Lost Aussie on the loose

Life Lakely V2

After several days of howling winds and chilly temperaures the Lake is finally still again.  Well it was, almost, when I took this long exposure pic - ergo the blurred tree bits, wafting in the breeze!

Regardless of the weather, the sunsets each night are unparalleled.  Our house faces west and for now that's a lovely thing although I am wondering what HOT influence that will have during the full force of Summer!!

Much toasty afternoon delight I am thinking!!

Lots of headway made with box unpacking and I'm now into hanging drapes and figuring where to hang pictures......

And a few moments to twiddle (or is it faff?) about with the above picture and render it in a slightly different light.....

Ciao for now.......

Fundraising for Nancy

As promised, I now have a selection of 6 different prints available for you to purchase with proceeds going to Nancy's * Cancer War Chest.

The artwork is my own, with all the images used sourced from my own personal photographs and crafted from start to finish by me.

Each image is special and speaks to who I am and places that I have been ....

Top to bottom, left to right: Shortcut Home, Daydream Believing, Shell Still Life, The Golden Hour, Vintage Car, Charlotte Skyline.

You can choose any of the images to purchase using the Paypal button below.

The images are printed on 8.5" x 11"  Fine Art Archival paper and are signed and numbered "Editions".

The purchase price of each print is $25 including shipping and handling to ANY destination in the world!!

Buy one, buy them all ... each contribution will be helping my friend Nancy and I will be more than grateful....

Print Choices

Shortcut Home $25.00 USD Daydream Believing $25.00 USD Shell Still Life $25.00 USD The Golden Hour $25.00 USD Vintage Car $25.00 USD Charlotte Skyline $25.00 USD

For The Love of Nancy

As many of you know, one of my bestest friends (and first ever students), Nancy is having the battle of - and for her life.  She is currently undergoing Chemotherapy treatment as well as intensive rehab in a Spinal Unit in Toronto.  Thankfully she is surrounded by MANY wonderful friends and carers who provide a fantastic support network.

Her friends have orgainised a fundraising event to help Nancy and if you can attend the event in Toronto, I sincerely hope that you will.  Otherwise if you can donate money to her cause then it would be much appreciated too.

 

For those of you who can't attend the fundraising event and are not in a position to bid for Nancy's artwork, I shall post tomorrow several prints of my own that you can choose to purchase with 100% of the proceeds going to Nancy's  * Cancer Box.

The prints will be of the usual calibre that you would receive from me but very conservatively priced in the hope that MANY purchases will help fill Nancy's war chest.

Published In....

It's been a long time since I've submitted magazine fare as I'd rather gotten past publications that take your artwork for free and do little more than compensate you with a gratis issue.  (Though I will admit that the times that Cloth Paper Scissors used my material they did pay a fee.)

I received a notice the other week that Somerset Digital Studio had decided to use a piece of artwork that I had submitted in 2010.  I'd actually forgotten that I had sent them stuff and had to work hard to find the parent file to send them for print.

Despite one's lofty moral standings, it's hard to say no to seeing your artwork published in the gallery of an international magazine!!  In this case ego wins, big time, especially since it has it's own full page on 112!!

Life - Lakely

I am learning that whilst the vista might remain the same, the Lake does not, she's quite the volatile mistress.  Tonight we are being hammered by high winds.  The floating docks and moored boats are all creaking and bumping like crazy and the double glazed windows are all doing their damndest to thwart off the onslaught.
The cats have all popped their noses out of the door and opted for inside and cozy.  I'm just the idiot who had to go OUT and take the camera with me to catch a shot of the moon over the water...

What can I say, I am enthralled.......

Digital Doodles

Time out from box unpacking.  The computer, hard drives and tablet are all installed and ready to go.  Perhaps I'll just leave the rest... for whenever....

The Ever Changing Moods

Cold and gloomy today, with mists and rain rolling in across the Lake.  I parked my trusty Canon and tripod on the middle balcony and took a bunch of long exposures which did a fair job of smoothing out the choppy water.

It seems like ages since I had my camera out and and hour or so of 'faffing' about taking pictures was a nice respite from unpacking, organizing, cutting up cardboard and heaving it three stories down to the garage.

Logically I know I am making progress, it just doesn't seem like it quite yet.

A New (and warmer) Perspective

10 days later, 700+ miles and much drama/effort, we are moved away from Long Island to North Carolina.  Ensconced in boxes and slowly digging the bits of life out from between sheets of packing paper.

I'm exhausted, but happy.  Our little house on the lake is quiet and calm, with a vista that is second to none.
No doubt that within a few months you will all be sick of lake pictures .... afterall my backyard is not going to move and nor is the lake!  But I am hoping there will be a little diversity in the photo offerings.

This move is a little different than others I have experienced.  No weight of the big corporate budget, which means a lot more effort on our part and it will take quite a few weeks before all the boxes are unpacked and put away.  And whilst I can't abide mess or mayhem I've decided that I am not going to kill myself over getting stuff sorted out in 5 minutes. 

Gotta take time each day to put up my feet and enjoy the view right?  The sunsets each night are phenomenal!!

Pointing South

Charlotte Skyline, NC.  Feb 2013
© Marie Otero 2013

Well FINALLY, after goodness knows how many weeks, months, we finally have a closing date on our house and I can heave a modicum of a sigh (of relief).

For no other reason other than it's time to move on.

From a 6500sq ft house into a 3000 sq ft one.  Trading living large for a spot on the lake and well, I am kind of done with a lot of the "stuff" that I have been carting around for well over 20 years and finding the process of "chuck it out if you haven't touched it in a while" to be quite cathartic.

My thanks to everyone who has sent emails and left blog comments of late.  I'm sorry to be a poor respondent but hope you understand I'm a 'tad' busy  and that you will bear with me as I make this transition.