Fuschia Plant at Long Hill Gardens (with Prisma filter)

This image started with a photo that I took of a fuschia plant during a walk at Long Hill Gardens. Tonight I added a Prisma filter and then cropped the image to get this composition.

Oil Bar Paintings in New Studio

Last week we moved our studio from the 4th floor of Porter Mill down to the 2nd floor of Porter Mill.  It was a lot of work for such a short distance. It feels good to start getting art back up on the walls. Today I hung my oil bar paintings, four from my New England landscapes series, and four from my "Branches" series.

Art in New Studio at Porter Mill: Prints by Guest Artist Heather Dubnick

Moving from a studio on the 4th floor to a studio on the 2nd floor  may not sound like a big deal, but it wasn't easy!  Still organizing, but starting to get some art on the walls, starting with these silk-screened prints by my daughter and studio-mate, Heather Dubnick. 

Roses in Two Shades of Pink (with Woodcut Effect)

Two days ago, I posted a photo of the bouquet we gave our daughter for her birthday, roses in two shades of pink.  This is the same photo, with Painter's woodcut effect added.

Roses in Two Shades of Pink (Posterized Photo)

Yesterday I bought a bouquet of roses in two shades of pink, and gave them to my daughter for her birthday.  I took a picture of the roses, posted here yesterday.  Today I opened the image in Painter and added (a lot of) posterizing effect, which makes the colors more intense.

Roses in Two Shades of Pink

I bought roses today, for my daughter's birthday. I chose this bouquet because it had roses in two shades of pink.  I took a closeup. . .

Pink Lilies (with Prisma filter)

This afternoon we took a walk down Lothrop Street, across from Independence Park.  It's a great place to walk, with a view of the ocean on one side, and beautiful houses and gardens on the other.  I took a picture of some pink lilies, and then added a prisma filter.

New Studio at Porter Mill

I spent most of the day moving stuff from our studio on the 4th floor of Porter Mill into our new studio on the 2nd floor.  Even though we aren't moving far, it is still a lot of work. Here is a picture of the new studio (taken while it was still empty).  

Bright Red Roses (with Woodcut Effect)

Here is one more version of those bright red roses. This time I added Painter's woodcut effect. It took a bit of trial and error to get the amount of black outline to appear in the right places.

Bright Red Roses (Posterized)

Yesterday's post was a photo of bright red roses, seen during an afternoon walk.  Today I used Painter to add some posterizing effect.  I also created a version with woodcut effect, which I plan to post here tomorrow.

Bright Red Roses

On a walk today, we passed a row of five or six rose bushes at the edge of the sidewalk.  The sky was overcast, which always seems to make colors more intense.  I took some pictures. Tonight I cropped this out of one of the photos, and did some retouching in iPhoto.

Independence Park (with Prisma filter)

Here's another image from a recent walk at Independence Park. Lovely view, and as close as we can get to the water when the dog is with us. I added the Prisma filter.

Chess Game (Reposting)

Reposting for Father's Day: a double portrait that I painted of my dad playing chess with my cousin. I worked from a black-and-white photo by my uncle, Ike Fitterman.

Clouds and Sailboats at Independence Park

This afternoon, we took a walk near Independence Park.  I always love to see the sailboats. Tonight I cropped this image out of the original photo to emphasize the boats and the clouds.

Northern Ireland Memory II (Watercolor)

This is the second of two watercolors that I found in a portfolio yesterday up at the studio. (We are getting ready to relocate from the 4th floor of Porter Mill to the 2nd.)  I painted both of these landscapes during a 2005 trip to Northern Ireland, using my travel watercolor set and a pad of watercolor paper.

Northern Ireland Memory I (Watercolor)

Today I went to Porter Mill, to prepare for next week's big move (relocating the studio from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor).  I was going through some portfolios when I came across some watercolors. I remember painting these during a trip to Northern Ireland, probably back in 2005.  I had brought along some paper and a travel watercolor set.  This is one of two.  I plan to post the other watercolor tomorrow.

Rhododendrons (with Prisma filter)

Last Friday (June 7), we took a late afternoon walk at Long Hill Gardens, here in Beverly, MA.  Lots of things are in bloom, but rhododendrons stole the show.  This is one of the photos I took, but I added a Prisma filter (called "Patterns").  I reduced the effect a bit and then added a bit of contrast as well, to make the colors pop.

Green and Gold Necklace

I worked out the design for this necklace several days ago but was out of the right kind of cord and didn't have enough gold accent beads. Over the weekend, I finally made it to A.C. Moore and picked up what I needed.  Today I put it together.  I used olive green wooden beads, lime green semi-precious stones (howlite), and gold colored metallic beads on a cotton cord. I made it long enough so no clasp is needed.

Red Azaleas at Long Hill

Here's another image from a recent walk at Long Hill Gardens.  I liked the way the red azaleas looked in the sun, so I took a picture. Tonight I cropped the original photo to get this composition.

Peonies Blooming (Late Afternoon) with Prisma filter

Yesterday we took a late afternoon walk at Long Hill.  Right now some of the peonies are opening.  I took a picture of these. Tonight I added the Prisma filter.

Two Faces (Edythe and Ruth) Digitally Modified Photo

Yesterday I posted a rescued snapshot of my aunt and my mother.  The original version was an overexposed photo of four people, but two of the people were very hard to see because of the overexposure.  I didn't know those two other people anyway, but I did want to rescue the two faces of my mother and my aunt in 1941.  So I scanned the photo, and then cropped the image to show just the two sisters. Then I did some basic retouching in iPhoto, and used Painter to selectively darken some areas to bring both faces more clearly into view.  You can see the result in yesterday's post.  Then I took it further, and last night and today, created a second image. I used Painter to add color and texture with digital pastel and posterizing effect. Sometimes you find the best images in photos that seem least likely to succeed. I am very glad I decided to rescue this one.

Two Faces (Edythe and Ruth) Rescued Snapshot

My Aunt Edythe recently celebrated her 100th birthday. For the occasion, we put together a tribute book and slideshow.  I chose and edited a lot of old photos, but there wasn't enough time to use all of them.  And I now still have a pile of old photos on my desk that didn't quite make the cut.  I looked through them tonight and came across one that I have always thought had potential. It's a snapshot of four people, and I can tell that because there are four names written in the margins: Mary, Earl, Edy, and Ruth. However, due to problems with lighting (overexposure perhaps) Mary is actually completely invisible and Earl is nearly so.  But the faces of my aunt and my mother are beautiful, despite the lighting problem. So tonight I decided to do something about this.  I scanned the photo into my computer, cropped out Mary and Earl (so sorry) and used iPhoto to do some basic retouching.  Then I opened the image in Painter and used the magic wand to select areas to darker a bit. I also used some digital pastel to darken my mother's hair a bit. It's kind of a powerful image, just as it is, and I am glad I rescued it.  But I also decided to go further, and created a posterized version, which I plan to post here tomorrow. 

Ruth and Al (Rescued Photo)

This is one of the photos I worked on last week, as part of the project for my Aunt Edy's 100th birthday.  This is a photo of my mother and her older brother Al.  When I was growing up, this was hung on the wall in an oval frame with convex glass.  At this point, I have the photo itself (full size) in a box, and it has some rips in the surface.  For my aunt's birthday, I had to be satisfied with a clean-up digital version so I retouched the image and eliminated the tears. But at some point, I hope to rescue and reframe the actual photo.  

Pendant with Gold and Silver Metal on a Pink Leather Cord

I have been meaning to make some jewelry, but life has been so busy! Today I decided to start by making this pendant, with two metal disks in silver and gold, a wooden bead, on a pink leather cord.  (It looks red in the picture, but is actually hot pink.) This is the kind of jewelry that looks good with casual clothes, like jeans.

Afternoon Rhododendrons (Posterized)

The rhododendrons are blooming! Finally! They are almost two weeks late this year.  They looked beautiful in the afternoon sun, so I took a picture.  When I got the image into my computer, I noticed that some of the leaves had already been chewed on.  So I opened the image in Painter and repaired some of the leaves with digital pastel.  Then I added posterizing effect. . . .

Saying Goodbye to "Magnolia Blossoms" (Oil Bar Painting)

I sold this painting today at Open Studios at Porter Mill.  I painted this from a photo that I took, a closeup of a magnolia tree. This is oil bar on an 8 x 10 inch canvas, part of my "branches" series.  The person who bought this painting seemed to really like it, and I am glad that it has been sold.  But still, I will miss looking at it.  So I took one last picture. . . .