T

Please click on photo to see larger size

This is a homage to Tim, who is so much down to Earth... always working hard, while at the same time being a dreamer, an entrepreneur, an artist, and so very original. 

He loves his dog Kulta and being at the beach, he finds plenty of reasons to enjoy life, sooo good to see!

Hey Tim, if you ever read this - I am VERY pleased and grateful having you in my space :-)

First version:

The starting point for this composition was the second weekend challenge of the PhotoshopGrunge workshop, with certain rules attached.... two of my own photos (a landscape and a person), several defined creative elements to choose from. The main task was to use the selective black&white teaching of the workshop, and then some extra instructions about using two squares, which I might have interpreted a bit more flexibly than was anticipated....

The Secret of Life

Please click on the photo to see a larger version

For me, "The Secret of Life"  is to love to all that is.

The heart therefore is the main part of this composition, but maybe not that obvious to see.... like it is in life sometimes, where love is there, but might not be obvious to the superficial observer.

The tree stands for life itself.

Certainly I had to include another fractal (which I spiced up with lots of little lights) - here it is literally used as the light, the energy that's coming in, circling around us, spreading out.

Music has a large part when talking 'life' (as well as colours). It's kind of cool that the music-brush that I used had the word "cresc" (crescendo = progressive increase in force or intensity), which fits so very well my viewpoint of what's happening with life.... everything seems to be increasing, speeding up, in wonderful ways.

The map in the top right corner is the symbol that these concepts are valid for the whole world, the whole universe, all universes, all that is.

The funny thing is that I used brushes for all those round symbols without exactly looking what they contained. I was then very happily surprised seeing that I placed the Star-Tetrahedron just in the middle of the photo... and in the middle of the heart..... couldn't have done it any better if I had been thinking about it.

Another proof that it might be a very good idea to think less :-) :-) :-)

(And I really like how the structure of the frame turned out - used two Kim Klassen textures - even though I couldn't really explain how I did it.... it just came together all by itself :-)

And here is the fractal that I used in the composition above:

The Lonely Tree's Dreams

Please click on the photo to see larger format

My freshly renewed fascination with fractals made this day go past in a flash.
I keep pondering about the beauty of the fractals, looking at our trees outside, realising that they are full of fractals just everywhere.

Didn't take long and I knew I had to get a tree and the fractals somehow together - a tree dreaming of his basic particles... a tree dreaming of the fractalness of his being.


The tree reaches out trying to understand where it's coming from, why it is here and what it is made of. Even the consciousness of a tree finds these questions challenging to embrace - there seems to be a blockage that stops it from grasping the complete concept... A bit of confusion is there, too. :-)


For nearly all day the whole composition was black and white, and I realised something was missing. The red splashes of paint seemed to be just right - and I had to add a little more colour, a little bit of music (which certainly has fractals in it too! :-), a little smiley, a curious little cat.... there is some lightness, some playfulness... the pondering of central questions doesn't take over, it's just part of the whole.


And here the fractal result that made the background of this composition

Please click on photo to see larger version

Spirit's Dance

Please click on photo to see larger size

On Saturday I found a new iPad app called Frax (http:\\fract.al), which ... as the name says .... deals with fractals.
And in such an amazingly beautiful way that I still can't believe.
I have been playing with fractals-applications since my first PC in the early 80ies, but never anything like this... and on the iPad, of all places. Who would have thought that it is even possible to create anything like basic fractals on a little gadget like this.

Anyway... I had to  save some of the results, they are just too beautiful. And then... I had to try to use them as background for some more PhotoArt.
Above is the first result and I am very happy with it.

It shows Spirit, our very playful cat, in full action. I love watching him and I love how he still surprises me with new ideas on how and where and what to play. This is LIFE.





Here the fractal result that is the background of the composition above, which is certainly A LOT more amazing when seen in full size on a large screen (this one is sized down so that it doesn't take too long to load):

Freedom

Please click on photo to see larger size

This composition was created due to the first weekend challenge Sebastian has put up in his Photo Artistry workshop. Even though there were very clear restrictions, it didn't feel as if there was a limit to the combinations or possibilities.
The main topic was about painting with coloured light (and other lighting effects)

On a more personal note:
For me, 'Freedom' has a lot to do with the ability of flying - and imagining to fly towards my dream makes me feel very happy... knowing that I am doing that already, that there are no boundaries to my inner experience, and there is only one way to go.... towards the light, towards the glass castle where the light is stored and that's shining wide and far to show the way. Ahhhhhhh........ :-)

Dreaming Safely

please click on photo to see it larger

I wanted to express my deep feeling of quiet, ease and peace. It looks as if I couldn't find a more peaceful photo than one of my sleeping cats... :-)

The church, big trees, large flocks of birds and butterflies also are symbols of peace and quietness, and the playful curls are just that... playful...

Not many words today...

Stay with Me...

Please click on photo to see it on dark background

This is one of my most favourite compositions off the iPad.
I already liked the simplicity of the original photo, and the colour scheme of the iPad modification so much suited the symbolic meaning, e.. story that I had made up for the photo.

I see the two powerlines, going on forever being parallel to each other, never touching.
I see the two birds, one lived on each powerline, they already lived side by side for ever, an they would have continued, if not one of them had decided that this wasn't enough.... now it's off to an adventure. Maybe it will come back. Maybe it won't.

The blue to purple combination is also full of meaning, the purple being a mixture of blue (masculine) and pink (feminine), showing the oneness of masculinity and femininity independent from gender.

I believe, the bird will come back. It will have learnt a lot in the meantime, it will have increased its understanding, its compassion, acceptance - and will realise how much it misses the parter of so many years. It will understand, that instead of waiting that the partner hops on it's powerline, it can also hop on the powerline of the partner.... and spend a bit of time there, before going back to its own powerline.....
Ah, yesssssss..........

H2 - SelfPortrait

Please click on the photo to see large size

Well, I got courageous and decided to work on a self-portrait. The main reason was that Sebastian, the guy who does the Photo Art workshop, said that we should collect photos of beautiful models to use in our photo art. And something within me just said, oh nooooo, that's not going to happen here! I can use photos of totally normal people, everybody has beauty within them!!!

So, why not start with myself?!?

Well, it's an 'interesting' experience to look at myself for hours and hours and hours.... but to look at three of me... that's nearly a bit too much. But, I did it, yeah!

I think it really takes quite a while to see all the different elements that I have used (and a larger version of the photo...) - there were 31 layers in the end, but many of them contained more than one element.

My goal was to use every colour from white to black, from dark to light. 

I wanted to show the different states that I feel I am in... mostly cheerful, but some skepticism  and questioning is there as well.... and my head deep in the clouds, hahahaha.

Spirit and Kiril are so much part of me, not in a physical way, but inside of me... so they had to be there too. 

The music within me.... my attraction to sacred geometry, the 'being an open book', the curls and the spikes.... and lastly the Golden Liquid Light - I am especially happy that I found that too!!! Ah, life is so good!!!

Update 27/9/2013: 

I had to change the composition, it was just not quite complete... The added cutrain feels much more than I see myself, not hiding, really, but rather always finding out something more about myself, something new. There is still so much more to uncover.....

And this was the first version :-)

Dance with the Moon

Please click on the photo to see large size

I was drawn to make this composite by my admiration/appreciation to the moon, or, the feminine (the large lady) that allows playfulness, singing, dancing, being happy (the little dancer).

The purple colours, the stars and the different light effects are meant to depict this again - femininity, playfulness, lightheartedness, allowing.

Then I decided to find a poem that somehow fits... and the little miracle occurred - The first one that I read was the one I used.

It had so many connections to my composition, unbelievable.

- Clouds of purple mist

- Goddess of the moon

- In glittering garments dressed

It felt as if I knew the poem already and made my picture for it. Just - in my reality, I first made the picture, then searched for the poem. Funny that...

The Magic from Home

please click on photo to see it in large

The main topic is 'water' (because I LOVE water)... the drops that contain the seeds of magic. The ocean water is being used to show fullness. The flowers and golden colour stand for beauty, the raindrops make me aware that there are good reasons to being grateful even for rain and the butterflies are a symbol of abundance.


The text in the top right corner was taken from my diary:

I closed my eyes, sat still and did my breathing. Then I used the octahedron and yellow light and drew it into the head where the headache was. Then I drew the energy from the earth star up into the first four chakras.

And then suddenly, I didn’t have a body feeling at all anymore, other than the painful head. A hugely glowing golden light was all around me, huge, huge. I saw it. It wasn’t that I knew it’s there, I saw it - as clearly as the triangles band. I tried to draw it higher to go up into the head area, but that wasn’t the right thing to do, so I just let go of control.  Then I saw a blue-white light around my head, which melted nicely into the golden area around my body, and it was just plainly blissful. I even forgot the pain, even though it was very clearly there. Just nothing of my body left, and I was so endlessly big and then the blue-white-silver light stretched out and out and out and up and up and up, and I was one with everything, and everybody and God. And I nearly cried, but there was no physicalness to create tears with. It was probably the most amazing experience I ever had and I can’t even describe it.

I made this for Meg, Barbara and Steve, after the workshop 'PlanB - Igniting the seed of magic'.


It seems to become a habit that I am having difficulties at the last few steps of a composition to decide which way to go. At least two options are left, and I don't know which one I like better, very interesting.
Well, I'll post both, who says I can't :-)

And as always - please click on the photo for the larger version

Flowery Kiss

please click on photo to see it in large

The open flower (awaken/aware) hugs and kisses the flower bud (still asleep). The open flower knows that there is so much beauty when the flower bud opens - but it also sees the beauty, light and innocence (white) of the flower bud.
There is unconditional love for the sleeping beauty, even it is known that the bud might never open.

Texts written in several different languages show that we might not understand the words, but can always assume a loving message.

I made this for SueB.

Photo Art...

please click on photo to see it in large

This is a photo of myself and some playfulness within the iPad... I wanted to use this photo as a starting point for my new blog... yes, another attempt.

I like the composition, because it of the  colours. It is also clear enough to identify me, and I like think of myself as having quite a few hidden talents (e.g. half face in shadow ;-) ), that might come out one day...


The purpose of this blog will be to show a collection of compositions (still to be created, hahaha) that are in some way meaningful to me. Not just photos manipulated in a way that pleases me, but also with some deeper meaning behind it. Well, at least I think that's what I want to do here, we'll see!