In process. A surprise
For the first person who can tell me
WHAT IS IT? You might say an ephemeral arrangement
Stones and crystals. Feathers and flowers. Spanish Moss and shells
But, what part of the making process? And what's the purpose of this arrangement? ~Ally.
A time of wonderful synchronicity
The piece was totally impromptu ~ Although my previous work with ephemeral art had a direct bearing on its creation.
And then recent interactions I've had with three people here at Steemit, @sunscape, @carlgnash and @gillianpearce influenced the elements selected, the extended images and part of the presentation of this article, respectively.
The first influence was reading @sunscape's CARNELIAN 'Power Stone for Confidence and Action'
I AM energized & empowered to take action in my life for my highest good. ~@sunscape's CARNELIAN.
Feeling the need to have Carnelian with me day and night, triggered the wish to also include a few pieces of this earthy brownish red/orange semi-precious stone in this piece.
@sunscape also mentioned that if you want to attract the Money Fairy, leave a Carnellian stone at your front door. And it seemed only natural to include Citrine in the arrangement, as this beautiful golden crystal is also well known for attracting abundance.
Things I had no words for. ~Georgia O'Keeffe.
At this stage, I would be so surprised if anyone is able to tell me what the function of this arrangement is. So I will have to tell you a little about how it came to be in the first place. Not the whole story all at once, as that might give it away too quickly.
The first hint I can give is that the piece was being made specifically for one of the following Steemit contests that I'd like to share my work with this week:
- @petals Petals Contest: Pink Flower Day
- @melinda010100's Shadow Photo Contest
- @petals Petals Contest: Roses Open Weekend
- @kus-knee's The Mundane as Art: Door Handles And Knobs
While this piece was in process
I was over the moon to see @carlgnash's painterly and very colourful version of one of my unadorned nest's that I'd shared with him at: Life in the Nest.
Our conversation in summary
It is funny with the gorgeous flowers what I am really drawn to is the "nest" of bare twigs. Beautiful shapes there. ~@carlgnash.
I started making the nests as plant containers and hanging baskets ~ But then it always seemed to be such a shame to completely hide their inner beauty. They are more like containers these days. And this week I'm making one as a hat for Melinda's Shadow Photos: Hats. (Second hint.) ~Ally.
Here's a nest without any embellishment for you Carl ~ Except for a few sprigs of lichen at the front. ~Ally.
Oh I love it! You inspired me to do a little digital manipulation. ~@carlgnash.
In a nanosecond, your painterly vibrant image made so many things I've been seeking ~ GEL. I've always loved bright clear colour but tend to use the more subtle tones of nature in my image making now. Looking at your image ~ I can feel that being shaken and shifting. The Perfectionist has enslaved the Creative Muse for too long. ~Ally.
And concurrently
@gillianpearce in her article: Cake Fails to Cheer had asked how to code for left and right formatting.
I'd looked at how to format two or more images side by side recently, but hadn't actually applied the code yet myself. In testing the process for Gillian, I found that it worked but then it was really tricky to give her the code, because as soon as it was placed in the comment box, only the images/text were displayed ~ SANS code.
After a little trial and error, I discovered that if I replaced the text div with blue butterflies ~ The code stayed in place. So if you want the simplest explanation of how to format left and right images and text, try this code: Just replace the blue butterflies with the text div. Of course it will work with any emoji but the blue butterflies are my favourite.
<🦋 class="pull-left">
URL OF IMAGE
</🦋>
<🦋 class="pull-right">
URL OF IMAGE
</🦋>
And now: The result of my interactions with both Gillian and Carl
Ephemeral Art by @allyinspirit.
Digital Art by @carlgnash.
Experiments with Photoshop Filters
As well as inspiring me to experiment with drawing and painting in pure colour blocks/stokes side-by-side without so much blending, Carl's digital painting also pushed me closer to relearning how to use Photoshop.
The following images are the result of using a few of the Photoshop Filters
Photoshop Filter: Rough Pastel
Photoshop Filter: Oil Painting
Photoshop Filters: Edges and Grain
In this version Shadows and Black were reduced as well as Contrast in the Camera Raw Filter. The Edges Filter and finally the Grain Filter were also used.
Photoshop Filter: Watercolour
Even with the lowest possible Watercolour Filter settings the black areas of the image dominated and totally overpowered the gentle areas. Even after adjusting Exposure and Contrast as well as other colour settings, to me the image looked nothing like an actual watercolour painting. Pretty disappointing. And it was obvious that it was time to look at some Tutorial videos on the intricacies of Photoshop.
After watching a few Photoshop Tutorial videos on how to make a photograph look like a Watercolour painting, I realized there was a lot more to it all. But before following any of the multitude of videos, I tried another approach, based on a few things I'd learnt already. Combining Filters.
This time before using the Watercolour Filter, I strongly reduced Black and Shadows using the Camera Raw Filter as well as applying the Drybrush Filter. Then after using the Watercolour Filter I used Diffuse in Stylize.
Using the above image that had now been treated with Camera Raw Filter, Drybrush Filter, Watercolour Filter and Diffuse in Stylize, I then applied a touch of Paint Daub Filter and then finally Oil Paint Filter.
You can see how different the image is now from when only Oil Paint Filter was used.
Realizations
I've worked with the basics of Photoshop and GIMP before but have a long way to go to master Photoshop. Maybe I need to actually do a course? Time?
I haven't given quite enough hints yet for you to be able to tell me what the function of the arrangement in the image was. In my next article it will be revealed as the processes involved are explained. But for now a surprise will be awarded for the most creative guess or interpretation of what this arrangement was for.
SONY Mark2 A7: 35 mm:
All works are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Terms of CC BY-SA.
This ShareAlike license will allow you to reproduce and/or manipulate this image even for your commercial purposes.
You are required to attribute me, Alison Lee Cousland as the designer/artist.
You also need to be willing to license any of your new creations that make use of this image, under the identical terms IE allow others to reproduce and/or build their own art upon your art, as well as granting their right to commercial usage.
