I found this great little website and felt I must share it with you.  It allows you to paint like Jackson Pollock.  If you never heard of Jackson Pollock (shame on you!) here is a little background.  He lived in East Hampton with his wife/artist Lee Krasner.  (Isn’t that neat?)  He was an abstract expressionist and is considered one of the great American painters.  After his death, his studio was given to the Stony Brook Foundation.  They have tours and a study center that is open to the public.  It’s a great piece of history and worth going to.  I remember I visited back when I was going to NYIT. 

Check out my Pollock masterpiece…

Ben has totally mastered this.  He presses the mouse button to change colors and then hits the F5 button to clear and start over! 

Have fun…

jacksonpollock.org

I’ve been playing around lately with different concepts when it comes to my picture taking.  I was talking about being inspired last night and how it becomes a chain reaction.  For example:   I’m inspired by flickr (we all know I’m addicted) -> I experiment after seeing some ideas I like -> someone else, like my friend Jill, sees my work -> it now changes the way she takes pictures.  Isn’t that cool?  I think so.  This is the very reason why my photography skills have grown so much in the last year.

I’ve seen jump shots and silhouette shots a zillion times before.  This was the first time I actually tried a combo.  I like the result.  I have to say the art of processing adds a lot in this instance.  Look at the original:

It’s a pretty good foundation but after bumping up some of the colors and toning down others, adding more contrast and finally a drastic crop……You get something super duper grand.  I just love having a digital darkroom where I can play. 

Well, I put this lesson at the top of my list.  I will definitely practice some more though because you never know when you will get “The Shot”

I made Frontpage Explore!

For those of you that are not really into Flickr ahhhhhhh sarrrrry!  For me, it is a BIG deal.  Flickr recognizes 500 photographs a day as being the most “interesting”.  It’s in an area on the site called Explore.  If you go there,  you can pretty much waste a few hours looking at all the fantastic photographers.  Well, I’ve made Explore before but only made Frontpage once and that was with this photo:

Now I made it again with this one:

                                                                                                                                I am pretty psyched!  I’ve been working really hard to get shots that I have in my head actually come to be.  That is what I’m most proud of.  So if you haven’t joined Flickr, let me know and I’ll send you an invite.  You can see most of my photos without joining but Ben photos are set to private.  You have to join (it’s FREE) for that.  So go explore Explore…..IT’S FUN!

What an exhausting week.  I actually fell asleep at 10:15 last night.  Can you believe that?  I don’t usually go to bed till ’bout 12 or 1am.  I feel well rested and ready for the weekend.  I finished up 4 ACEOS this week too.  For those of you that don’t know what they are…here is the definition.  I will either put them up on eBay or Etsy this weekend.  I hear Ben calling me from his crib so I’m off.  Have a great weekend!

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I’ve been working hard at the pottery studio this session.  I made lots of planters for this summer to hang and put on the deck.  It’s nice to be at the point where I can say, “Ok, I will now sit down and make a blank.”  Before, I would sit and try to center a hunk of clay forever and then try to see where that lead me.  I love the feeling of making progress.  Here is my latest….a small pitcher for soy sauce and bowl.  It charming and I can’t wait to use it.

                                                                                                                    Experimenting with different looks and textures on my photographs. This one is vintage with an old film feel. What do you think?

Alone


Just shooting some things around the yard.  Click on it to see it larger.

Here is another one from the day at the park. 

I’m starting a new business designing cards.  It began as an experiment for a friend and now people seem to be interested.  Basically, I go to the clients house and shoot photos of their child.  I then design a custom greeting card for them for the holidays.  It’s fun to do and convenient for the Mom (or Dad).  No more dragging your kid to an appointment and being unhappy with the pictures or layout of the card.  So far, I have two extremely happy customers.  This will extend to birth announcements and invitations as well.  I’m excited about this new venture and busy as well…..Back to the grind.

Have a great weekend!

This is titled, “Pancake”.  It is for sale on Ebay and I would love for you to click on my AUCTION and take a peek.  I don’t typically do realistic drawings so you just might want to own it in case I become famous one day.  It would be very rare and worth a lot!  Ok, stop laughing will ya.  I’ll be happy if you just look and comment on this post.  Thanks and have a nice day.

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