Of Precious Things & Strange.....

When I decided to study nursing in the late 80’s, my Grandmother; who had been a nurse herself during the war years; gave me her old nursing text book, thinking that I might get some use from it.
As a nursing text it was an amusing way to learn all the things not to do, but for a peek into the past, it was priceless.
It is inscribed inside the cover with her name, the date – 1932, & the hospital at which she did her Nursing training.

While leafing through the pages this afternoon I discovered this little gem, that I have never previously come across….

A new chapter – Bacteriology – begins. Words on the page like bacterium, microbe, pathogen, stagnant pools[???]....
But also; pressed lovingly between the pages; the remnants of a daisy flower & leaf, & a hand written note pertaining to “paroxysmal tachycardia”, & numerous other notations in the various margins, scribbled in pencil, obscure references to other strange states of health.

Only my grandmother would know the truth of this page….. only she knows what made her secrete a once beautiful bloom there, amongst the stagnant & diseased.

I feel like I’ve stumbled upon some bizarre time capsule….....

not so bizarre really…. just a touching reminder of someone once & still greatly loved.

Grief of a Myna

Indian Myna birds mate for life. We’ve been watching this bird & it’s mate living in our garden for the past month. Myna’s are considered pests in Australia, but they’ve been no concern to us, & they’ve become noisy but welcome guests at our home.

Early this morning my 2 yr old son approached me very distressed, taking me by the hand & leading me to our back fence, where he showed me one of the Myna birds stuck in the fence. It had caught it’s leg between the palings & being unable to free itself, had unfortunately died overnight.
Under the watchful eye of my son, I removed the bird, & began to wrap it with the intention of putting it in the bin.
This made my son quite distressed & left me with a small dilemma… Do I casually dispose of the dead bird & continue my day, or do I attempt to explain death to a 2 yr old in the face of his first experience of it?
I took a deep breath & chose the latter option… albeit an abridged version of death.
Instead of throwing the bird in the bin, I asked my son if he wanted to bury it instead. He had no idea what burial was, but somehow understood that this was a nicer option for the bird.
So, spade in hand, we dug a decent hole, placed the bird in, my son waved goodbye, then we covered the bird…. burial complete, & my son content .

Which brings me to the bird in this image. As I previously mentioned, this is the mate of the dead bird. For the whole time that we were burying it’s mate, this bird stood on the ground 10 feet from me & watched the entire process.
Upon completion of the burial, this bird flew to the place on the fence where it’s mate died, & spent the rest of the morning sitting there alone, calling mournfully. A sad & sorrowful sound, I can assure you.
I was able to snap this photo during it’s grieving vigil.

word of the day

hebetude : Mental dullness or sluggishness

sounds like me for the past 5 years..... ever since the birth of child no. 1.... baby brain doesn't go away apparently.....

Redbubble homepage

I'm very excited to see one of my images "Light of my Life" on the redbubble Homepage. It's nice to see his smiling face beaming out to the world!

gloomy days

This one's a shot of the Ferris Wheel at Luna Park in Sydney. In October 2008 we were cruising past on a Sydney Ferry & had a beautiful view of the wheel.
It was a beautiful clear day without a cloud in the sky.

I have a bright full colour image of the Ferris Wheel with bright blue sky & vibrant colourful cars. Yeah sure, that one's lovely, but not really my sort of thing. So with this one I wanted to create something completely different, go with the grunge and get a little dark.
I'm pretty happy with the result.
Gloomy days...

chess...

I shot this in Hyde Park, Sydney on Australia Day (Jan 26) 2009.
There was so much going on in the park, lots of things to see & of course huge crowds. We all had a great time & the boys were very excited to be filmed & interviewed by a TV crew for the 6 o'clock news.....
By the time we wandered past this Chess game, we were all pretty tired, so we rested there a while & watched them play.
I have no idea how to play chess, but have always fancied learning..... perhaps one day....
Chess...

Texturing an image in Photoshop

Quite a few people have asked me how I do my textured work.
To be honest, everyone does it their own way, but it helps to have someone show you how to get started.
Nicole Goggins taught me, & I believe Mel Brackstone taught her.
So here's the walkthrough that I've passed on to those who've asked.

LETS GET STARTED :

I use PhotoShop CS3, but this'll work with any version.
If you're not using PS, I'm confident you'll be able to find your way through it in whatever program you're using.

I'd suggest printing this so you can follow it step by step.


1) Start by opening the image that you want to add a texture to.

2) In the layers palette on the right, (R) click on the background layer & select "Duplicate layer". This layer will be called "Background copy", & will sit immediately above the "background" layer. (This is to preserve your original copy)

3) Do whatever adjustments you would usually do until you're happy with the image as it is. ( ie - levels, curves, hue/sat, curves etc )

4) Flatten the image -
To do this, go to the Layers palette (R) click on a layer, & select "Flatten image".

5)Now it's time to apply the texture image.
First, you need to make sure that your texture image is the same size as your background image.
To do this :-
Go to your top toolbar & look for the "Image" tab, & click on it.
Then click on "Image Size".
You'll need to write down the following details : Pixel dimensions - Width & Height , & Resolution.
Click OK or Cancel to close that window.

6) Now go to your top tool bar, click on "File" & "Open" your texture image.

7)Now that you're in your texture image, go to "Image", "Image Size" again, & make sure "Resample Image" is checked, & "Constrain Proportions" is unchecked..
In that same window, change the resolution & Pixel dimensions - Width & Height to the same details that you wrote down earlier.
Click "OK".
Now your texture image is the same as your background image.

8) Minimize the texture image. Do not close it, just minimize it.
Now you should see your background image workspace again.

9) In your background again, go to your layers palette & create a "Background copy" like we did in step (2).

10) Go to the little toolbar on the bottom of the "Layers Palette" & look for the little icon that looks like a square with the bottom left corner turning up.
This is the "Create new layer" button.
Click on this & create a new layer, which you can rename to "texture".
Make sure this layer is active. ( it'll be highlighted in grey)

11) Go to "Image", then "Apply Image".
Now you'll see a window with a dropdown box named "Source" at the top.
Look for your texture image in the dropdown box , select it, & click "OK".
You'll see the texture appear in the "texture" layer that you created in step (10).

Now it's time to get creative.....

12) In the layers palette double click on the little thumbnail image of your texture.
You'll get a window called "Layer Style".
Under "Blending Options", "General blending" you'll see that the current blend mode is "normal".
Click on this dropbox & start experimenting with the different blend modes.
I usually use "overlay", "soft light", or "hard light".
This whole "Layer style" window is one you can experiment with as much as you like until you come up with the look you want.
Click "OK" when you're done.

13) You can change the blend mode of your background copy also.
At this stage you just need to be doing whatever you want to achieve the look you like.

14) For a bit more depth to your texturing, you can try duplicating each layer, & then alternate their order on the palette by dragging them up & down.
eg :- texture copy
background copy 2
texture
background copy
background (this one is locked, so will always remain on the bottom)

15) In the Layers palette you can adjust the "opacity" of each layer for more or less of the effect.

16) Don't forget to save as you go.
I like to save all my layers as a psd (Photoshop document) so that I can make changes to it at any time in the future.
When you have a final image that you like, flatten the image ( as in step 4), & "save as" a jpeg. (or your preferred format)

17) Upload to your favourite online gallery so that we can all see how well you've done!!!!

And that's it!

Just remember that there's no "rules" for this..... a lot of it is just experimenting as you go. What works for one image might look horrid on another, so trust your instincts!

Good luck!!

Learning to Fly

Do you ever have the urge to jump from a cliff? Not in one of those tragic bad ways…. I’m talking about that feeling of wanting to free yourself, break the chains of whatever binds you…... just to let yourself go…...

Thanks to Kelly Clarkson & her song “Breakaway” for planting this persistent image in my head…...

Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I’d just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I’d end up happy
I would pray

Trying hard to reach out
But when I tried to speak out
Felt like no one could hear me
Wanted to belong here
But something felt so wrong here
So I prayed I could break away

I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly
I’ll do what it takes til’ I touch the sky
And I’ll make a wish
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway
Out of the darkness and into the sun
But I won’t forget all the ones that I love
I’ll take a risk
Take a chance
Make a change
And breakaway

Wanna feel the warm breeze
Sleep under a palm tree
Feel the rush of the ocean
Get on board a fast train
Travel on a jet plane, far away
And breakaway

Buildings with a hundred floors
Swinging around revolving doors
Maybe I don’t know where they’ll take me but
Gotta keep moving on, moving on
Fly away, breakaway…..

1. model stock : Faestock
2. rock stock : night-fate-stock
3. metal scratches textures x 2 : cgtextures
4. other stock my own

Ultimate Bliss

There’s nothing I love more than a cup of Darjeeling tea…. or green tea….
I’ll have tea before anything else. It’s always the first thing I reach for.
If I feel snackish I head for the tea, if I’m sad & lonely I head for the tea, If I’m stressed & need to relax… tea, If I’m cranky & angry….tea.
There’s just nothing better.

1. Top Ten Finish – Girl’s Best Friend – March 2009
2. Top Ten Finish – My Favorite Things – June 2009

The Submariner

When my Husband saw this RAW image of Jack he thought he looked like “a disgruntled Russian sailor”.
That afternoon I met a charming elderly gentleman with a heavy Eastern European accent & a disarming smile.
Two Russian references in one day? OK! I got the hint!!

Meet The Submariner.

This one is best viewed large at RedBubble.

Textures from CGTextures.

1. Featured – The Grunge Art Gallery January 2009
2. Featured – Australian Portraits February 2009
3. Featured – Images & Ideas March 2009
4. Top Ten finish – Staged.. Set-up Challenge – April 2009
5. Top Ten Finish – Head-On Faces challenge – July 2009
6. Featured – Layered with Texture – March 2010
7. Top Ten Finish – Layer it With a Child – March 2010