Instead of a poem

Poem, I thumb my nose at you!

Jigsaw obsession

made with my art. easy peasy. you can, too.

Mini art - grape

Pink to dark and yellow

Can't decide which one I like best. I like them all. I've been switching my iPhone background hoping that will help. I guess they are all good. 

Another Pink Background Grunge

And here's a background for iPhone 4.

Texture Studies - aqua

Mustard, Magenta, Teal

by Elaine Greywalker

word

Word
by Elaine Greywalker

looking for an oil paint filter

Alien Skin make a nice bunch of filters under the title of Snap Art 3; one of which is oil painting. I'm still dithering about whether or not to use Photoshop since CS3 (which I own) is outdated and going defunct, and Photoshop CC (PSCC) is more than my machine can handle (not enough RAM for the 3D filter).

I have a set of actions that use the Oil Paint filter in PSCC which is not a part of CS3, so I tried to find an old one and Alien Skin is what I came up with. I am amazed at what these plug in do in the default settings. Here's a couple of examples (in close up).

Default "Oil Paint, Abstract (colorful)" filter with
a minor tweak of making the strokes shorter.

Default "Oil Paint" filter with no tweaks. Dig the texture!

These filters are to supposed to require PS CS4. But they work in my CS3. 

Still undecided.

another one

Still playing with ArtRage. Although, I've nearly convinced myself that I need Photoshop, at the very least. This comes from watching brave, professional artists give away their processes, tips, and tricks for free on CreativeLive. I love it!

another one

wanshank: bad target

072912

by Elaine Greywalker, just in case there was any doubt

Not sure where this comes from. Possibly from the Flower-A-Day series and some of the fun stuff I've been doing with Illustrator.

waiting

feeling inside ... that its not how you want it to be

070912b1a

Music of the Day
Wait for You - Elliott Yamin
Time Waits for Everyone - Viggo Mortenson
The Air That I Breathe - The Hollies' Greatest Hits


Movie of the Day
Jane Eyre

042711b (blue april)

One of the nice things about being an artist is that that when you need art you can make it. I had a blank spot on the kitchen wall to fill. While rummaging in my files, I discovered this art I created in April of 2011. Up close it looks like pastels and watercolor. I printed one for the kitchen on photo matt paper. Looks really nice!

I got all enthused and uploaded files to my Deviant Art shop and then modified the art to fit the new messenger bag available on Zazzle.

"Blue April" Messenger Bag by Elaine Greywalker

Where is here?

"X" marks the spot.

While meditating one day I kept bringing myself back to the present, to my breath, by telling myself "Be here." or "Come back here." and "Welcome back!" And then I thought, "I am here." I'm here physically. Sometimes I'm elsewhere mentally, yet when I am "elsewhere" I am "here" in the thought. And then wondered where "here" really is.

Is here where my physical body resides? Yes. Is here where my mind is? Yes. Especially when I'm meditating because when I'm sitting in a chair and following my breath the only way to go anywhere is in my mind. Which brings me to my emotional state.

At some point I have to acknowledge my emotional state while I'm meditating. Because there always is one. The way I'm feeling influences where I go mentally and how difficult it is to stay present. And that's another place, another "here."

When I'm reading a book or watching a movie, particularly a engaging fantasy, I'm somewhere else entirely. Which is here and not here. Dreaming is another state that puts me in a dualistic "here."

There's also the parallel, tangental, and intersecting universes that spread out from where I am, spread out in mind and body and spirit. And spirit is another way to be "here."

For me, here is anywhere my awareness resides. I've kinda decided where "here" is can't be determined and doesn't really matter.

Where is "here" for you?

This Week in My History

Here are some things I made during this week in years past.

A work of art titled "Bomb Shelter"

Repeating pattern for a journal cover.

A Scrap of Fictional Conversation

He stands facing me, the luxurious and artsy room behind him. His home is not usual. It's fantastic and futuristic. He grins a little lopsidedly and shrugs a bit.

"This is quite a ... feather in your cap." I say with a smile.
"A feather in my cap. When you say that it sounds so insignificant. Unimportant. As if it didn't matter."
"If it were a feather in my cap it wouldn't matter."
"It means nothing to you."
"No. But it means something to you. And that's what counts."
He turns and his shoulders roll back, his head raises and I can see a part of his satisfied smile as he looks through the huge plate glass and drinks in the view of half of a canyonous valley of trees. He is happy. I am relieved to have survived another awkward moment.

A Poem: Graffiti Grafitto

such as nice boys don't but nice girls do
and do they?
they can't so how can they
there's no answer
no special way to twist the knot or caress the knob
there's no secret combination and no lock to solve
no puzzles
no signs
just you
and me
and just this sort of strange epiphany that it all doesn't matter unless you choose it unless you want it unless you take it unless you keep it and unless
unless
unless
you work at it
really work at it
and not just wish for it
and not just expect heaven or hell to drop it into your lap
or freeze it to your face
or make the colors right or
no
you can't force it
you can't press a duck into china and make a feather stick
you must
you must not
and the song keeps going
there's no strange notes
they are all here
but yet
i discriminate
and the damn breaks
and rusty water flows until it's black and then blue and then clear
and there's a sigh
and in the back someone is hurriedly scribbling
as.
if.
this.
were.
the.
answer.

Cloud Hearts

Cloud Hearts