Photo of the Week - Moonrise over Mount Hood

We are having a late burst of beautiful Indian summer weather, just in time for this month's full moon. (I used to know the monthly moon names, but my memory is failing me today. I think November's is the Hunter's Moon?)

Anyway, I got outside a little later than I intended, but it was still a most rare and beautiful sight, don't you agree?


If it is still clear this afternoon I am going to try again and see if I can catch it while it is still just clearing the horizon. Ahhh... I love the moon.

Can you stand one more?

One of the things Jean told us to do in our techniques class is to try to visualize a picture in the backgrounds we are painting. Kind of like finding faces in the clouds I imagine, which I've never been very good at by the way.

Anyway, I stared at the purple canvas for a while and I began to see (really!) a bird emerging from a starry sky. So I painted one in. I got a little carried away with the pearl white I'm afraid, and once again I had a horrible time trying to photograph the gleam-y surface. ("Gleam-y"... is that a word? LOL)


On my monitor, this photo skews a little yellow - the whites are much brighter in real life - but otherwise it's a pretty good representation. I think this canvas is my new favorite.

I need to go shopping for some more of these little canvases!

Too much rain... already!

The winds and rains of November have come early this year -- it is storming like crazy outside today and there is no way I am going out there, much less with my camera, LOL. (I think I would have made a good cat!) So this week's photo is once again of a completed project. I got the idea to finish one of the canvases I did in Jean's class with a little steampunk-style heart.


I really like the idea of the steampunk look, but judging by the sky-rocketing prices of watch parts and antique keys, it is going to become mainstream-trendy soon. (I wonder if the fact that someone like me even knows what it is means that it already has, LOL!)

Another little canvas

These little 4"x4" square canvases are so much fun - imagine creating an entire painting on a surface the size of the palm of your hand. This latest one was an experiment with several new techniques on a subject I love - nautilus shells. Their geometric perfection fascinates me!

I first drew in the lines of the shell and it's chambers, then drew over them again with a clear dimensional glue. I painted the image, then shaded it with micaceous iron oxid (that is some cool stuff!) and them added the iridescence using a large flaky opal glitter. For a pleasant change, I got exactly the effect I was after - now that's a great feeling.

When everything was dry, I applied some heat activated foil in a copper color to the raised outline. I managed to burn my fingers in the process, but it was fun anyway. That stuff could prove addictive. Oh dear...


I wish now that I had used copper rather than gold inside the chamber sections, but I have some more of these little canvases to play with. I think I just might make a series of them in different colors.

Monday's photos - 2 Little Canvases

This weekend has not gone as planned - nothing new there for life on a dairy farm - but it wasn't completely without a bit of free time. I got some work done on my Retreat piece, but when I just couldn't concentrate any more, I dug up a few little canvases and started making colors without thinking. These paintings are based on an online class taught by Jean Bernard, though I'm afraid that there is an essential connection that I have missed while trying to learn her techniques.

(I'm sneaking these in as my Monday photo because I am still trying to learn to shoot interference colors accurately. Can you see them?)


I am not disappointed in how they turned out, only that paintings are "splotchier" than hers. I am going to try again for the smooth color transitions that she achieves.


And she didn't instruct us to add the sprinkle of microbeads, but I can't seem to resist the little things. Using them just makes me so happy!

Retreat Wings Finished

I didn't make as much progress on my Retreat doll as I had hoped this week, due to dealing with the symptoms of a sinus infection. (Finding and redrilling the support hole for the right upper wing was an adventure let me tell you, LOL. Ugh.) Anyway, I managed to finish her wings/stand this morning and snapped a few quick pics this afternoon.


Layers and yet more layers of cheesecloth, art tissue, and paint were slathered on, and then the whole mess was frosted with some "Bernardization", a process which consists of a mixing up soup of Grrrip glue, micromarbles, glitter, and whatever else I feel like throwing in, which is then scooped up and applied with a craft stick and allowed to dry. The very cool frosted effect that this produces looks like meticulous work, but is actually delightfully messy and quick. Sweet, huh? (Thanks Jean B!)


The textures and embellishments on the upper and lower wings are a little different - lots more cheesecloth on top...


... and more tissue and glitter on the bottom. This is quite a large piece and I felt there needed to be some differences in order to keep it from being one overwhelming mass of yellow and gold.

By the way, I now realize why I don't work much with yellow. A little goes a *very* long way, LOL!

I gave the doll herself some little breasts just to even out her shape a bit, and I am still pondering what I want to do to finish off her head. I should take more in-progress pics as I go so you could see better how they develop, but I never remember to do it until I pause to think "what's next". Oh well... if you want to know where I am going with all of this you can see the original of this doll at Sherry Goshon's blog.

Sherry and Jean's Retreat doll

Photo of the Week - Night Photography

One afternoon last week in the middle of the milking we had some trouble with the milk pump, or so we thought. Jake couldn't find anything wrong, so he called out a technician, who also couldn't find anything wrong. That is, until he put his little gizmo on the power line to check the power feed and saw that we were getting only a trickle of the electricity that should be flowing - the failsafe switch on the transformer that feeds power to the milking parlor had been tripped. (Fortunately we discovered this before the pump burned out!)

A call to the power company brought out a lineman to reset the transformer. It is always fun to watch a lineman do his thing, but just imagine our surprise when a huge tongue of flame shot out of the transformer when he flipped the switch! Fortunately noone was hurt, but... now we had a very big problem. No electricity in the middle of the milking shift, and it would be hours before the power company could send out a crew with the equipment to deal with the situation.

Jake and the guys hooked up the generator while Lydia and I went into the house to cut the power to all sensitive electronics. Sigh... It was going to be a dark and cold evening at Cascade View Dairy.

I was a little shocked by how absolutely dark it gets around here with no moon and no barnyard lights. It was a great feeling to watch the big utility trucks pull into the driveway.


I didn't have anything else to do, so I grabbed my camera and attempted some night photography using full manual settings. It took some trial and error, but eventually I hit upon a good combination of settings.


I think I ended up using ISO 800, F/4, and a shutter speed of about 1/2 second. I was able to take these shots hand held using "da grip" - I am making an effort to always compose my photos with my left eye at the viewfinder after this!


I had plenty of time to experiment, as it was nearly midnight before they finally finished. They actually replaced all 3 of the old transformers, so here is hoping that we won't have this issue again!

I have gotten some good work done on my Retreat doll as well, but I will save those photos for another entry.