Life Gets in the Way-Day 220 in the year 2014

As usual, while my intentions of maintaining this blog were good, life sort of got in the way.  I am so surprised that I was able to continue for as long as I did.  I am ready to regroup and continue for as long as my life remains on an even keel.
Having a digital camera has allowed me to experiment with taking photos while riding in a moving car and every chance I get, I like to play around with the settings to see if I can create a photo worthy of keeping.  Here's one I took on our way through Price/Help Utah.  A long lonely stretch of highway.  

Day 204 & 205

 This first photo is of a tree that appeared to have Japanese Lanterns hanging all over it.  They were probably seed pods, but my DH spotted this and asked me to take a photo of it.  We were both in awe.









This second photo is of our plum tree when it was in bloom. The grandkids were all eating the ripe plums this past weekend and I was surprised that they actually liked them. 

Day 203

Yummy! Delicious! Fresh Popped!

Week 9 & Day 56

The word for the 52 week challenge is: "Uncluttered" which can mean so many things, but I decided to use this photo which focuses on just one object.  A seedpod that I found a few years ago hanging from a tree at Liberty Park.  We used to call these "Helicopters" because they would swirl around and around as they fell to the ground.  Messy when you have to clean them up from your flower garden!  Here is a before and after photo.  I believe I used one of the chalk filters and a photo of concrete for the texture. 

Day 45

Yeah, I know I am ahead of myself again. Better early than late or never.  I am surprising myself actually, that I have hung in this long!  Usually I get bored way before this and simply find something else to do.  Nope, I am really going to try to do this 365 days.  It will be quite a victory for me at the end of this challenge and the 52 word prompt challenge and Bonnie's weekly Photo Art Friday Challenges and I almost forgot the Milliande Self-Exploration Workshop.  All of it goes hand in hand, so it's fun to share the voyage with you.  I hope it inspires you to find something this year that gives you a chance to share your art, or hobby, or love, or passion. 
This image looks like Barbie-but it's actually the close up of a mannequin that may have been fashioned after the famous Barbie.  I used the photo to create a stencil of which I drew the image onto a large sheet of watercolor paper.  Once I had the image drawn, I had to decide which areas I wanted to remain white.  The white areas are what set this whole process off and make it surreal.  With a masking fluid, I painted out all the areas that were to remain white.  Then the real fun began.  Pouring watercolors!  For years I have wanted to try this technique and I will again because I love it!  It is Jean Grastorf's DVD: "Pouring Transparent Watercolor" that gave me the inspiration to try this technique.  I struggled to find just the right image that would work and I am struggling to find another one, but this worked well enough for my purposes.  After all, it was just an experiment.  I did follow up with painting in some solid black areas, which made this whole thing pop as much as the white did.  But, then I took a photo of the painting and ran it through,....that's right.....Apps!  Just a couple this time and I am very pleased with this final effect.  She's beautiful and needs to be framed.

Day 42

Every 12 years we have the "Year of the Snake".  This is my year to celebrate everyday by experiencing new ideas, new concepts, new choices and new art forms.  To try and make sense of relationships that don't work, to try and make changes to them for my own well-being and happiness.  To enjoy the pleasures of this earth, the well-being of the human body and take up yoga again for meditation & exercise.  Last year was a year from hell for me, this year will be different because I will make it so.  For all of you "Snakes" out there, enjoy your year! We won't see another until 2025.  I hope I'm still around for it!  :-D