Haiku My Heart - Soul of my Soul

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soul of my soul––
together
traversing other worlds

The above photo was taken of my grandparents along some unknown lake shore, presumably after having just gotten their feet wet, sometime in the late 1940s or early '50s. Yes, the actual photo is of all of them – head to toe – but something about this piece of the picture just simply captured my imagination. I can't explain it. They were together for a long time in life, and I feel them together now. Somehow, this image speaks of that.

In an effort to preserve old 'memories' (some of which have only been told to us but feel like ours, just the same), we've been busy scanning lots of old family photos. Rather than trying to restore them to their original lustre, I have been embracing their imperfections and letting the photos gently reveal their secrets as I attempt to bring out the story in each instead. Old snapshots are grainy by nature, and decades of either fading or darkening offer a challenge. So far, I've been surprised by the results. Some are dream-like and almost other-worldly. Some feel as if the black-and-white subjects are ready to step through the frame into a world of color. Each image is a bit of poetry.

All are single moments in history, my family's history, and they lead me on a flight of fancy as I imagine what might have transpired before each click of the shutter. I will continue to work on them and plan to create an art book for the most interesting ones. Maybe one for each of my kids, too. That should keep me busy for awhile.

My mom at 16, dancing with my grandfather.
Photo was taken in 1956.
Judging by how often my grandma said that Grandpa had "two left feet", I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Mom was teaching him a few moves. ;)

Me, Mom and my brother, about 1968.
I love the effect of the sun shining through the windows behind us.

To haiku your heart, please visit Rebecca and company here. Join us if you feel so inspired.

Peace.

Haiku My Heart - Last Dance

The weather has suddenly turned blustery, as October whirls and prances so swiftly toward November. Up until yesterday evening, we were without heat as we awaited parts for a furnace repair. Just in time, too, as we had our first hard frost of the season last night. How nice it was to be toasty warm whilst the banshees outside practiced their wails and moans.

We've had a gorgeous fall, beautifully sunny with bright blue skies and little rain. The leaves are starting to disappear quickly, now, and soon enough the trees will stand naked against wintry skies. Until then, though, I want to inhale every bit of autumn's sweet, crisp fragrance and feast my eyes on her rich palette.

Here are a few photos taken during a drive through the country and along Lake Huron and the St. Clair River last week-end.

For more wonderful ways to haiku your heart, please visit Recuerda Mi Corazon.

Peace to your soul.

The Summons

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Little Suska has just been summoned by a human child.

It has been decided by a gathering of the Council that she will serve no less than one year's time on Earth in companionship to the child, in order to restore her wings, and as restitution for her endless bouts of mischief upon both humans and her own folk alike. Suska's wings have been turned upside down. She can only fly short distances, and in a very crooked path, at that. She has discovered, though, that she can fly backwards quite well.

Navigation, however, is another matter.

Let the cock-eyed magic begin...

The image of the faery girl is from a vintage photo shared by Amanda Howard on the Creative Souls group.


(a little tale for Luke)

Haiku My Heart - Angels We Have Heard On High :)

angelic choir––
 divine raspberry
serenade   

This image was created from a photo of my grandson, taken at his third birthday party last week-end. The pose, captured by his Uncle Philip, was so angelic and sweet that I just had to have some fun with it. When he saw the original, he giggled and said, "I was makin' silly noises on my arm!" Oh, so much for angelic. Ha.

Thank goodness for the little ones and their gusto for living in the moment. They have a magical way of instantly making us forget sadness or worry or whatever less-than-happy emotion we might be momentarily stuck within.

Today, in anticipation of getting to ride his new bike, this happy, little soul ran to the open window, pressed his face to the screen and exclaimed, "Hi World! Whaddaya doin'? I comin' outside in a minnit!"

Such delightful exuberance. Watch out, World. :)

Please visit the lovely Rebecca's blog and follow the yellow brick road to gently open, fill and haiku your heart.

Peace.

Dream A Little Dream... and other goodies

I signed up for Lani's Fotoshop Fun class over on her blog. Finally, I am learning how to do all the neat things I knew could be done in PS. Learning on your own is fine, but there are always little tricks that others can teach you that can make worlds of difference in whatever it is you're doing. In just a few short days, I've learned so much that I don't want to stop. Today, I learned to create my own brushes – huzzah! A creative monster has been unleashed. ;)

Here's the one I've made so far:



So easy – who knew? This was inspired by this song by Cass Elliot (The Mamas and Papas). Love her clear, sweet voice.

I've spent most of my time these past couple of days creating a new blog banner. The one you see at the top of the page is several dozen incarnations into the process. I think it still needs a bit of tweaking (but then I always do). I started with a photo of a dragonfly necklace I made for my daughter. I love the original photo, with its vintage paper fan for a backdrop:



Lani also introduced an interesting blog challenge to the 14 Secrets group. She posed a list of nine questions to be answered using art, photos, etc. You can read more about it on the 14 Secrets blog.

Because of the process of creating each answer in art form, I think I'll do maybe one or two at a time. The first is "Who are you?"

As I read through and consider the rest of the questions, I think this might be better answered at the end... We are always who we truly are at our very core, but it's our perception of that person that changes over time, again and again. And our perceptions color our behavior, so when we say we (or someone else) have 'changed', I think what we really mean is that we have perhaps come to know ourselves a little better. What do you think?

I don't like doing self portraits. Yet, they offer an opportunity to express who we are in a given moment. As I was creating one for a challenge in the Creative Souls Ning group, I thought I would also use it to answer the first question in Lani's challenge, as well. (Or maybe that was the other way around... hmm...) Again, I used many of the techniques learned in Lani's class:

"Peace out..."

It's a little scary to me to put it out there... like poetry – something so personal and from the soul. I can write and share 'til the cows come home but some things are a little more soul-baring.

I'll look at this again when I've completed Lani's questions... and decide if my perception has changed...

Thank you, Lani, for so often keeping me on my creative toes.

Dream a little dream...


(Click on images to enlarge)

Fun With Photoshop

Photoshop has long been one of my favorite art playgrounds. It's great fun to scan a mixed media piece, for instance, and digitally enhance it even further, in an infinite number of ways. The paper-n-soul banner was created from a collaged shipping tag.

I also enjoy altering a simple color photo of someone to create an image with more impact by first desaturating the color, then maybe tinting it (as in the photo above). Then I enhance the most prominent feature, the eyes, by replacing the color from the original photo. Finish with a lightly textured layer and soften the entire image and the result is a striking contrast.

The process:







As for the good-looking fellow in the photo, he is my 18-month-old grandson, Luke. Yes, his eyes really are that deep blue. All he ever has to do is pour those gorgeous blues on me and I'm toast... And does he know this? Oh no. Nope. Not at all... (riiight – just look at that face ;).

And if you think this really just might be a thinly-veiled excuse to do the shameless grandma thing... (click on the photos for a better look – heh)