I made a slideshow of photos I snapped while out for a walk this morning. It's posted above. But, here are a few of my favorites.

New Banner Design with 3 Sidebar Avatars

I'm especially fond of this design because I've incorporated two of my own photographs - the lovely daisies as well as the little chickadee! The daisies were actually that soft periwinkle color you see here. This banner has loads of potential for great custom avatars for email, favorites, etc. - either with the chickadee, butterflies or tiny cherub! My mother was very fond of feeding her 'chickadees' and mimicked their sound as "chickadee-dee-dee" :0) They used to eat out of her hand so easily! Available on Etsy. 
SOLD

Edwin

These are two photographs I took back in 2007 of a most fascinating fellow by the name of Edwin. I was on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. Edwin was from Ontario originally but had been 'on the road' for years. Even though our lives had lead us on entirely different paths, our connection was instantaneous. From time to time throughout my life, I pass through periods where I carry my camera with me for weeks at a time to record moments like these.

I will be printing and framing these side by side to look similar to -

But, I also like the background like this -

Doodling again....

Further along ....

Progress to date - Acrylic Painting

Thanks to Bea for reminding me I hadn't taken a recent photo of my drawing-painting. Unfortunately, progress is slow as I easily get sidetracked doing other artwork - in particular the blog banners and backgrounds. It's also easy for me to become reconnected with the 'blank canvas fear' - even when it isn't blank anymore! But, here it is - the process I am currently engaged in is just blocking in the general colors. Again, I did find it very helpful, being left-handed, to start on the right hand side of the canvas. This is even more important now as my sleeves brushes against the paint as I go along. Especially for me, as I find my common sense disappears when I am engaged in a 'right-brained' mode.

Below - the original photograph taken by MICHAEL S. YAMASHITA (2001) "Tajik children go over class notes before school in a mountain village of China's Xinjiang Province. Again - a portion of the his photograph for ....gulp....comparison sake, and to remind me of the daunting work still left!

Digital Postcard - Playing around with Composition...

I was just playing around with a couple of ideas with respect to composition - the golden mean, light to dark and cool colors to warm, ( a friend mentioned this notion to me recently) as well as complementary colors.

Encaustic Workshop

I spent Saturday at an encaustic workshop with artist Maria Madacky. Some of her work is available on "Absolute Art". We worked on a still life in the morning and in the afternoon, I opted to just experiment with this medium. The photo above is the result of my morning effort. I am smitten with the textural possibilities encaustic painting lends itself to. This was done on the rough side of a piece of masonite board (17x20) . I added a few pages of Japanese text in the background that is modestly visible if you were to press the photo to view it large.

Citzen ATC - Isles of Morpharchengigel "Keats-....let the muse be free..."

ATC for Citizen Project - The Recollection Parlor Group

Another Ready Made Background

I'm quite partial to these black, white and sepia-rich backgrounds. And who doesn't like Shakespeare :0) Ready Made and ready to go on Etsy.

New "Ready Made" Blogspot Banners and Backgrounds

Above is an example of a ready made Blogspot Banner. I have decided to create a few ready-to-go banners and backgrounds that are less expensive than custom ones. It's ready to go on Etsy.

The Dead Parrot Society

A 'new' concept from Morpharchengigel Islands- The Dead Parrot Society recognizes digital art, reused paper, non-toxic paint and eco-friendly ink as a new trend in environmentally responsible creativity.

Angel ATC

Available on Etsy

Humor ATC

Available on Etsy

Photo Journal Continued - Front of Envelope

Tonight I just added the word "ART" in raised antique typewriter keys above the dancer's head. Because the letters are quite thick, I've had to switch from scanning to now photographing. The colors are much closer to the original with my camera compared to the scanner. I am beginning to formulate a narrative, which for me, always fuels my energy to begin to think of the writing component to this project. Below is the transparency with the alcohol ink background removed.

4th Envelope Photo Journal - Day Two

Just 3 images added - Byron (Rodney Strong) and the clown and dancer (Itkipilli). Oh, and I also reversed the transparency around so that there was more white underneath the metal MORPH letters.

Starting my 4th Envelope - Byron's Magical Mystery Tour

Seven Gypsies Envelope Book

Today I decided to get a head start on my next round robin envelope and thought I'd do a photo journal of my work as it progresses.

I had asked Valerie if she had any color preferences and she provided a list which included Alcohol Inks in Denim, Eggplant, Espresso and Pesto. When she said that, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to create her envelope using alcohol inks. Her theme is art as well as cultural influences surrounding art.

Step One

Above is where the fun began! I was amazed at how many variations of color came out of the four inks I mentioned above. Feel free to press this image to enlarge it and save it for your use as a background. From this first piece, I then cropped out the first side of the envelope to size (1st photo in 3 below). I decided it would be fun to create a transparency with a peacock feather after which I added the antique gold metal "MORPH" letters (below image). I thought it would be a creative way to protect the inked front cover because of the white background....so it serves two purposes. The third image above shows the two layers one on top of the other.

Step Two - Making the Transparency with a Peacock Feather

In the meantime, while I am figuring out what my 'next move' will be with the envelope, I made a copy onto a bright white gloss laser paper of the original large image of alcohol inks, cropped it and then heat emboss ART and The Isles and then attached it to a cardboard rectangle ephemera bit to make a tag. I cut the alcohol ink layer on the left hand side to create a partial silouette of Byron.

Step Three - Tag

It's a start! Not sure where I'll take it from here.....

Business Card

Above is a business card in low resolution I designed for Sandra Evertson - Professional DayDreamer, Writist and Arter (her magical word play!) What wit she has for capturing her many talents!

"The Odor of Chrysanthemums"

The Odor of Chrysanthemum's is a short story written by D.H. Lawrence about a couple whose wife more or less takes her husband for granted and doesn't really know what she had until it's too late. At the end of the story, he has gone and all that remains is the odor of the once beautiful flower.

ATC's

Above, is for a monthly swap at "Byhand Artists Yahoo Group" (the theme was Five) and the one below is an RAK for a blogging friend. :o)

DisCo - Disintegration Collaboration Project at The Altered Page

"Step 2" of Seth Apter's (The Altered Page Disintegration Project (aka DisCo) arrived yesterday, May 1st as 123 artists from all over the globe gathered in spirit to photograph the 'after photographs' of their bundles.

My precious bundle (PB) has weathered most everything Mother Nature had to greet it with, including spending an evening underneath the belly of a deer. PB is now safely indoors and awaiting disection. Once complete and photographed, the next stage will be to create a lasting piece of art from PB's remnants.

Perhaps the most notable experience through this 82 day experiment was my change in attitude toward inclement weather. Instead of cursing the news of another snow storm, I was secretly clapping my hands hoping it may bring another smattering of rust across my PB!

The BeFore - February 7th, 2009

The MiDDle - April 2009

The AfTer - May 1st, 2009