Testing, Testing 1-2-3

Last night I posted a photoshopped self portrait. It should have had a lot of bright colors on a yellow background. Instead, it came up blue with muddy colors. I asked my teckie guru at work why it happened, and he said maybe I should change the colors from CMYK to RGB. Let's see if it works.

Saved by Jose, master of photoshop and all things technical in cyber-space! Here it is, my yellow self-portrait, painted without any paint, thanks to the wonders of photoshop!

Painting Without Paint

A few weeks ago I took a course in Photoshop. Of course, I only learned about 1/10 of what I wanted, and needed, to learn. I puttered around tonight with my usual subject matter—me. Well, maybe I take after Frida; she painted herself because she was the only subject she had readily available. I guess I don't mind if I make myself weird or ugly, but other people seem to get offended if they come out odd-looking.

So, here is my non-painted self-portrait painting. Time permitting, I will print it on fabric and stitch it up and see how it looks with with some real paint splashed on top.

OMG: This is so strange, it is not what I have on my desktop. Mine has a yellow background; this is blue. The blue is yellow, the red is blue, there is no brown, no olive, purple turned to red, orange turned to purple. What is going on in cyber space?

Scenic Hudson and Beyond

I went to upstate New York (for a family reunion) on Amtrak this weekend, a trip I have taken many, many times over the past 40 years. On the way up, I happened to sit next to a well-known photographer, who was snapping away with her top-of-the-line camera through the train window, getting some very cool shots.

On the way home I scrambled for the right side of the train, and snagged a window seat. Inspired by the photojournalist, I too snapped my way from Syracuse to New York, sticking the camera up against the glass as we whizzed and chugged along, looking at the old, familiar countryside through the eye of a digital camera.

It was interesting to see the landscape change, from the decaying upstate cities (similar to the midwest rust belt) and fields of cows wandering in wildflowers, to the swanky homes and yacht clubs on the banks of the Hudson, just outside New York.

Mixed Media Dancing Clown

This is unfinished, and has been for a while. I just can't seem to find time to figure out how to edge and finalize it. It is a group effort: 7 artists (plus me) each did a section. It is from a photo of my daughter, Amanda (now nearly 21) that was taken when she was about 3, playing a clown in a ballet recital. I blew up the photo about 500%, divided the photo into eight sections, then sent 7 people in my art groups each a black and white section.