Water

We were looking at a map of Downtown San Antonio and noticed a small park we never realized was there.  Located along the San Antonio River between Brackenridge Park and the Pearl, we found a little park with a rather unoriginal descriptive name - Flood Control Tunnel Inlet Park.  This park is located at the start of the San Antonio River Flood Diversion Tunnel.  The tunnel is designed to carry 100-year floodwaters 150-feet beneath downtown San Antonio and release it downstream.  

As I try to find my creative voice, vision, or whatever, SQUIRREL!!! 

As I muddle through releasing my inner artist, I took a page from my husbands portfolio and spent a little time playing with my Sony alpha and whatever lens it came with.  Below, are my offerings for 01/27/15, the beautiful water features of the Flood Control Tunnel Inlet Park.  

ISO 100

22mm

f/25

1/10 sec

ISO 100

22mm

f/4

1/800 sec

Water is the driving force of all nature.

Leonardo da Vinci

Enjoy the night, my lovelies. 
sla

A Collaboration of Sorts

Peter has amazing artistic style, so different than mine, if I really have a style.  If I were to classify my own, it would be ADD.  A little bit of this, a little bit of that, oh yeah, I like this too.  I'm still trying to figure mine out.

oooo squirrel! 

Every now and then, he creates something I need to add my own personal touch to.  I fell in love with one of his most recent photographs and asked him for a small print on watercolor paper to paint over, I had a picture in my mind of how I wanted it to look.  While this didn't turn out exactly like I envisioned, I'm still pleased with the end result.  Besides, I can ask for a few more prints to play with.  

Below, my offerings for 01/26/15.  Print on 90-lb watercolor paper, enhanced with Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolors.  

A Collaboration    

Original image with additional images manipulated in Photoshop.  

I think it is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed.

~Steve Lacy~

Enjoy the night, my lovelies.
sla

Sunday Afternoon on the Riverwalk

You can be born in and live in the same city for most of your life and still find undiscovered gems within its heart.  Peter took an impressive photo a few months ago that looked somewhat like an Aztec pyramid.  Certainly this couldn't be in San Antonio, much less along the Riverwalk.  

The San Antonio River Ecosystem Restoration is an ongoing project and is drawing San Antonio natives back into the heart.  The latest restoration project is south of the King William Historic District, near the Blue Star Arts Complex;  this is the Eagleland Project.  There are abandoned grain silos along this part of the river that look like small pyramids in photos.  

Today was one of the few beautiful days we've had this January.  Peter and I spent late morning and early afternoon on the Riverwalk taking photos.  I was looking for the grain silos and was surprised at how small they are up close and personal.

Below, I offer the outcome of today's adventure.  

Photo taken with my Sony alpha, cropped to emphasize the pyramid shape, and manipulated in Photoshop to enhance the effect.

The original photo is included for reference.  

There are little gems all around us that can hold glimmers of inspiration.

~Richelle Mead~

Enjoy the rest of the night, my lovelies, Monday morning comes all too soon.

~sla

And life happens

This was a difficult day on many fronts.  Life wound unexpected and cool tendrils into my Monday.  But I made it through the day, my time for creativity, the only casualty.  I finished this little piece late last night and use it as my daily creative contribution.

Koi watercolors on 140lb cold press paper, manipulations in Photoshop.

  

I've learned over and over that life happens on its own terms, not mine.

~Kate Walsh~

Enjoy the night, my lovelies.
sla

Sunday Night and still spacey

I decided to take another look at the watercolor attempt from 01/09/15 with fresh eyes and figured it really didn't look all that bad.  Splatter on a few stars and call it done.  Considering how unhappy I was with the original effort, I'm okay with the final look.  On a whim, I also manipulated the pic in Photoshop.  

Koi watercolors on 140lb cold press.  

Looking at these stars suddenly dwarfed my own troubles and all the gravities of terrestrial life. I thought of their unfathomable distance, and the slow inevitable drift of their movements out of the unknown past into the unknown future.

— H. G. Wells, The Time Machine, 1895

Enjoy the rest of the night, my lovelies, Monday comes too soon.

sla

Saturday Night

Koi watercolors on 140lb cold press paper.

Still continuing with the space theme.  I don't think any of these small paintings could be replicated, each of them is unique.  I purchased a set of metallic watercolor paints to play with, these were used for the star-like spatters.  

Feeling down tonight.  But that's on me, as the happiness must come from within.  

The sky is the ultimate art gallery just above us.  

~ attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

sla 

Carving out the time for creativity

It is definitely a challenge finding time for creativity; I have very little of it on weeknights. Tonight I present a glimpse of my current creative process.  I still have trouble letting go and just enjoying the process.  I find myself coming close to or overworking my little creations.  I need to find a balance.  I call this a work in process, though perhaps I may call this done and try again tomorrow. 

It's only paint and paper, plus I think the paper towel I use to blot my brush may look better.  

Koi watercolor paints on 140lb cold press paper.

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

Thomas A. Edison

sla 

A little spacey

I grew up a child of the space age.  I was fascinated by anything and everything space related.  I watched the stars nightly, I spent hours at the planetarium as a child and many more with my own children.   Watching the stars on warm summer nights, far away from city lights, listening to the sounds of insects and the winds rustling through the trees was and is a pleasure.  Though feeling as an insignificant spot in this limitless universe, space fascinates me.  

Inspired by childhood memories, my vision of the infinite.  Watercolor on 140lb cold press paper. 

Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars.

Les Brown

Infinitely,
sla

Hump Day

Quickly running out of ideas and things to say.  Sticking with the watercolor for now.  I've had this small field box of watercolor paints for about a year and didn't start using them until last night?!?  Why?  They were expensive and too precious to use?  Not really an excuse but it served as one to preclude their use.  Included with the paints was a small waterbrush, since I'd never used one before, I gave it a try.  

When I'm playing around with color this way, I should probably limit myself to the three primary colors.  However, that will be for next time.  Regardless, I enjoyed myself.  Below is my creative effort for 01/07/15.  

Once I had the picture in Photoshop, I added a few filters on a whim.  The results were fun, so I've included those as well.  Watercolor on 140lb cold press paper. 

I like the glowing pic the best.   

In watercolor, playing around on a scrap piece of paper, or the reverse side of a 'disaster' invariably produces something interesting and uninhibited. (Wayne Robert Hall)

 sla

Fat Happy Birds

Little birds look fat and happy when fluffed.  This is another thing that can make me smile, a fat happy little bird.  

This watercolor is done on 140lb paper.  I'll continue to challenge myself with this media as it loosens my tight grip on perfection.

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

sla

January Moon

Moon rise was beautiful tonight.  According to the Farmers' Almanac, the January moon is also known as the Full Wolf Moon named for wolves howling hungrily in the cold and deep of mid-winter.  It is also referred to as the Old Moon or the Moon after Yule.  Her quiet beauty is cool and aloof.  Neither photograph nor painting does justice to the picture in my mind.   

The photo was taken with my Galaxy S4.  The watercolor is done on 140lb paper, this one I like better than my last, but I still need quite a bit of practice. 

There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.

George Carlin

sla

A temporary moment of reflection

We stopped at the top of a hill for my husband to take photos.  The day cloudless, the temperature perfect.  Wonderfully quiet, no sounds but the slight rustle of the breeze through the cedars.  I noticed several small stone cairns, each stone balanced carefully upon the other.  Small anonymous indicators someone had been there.  Who were they?  What were they thinking when they chose each stone?  

Some cairns have stood for decades, some serve as monuments, some as a guide for those who come after.  Some are placed for reflection.

I placed my stones with the intent to create a balance within myself for that small moment in time.  To indicate, for one brief instant, I was there. 

Everything in life... has to have balance.

Donna Karan

  
In reflection,
sla

Sampling watercolors

My first formal art instruction was in watercolor.  It can be both difficult and easy depending on how it is approached.  As a perfectionist, I can easily find fault in every color choice and every brushstroke I make.  For me, the most difficult thing about creativity is letting go and giving myself permission to make mistakes and just have fun.  I once found freedom and pleasure in watercolor, but life intervened.  

A few months ago I received a small sample set of QoR Watercolors along with a small piece of watercolor paper to play with.  I can and have found numerous faults with this small creation, but I have plenty of sample left and can always find more paper for any succeeding efforts.

sla

Unabandoned Glee

Fireworks are beautiful and full of joy.  One of the few things that can still bring forth an unwitting smile.  Just an ephemeral moment in time, a joyous light in the dark, captured with unabandoned glee on a small canvas. 

sla

Happy New Year!

2015 is my year of creativity.  Inspired by the fireworks in our neighborhood last night, here are my offerings for 1/1/15.

Photo taken with my Sony a390 and manipulated in Photoshop.  I chose this photo in particular because I loved the way the fireworks reflected off the roof of my husband's car.  

sla