Blossoms - Does that mean it is SPRING? :)

Hi All :)

Hope you all had a Lovely Weekend :)

Last Sunday I took a few Photographs of the gorgeous Blossom Trees that are in full bloom right now here in P.Town and I wanted to share them with you here on my blog :)

( For those of you who kindly follow my Facebook page you many have seen some of these already but definitely worth  another 
look :)

(Esp. as the weather has turned cold and rainy and windy again :(

It was the perfect day :)

The Blossoms were full :)

The sun radiating and lighting up the petals :)

Fun shots playing around with background shadows and light :)

Such pretty flowers :)

And a blue sky :)

A hint of blue sky thru the mass of white beauty :)

So abundant :)

The white contrasting against the blue sky :)

What a pretty driveway :)

This is one of my favs. of the weekend, top one is SOOC and the one below is cropped and I took away the heaviness of the branch :)

Which do you prefer???

Also, With Spring comes my half yearly sale (sound like Nordies don't I, lol :) in my Etsy Shop; Just in time for Mother's Day in the U.S.A. and with over 100 Photos of Lovely Flowers at 40% off; Give your Mom the Gift of Beautiful Flower Photos that will last 

forever :)

(and with more than 300 photos in my ETSY SHOP, there are some cool ones for Dad's too :)

Have a lovely day :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

It's Raining but here is a little glimmer of Sunshine! :)

Happy Friday Everyone! :)

Well, I am wondering if we will ever have 2 days in a row of Sunshine let alone over 60 degrees, sheesh!!  

But until then I wanted to share with you some of the Blossom shots I took a few weeks ago as the sun (yep, that stranger in the PNW sky) was starting to set :)

Enjoy! :)

click on shots to see larger images

I really like the warm glow on these shots :)

Let me know what you think :)

I Hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Book.

Happy Thursday Everyone!

Well, hasn't blogger been fun the past few weeks. Not being accessible, losing postings, not being able to add comments  etc., but thankfully it seems to have sorted itself out and actually some of the posts that I lost now miraculously, if partially, returned weird but YAY!!


So, I was really excited when my blogger buddy Jaime at ArtsyFartsyMe Blog announced the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Book" giveaway.

(This cute original artwork by Jaime at ArtsyFartsyme blog :)

So, I quickly signed up to participate in this fun giveaway with a twist. I was fortunate to be the first person picked to receive the book, read it and past it on. (Unfortunately, life has been getting in the way of that and I have been VERY SLOW :(

but..........


The book, "Making Room for Making Art" by Sally Warner couldn't have arrived at a more crucial time. I have been questioning over the past year how to move forward with my Art and believe it or not I have not created many 2 D art pieces in the past year. One of the reasons is that our family has been coming and going so there is no fixed time to apply to my art (as I use the dining area of our kitchen as a studio) and with young adult males there is always someone in the kitchen looking for food (He! He!) Another reason is that my art pieces have gotten so big and I have also been wanting to do more sculpture work that I have completely outgrown my space. Yet another reason is that I have spent most of the past few years working really hard on my photographic work and there just isn't enough time to go around. This has left me more frustrated than ever. Add to that the complications of living with an illness that can wipe the wind out of my sails in a heart beat and leave me in recovery for weeks or months at a time, sometimes is gets harder to pick myself up and start all over again.

Some of the things the book helped me consider were;


1). Focusing on what and where I really want to use my limited time and energy. (I added a few quotes from the book :)


"Obstacles to creativity pile up as life becomes more complex."


 "Did you know that even fractured studio time adds up when you're consistent?"


"Every choice you make has a consequence." (exactly what I used to "preach" to my kids! :)


"Another thing that is difficult for many of us to learn is to limit the number of things we do" (definitely one of my biggest challenges)


2). Encouraged me not to give up. "Don't lose confidence in your artistic vision"


3). Reinforced in me that being an Artist is what I am on this planet to be.


"How we keep making that art in spite of everything."


"Art is so important that Artists can't feel fully alive without making it."


"this is what I'm doing; this is what I believe in; this is what I really want to be doing"


"when you're alone with your art you're probably the freest" (this is so me)


"I've begun to feel lately that just being able to do what I want to do is the greatest gift I have in this life"


4). Others (possible all) artists struggle.


"Even lifelong Artist's can get lost."


"don't be put off by the feeling that a real artist wouldn't have these doubts, these struggles, it's simply not true"


5). Keep working; "the creative urge is such a strong one"


6). To create for myself NOT others.


"I want to make Art regardless of conventional ideas of failure or success."


"and then there is the pressure that results from going against society's general view of what constitutes a productive life"


"when you're talking about trying to spend a lifetime with your art, no other approach than focusing on your own vision is worthwhile"


7). I am not alone in my sense of isolation as an Artist.


8). And the down falls; "Financial security and art do not often coexist"


"A degree doesn't make you an Artist"


"We often measure ourselves against some faceless ideal artist"


"For most artists, though, commercial success never happens, no matter how much they deserve it"


What came to mind while reading the book is that;


I'm a Doodler, always have been, my mind used to drift off in school and as I gazed out of the window at the trees, my pencil would take my hand on a doodle run. I often got into trouble at school for "Daydreaming" but this has been such a valuable part of my life and my art now, I doodle as a kind of warm up exercise, like stream of consciousness writing or practicing scales in music. It is powerful stuff, the very essense of my art, of who I am and how I create.


I never really thought of myself as a "REAL" Artist until I was able to go to college as an adult and study art. I have always been creative but not 'til I sold my first piece of artwork 14 years ago did I call myself officially an "Artist."

I get into a "Zone" while creating art. It is the only time in my life that I am completely consumed in the moment, it is truly amazing. "I see art as the 'outward and visible sign' of creatvity, which is the (reflection of) inward and spiritual grace." (I lOVE this quote from the book! :)

Sometimes it is good to take a break, re-evaluate, refocus and take a deep breathe and try again. That is just what I am doing after being inspired by this book.

So, now I need to pass the book on to one of the "Sisters" and that would be Jennifer@Jewelry by J.P. Blog Enjoy!


Thanks Jaime for doing this :)



And finally....... :)


I wanted to share a few photos with you that I took recently;

Evening Light

Tranquil Blossoms

Glowing Rhoddie

I hope you enjoyed these :)

I always love to hear what you think! :)

Have a Wonderful Day! 

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Lovely Spring Blossoms.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

I really hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! Our family is getting together a week later to celebrate, can't wait, it has been a while since we were all together :)

I wanted to share a few photos I managed to take of the lovely blossoms tree that graces our garden. With the rain and the long PNW Winter the blossoms were late in arriving and early to leave but I managed to grab a few shots over a few evenings and so here are some of those. I will post more in a few days. I did share a few last week, if you missed that post, you can see them HERE! :)

These shots are all SOOC (straight out of the camera) no cropping or manipulation.

Afternoon sun hitting the tips making these white Blossoms glow with a pretty warm pinky orange.

As it started to get darker, the sun going down and losing light on the blossom tree, these blossoms were in the full shade of pine trees and this is the result.

These next few shots were taken from my bedroom window. (I know it sounds very lazy but ) Even though the sun is shining on the Blossom tree the grass was so wet my flip flops were taking on water (He! He!) So, this evening I decided to see what shots I could take from a distance.

I hope you enjoyed these shots :) I will post a few more on Thursday, as the light was amazing on some of the other shots I have, I really want you to see them! :)

Let me know what you think!

Have a Wonderful Day!

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

An Amazing Giveaway!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Guess what, it is pouring with rain here in Oregon again today, so I thought I would brighten our day with a pretty Spring Blossom photo :)

Now to the Amazing Giveaway :)

Super Talented Photographer Elle Moss from fPOE (Female Photographers of Etsy) has created TWO stunningly Beautiful Treasuries full of the amazingly talented Ladies of fPOE's work, for some lucky person to win.

Isn't that wonderful :)

 "If you need some art for your spring decorating, imagine winning either of these. Two winners will be selected to win 16 items each (prize value of each is over $240!)" (from fPOE blog post)

All you have to do is click on the treasury (links below) and leave a comment.


One comment per person and you can comment on both treasuries.


Winners will be announced in 2 weeks (March 28, 2011)

Win Treasury #1: CLICK HERE


Win Treasury #2: CLICK HERE

Good Luck Everyone!
 

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

FRIDAY FLOWERS! :)

Happy Friday Everyone :)


It has been very weird for me this week as it is Spring Break here in Oregon and for the first time in 22 years I do not have a kid in the local school system and so really had no clue until last week when Spring Break in Oregon was happening. I kind of feel out of the loop, it is usually posted on my calendar at the beginning of the school year when the new school calendar comes out but of course I didn't get one this year. I am sure I will get used to it. So, for now our Spring Break will follow our Ohio College student who's Spring Break was 2 weeks ago, confused, yep me too :)


So before I share with you this week's Friday Flowers I would like to say a big "Thank you" to Linda at Adult Indulgences for posting my Art Etsy shop PoppyPlace on her "Etsy Stores you must see" section on her Blog. Check out the spices in her shop they have great names like "Moroccan Madness" sounds intriguing.


And now for this week's Friday Flowers, which is the Beautiful Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree in our Garden. These photos were taken on a typical Spring day, one minute it is pouring with rain, the next sunshine :) I love working with that filtered half light on those days. The unpredictability of the cloud cover lends itself to creating pure beauty.

Can you see the little spider (I think sheltering from the rain :) and also the raindrop!

See the filtered sunlight, which I love, after a rainstorm and those glistening raindrops :)

This shot reminded me of a beautiful flowing layered wedding dress :)

And this shot made me think of the Tutus in Swan Lake :)

In these last 3 shots I love that half light thru the clouds before it starts to rain again, it creates beautiful and mysterious shadows and broad outlines.

And here is the Blossom Tree a few days later after a pretty intense wind and rain storm, looks a bit like it has been snowing :)

I hope you enjoyed this week's Friday Flowers :)

Hope everyone has a Wonderful Weekend :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.