New Directions-New Adventures

Recently I took the plunge to offer prints of my artwork, past, present & future.  It has been a long road that began in the 70's when I was selling my original artworks immediately, sometimes before they were finished, before they were framed, but needless to say, they are lost to me now.  With the new way of communicating directly to the whole world in a matter of seconds, with options unlimited, I can now present a wide range of products to purchase with selected art displayed.  Who knew this would be available 40 years ago!  This is a big leap for me as I have accumulated hundreds of travel photos, hundreds of paintings, collages, fiber arts and all will be available on-line in the new future.  Taking a new path can lead to amazing adventures.  There is a new widget on the right,  If you click on it, you will be able to see the images I have loaded to these on-line shops: Pixels and FineArtAmerica  Thanks!

Two Months Flew By

I can hardly believe half of 2016 is already over, but it was sure plentiful in adventures.  I feel as if I've lived 4 life times in the past 62 years.  My life has been full of wonder and marvelous things.  I wouldn't even know where to start telling the stories, but the best part is, I'm entering a new phase of life, with many more promising adventures to come.  The photo on the right is of a co-op somewhere in Oklahoma maybe, I don't remember.  What I do remember though, is, I took it from a moving vehicle.  I'm getting pretty darn good at doing that if I do say so myself.  If we stopped every time I saw something of interest, it would take years to get across the country.  That would be something I could do when my loving hubby decides to retire.  For now, I'm content to go along for the ride and snap pics through the windshield.   This one might be worthy of a painting.  Yes? No?  If time permits?  

Out and About

I was driving around the other day trying to find some places that could be used for plein air painting and perhaps a picnic with lots of shade and I happened to see these new ducklings swimming along Canal Street.  I just had to jump out and get some pics.  

Carving Stamps

Are you a Pinterest Addict?  I sure am!  I had to set a daily, limited, time allowance so that I can actually get things done each day.  One of my boards is for hand carved stamp patterns, which is an art project I love to do, especially when I see the end results.  A couple of weeks ago I carved a few small stamps to use for my other addiction---art journals.  I had to experiment with adding color to these stamped images, so I decided to use watercolor.  I stamped the image on a Strathmore "Toned Tan" sketch paper first, then I painted an area with cobalt turquoise and stamped again.  I have to say I like the painted background image the best.  It's more dramatic!

2014-The Beginning of a Great Year

On New Years Day we started our very short-but felt really long, trip down south to explore and take photos.  After 1110 miles and over a 1000 photos we arrived back home, exhausted and sore from all the miles of hiking, climbing and dragging our feet through the snow.  It was a wonderful adventure to kick start the new year.  Lots of inspiration for new projects, workshops & some experimental photography thrown in.  Here is a star trail (composed of three-10 minute time lapse images).  My first attempt at doing this didn't work since I didn't have my camera settings correct and the time lapse remote control would not work, but the second night, it worked like a dream.  Loved the experience, the dinner picnic in the dark, and the scary stories we told each other while we were waiting for the exposures & processing of these images. 
NOTE:  It's really dark and scary out in the middle of nowhere with not a single light visible in any direction!  Makes you think of zombies for some strange reason!  :-D

More Photos

Here are a couple more images I took while visiting Southern Utah, Northern Arizona and Nevada. 
We had beautiful blue skies, 60+ weather and lots of fresh air!
This first image was taken from the car of our first stop.  Little Black Mountain in northern Arizona.  Outside of St. George, about 20 miles on dirt roads, you will find some wonderful petroglyphs, grinding stones, etc. left by ancient Indian tribes.  They could have been Fremont Indians, Pueblos, Hopi or even Anastazi.  Nobody really knows for sure, but it was a fun place to hang out for a few hours, eat a picnic lunch and explore the many rock formations.  Incredible views!

Lucky New Year

Another really fun thing that happened while we were on our trip, we stopped at Mesquite and I won a Jackpot on a penny machine.  The first pull and this is what I got!  What a way to start the New Year!