28.3.14

Ghost Stories from the Old Shack

The old shack stands tottering at a graceful angle. It's split-hewn wood has absorbed the grey/weathered colors of the gnarled, leafless trees that surround it.
Still, today, there is a certain regal-ness, majesty and statement;  hidden stories between the chinks in the lumber.

Railroad tracks, four meters away, once hauled a commodity desired by many world wide. 
 Money barons flourished because of it. 


What stories are closeted in this centuries old building. 


Doors are rusted shut and silent.


Perched on  beams stand carved owls acting as stewards of this building of
historical significance to Whites, Blacks and Native Americans. 



Windows reflect another time, our century filled with  
paved streets, street lights, fast cars...
all racing past this monument to the past and ancient Indian grounds.


Nailed to the weathered wood of this old building, secreted with stories and perhaps a few ghosts, 
is a sign . 
"No Smoking"
Ironic


This preserved building was one of a long string of tobacco shacks, along the Waccamaw River, home to the Waccamaw Indians.


This  tobacco shack stands as a witness to another time in our history where wealth
was created through the toil of others 
in the steaming-humid heat.

A poem written by Edward Madahbee
Waccamaw Indian

The creator has only created life
It is not his duty to show us the way
We must guide ourselves through life
To truly be accepted into his arms
We should not have to ask for favors
And he should not have to provide them
What we take from our mother earth
We must give back with respect and love
Until we are able to accept who we are
We will always suffer at our own fate
We have to create our own destiny
Or does destiny create us?


Sharing with Friday Finds.

21.3.14

When Needles are Like Paint Brushes

Just couldn't wait to share some fantastic Fiber Art we saw last week.
This artistic genre is a first for this blog as I do not do needlework, embroidery, stitching, felting,
quilting...all those beautiful pieces of art created by nimble fingers holding a slender needle threaded  with
gorgeous threads and yarn.
I admire you who do this.
We attended FiberArt International  2013 showing at the 
Myrtle Beach Art Museum. 
It is a curated show featuring 37 works by established and emerging artists from across the world. The goal of the exhibition is to include innovative work rooted in traditional fiber materials, processes and history. 
There wasn't a single piece that wasn't unique and breathtaking.
Today I will share one.
First I must mention that all photos were taken with my camera phone and in difficult lighting situations.  The photo quality doesn't do justice to the beauty of this piece.
Peace on Earth..
This piece is very large and full of little stories.  Every inch has something to say.

Where does your imagination take you....as we peek around this "tapestry?"







Doesn't this piece bring joy into your heart?
The richness of TEXTURE, COLOR, IMAGINATION, STORY TELLING: I would love to meet the artist. 
I was happy all day after viewing it.

There is actually a little side story: we were viewing this exhibit along with half a dozen mature women, obviously a gathering of friends, wearing purple jackets and red hats!!!!
So fun!

Sharing with Friday Finds.

20.3.14

Limes Lemons and Yellow Bird

I have long admired the short lived style of Fauvism
which includes work by
Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, Maurice Vlaminck.
Fauvism was a short lived style at the turn of the 20th century. 
The philosophy behind fauvism was: COLOR should express the artist's feelings about a subject. They used heavily exaggerated color and simplified lines.
One of my favorite paintings is by Henri Matisse


 Limes Lemons and Yellow Bird reflects my interpretation of the Fauvist painters' style.  It is the second painting in a series.
I begin with a toned 18 x 18 gallery wrap canvas, followed by simple brush sketch in thinned acrylic.


And now the fun begins...where to go after putting all these lines in place?
Light washes of acrylic, working warm and cool colors..


My thoughts were to add visual texture to the piece, so collage papers were added, a stencil design for the fabric and for some reason the decision to not have the vase clear glass.


Back to more collage and re-defining lines.
Adding black and white to a colorful painting, helps to diffuse the intensity. Therefore, the collage of black and white stripes on the bowl.



Because I worked over a period of two months on this piece  (meaning I couldn't find the time to work on it) I made some major alterations....like letting the fish be chased off by a spindly yellow bird with a squeeze of lime on his head;
adding an additional pattern to the vase and restructuring the fruit.
It is almost a completely different piece.


If it hadn't taken so long to complete, I wonder if I would have made so many changes to the end painting? 
 I hope the fish are happy elsewhere, the bird has to decide how to peck at a watermelon with a lime slice on his head.
This painting is available on my S Furner Fine Art website.
Sold...thank you Geri, I hope this painting brings you much happiness.



18.3.14

May You Feel Peace


In southern India, my traveling companions and I stumbled upon an intriguing dilapidated building just bursting 
with goodies: statues of all description, rustic-antique furniture, paintings, this and that, everything tempting beyond reason.
Two of us could not resist some very crumbling, aged statues of 
Indian Deities.
We waffled back and forth, "no we can't get them home"..."well, we will never see these again."
"what should we do?"  The winner:
I purchased four, my companion...can't recall but she definitely packed some home.

These statues have a  rather interesting history. America in the 40's and 50's enticed women to purchase certain products and with the purchase was given a premium or gift. An example would be today's collectible green glass.  Well who knew, in India there was something similar. We learned that these marvelous, old statues were also a "gift with purchase." This bit of information from our sales woman was all it took to "entice" us to buy.

Besides displaying our Indian statues in our home, I wanted to set up a few photo shoots. The following is one.





There is quite a difference isn't there?
Here are a few steps that I took to move the original photo to textured completion.
I took dozens of photos with the statues, oranges, hornet's nest and dried leaves.  
Never, never once did I notice the label left on the orange!!!!!  So that was the first step to
remove the label.
The top half of the background was brushed with an "oil brush" designed by Melissa Gallo to paint the background in several shades of ochre so that it was unified.
The same technique was used to paint shadows on the white cloth.
Next I played with words and warping....this was a test of patience!
Time to apply textures. I used two of Kim Klassen's textures 
# 0801 and 2801. Each was adjusted differently: soft light and screen.
Adding the last texture, which has a grunge appearance, I removed the dark grunge color from the statues and high lighted the oranges.

I now feel Peace to have completed this project and wish the same for you in those things you choose to do. And may you always remove labels.......


14.3.14

In and Out with the Tides

 We found a new beach to visit.
Actually we can't say we "found" it as it is way too big!
Located in South Carolina, Myrtle Beach is a lengthy, bustling beach with a boardwalk to keep teens and others happy.
(takes some of the crowds from the beach!)
Two of our kids recently moved near MB and we went to visit them and their pups.  It was quite an adventure.

Doestito exploring the Waccamaw River....it was pretty cold!
She is thinking, "HMMM how can I get away and swim wherever I want to go?"

We met up with interesting weather....cold, blustery winds and rain....interspersed with a few days of blue skies.
Gray days are really a photographer's friend....

We found stashes of seashells, mostly battered and broken by the strong waves...but there is beauty in the imperfect and we brought a  bagful home.


View from our heavily discounted room. Not bad!
In the summer we wouldn't be able to afford to stay here.


 One evening we happened upon hundreds of sleepy seagulls, all facing south....I wondered where they would stay as night was fast approaching.  Maybe this was their bedroom with an ocean view. Imagine sleeping with the lulling sounds of waves rustling the sandy shore.

Never have I seen so many birds holding still...this photo is but 1/5th of them.


One day when the sky was brilliant blue we walked the boardwalk. The rides were being prepared for the approaching busy tourist season. 


Sunrise, Sunset it doesn't matter, it is simply a glorious sight.


One of my favorite childhood rhymes is....
She sells Seashells down by the Seashore

Soon will come a posting of the shells.

Thank you for dropping by. If you have time check out 
Kim's own posting is beautiful !  Worth the visit. 

1.3.14

The Un-common in Common

We plant yellow and purple pansies in the fall 
since the winters are so mild.
This year was no different.
But the common place proved to be uncommon.
Snow, ice, sleet pelted the southern states
making us wonder if we had been transplanted to another sphere.
We stared wide-eyed at our world cloaked in shards of ice.

Then I learned that "delicate" pansies are uncommon in tough conditions, they are strong, sturdy, sensuous in their cloaks of ice.
I value their uniqueness.


That which seems everyday-common, becomes beautifully uncommon
when removed from their normal context. 

Joining Kat at Photo-Heart Connection