLUE WINTER"

"ST. JOHN'S BRIDGE"

"CRATER LAKE"

I Hope everyone has a wonderful Weekend :)

Here's to reconnecting :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

New Gallery

Hi All :)

I Hope you are having a great day (even if it is Hump Day :)

Well, a few weeks ago, I told you the exciting news that I had my work, both Mixed Media Abstract Artwork & Photography, hanging in a new gallery, "MAISON DES ARTISTES" in Lake Oswego, Oregon, YAY!!!

At the opening, I forgot to take photos of my work at the gallery and then time got away from me, you know how it goes. 

But last week a girl friend wanted to get together for lunch and then visit the gallery (it was really great to see my girl friend it has been way too long since the last time we got together) anyway, that gave me an opportunity to snap a few quick shots of my work so I could share it all with you :)

So here goes :)

reflections are always a challenge when taking photos of artwork under glass and esp. when the sun starts to shine (seriously, this is Oregon, it is usually "liquid Sunshine", lol!!! :)

so I moved around until I could get one shot of one piece without reflection (well, ok, maybe a little less at least :)

and then tried to take a shot from a sideways angle

here is my vintage desk and suitcase, very useful  for display purposes, don't you think :)

a couple of smaller pieces from me (trying to show a little restraint, lol :) , I LOVE to make big art pieces :)

I wanted to get a good shot of  "Shadow Spirits" (top right) as it has a lot of layers (which is something I do to build up texture and movement in most of my artwork :)  But again, in person you can see the textural qualities much better :)

These smaller (12 x 12) square art pieces were great fun to make; I was playing with acrylics and inks on canvas instead of on large heavy duty watercolour board or paper, again abstract (what else would you expect from me, He! He!) I love to see how different surfaces hold up after a soaking in inks :)

I have just started to put some of my Photography onto canvas the "Orange Dahlia" is the first to be displayed, I am really happy with the quality and colour, I haven't gotten around to putting them into my ETSY SHOP

 yet :)

I hope you like my little display and the mix of Mixed Media Abstract Artwork and my Photography (which can get abstract sometimes too, lol!!! :)

If you are in the Portland, Oregon area, I would LOVE you to stop by and check out all the other amazing items in the gallery; there is an eclectic mix of goodies from hats and pillows, to pottery and glass, to art and photography, to facial and body care products, jewelry and so much more :)

First Friday's there is music and lots of the Artists to meet :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

MY YEAR IN PHOTOS 2012 :)

Hi All :)

I hope you are all doing well and enjoying life :)

For the past couple of years now I have been keeping score of how many photos I take, each year, with my Nikon camera and also sharing with you some of the photos that I really hadn't got around to sharing as the year flashed by so quickly :)

For the record I only took close to 10,000 photos in 2012 compared to the previous years, I feel a bit of a slacker, LOL!!!! :)

You can see the previous posts and photos here; 2011 and 2010 :)

Note to Self; you do tend to write a lot about being sick at the beginning of every year, stop partying so  much over the Holidays, LOL :)

So, here is my 2012 in Photos :)
(it was really hard to keep it to just 2 photos for each month but you didn't want to be here for a whole month looking at them, LOL!!! :)

                               I Hope you enjoy them :)

                                       JANUARY

                                             click on photos to see larger images :)

This Rose was from a lovely bouquet and as it started to fall apart, I realised it was pretty symbolic of how each of my New Years' do begin.

A winter walk at the local park. A glimpse of a blue sky, clouds and trees reflecting in the Tualatin River :)

FEBRUARY

A lovely Hellebore at the Rose Garden, P.Town, Oregon :)

This would not be Portland, Oregon without a "BIKE" sign or shop :)

MARCH

Sunset shimmering on the Pacific Ocean in San Diego, California :)

Came home to "SNOW" and one of the worst rainy March's on record :(

APRIL

I love to decorate for Easter; Alabaster Eggs with a soft blue Fenton Glass Basket, I love the reflection in the window :)

Blossoms in my Garden, could not resist doing this in Black and White :)

MAY

I think by now you all know I have a "thing" for Poppies, here are a couple from my Garden :)

The "Rose" arbour in our back Garden has been taken over by the beautiful Wisteria (well, I let it on purpose, much to the horror of my Hubby)

JUNE

A day trip to the coast with my Son :)

On the way I saw this decaying tree stump and love the textural qualities that were happening, then when I looked thru the lens and saw the vibrant greenery in the background it was the perfect combo of "Old and New" :)

JULY

Beach Grass shot thru the window of the Ocean front rental house we stayed in :)

Haystack Rock, Pacific City, Oregon as the sun sets, gorgeous :)

AUGUST

An "old" Fire Hydrant in N.W. Portland, Oregon, looks like it is growing out of the tree root, this was a fun shot :)

On one of the Hottest days of the year, I went to take photos at the Rose Test Garden in Portland Oregon; I wanted to see how the Roses were fairing in the heat.

SEPTEMBER

Scarecrows at the local "Allotments" or community gardens, so fun :)

The Beautiful "Multnomah Falls" Columbia Gorge, Oregon, 

OCTOBER

Couldn't resist taking this shot, what a colourful face and expression :)

One of the fun bars to hang out in "en" Portland :)

NOVEMBER 

Red Chairs and Tables stacked for the Night, P.Town, Oregon :)

A frozen "Dead" leaf at a local park, Lake Oswego, Oregon. I LOVE everything about this image, the lighting, the textural quality of the leaf, the shapes and the movement, even as its season ends it is beautiful :)

DECEMBER 

Beautiful Fire in great room, Skamania Lodge, Columbia Gorge, Washington.

Xmas Lights and Red Bows on the tree lined streets of Hood River, Columbia Gorge, Oregon :)

So this past year, I have been working again with multi layering photography, as well as challenging myself to continue my quest to produce beautiful imagery with SOOC (Straight out of camera) photos.

There are a few candidates in this post that I think I will add layers to, so when that happens, I will do another post with before and after images and you can tell me which you prefer. :)

So, I hope you enjoyed my 2012 Year in Photos :)

Have a lovely Wednesday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Trying to Keep Sane :)

Hi All :)

Well, the past few weeks have been Exhausting, Confusing Frustrating and Stressful :(

Not to bore you with too many details but we have been going thru the crazy process of getting ready to move, pricing a household move (totally scary, the price not the movers, so much, LOL :) They told us it would take 3 days to pack our household belongings and 2 days to load the truck (Do ya think we should get rid of some stuff??? He! He!) 

Then Costing everything that needed to be done to our house before it was market ready (Even more scary! :) And on and on, you know all the little things that suddenly add up to a huge pile of stuff to be done when you are planning to move. We thought it would be worth the stress and a calm transition in the end.

Then it all feel apart in a hurry and now we are sitting shell shocked and baffled, trying to come to terms with what happened. :(

On top of that;

I have also had 3, yep, THREE C.T.Scans in as many weeks, multiple doctors visits and then a Spinal tap tomorrow, a Mammogram and an E.E.G. next week. I am totally exhausted and I guess this is what happens when you put off doing stuff or aren't up to doing stuff or you change Neurologists and they have a different approach on trying to work out what is causing all the symptoms I am experiencing, Oh The Joy :(

So, now you know why I haven't been around much, blogging, commenting or FB - ing (does that mean something else, He! He!)

Anyway, I have so many photos from my trip to Eastern Oregon I want to share with you but working on them right now is going to be challenging but I did want to share this one with you :)

click on photos to see larger images :)

Sunset over Mt. Hood

As my Hubby and I were driving on the East side of our beautiful state of Oregon, across high dessert, we saw this beautiful site and of course I just had to get out of the car and take some photos :)

I had never seen the Mountain from the East Side before :)

Because of all the smoke from the forest fires in Oregon and Washington State, at the time, it made for a beautiful sunset :)

I didn't want to photo - shop out the telephone wires, as for me it added to the surreal environment we found ourselves in. It was amazing, warm high desert for miles and miles, not a tree in sight, not a building for miles and a great paved roadway where few cars passed us and it was so, so, so quiet, I truly believe we would have heard a pin drop on the roadway :)

For this City Girl it was absolutely magical :)

This is our wonderful Mt. Hood, that we can see from Portland on most days :)

This is a photo I took of Mt. Hood a few years ago, on Thanksgiving Weekend, from the West Side :)

I hope you are all doing well and life is treating you kindly :)

Have a lovely Tuesday :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Thankful Thursday :)

Good Afternoon all :)

Again I am joining My Blogger Buddy Annette at So Many Memories blog for "Thankful Thursday".

I LOVE the idea that we, at least for one day a week, stop and think consciously about what we are Thankful for :)

This week I am Thankful that all the snow the Meteorologists were predicting for us didn't show up :)

click on photo to see larger image :)

I love how this out of focus shot made the snow on the bush look like Dandelion Seeds :)

We did actually have some snow but if you blinked or didn't take photos at Midnight (he! he!) you would have missed it. It was all washed away by the crazy amount of rain we have been

having instead :(

I took this photo thru the window of our Family Room and I love the way the yellow wall colour reflected and made this image look vintage :)

This shot I took thru a tiny 6 x 6 window in the top of the outside door to our laundry room, it was tricky to stand on tippy toe and hold the camera with 300mm zoom lens steady long enough to get a good night time image without flash but that is the joy of photography for me, getting the beautiful unexpected shot with depth without flash :)

Hope you enjoy these! :)

Don't forget to pop over and visit Annette at So Many Memories to see what she is Thankful for today :)

 

Also, Don't forget to enter my Blog Giveaway to win this lovely

11 x 14 Photo of The Golden Gate Bridge :)

Check it out HERE! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Day! :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

What are you Thankful for Today???