Lost Aussie on the loose

A Love Affair with Software

I first started using computers in the 80's when they were monster machines with big gapping holes that you put large plastic squares into and served, literally as - floppy disks and ran on DOS with tiny screens that you REALLY needed glasses to see AND if you wanted any program at all other than Minesweeper, then you pretty much had to write it yourself.

I'm happy to see that technology has moved along briskly in the past 20yrs, but keeping up with new programs, software upgrades and what not can be a right PITA, nevermind a pain in the wallet!
Even so, when I had the opportunity to purchase Corel's PAINTER programme a few months ago, I jumped at the opportunity.

I have a cupboard full of Golden's gels, mediums and paints...but well...they tend to be "icky" and take a long time to dry and then the paper needs pressing and gets all ruckeled...and well you get the idea.

Digital art is so "not messy" and gratifying because you can make your images appear as quickly as your little head can dream of a composition and NOW with the addition of PAINTER to my toolbox I am closer to art heaven than I ever imagined possible.!

Painter is like Photoshop in that it's a pixel based programme (unlike Illustrator which is Vector based) but it focuses on simulating painterly like actions and strokes with all different kinds of brushes and effects...and I am loving it!  Your Painter files are easily exported into other programmes such as Photoshop (or Illustrator) for final rendering, but you get to keep your realistic paint strokes and sketch lines which are not so easily replicated otherwise.

"Halloween Queen" was drawn and painted in Painter then exported to PS and further layers added with a variety of blending modes applied until she looked sufficiently green eye and weird!   
Am I having fun?  Oh Yeah!

A Little Brag-a-log

I'm excited to announce the public debut of  In This Garden, co-authored by Angela Cartwright & Sarah Fishburn. I was invited to join in this wonderful collaboration of mixed media art along with a number of other incredible artists. Each garden is truly unique and fabulous and I can't wait to see them all together in what promises to be a stunning publication.
The book is available for pre-order at AMAZON.

and....

The Gorey DeTales on Exhibit -

The Gorey Details" is an incredible gathering of artwork from 26 different artists based on the spooky tales of Edward Gorey.  Each artist was given a letter of the alphabet to concoct their own character and matching "Gorey rhyme.

The Gorey Alphabet (as seen in Somerset Studio (Sept/Oct '07 Issue)has already travelled to Arizona and Colorado for public showing and is now on exhibit at The Stamp Act in Marshfield, Massachusetts so if you are feeling like a little Halloween treat and are in the area..stop by!

My rhyme and letter (in case you are wearing glasses and can't see) is...

  "I" is for Iolanthe, who love to fly....but dropped a wing and fell to die!

Illustration Friday - Repair

This week's topic for Illustration Friday is Repair so it seems timely to create a piece of art that begs for us to fix the greatest of our World's ills - namely Peace!

This is also a particularly poignant topic for our Family, as we send the oldest of our sons off to  Afghanistan on Sunday.  This is not the first time Ryan has been deployed to the Middle East, he has already spent many, many months in Iraq and thankfully survived those experiences, physically at least.

I wish at some point the politicians would come to understand that the "right to life" does not just exist below the belt, but extends also to the the men and women of many nations who put themselves out there to fight as ordered, whether they believe the cause to be valid or not.

Ryan, we wish you Godspeed a safe journey and safe return.

A Day of Photoshopping

I traipsed off into the City today to attend a Photoshop Seminar put on by Kelby Training.  It was good, not great, but I did pick up a snippet here and there that will be able to use down the road.

I badly need to catch up on my Adobe upgrades as I have gotten too comfy with CS2 & CS3 (on my MAC).  Mind you, the thought of another $600 to upgrade to CS4, knowing that they are already working on CS5 is a bit much to take!

Still, I sat next to some fun and interesting folk during the day, one of whom was an 83yr old chap who plays with Photoshop to soothe his retirement ills!  Gotta give the guy LOADS of credit for he fell asleep during the 7 hour seminar way few less times than I did!

Even though we have arrived at windy and chilly here in NYC, the day was fine and sunny, so during the long lunch break I walked around the Javits Center a bit and snapped a few pics for the fodder folder...A girl can never have too many of her own stock photos.huh?

Music and Art

I chased some links tonight from my friend Ursula's blog and ended up downloading a lovely album of music at her suggestion...Jason Mraz.
Such dreamy and lyrical compositions.

You gotta wonder..the musicians make ART with lyrics and music...and we play THAT to make OUR ART to..

Kind of a wonderful circle if your think about it..

Something In Your Hand

The challenge over at Macro Day this week is "Something in Your Hand"

Print A Little, Play A Little

I had the good fortune to attend a workshop on Solar Plate Printing today.
It's not really a new technique, I tried it out sometime ago, but long before I was really able to see the possibilities that the technique might provide, so it was good to look at it again with a fresh pair of eyes....and as always there are a few takeaway points from a class that "really" make the difference.

The thing that really floats my boat is that printing with oil based inks means that the prints will be compatible with Encaustic overlays.  This is a great find, as any fine artist will tell you the Acrylic paints and Encaustics DO NOT MIX and are NOT ARCHIVAL..so being able to work with the prints in oils is FABULOUS thing and I can't wait to experiment a bit more!

Sad thing is that when hubby came home tonight I informed him that I'd placed an etching press on my Christmas List.....oh dear!....I guess we will just have to see how Happy I can make Santa in the mean time huh?

Spooky Stuff

This month I am participating in a Goth Swap with Gillian Allen.  The challenge is to create 4"x6" postcards with a Goth slash Punk theme and embellish them accordingly.

So far I've come up with the digital image, now I need to figure out how to tweak it for a 3D format and make it just a little more lively!

More Stamps in the House

There are some NEW stamps in the Etsy Store!!! Woohoooo!

These were specifically designed to make PMC charms and will also work perfectly for those of you who are addicted to making INCHIES

Having received a shipment of fresh new rubber today, I made sure to stock up on some of the items that had previously sold out very quickly.  So don't wait too long as some of them, particularly the Artsy Bits, are only available in a very limited quantity.

(What is an inchie? An Inchie is a 1" square of art. You can decorate it as you wish. Stamping, embellishing and colouring in any way that floats your boat! Inchies are the current craze among crafters with heaps of swaps taking place all over the world. )

South Fork Photowalk

The sunshine and breezy skies beckoned today, so DH and I changed out our usual trip to the City and headed East to the South Fork of Long Island to see what we could see!

Lots of lovely camera moments as we explored the small towns of the Hamptons, now thankfully devoid of the summer crowds!