Photos

Winter Moods

Claudette16 Comments

I like simplifying things – sometimes – and these photos work for this today.

Huon River Views - diddled

Deep Winter Spirit – because Winter IS here.

 

inverted crop

The thorns, wrapped in the web in the deep of night, intrigue me.

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

If you are wondering what the original photos look like, here they are …

Huon River Views (4)

The Huon River – on a overcast winter day.

 

Autumn 2020 (9)

My rose arch on a frosty winter morn.

 

Laying it Out

Claudette21 Comments

I collected these leaves from my garden and then I played with layouts for a new resin art piece I am going to create.

Gum Leaves
Dried Gum Leaves

I like to use a frame, and then take a photograph, as it helps me “see” them better.

I wanted to use the ferns branching out from the corners, but I couldn’t get a design to work that I really liked. I think the last frame in this set is the best.

Fern, Seed and Leaves #1
Fern, Seed, Twig and Leaf #2
Fern, Seed and Twigs

I made minor adjustments to the seeds in each of these frames below, and it’s interesting to see how each small variation impacts on the flow of the piece.

My favourite is #4 then #2 (I think) .

Leaves and Seeds #1
Leaves and Seeds #2
Leaves and Seeds #3
Leaves and Seeds #4

This was a fun exercise, but I will probably go with the first arrangement I tried (below), because I like it’s simplicity, and the fuzzy lichen on the twig.

Layout Design Options (1)
Leaves and Lichen

Wine, the Beach, the Garden & Goodnight

Claudette6 Comments

I have been ramping up the creativity in the last few weeks, as my big annual market is approaching very quickly – only 7 weeks to go!  So here are a few of my latest bits a pieces, hope you enjoy looking at them.

If you don’t, then quietly click away onto something you do – time is too precious to waste on things you don’t like – and truthfully I shall never know, so where is the harm?

I decided to kick things off with a bit of red wine – no, not drinking of, spilling of.  After contemplating the mess it would have been if it was real, I thought some relaxation at the beach was in order.

The Tipple that Toppled
Red Wine Spill

I didn’t want to drive anywhere so I decided to make my own – in my empty pool (well, big glass platter – but let’s not quibble with the artisitc licence).

Big Glass Platter
Claw
Crab in hiding
Beach Creation

As you know, you need to be careful of bare feet at the beach, there are all sorts of hazards, like little crabs waiting to nibble on your toes. I successfully avoided them and found the water lapping the edge of the sand which was nicely bestrewn with shells and driftwood.

After that I thought a bit of garden time would round things off nicely.

White Crocus
Wattle
Silver Birch Leaves & Cones
Aged Daisy
Fern
Erlicheer & Jonquils

Wandering through the flowers was very peaceful, and by then it was nearly time to go to sleep, so my last little offering (especially for Brian – if he has made it this far) is a little inversion to welcome the evening star.

Deep Purple Crocus inverted and framed

Oh, and everyone knows that good things can make you a bit melancholy during the week of your anniversaries, when your special someone is no longer there to share it with – but do not worry because there is a solution apparently:

Absinthe Spill (3)

“Absinthe –  makes the heart grow fonder”

P.S  perhaps I should have drunk it instead of spilling it 🙂

Flowers – and how to preserve them

Claudette6 Comments

Spring has Sprung in the South of the world, and in my little slice the daffies, crocus, hellebores and camellias are flowering.

So, what better way to preserve these lovelies than suffocating them in silica sand for 7 days and drowning them in resin (to use in my art).

Dried Florals
Dried Flowers – silica sand still dusting them

Here’s a camellia that has just started her bath.

Camellia in Resin in Glass (1)
Resin – Layer 1

Once you have suffocated and drowned your flowers, you are ready to hang them.  Here’s a new method I am trialling using black organza ribbon – appropriate for hanging, don’t ya think!

Organza Ribbon Edged
Organza Ribbon Edged

For those who struggle with the trauma associated with suffocating, drowning, or hanging flowers – don’t despair, or feel blue, as inversion therapy can assist.

 

Note:  No flowers were harmed in the making of this post (well, not anymore than if you picked them from the garden and put them in a vase to slowly die from soil starvation).

Dahlia Love

Claudette12 Comments

I love Dahlia, their flowers and the smell of their foliage.  I only have one variety, a “spider” dahlia, in my garden, but it is so lovely that I fall in love with it each year, and of course I take lots of photos.

However, I also like to edit my photos a little bit, and one of my favourite edits is simply to invert the photo, and guess what?  My dahlia looks totally awesome inverted, like some tentacled maw about to swallow you up.  What do you think?

Dahlia - Cropped Inverted
Inverted Dahlia

Dahlia - Inverted
Inverted Dahlia