Moving On From Picasa: a Personal Journey with Computers

For many years I depended upon Picasa to store and edit my photos. At that time our family used a PC. 

I liked Picasa, it was easy to use, allowed a small amount of editing and then easy to publish or share from.

My "smooth" world changed when my PC unexpectedly  expired/died. 

Lesson: Pendulum-of-life swings back and forth.

In the Beginning: Our first family computer was a Mac. It is an understatement the "grief" it brought into my new computer experience. 

Eager to learn basics, I took a class from a retired ex-Army sergeant. I was the only female in an all male class, conducted in a "military" sort of way. I became unglued...nervous...intimidated. Little learning took place in my jumpy mind and shaky fingers!  

Eventually our family moved on to a PC and for some reason it appeared so much easier but was it?  

Over time, Mac's evolved into Apple and I became more curious, more desirous of what I was reading.

My family thought I was crazy/not thinking/not practical/ but Bingo! Change! I did it and have never looked back. I am now fully committed to Apple. And with that the use of Lightroom and Photoshop.  
It is all about Exploring, Learning, Practice and Doing.... (personally found so much easier to learn second time around!)

 I use Google and Yahoo.  One day I was thinking about my years using Picasa on my PC. Thousands of photos had been left in my old PC that suddenly quit.  Bless (Google's) Heart, as I rummaged around their various options and found hundreds upon hundreds of my old photos, albums and paintings  done years ago!!!  It was a walk down memory lane reacquainting with paintings and photographs I had totally forgotten about. 

Sharing with you a few paintings I rediscovered from way back when......

        The pendulum does swing.
 Thank you Picasa for saving what I thought I had lost. 

A deep pleasure to FIND YOU AGAIN !  

A bit of my life memories have been restored.

Addendum: I use iPhoto to collect and store phone photos. These are transferred to folders on my harddrive. I use a Master Lightroom Folder to move photos into LR or PS.  It took awhile to "sink in." But there is no way but up!  PS: almost all adult kids use an Apple computer.   

The Slowing of Summer

               (sold)

The summer Fruit and Vegetable Stands have been without equal.  We have several right by our home, each a bit different.

We have never indulged in so many watermelons as we have this past summer.  On Sunday we ate, perhaps our last for the season, a sweet sun-ripened miniature watermelon.

Cantaloupes weren't as plentiful, but what we had were yummy.  
A nice change from the watermelon we consumed...and easier to cut!

Of course, mounds of strawberries, red grapes and raspberries are always tempting us.

                                                    Pink Pear  30x30  Available

This week the air feels different. Last night we had a storm of all storms...zinging lightening that never stopped, thunder that shook up the pups and adults, pelting rain that I thought would come straight THROUGH the roof. 

We stood under the shelter of the porch and marveled at the display of nature's wrath: after we turned off all electronics and lit candles!!! 

Stealthily sneaking in are the autumn colors edging their way into the thickly leafed branches, an abundance of peaches and ripe tomatoes are sitting center-stage.

Next will come the hearty squash, pumpkins, beets and carrots. 

Down the road from our home...love the women who work here..they place everything with an artistic eye.

Fruit and Vegetable Stands are 
EYE CANDY
for the Soul
Bon Appétit

WHAT INSPIRES ME?

what does inspire me?

A few weeks ago, my husband and I  were driving through the North Carolina countryside. It was awesome! Around every bend in the road was a new vista, something "ohh-ahh" producing. The challenge was getting off the edge of the road to take photos. We drove in this green wonderland for hundreds of miles....inspiration falling like shamrock glitter.

Later in the day, pushing our luck riding on gas fumes, we pulled into one of those wonderful old fashion pump stations. You know the ones with the round topped pumps faded coffee colored screen and peeling white and red paint. 
Once the gas began gurgling in the empty belly of the tank, 

thank heavens, I had the sense to "LOOK  UP and AROUND" 

at my environment.

Across the dirt lane, waiting to be noticed.... 

If I hadn't taken a minute to look away from the pump I would have missed this bucolic scene.

(photos SOOC....)

The following oil painting isn't directly from the above photos, but was inspired by equally wonderful photographs shot during the day.

Peace Upon the Animals   16 x 20

The Fragrance of Lavender...16x20

This is a composite of many photos, and recalled memories. I consider this more imaginative than realistic, but was inspired by my surroundings.

******************************

We visited a magnificent chateau in Geneva, Switzerland.  It is situated with a view overlooking Lake Geneva.  However I found the outdoor gardens at the rear of the chateau very interesting. This is a rear facing photograph.
It you look hard you will see gardeners working. The yellow building is a chapel.

Below is the painting that resulted from the inspiration of  Landscape ~ Atmosphere.

Swiss Chateau  16 x 20

When we shoot a photograph, it immediately takes us back to a place in time.

Creating a painting can do the same.

Then we begin again.

HEART THOUGHT: don't forget to LOOK around while doing the ordinary tasks in life.  You might miss something.  I nearly did.

A Place for Imagination

 Where in the WORLD did these paintings come from?

Snowmageddon-What to Do When the World Turns White

This morning's internet news called it a 'Snowmageddon"....We live in Maryland and the world did indeed turn WHITE. The never ending hours of snow felt like we were sheltered within a Glass Snow Ball; you know the ones you shake and snowflakes fall gently over the scene in circular swirls. A few hours of fairytale life!

QUESTION: What should a compulsive personality do cloistered within the furies of a white-out blizzard that lasts for days? Curl into a soft chair, cuddle inside that special quilt reading that book you have been dying to get to; go on a baking frenzy maybe unopened Jamie Oliver cookbooks; clean out closets (ugh); call long distant friends; play games with children (ours our gone); rent half a dozen videos; watch football (2nd ugh); cook Indian food in the tajine: stare at the television weather report all day seeing what is going on in your own world (3rd ugh); or dive into the painting studio.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

But first I just have to share the world we woke up to this morning after the SNOWMAGEDDON.    The furious storm stopped as quickly as it began, as fast as it started, the last humble snowflake tumbled to the earth; the midnight sky sparkled with millions of stars through the clear air;  the thin crescent moon sent a feeble ray of rippled light onto the snow and the temperatures DROPPED! 

But come SUNRISE and the world was AMAZING, CLEAN, PRISTINE, DEEP BLUE SHADOWS CAST UPON THE PUREST OF WHITE.

Our world upon arising...deep angles of purplish blue slashing through the pure white. Love the dash of red on the door across the street!

 

Up Stairs, Down Stairs, which way would you go?

 

 Remnants of our Prayer Flags whipping in the cold air...not as cold as Tibet however! These will be preserved in an Art Journal for protecting our home and the example of perseverance!

Our little pond keeps bubbling away, forming an exquisite ice sculpture on its own. Is our adopted frog hibernating under this stillness?

 Our little world  is peaceful, when many places in the world are not. I am grateful for this presence of calm, dignity, seclusion, and freedom from normal routine.

So what did a compulsive, Type A girl do:

   PAINT   PAINT  PAINT  PAINT  PAINT

Here is a RARE Peek into my Studio of Compulsiveness.

  

Looks like some SERIOUS STUFF happened around here. Dare not show what is on the floor around and under my chair!  But elsewhere on the floor, drying are.....

Lots of experimental portraits done in many different mediums. They are painted on various papers and will be bound into a journal...when we get another snowstorm.  Art materials used: acrylic, black water soluble pencils, oil sticks (my favorite), pastel, oil pastel, water soluble crayons, pan pastels...just simple experiments!

Got back to an oil painting I have been diddling with for ages...decided to over draw with oil sticks. Oh, why oh why, did I put these wonders of oil paint in a stick like a magical crayon away in a drawer to be forgotten. They are pure genius!

BUT THE SECRET BE KNOWN, THIS IS WHAT REALLY GOT ME THROUGH ALL THE PAINTING SESSIONS, ENDOWING ME WITH FETES OF ENERGY!!!!

RED

Colors are universal, and throughout the ages, many different colors have been associated with different religious and spiritual meanings.


But one aspect of color holds true in every corner of the world. The colors we chose are not arbitrary, but hold personal meaning for us. Spending time in Asia, one sees clearly the spiritual meaning of the combination of marigold yellow and crimson in the Buddhist and Hindu faiths.


We definitely have certain colors that “attract us.” The colors we chose are deliberate, carefully selected, and have personal meaning to us as an expression of "who we are".


What is your primary color, your preferences? I am a seasonal person. So in December it is every shade of RED possible…but just wait, February PINK is coming up!!


It was fun going around photographing favorite items…only qualification was something RED!

These beautiful topiaries are in the rotunda of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Every season the rotunda is graced with the most beautiful plants and shrubs. You can’t take a poor photograph; every angle is bursting with fragrance, color and composition.

These adorable little hedgehogs were purchased 15 years ago in Bavaria. They just had to come home with me and every December their adorable little faces are there to smile at. The cookie tin was just that, a generic tin box. I transformed it into a little container painted ‘folk-art’ style.

Speaking of folk art, I studied this art form for many years and had the pleasure of working with several German artists to learn the true German way of painting. This red tray was done at that time. It is difficult to tuck it away after the holidays.

Let’s skip to Bali and their wonderful story-telling-puppets that are so intriguing and elegant. Just hanging them on the wall, brings a beautiful part of Asia to our home. I had the opportunity to teach an art class at my granddaughter’s class. We made our own Balinese puppets and they were fabulous.

On the Smithsonian Mall, next to the National Gallery of Art is our second favorite museum, The Native American Museum. They have an exhibition room that showcases one Native American artist’s work…of very high caliber! This red square is a sewn wall hanging constructed of RED clothing of every kind imaginable. It is at least 30' by 50’. I have never seen anything like it. It is sewn together like a puzzle…how in the world did they sew in the middle of it? It was fascinating to figure out the various garments used.

These tiles are simple ceramic bathroom tiles painted with glass paints and used for trivets during the holidays. So simple yet so charming.

This year I was gifted with two amazing bouquets of flowers. My birthday is near December so it is always a challenge for a gift giver. My sister sent the amazing RED roses and my daughter sent the equally amazing baby orchids to remind me of Bali. Who needs a Christmas tree with such beautiful flowers? They brought such happiness to my heart.

Forgotten Children

Today there is a greater awareness of the need to recycle, preserve our natural resources, to live more thoughtfully and deliberately. There is a growing, burgeoning awareness for Earth, our collective home. Even more important are those, the individual human beings who live fragile, fearful, fragmented lives in extreme poverty, war, genocide, human trafficking and natural disasters.


One cannot RECYCLE human beings.

A portion of my painting time I devote to keeping in mind these Forgotten Children. This last year I focused upon children who live in Rwanda, Congo, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Tibet. Each painting depicts children of dignity and grace.


One cannot RECYCLE human beings.

But the painting substrate could be composed of recycled materials. I set about the task of using no new substrate/panel/canvas. The paintings would solely be formed from discarded, salvaged items. It was fantastic coming up with all sorts of materials: old chopsticks, bent wire, discarded cardboard, newspapers from countries I have visited or friends sent to me, torn cheesecloth, advertisements, junk mail, used metal, corrugated cardboard, sacred prayer papers, doilies and earth pigments.


Looking at my pile of USED items, I knew I had a huge puzzle on my hands. So slowly I started piecing bits and pieces together. I formed the “new” canvases, by gluing, stapling, wiring and wrapping.

Now the fun began, as I decided what type of child/children to paint of these surfaces. It was a challenge worth taking.


Some of the Forgotten Children series were part of an exhibition, Living Green. I rather stretched the meaning.


These pieces are sold to support a charity I find great joy in. Many have read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen. I am now reading his new book, Stones into Schools. His story is so inspiring that I made it a goal to send donations through the sale of art appropriate for his cause. www.penniesforpeace.org http://www.ikat.org/