Button, button, who's got the button?

Button, button, who's got the button?  I do.  Or, at least a few of them.

Bracelets made from buttons, baubles and beads.  I've been having entirely too much fun lately making jewelry.  I don't seem to be able to make myself stop.  These button bracelets are lots of fun.

This one made from an assortment of vintage and new white buttons with a tiny vintage gold heart is my favorite this week.

And of course I had to make some more earrings.

More buttons!  Green and black, black and tan.  The ones on the right are navy blue, but look black in this photo.

Recycled watercolor paper and doo hickeys.

These will be at T.F. Rice & Co. as so as I can get them packaged and delivered.  

A Few Baubles For Your Ears

Every now and then ....

I make jewelry. 

 It's another creative outlet for me and in this case, I get to use up scraps of watercolor paper.

You won't believe how light earrings can be when they are made from paper.

Here are some more.

And more.  These are made from little bitty buttons.

All these are made with hypoallergenic earwires.  The paper ones are sealed to make them somewhat water-proof.   They are all available at T.F. Rice & Co.

Red Vase With Flowers

Red Vase With Flowers

$129 plus shipping

Acrylic on 14" x 18" gallery wrapped canvas.

The edge is painted so no frame is necessary.  Ready to hang.

To purchase original, contact me.

 It would look awfully good on your red accent wall.

Don't have a red accent wall?  How about blue?

Purple??

Black???

And even on white.

You can even buy it as a print, tote bag, note card, or pillow - click here.  

Photo Manipulation - Digital Art. What The Heck Is It!

I am frequently asked about the term "photo manipulation."  People look at the fine art prints of my photography and think they are ink drawings, or watercolors - anything but photography.

"The Enola at Paris Landing" is frequently mistaken for an ink drawing, but it is actually an artistically manipulated digital photograph.

"The Well House at Paris Winery" is mistaken for a watercolor because of it's painterly look, but it is actually a digital photograph.












The "digital" part is easy.  It's digital photography instead of photography using film.  Film photography can also be converted to digital.  When you scan a photograph into your computer, it becomes digital. Artwork, such as watercolors, ink drawings, paintings of any sort can also be converted to digital by scanning them or photographing them and then scanning the photograph.

You probably see manipulated images all the time on the covers of magazines, particularly fashion magazines.  Photo manipulation is also known as "photoshopping."  

Per Wikipedia: With the advent of computers, graphics tablets, and digital cameras, the term image editing encompasses everything that can be done to a photo, whether in a darkroom or on a computer. Photo manipulation is often much more explicit than subtle alterations to color balance or contrast and may involve overlaying a head onto a different body or changing a sign's text, for examples. Image editing software can be used to apply effects and warp an image until the desired result is achieved. The resulting image may have little or no resemblance to the photo from which it originated. Today, photo manipulation is widely accepted as an art form.  For more of this article visit Wikipedia here.  

In my case I  use different filters, adjustments, colors, etc. to alter the image.  Just as an oil painter looks at a scene and uses oil paints and brushes on canvas to create an artistic interpretation of that scene, I use Photoshop and eventually print my finished interpretation of the scene on archival paper with archival inks.

Perhaps these before and after samples will help.

An original, untouched, digital photo of one of the fishing piers at Paris Landing State Park.  I became obsessed with these piers a few years back.  You can see at lot of them here.  

This was my first interpretation of the scene - reved up the drama with some filters, enhanced details and color, and borrowed some clouds from another one of my photos.  I take lots of photos of  just clouds just for scenes like this.  I like it okay, but it just didn't have the look I wanted.   So ....

In "Pier 2, Image A" I took out the clouds, reversed the colors, played with the colors a lot and finally arrived at a much more dramatic and artistic impression of the scene.

On the lighter side, photo manipulation can be used for fun.

Like taking a cute photo and making it 4 times as much fun.

Or creating a memorable collage.

Or to create photos of your friends whacking giant golf balls.  

You can click on any of these images to get a larger view.

A Lily Now & Then

A few years ago, when my primary art form was photography, I created this image.

Title:  "Freckles"

Then a few weeks ago I had a idea for a Lily painting in different shades of yellow and orange with a touch of blue.  I used my original "Freckles" image as a reference for the new painting shown below.

Title:  "Freckles On Orange"

See the similarities. 

  

Although I still do the occasional photograph/photo manipulation, I'm really enjoying creating these loose, colorful and sometimes - whimsical paintings.  Both of these images are now available as prints at my online gallery at http://lee-owenby.artistwebsites.com/index.html

The original for "Freckles on Orange" has sold but it is still available as a print, pillow or tote bag - click here.  

Still Life In Blue

To purchase original contact me.

To purchase as a print, framed art, tote bag or pillow,  click here.

Happy Trees With Blue Hills

Please contact me to purchase.

Also available as a print, framed print,  note card, pillow, or tote bag.  Click here.