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It's a little rainy and wet today, but I can't complain as for the past few days its been absolutely beautiful, blue, blue skies, and balmy short sleeve weather.
No shortage of pics to tinker with either.... Kangaroo paws (as in the flowers) and sea snails make strange blog partners, but I thought the colours were absolutely awesome!
It's never really too hard to find wonderful things to take pictures of around here....and you can tell that Spring is in the air....with quite a few of nature's best, busy showing their Offspring to the world already!
Don't you think that Madame Kangaroo has the best baby sling ever? Oh and for the inquiring minds...I was only standing about 4 feet away from this lovely little gal and her toddler as I happily snapped her picture, same goes for Papa roo too.
Getting ready to jump on a jet plane (or three) and head home.......
See you all in 36hrs!
xoxo
The world of self publishing is enormous now. There are so many companies that will take your thoughts, words and images and create a wonderful book for you, and in some cases, even sell it as well! Takes a lot of heat out of flogging an idea to a publisher and having to compile revision upon revision to please an editor.
I've experimented with a few self published books now, primarily for printing collections of my photos and artwork - and for photo books really like the consistent and beautiful colors and papers that are produced by VioVio.
My main issue with the internet driven publishing is the time that it takes to upload all the images and the learning curve that comes with each different company's set of "foolproof" instructions and at the end of the day the books are not that cheap!
My answer to to both conundrums was to buy a handy dandy machine called a Unibind Photobook Creator. Not only can I pick, choose and print at my own pace, I can also use a lot of custom papers and they don't all have to be the same weight and stock, so the whole process really lends itself to creating very "One of a Kind" books that can be as unique and individual as you wish.
The book I created yesterday was printed on my Epson 7800 but there is no reason why you can't use your ordinary home desktop printer. My other tip for the day would be that if you wish to print photos only (and not include mixed media pages) that you choose a paper that is designed for double sided printing and is NOT a matte finish- I used Inkpress Luster Duo - matte finish papers attract sticky finger marks too easily.
Here are a few snaps of yesterday's book. Unfortunately I left it late in the day to take the pics and the light was not the best....but you get the idea!
Already the days are shorter here in New York and the nights much cooler...sadly I think Summer has passed...there are acorns dropping on the floor and much of my garden has passed it's glory.
Time for me to head home to Australia and and see to things down there as the Boys are sorely in need of some TLC and hugs - and you can never get enough of those- right?
True to form, just before I pack my bags I had a hairball and for the last 3 days DH and I have been madly renovating the laundry. It's about the smallest and last room in the house to get a little attention since we moved here and I can't really explain WHY it had to be done before I go...but it did! 'nuff said.
Anyway, while paint was drying and floor primer doing it's thing I took the trusty camera on a tour of the garden to capture some of the last colourful moments.
I also snuck in a little time with the etching press today and caught up on some printmaking. I'll save those pics for tomorrow....or when the floor is laid and domestic decorum restored.........stay tuned!
After a lovely dinner out with friends tonight I'm feeling fat, happy and contented...just as you should after a nice fillet mignon and a few glasses of delicious Silver Oak Cabernet!
Despite the compelling draw to hop to bed and nap once I got home I peeled off the finery, threw the high heels into the corner and hopped back into the studio to check on my latest project which had been drying and pressing.
A couple of days ago I made an acrylic skin out of digital grounds and printed up a version of my 'famed' AC picture, tweaked and tricked in Photoshop, added some layers of the previously posted 'silhouettes' in another layer, painted them up and then printed.....
The 'skin' came out beautifully and yesterday I mounted it on a 10x10 wood panel.
Tomorrow I will add some new layers with (real) paint and possibly gold leaf. Might sound complicated, but really not and one of the few techniques that I will be teaching at AnS in Virginia....so be not afraid, you can do it too!
ciao for now
Much to contemplate and things on my mind today. As usual, a little Photoshop therapy provides a decent enough distraction (for now).
It wasn't until I'd complied a few of the pictures I worked on tonight into the blog post that I realised that I'd somehow managed to create a collection of images that have fairly significant meaning in rather a subliminal fashion............maybe my head was less distracted than I thought!
Can you figure it out?
Well, after keeping my lips zipped for SUCH a long time I am pleased to announce that I will be teaching two new workshops for Art and Soul Retreat in Virginia in 2010!
The first class on Thursday is entitled "Surface Magic" and is designed to enable artists to expand their digital printing horizons beyond the basic output of photo or fine art paper and will focus on the creation of custom substrates and printing on all sorts of mixed media surfaces, including hardware finds and stuff you already have in your drawers, recycle bin or tucked away in the kitchen!
The second class on Friday is entitled "Lovely Layers and Magical Masks" and is designed to take the mystery out of creating complex and wonderfully layered digital artwork from a few simple images. We will also cover the use of filters, masks, blending modes and many other of the wonderful options that digital art offers, including distressing and framing your pictures for print or web use!
Up until now I have only been offering private classes in Photoshop so I am thrilled to have been invited to teach at Art and Soul and hope that many of you who have asked about classes with me will be able to sign up and join us for what will be a wonderful and creative experience!
For more information, please visit the ARt and Soul website - Registration begins on the 13th of Septmber..... or feel free to contact me via email at paperartzi@cs.com
hhmmmm...no news today.....I have to keep my lips zipped for TWO more days.....sorry about that...HA! What a tease!
In the meantime - a few 'pushed pixels' to keep you occupied!
