SOME DAYS DINNER IS MY MOST CREATIVE VENTURE
Yesterday was one of them. I did crack open the studio. I did a charcoal of JD. I did wipe it out, shut the doors and climb the stairs to the kitchen where perhaps I would be more successful?
When I have days in the studio where nothing happens, I'm thrilled to have dinner to get my mind off whatever didn't work. But on days where everything is going great and you don't want to put down your brush for fear of losing the magic, I wish I had a dinner that was made in polished stone and all I had to do was run it under water for an hour and serve.
The following photographs are what we had for dinner yesterday. Of course, aside from being sauteed, boiled, steamed, baked and photographed, they've been enhanced and piqued in Photoshop Pro where I really have no expertise at all. I just like to fool around and hope I pick up some know-how on the way. After auto correcting, underexposing, enhancing the colors a number of times and whatnot, I played around with special effects and liked how dinner would look in polished stone best.
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Your dinner looks incredibly beautiful like this! Making dinner is creative too!
ReplyDeleteThank you Judy. I think the mushrooms came out particularly well. The corn not so much--it was a little tough to eat too.
DeleteActually, the eating of dinner was a little late as I was always stopping to photograph what I was cooking. I had to use the step stool to get the viewpoint I wanted and my own shadow was a problem--but Ellis wasn't in a hurry. He was happily napping in his chair.
Those look amazing. They can really give ones creativity a kick start.
ReplyDeleteI want to go more abstract, but at times not far enough, this looks like a wonderful way to go outside ones comfort zone.
It is fun playing around in Photoshop Pro! Time flies as you try this maneuver and that and go back and forth with the effects. I don't know nearly enough so I downloaded the manual. I used to spend hours in the darkroom working with the enlarger and special effects. These photographic programs give you a different perspective and suggest all sorts of ways to abstract still life reference photos. Great fun.
DeleteIf you look at photographs 1 & 3 there is a striking resemblance to close up shots of the raindrop photo ... at least there was in the thumbnail.
ReplyDelete"Time lies like an arrow, Fruit flies like a banana," Groucho Marx :0))
I hope you get over your slumps soon, m'dear - I'm sure a part of it is anticlimax, following the family visit. Keep smiling!
I think you're right. We sure did run around a lot;I was shocked (and not pleased) at how much my natural energy level had dropped. And good drawing/painting time was hit and miss and out of water, i.e. the studio. But I'm also doing some re-evaluating. I got rid of my two other blogs; they were whims. I thought both had potential, but how much blogging can one do well and paint too? Best to keep blogging to a minimum.
DeleteI don't really think I'm in a slump. These "playing around" photos took a few hours exploring Photoshop, not to mention cooking and photographing and transferring the photos to the computer. I think I'm growing in a different direction. Something is brewing--at least that has been my experience in the past. I can't wait to see what it is. Meanwhile, I have gone to the studio the last two days and did draw and paint--just nothing that I cared to share. --Time lies like an arrow. What the hell does that mean? That Groucho. Off the wall!
OOOOOps typo ..that should read Flies like an arrow :0))
DeleteGracias Linda por comentar ambas acuarelas: los vegetales y el crepúsculo. Jane Minter es una gran artista. Tu también eres una gran artista. El pasado día 30 de junio tú y Jane habéis recibido el premio "Blog con corazón" de mi parte. Sería muy agradable para mí que lo aceptaras. Un abrazo.
ReplyDeleteEso es muy dulce de tu parte, Sonia, gracias. Pensé que tu huerta muerta era especialmente bueno. Usted tiene una excelente mano de acuarelas. Y esta pintura y la última realidad demostró que fuera. Usted debe hacer más. Abrazo de vuelta.
DeleteThese are really fun! When I first saw the pictures (before reading), I though this was an amazing oil series you whipped out - especially the first two. I love your menu... I may just have to invite myself over:-)
ReplyDeleteThank you Minnemie. They were fun--and they made making dinner more fun too. I can cook,but the kitchen is not my favorite room. I prefer rooms with easels and the smell of paint or rooms covered in books and furnished with easy chairs that have a pad of paper and pen next to them. I agree, The first two photographs came out the best. You are welcome to dinner anytime. I'd love to have you.
DeleteDear Linda, beyond the difficulty of translating and understanding (after translation) I understand you're looking for something new in your art.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I get into periods where everything seems magical to paint and create ...
and then different emotional wave (for example the recent visit of my daughter and my niece who also made me very happy, to say something nice), or those that I have to do medical checks every 6 months (something stressful) ... and the result is that everything I go out of place, as if I had moved away from myself and what I wanted to do.
I know that will happen for a time, I have no fear of not resuming my thread ... but it sure is a big waste of time! ... After each disconnection of brushes and colors, comes a change, a new understanding . And the magic begins again ... until next time. Japanese people say that life is a series of waves (NAMI). The important thing is to improve ... life-surfing!
So beautiful your digital-art!
Rita
Rita sei molto gentile e perspicace. Mi rendo conto che sono in continuo mutamento. Sono stato lì prima. Rotto l'incantesimo un po 'di ieri anche se facendo una cosa che non fanno bene: acquerello. La sessione è stata terapeutica. I miei figli andò a casa una settimana e mezzo fa, dovrei scattare fuori di perdere le loro chiacchiere e le risate e l'urgenza di andare ovunque in qualsiasi momento di tutti i giorni. Ogni volta che trascorro del tempo con loro, mi rendo conto ancora una volta quanto sia triste Sono tutti viviamo così lontani. Joy pittura Shared Minnemie ha detto come mi sento quando sono in giro. Sono stata una mamma in pensione da trent'anni, si potrebbe pensare che io sarei un po 'indurito da ora.\n\nSe si desidera scrivere nella propria lingua, per favore. Non mi dispiace la traduzione commenti. Mi piacerebbe che tu sia comodo quando si visita. Grazie.
Deleteokay, Linda, this is really unique and interesting..I like it.!! You should use the same method with a landscape.! I've never used photoshop but it looks like a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird looking I know--and not images you would expect someone to choose for presenting food. That's why I think I liked them. I sculpted sunny side up eggs and bacon once in plaster once when I was in a slump. To this day, I'm miss that piece. I thinking I was thinking,"There, I made breakfast and that's it. I don't have to do it again." I usually think the same thing with dinner and lunch. Chief Cook isn't my favorite hat--especially when I'm out of sorts in the studio.
DeleteTalk about a visual feast!!! This is it. They really do look very intriguing. Hmmm ...???
ReplyDeleteWeird you mean. Not exactly a Red Lobster TV commercial. But when this doesn't work, do that.
DeleteI especially like the asparagus! Good work. Such creativity in that meal!
ReplyDeleteIt has to come out somewhere. The camera is the handiest of art tools. Keep on truckin'!
DeleteI really like these dinners...nobody can say here that you always serve the same day after day :-))) Very pleasant to the eyes !
ReplyDeleteYes they can Jane. Salad and chicken. Salad and fish. Those are our usual fares. We save the calories for when we dine out which is getting less and less. But thank you. I made an effort to work with what I had to work with. Ellis doesn't cook. He's the Chief Bottle Washer. There were a lot of pots with this dinner^_^
DeleteI like that you take every opportunity to be creative. Very geometric and quite cool.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dan. Geometry is in this designer/builder's blood along with hard surfaces like polished stone--and ceramic tile. Did you know that the tile manufacturer Villeroy and Boch was the manufacturer the ship builders used to supply the tile for the bathrooms on the Titanic? A trivia fact that probably doesn't mean anything to you, but it means a lot to me. I specified Villeroy and Boch for many ,many bathrooms and kitchens and bars over the last twenty some years. I had no idea the company was that old. The Titanic was built in 1909. Villeroy and Boch was founded in 1836!
DeleteLove your creative soul!
ReplyDeleteI love yours too.
DeleteI think you found a way to pay for the grand kids iPads.
ReplyDeleteThese are marvelous and I would think very salable , though you probably have a better sense of that, with your experience.
Wonderful, lemonade out of lemons of drawing f
Funk
ReplyDeleteWell I had to save myself, after the disaster of another likeness of JD. Since I was making dinner, why not use the subject for creative purposes? Plus I do live photography particularly darkroom techniques which these days are done in Photoshop. Of the four, I do like the mushrooms best with the trout and mushrooms coming in second. What is this thing I have with images of food is my curiosity.
DeleteI am thrilled to have you as my hundredth follower. I've been waiting and waiting for you to come along. It will be my pleasure to visit your site and reciprocate with my support. Thank you JJ. It's a pleasure to have you aboard.
ReplyDeleteA great dinner on photopshop!
ReplyDeleteIt was the best I could do that day. But this would-be painter has a long history with photography, an art I adore. It was natural that I reached for my camera. I've had my own darkroom where I spent many hours developing film and playing in the chemicals. (they make your nails grow). Now, I'm faced with memory cards and digital techniques and my curiosity is piqued. In a pinch, or a painting slump, photography is a most enjoyable way to snap out of it with something to show.
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