Sunny Days for Joy

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This is for Joy, hope it gives you a smile :-)
Thanks for explaining the clipping masks to me, so much fun.....



Masks by JulieMead, other elements by DeviantScrap and textures by Skelletalmess. The original photo was just a flower, I used AutoPainter Express to create a Van Gogh version and an Aquarell version as well as an Impressionist version, all used here

The Hermit's Lantern

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Ah, this one took me days and days of starting and stopping again, and slowly bits by bits it came together.

This afternoon I was pondering what the title for this could be, and also I really started wondering what all of this has to do with me, as I always find that my creations somehow mirror something that's happening in my life just at the time of creation...

So I went on the internet to find the symbolic meaning of a lantern.... and found this text:

The Tarot symbolism represented by the lantern is one of power of intuition, truth and courage. When the image of a lantern reveals itself in a Tarot reading, it usually pertains to hope, healing and the quest for new found enlightenment through spiritual wisdom. The lantern serves to remind us that every dark path has a light. This light is from our inner selves, constantly revealing our own truths and, when adhered to, it always sets us on the right path or course of action.

When the symbol of the lantern represents an individual, we find a person of courage who chooses to live their lives with integrity by upholding their own values. This is an individual who can remain true to themselves regardless of darker impulses or instinctive motivations. They will not bow to or be fooled by outside pressure. In Tarot, the bearer of the lantern will always follow their own path not matter the consequences.

The Tarot symbolism of the lantern can also refer to new found awareness. The lantern often carries the message of revelation, insight or higher knowledge. In this sense, the dispersion of the lantern’s light can be seen as a force that illuminates the mind. This light represents conscious expansion and spiritual growth.

The one card most often associated with the lantern is the Hermit Tarot card. The Hermit often represents the bearer of spiritual wisdom. He can be both a messenger and a receiver of spiritual truths. In Tarot reading, the Hermit represents one’s search for knowledge. While the lantern he holds high bears light, he is still often depicted as being surrounded by cold and darkness. This signifies that he must also learn to be guided by his own truth and intuition. The light from the Hermit’s lantern refers to the spirit within us all. He is the Wise Man archetype, a spiritual teacher who constantly reminds us that many of the answers we are seeking can often be found within our ourselves.

http://tarotreadingpsychic.com/tarot-symbolism-the-lantern/

This is especially strange as just today I talked with joy about me being a hermit, hahaha.
H2 means Heide the Hermit.....

And it certainly relates so much to the MA work.... put your light on the candle stick for all in the house to see.....

Life is so very interesting, to say the least.

Come Dance With Me

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This was actually a lot of fun. The task was to create a story in three pictures. One picture for the characters, one for the scenery and the last one for the dramatic situation... and then write a story to the three pictures.

Sounds very much like me, hahaha. Me no good with story telling... and not wanting to think about drama either... rather having ever lasting happy endings....

So, the story is about 26 Characters that were lost, useless and lonely. They didn't have anything in common, all had different fonts, all had different shades of grey, they crossed each other's path but couldn't even recognise each other. Each of them was lonely, but confined to their way of thinking... (that's the first photo above)

But one day.... a strange light showed up, they had never seen anything like that before.... but they all understood in their bones - it contained an invitation to dance... and they followed, one after the other. (That's the second photo)

And in no time their appearance changed due to the joy they experienced... they were able to recognise each other as similar ... they danced and danced till they were tired. Then, for the last dance of the day, they decided to create a queue, where each Character found its best place within the group - and so the Alphabet was created... (That's the third photo)

From when they lived happily ever after... just how I like it :-)

In my world, this story really is the story of humanity. We're all separate from each other, we don't understand each other, are fearful and lonely.

But just right now The Shift occurs... which really is energy... light... that's coming in, changing all of us.

And we DO all feel it (in our bones :-), one way or the other... there is a change happening... something bigger, different to whatever has happened ever before. Ok, right now, many humans react with more fear and  try to hold on to their life (as if it was so great!), and with that, create more suffering.

But eventually, all will come and dance... and all will come and see that we're one ... one large group of individuals that are connected ... and happy ever after... ahhhhh...... That's Home.

And below the whole story in one photo...

Freedom to Shine

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'Freedom' is a huge topic for me, pondering lots about what it actually means.
I think of flying, when I want to feel free.... the feeling of flying without help, without airplane or hang-glider... ahhhhhhh
The birds on the photo show the joy I feel just dreaming of flying.
It's also a lot of triangles in there, a pyramid to hold the concept of freedom.
The bent tree is the connection to the Earth Star, the bright light is the combined connection of heart, pineal gland and soul star. And so I feel complete within.

Going Home

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This one has such a lot of meaning to me that I find it hard to even begin to explain.

There is an obvious road.. that's leading home. There is a shadow coming from bottom left, that's me.
Looking around at all the beautiful elements - the open hand with flowers and candle, the large purple flower to the right and the moon, the person standing on the boat sailing over the water.....and the rainmaker to the left... they are all symbols for life, for balance, beauty, passion - invitation.

To me this means that it doesn't matter in which direction I go, it doesn't matter what I do, how I spend my time - everything leads HOME. There is no other way than the way home. There are no mistakes, nothing to be sorry about and nothing to regret.

I am living from my heart, I am kind to others and thoughtful of the environment. I am a conscious being, aware of how it feels to live in harmony with all relationships I have... relationships to people, animals, plants, un-animated objects and whatever else there is around.

And above all of that, I love to play and have fun :-)

Curiosity

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I am so very impacted by the MA work right now - in the most positive sense possible - that everything that I do seems to have to do with light, geometries, feelings of vastness, freedom, appreciation. The different areas in this composition show much more of how I feel than I can express it myself.
I see myself in these two cats, standing on different platforms with my eyes wide open, curious while at the same time ready to participate.

Extremely exciting!

Your Hands

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Now this is the 'real' piece for week 10 challenge.... Instead of trying to show something about all my 'obvious' passions, I concentrated on my passion about hands.... not sure what that is, but I just love looking at hands and their movements and their stability and balancedness and and and....

These particular hands are passionate about cars,  That's where the steering wheel (and the tyre below) are coming in... :-)

Both Tim and I couldn't decide which one we liked best, so it'll be two once more...

Nothing but....

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Week 10 Challenge was about passion... which created a lot of pondering in my space. There is so much I feel passionate about, the 'normal' things like our environment, peace in the world, nobody being hungry or cold ever... then the more personal things, like Tim, the cats, the flowers in our garden, the sun shining in my eyes in the morning, the miniature gardens, MA, the photoshop possibilities to express myself... and so on.

I also like it when reality and imagination are fading into each other....

Eventually I came to the conclusion that I really have a passion for life itself, just with all that it contains. So be it. There are two results, I like the first one better, but the second one has something that I like as well.

Logic

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I have been thinking so much about my habit to 'think through' everything, looking for the logic of everything all the time, using the rational mind as if it was 'ME'. So it was no surprise when I eventually ended up with the composition above...

... creating the intention to use Imagination a bit more often, imagination to get everywhere.....

A Rose, Just A Rose

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I was - and probably still am - overwhelmed by the beauty that is developing in our garden. I could spend hours outside looking at all the different shapes and colours... taking photos morning, midday and evening... and then sit for hours and look at the photos.
Especially I enjoy the ones that start wilting, and the ones that are pretty much gone. Their colours and fine detail is always amazing to me, a beauty that needs a bit of attention to be noticed... but then it's hard to go away without touching the leftovers, taking them off the stem to have a closer look at the filigrane complexity.....
Reminds me of ... ageing gracefully... the flowers certainly know how to do it!


First attempt was this, but I thought it needed a bit more attention:

My Doorstep

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Sebastian from the Photoshop Art workshop came up with this new challenge, where he gives us quotes and we create something that's about the quote.

He is making this a competition, which isn't really for me, so I took a bit of a humorous approach...

I had to think of a photo that I took of the damaged deck at Kahu Road when we moved out when I read the complete quote:

The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep.  — Paul Strand 

So I thought I'd make a photo of this doorstep... the frame should show the artistry as well as the handyman work needed and applied.... I also made it all a bit leaning sideways to make sure that it doesn't look too comfortable :-)

So much fun ...

The Unadulterated Rose

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This morning just before work I took a few photos of our roses, holding the camera against the sun.... and when I looked at the results I was just so happy with myself. There were such good shots, I couldn't believe it.
All day the question was in my head what actually defines 'beauty'. What is it that makes me (or others) gape in awe... what it is that let's me look twice and then again? What is it that touches me so much, from the outside... touching the deepest part of my heart? I haven't got an answer, but my thoughts revolved around this while doing the piece above.

I very much like the quote - Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror......

Always Watching

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I created this quite a while ago, just trying to come up with contrasts, the way how I experience the world at the moment - colours vs. white..... nature vs. technical looking squares and circles.

The eyes just seemed so fitting, as I also feel that there is a lot of help everywhere, and someone, something, is always watching over me.... over everybody, actually.

Even though one tree is depleted of leaves, and the other is bending to the side - which are all parts of me - I feel very calm, balanced... and excitement (the yellow) is there too :-).

Leave Your Footprint in the Clouds

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I have been contemplating 'being an artist', and why I am creating these photos and what I want to achieve.... and the more I spend time on this, the more I realise that I do it because I feel so good when I have completed a piece of art.

There is no consideration of other people liking it or not, of it being art or not.... good or bad..... it's the feeling of achievement within myself that makes me start the next one.

"Footprints on the sands of time is kind of like leaving your mark in this world or society"

In opposite to that - leaving my footprint in the clouds, where the sun and the moon will see them.... not worrying about them becoming a 'mark in this world'.

My pieces of art have touched myself... while making them, and after completion.... they have fulfilled their purpose.
If they touch someone else.... wonderful.

I hear the smell of Beauty
I see the speed of Wind
I taste the Rays of Sunshine
... and I leave my footprint in the Clouds....




And then Sebastian posted the following quote on facebook a few days ago:

“To be an artist it is not necessary to make a living from our creations. Nor is it necessary to have work hanging in fine museums or the praise of critics . . . To be an artist it is necessary to live with our eyes wide open, to breathe in the colors of mountain and sky, to know the sound of leaves rustling, the smell of snow, the texture of bark . . . To be an artist is to notice every beautiful and tragic thing, to cry freely, to collect experience and shape it into forms that others can share.” — Jan Phillips

Entitled to...

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I feel such a lot of joy, excitement, playfulness in my life and wish for everybody to have the same. Life is so wonderful in it's small and great occurrences and we really either can allow ourselves to see and experience the greatness... or not.

More joy for the world.

Dare to be Colourful

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Ah, I just wanted to be really messy without getting my hands dirty.... I loooove colours and it can't ever be too colourful. Brushes, splashes, textures, blending... and and and... lots of fun, for sure :-)

Rose Buds

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Kiril's behaviour changes have upset me so much that I needed to use cat photos for a composition to calm down again.
Only after I had worked on the cats photos with the rose buds in between for quite a while, I realised how suitable the rose buds actually were..... So beautiful, but some thorns in between, ahhhh.......

evoL(o)ve

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I saw a short film that somehow showed for a second a photo of the word 'revolt' and how reading (r)evol(t) backwards it is "love".
This made me ponder about other worlds that have 'evol' in it..... like evolve and evolution.... and I just had to play around a bit with this in Photoshop. For no other reason than having fun.

The result shows a bit of 'evolution' in it - the winter tree without leaves on the left, the cracks on the left..... none of that on the right, but beautiful flowers. The butterflies flying from one side to the other are meant to show that there still is a connection... it's not one day this and next day that, there is a flow, with evolution as well as with love. Sometimes there is more change, sometimes less..... sometimes love shows itself clearly, and sometimes it's a bit hidden and has to be looked for or assumed.


The text on the back in from John Lennon:

“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” 

― John Lennon

Translucent

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I found these flowers yesterday in the garden, hidden behind some large bushes and weeds. After I had trimmed everything away that was obstructing the view, the most beautiful flowers became visible..... (and invited themselves for some photoshop work :-)

Another attempt at the week 7 challenge, see previous post...

Miniature Garden - The Second

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These miniature gardens will become a calendar for my parents in 2015. So there will be 12 of them, or maybe 13, for a cover page.....

My mum and I had quite large differences in our opinions about the definition and treatment of weeds. Maybe she is going to change her mind once she's seen the new calendar :-) :-) :-)

This was done for the 7th weekly challenge of the photoshop artistry class.
We had to take one photo and just use small squares of it without showing the whole piece, but the small squares should still show the whole. And then each of the small pieces should get its own treatment... and the end result should still be pleasing....