SYANNE BLEU

Imogen Heap - "Just For Now"

2011-12-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

A little Christmas cheer

2011-12-04T16:57:00.001-08:00

Looks like the gang's all here to spread a little Xmas cheer!

Hummingbird

2011-09-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

They are migratory visitors to my neck of the woods, so you don't usually see them. I was looking for butterflies but this female came by for a visit instead.

Green Heron

2011-08-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

Found this visitor roosting in a tree.

Chicken with a bad hair day

2011-07-31T19:11:00.000-07:00

I like to go to county fairs and look at all the different breeds of chickens that people show. Sometimes, the most mundane things can be so interesting.

First Monarch of the season

2011-07-14T18:14:00.000-07:00

This is the first Monarch Butterfly I have seen all summer. Last summer, it seemed like they were everywhere by the beginning of June. Now it's the middle of July and this is the first one I have seen. In fact, I have not been seeing a lot of butterflies this year in comparison to the last couple of years.

Go get a motel room already

2011-06-28T17:54:00.000-07:00

Another familiar face

2011-06-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

The black squirrel. I call him "Noire". He calls me, "Get out of my space!"

Northern Flicker

2011-06-16T18:22:00.000-07:00

This male is a returning visitor to the woods. He was doing a mating call. There was a pair who nested last year, so hopefully, they will nest again.

Flight of the Cabbage White

2011-06-06T04:51:00.001-07:00

In flight

2011-06-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

I finally got a photo of the "local" Great Blue Heron in flight. When I go out to photograph, I stumble across him the pond or marshes. He get upset that I am disturbing his peace, squawks at me and flies away. This bird stands almost as tall as me. When he flies, it is similar to watching a jet take off. Somehow the aerodynamics do not look like they will work, but they do.

An old washing machine

2011-05-31T18:17:00.000-07:00

Actually, I find this thing really fascinating. I wonder if it cleans clothes as well as my current machine.

Skipping after a Skipper...

2011-05-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

Another breakfast with The Muse

2011-05-16T18:04:00.000-07:00

Never can get enough of the diner or the company that comes with it.

Why I keep taking photos of turtles

2011-04-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

Because turtles never need to be upgraded.

Thanks to XCD comics for putting life in perspective.

Hawk eye-ing

2011-04-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Spring is coming back to the little ecosystem between the industrial park. I managed to get a couple of shots our latest visitor.

Dani has a new home

2011-04-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

As much as I enjoyed Dani, I could not keep her. Al was getting jealous and sleeping in her cage. When he started using her litter box, I had to take an action. I was fortunate enough to find Little Furries Rescue. I donated all her things and gave them a small fee to offset the cost of her spaying. Dani will be spayed an re-homed. In the meantime, she will be fostered with other "little furry" creatures who are looking for their forever home.

If you are considering a new house pet, look at animal rescues first. Even hamsters and gerbils sometimes need new homes because people do not realize the care they require. With the tough economy, more people are downsizing and relocating, and having to give up their pets in the process. There are wonderful pets out there that need a new home, so always consider a shelter or rescue organization first.

Bunny Sniffing a Fish-Eye Lens...

2011-03-28T16:28:00.000-07:00

So does that make a stew, from a point of view?

Cage match

2011-03-25T18:46:00.000-07:00

Bunny Cam

2011-03-20T19:23:00.000-07:00

Rascally Rabbit

2011-03-13T17:14:00.001-07:00

Breakfast with The Muse :)

2011-02-27T21:14:00.001-08:00

In Philadelphia

2011-02-16T20:06:00.001-08:00

Superman makes sure you are parking legally.

Art experiment number 1932904.2

2011-02-06T19:55:00.000-08:00

I spent most of the weekend trying to work on some encaustic art. I've been very interested in trying my hand at something it. Encaustic is an old (very old) art form using wax with pigments and resin mixed in. Judging from some of the books I have on encaustic, it looks easy. Just apply wax, heat it until it melts, then apply more wax. However, sometimes things that are good in theory are not always good in practice. Difficulties I have encountered with encaustics:

1) It's pretty messy and I tend not to wear gloves while doing artwork;

2) the damar resin, which is the binding agent in the wax, makes the wax sticky; and

3) you cannot do encaustic projects in a room that is somewhat cool. The wax doesn't melt enough to paint and congeals to quickly to move around like paint.

Looks like I should put this stuff away until spring or summer.

One eskimO - "Amazing"

2011-02-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

Inside my car this morning

2011-02-02T14:29:00.000-08:00

My car was totally encased in about 1/4 inch of ice. Luckily, the doors were not frozen shut. After I turned on the defrosters and the engine warmed up, I had to crack the ice off my car. It was a lot like peeling a hard boiled egg.

Scary pizza dude

2011-02-01T19:07:00.000-08:00

This sign really freaks me out.

Waiting for a thaw... nawwww

2011-01-30T18:28:00.000-08:00

One of my neighbors still has not cleaned off his car.

More snow

2011-01-27T16:23:00.001-08:00

Misplaced cow

2011-01-23T16:37:00.000-08:00

I found this in the mayonnaise section at Target.

Ali Baba as Vincent Van Gogh

2011-01-22T18:35:00.001-08:00

Sketchbook project page

2011-01-14T19:12:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure where this page was going when I started it. It turned into the idea of opposites and negative space.

Say what?!

2011-01-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

Only received a two hour delayed opening this morning despite all schools being closed. This was the condition of my car when I went to dig myself out.

Ali Baba through a fish eye lens

2011-01-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

My Photojojoorder finally arrived today. It was supposed to arrive on Saturday but ever since the anthrax incident the mail is notoriously slow here. I ordered 5 different lenses for my iPhone. One of the lenses is both a wide angle and a macro lens. I can't wait to play with all my lenses. It does mean that I have to take my Otterbox protection off my iPhone, which I am not too keen about... but we have to make these sacrifices sometimes.

More than a dusting

2011-01-08T20:20:00.001-08:00

The "dusting" of snow we were supposed to receive was much more than anticipated. They weren't prepared to keep the local roads clear.

Working on the Sketchbook Project

2011-01-06T19:06:00.001-08:00

Here is a page I finished for the Sketchbook Project. I am not sure if it is finished or not. I will have to take a second look tomorrow.

It may not be art to you

2011-01-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

But it is a work of art to me. It is my new washer and dryer. They are energy efficient and the washer uses less water than my previous high efficiency washer. That makes it more ecologically beautiful.

The transformation of Al

2011-01-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

I am embarking on altering a series of photographs of Ali Baba into other notable artists or their artwork. So first up, is Al transformed into "Blue Cat". Frank Rodrigo is a New Orleans artist who is famous for his iconographic image "Blue Dog."

Day 1 - Tomato Factory Antiques

2011-01-01T19:41:00.000-08:00

I finally cleared off the desk and table and started to lay down some groundwork for future projects.

Today's art is a digitally altered photo of one of my favorite places - Tomato Factory Antiques. I love antique stores that have multiple dealers and this place is chocked full of goodies. I usually stop by one a month to peruse the cabinet cards and CDVs. I stopped by today on the off chance that it might be open but no luck. There were still lots of outdoor objects worth taking a photo or two. There's still snow on the ground from last weekend's blizzard.

New Year's Resolution

2010-12-31T16:36:00.001-08:00

I am about to embark on a 365 day project. That means I am committing to creating a piece of artwork everyday. For me, artwork means either something hand rendered for photographed. It is going to be tough...

Art work to follow

Blizzard...

2010-12-26T18:32:00.000-08:00

Very odd gift

2010-12-24T19:02:00.001-08:00

I have no idea what these squishy things were, but my aunt gave them to everybody and they were a hit. They light up, make noises and smell kinda funky.

Happy Holidays

2010-12-19T18:05:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday

2010-12-18T19:04:00.000-08:00

Was eggs benedict for breakfast. I love eggs benedict.

Happy Hanukkah

2010-12-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

Chaos

2010-12-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

Crow in a tree

2010-11-30T19:06:00.000-08:00

Very thankful for...

2010-11-28T17:49:00.000-08:00

Breakfast with the Muse.

Damn! That traffic jam...

2010-11-27T18:31:00.000-08:00

I always think of that James Taylor song when I am stuck in traffic.

I made two bad choices today: 1) to go through the drive through Starbucks for a tall caramel macchiato; and 2) to exit out the front of the strip mall instead of take the rear exit which would have had me avoiding the whole mess.

I saw the police cars with sirens blaring but thought nothing of it because the entrance to the turnpike was a few miles north and they recently rerouted a major highway, so there are always accidents. I knew all the alternate routes.

But I ignored everything, and ran right into the thick of it. An overturned tractor trailer tanker with a hazmat label on it had tipped over and blocked all three lanes of north bound traffic. So I was stuck for an hour and a half. 90 minutes of my life spent sitting there, idling in the car. What to do?

I played Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, caught up on emails, updated my status on Facebook and tweeted my dilemma. Oh, and I took photos.

Ready, Set, start feasting now

2010-11-23T18:32:00.000-08:00

In case there is not enough to eat at my own Thanksgiving table, we start a couple of days ahead of time at work. There is always plenty of food, the typical requested items and plenty of desserts.

Monday, Monday...

2010-11-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

What is it about Mondays? No matter how beautiful and blue and sunshine-y the day actually turns out to be, the fact that it is a Monday just washes all the fun out of it. It didn't matter whether I was working or in school, Mondays just are no fun, unless they are attached to holiday weekend.

Here's what greeted me this morning. I have to admit, that iPhone app makes even a Monday morning parking lot at work look a little bit better.

Channeling Your Inner Salvador

2010-11-19T15:58:00.000-08:00

Please vote for my photo entered on the Hipstamatic contest site. The winner will get their photo displayed in the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. You can retweet the link if you have a Twitter account. The voting is only open for 5 days.

Peeking

2010-11-18T18:50:00.001-08:00

I love cats. I love dogs. In fact, I love most pets. But I do have an affinity for cats, the hedonists of the world. They find a spot of sun to lie in, sleep 20 hours a day, but can revert back into a feral state in a moments notice. I often say, "You choose a dog, but a cat chooses you." Dogs are, without a doubt, our best friends. They willingly give us their unconditional love. Dogs want to please you. They want to be part of your pack. Cats will do whatever they want because it is convenient to them. They will disrespect you one minute and sit in your lap purring the next.

I like to photograph my cats because they will not pose - unless it suits them at the moment. They are totally spontaneous. Always in the moment. A lot like photographs.

Turning over a new leaf

2010-11-17T19:32:00.000-08:00

There was a rain storm at 3 am this morning that snapped power lines and brought down some trees. The pouring rain acted as spray paint and the leaves acted as stencils on the sidewalk. As the leaves dried out and blew around they left an interesting pattern. I couldn't help but snap a few shots.

You tawkin' to me?

2010-11-14T20:56:00.000-08:00

Al is channeling his inner DeNiro...

More picked pics

2010-11-12T19:56:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I got some more additions to this app and now I am going to enter the contests on their site. Is it possible to be in love with an iPhone application?

Picked pics of the day

2010-11-11T18:46:00.001-08:00

I still have not gotten bored with this iPhone app

Around the Industrial Park update

2010-11-10T18:31:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos I took today. The colors are added courtesy of my iPhone. There are still a few flowers left, mostly goldenrod. I also saw a white sulfur butterfly.

He looks so innocent sometimes...

2010-11-09T18:24:00.001-08:00

Cattitude

2010-11-08T19:53:00.001-08:00

I think the cats are getting tired of me and my iPhone.

Starting the day right

2010-11-07T11:11:00.001-08:00

Starting the day with a cup of coffee at my favorite diner and with a new shower curtain.

Still having fun with Hipstamatic

2010-11-01T19:59:00.001-07:00

I love this App!

There's an App for that....

2010-10-31T21:13:00.000-07:00

If someone had told me decades ago about digitally photography, I would have said "cool". But if someone had told me that there would be computer applications to recreate technically bad photographs so give them a "raw" arty edge - well, then they were just being crazy.

I had spent hours shooting rolls and rolls of film, hours in darkrooms pushing film's developing time, making sure I wanted whatever I saw in the frame to be photograph, dodging, burning in sections - all so I could produce 4 decent photographs for critique in my class. And now in the modern age of digital photography and smart phones, there's an application that recreates exactly what I was trying so hard to eliminate... and it looks good.

With Hipstamatic all I do is shake my iPhone so that lenses, flashes, and filmtypes are combined to produce raw, edge-y, shot from the hip, photographs. And I LOVE IT.

Take that old photography professor....

The Dead Walk Among Us

2010-10-27T19:06:00.001-07:00

Found my camera

2010-06-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

I guess I put it where I thought it would be safe - in the software CDs I keep by my desk. So I am back in business.

I cannot find my camera

2010-06-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

I am not the neatest person in the world, but I am pretty "spot oriented". I tend to put important objects in the same spots. But now I cannot find my digital camera. It is not in the three usual spots. I have look in some of the "unusual spots"., and then the far-fetched regions, such as under the car seat, in the couch cushions, in the bed, under the bed, in the bathroom, etc. No camera, no camera anywhere. I am on the verge of losing it. I need to take photos. I need to record the word. I can't stand it. GAAAAAHHH

When it's hot

2010-05-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was an unusual day for this time of year. We had a heatwave. It was over 90 degrees outside and there was no wind at all. Because it was earlier in the year, the sun was really oppressive. There were very few butterflies out. However, there were a lot of dragonflies. There were some that sounded like airplanes as they flew past. Some were so small you could barely make them out. The thing that really fascinates me about dragonflies is that they are the only insect that can fly forwards and backwards. Luckily, I got one to hold still for me.

Pipevine Swallowtail

2010-05-25T17:46:00.001-07:00

Since the weather has gotten warmer, I have been able to go outside and shoot photos with my digital camera during lunch time. I work in an industrial park on what used to be sod farms and wetlands up until 30 years ago. Some of the wetlands remain and some of the cultivated areas have been allowed to grow wild. Nature has a way of occupying the neglected spaces we leave. In the wetlands, native species have reclaimed some of the area and every year more migrating birds are stopping there. A flowing meadow has been allowed to grow over an area that was once meant to be developed for another office building. A lot of butterflies have taken up residence in the meadow. On my walk today, I saw Cabbage Whites, Fiery Skippers and this beauty, a Pipevine Swallowtail. Lucky for me the butterfly allowed me to shoot a few shots before flitting away.

Found an old photo

2010-05-01T18:53:00.001-07:00

I've been doing some geneology research lately, and came upon an old photo of Uncle Rep Tile.

Faux Fossils

2010-04-28T18:24:00.000-07:00

Things have been at a bit of a standstill since I have come back from vacation. But the creative juices are still flowing.

My muse and I took a trip awhile back to an Arts & Crafts festival. Really a good place to draw inspiration from (and also pick up a few goodies). I saw one artist who created some works using plaster, patinas, and then adding his own handmade decals. Extrapolating upon his ideas, I created an faux fossil. I used crackle paste, rubber stamps on tissue paper, rust patina, and self-leveling gel over the entire surface. I really like the effect.

Spring has sprung

2010-03-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

And here's a new garden gnome to prove it.

Al's P.O.V

2010-02-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

Another blizzard is coming...

2010-02-04T19:10:00.001-08:00

And Al is laughing because he never has to shovel snow.

Blizzard today

2009-12-20T00:31:00.000-08:00

Today it was snowing. Before the afternoon it was just a steady snow, not too much accumulation. Then it stopped for a bit. By one o'clock the snowing resumed but the wind started to pick up. At one point I looked out my window to see that it was snowing sideways. And then the wind started making low moaning noises. At one point the snow was coming down between 1" to 2" an hour. Using my new iPod Nano, I captured some of this event.

Nano nano and PoGo

2009-12-09T22:39:00.000-08:00

I just got a couple of really nice new toys: a new blue (of course) 16gb iNano and a PoGo. What's a PoGo? It is Polaroid's latest step into the digital age - a totally portable printer that weighs 8 oz. It prints out 2x3" prints on special Zink paper. The ink is actually embedded in the paper so there are no ink cartridges to worry about or load. It has blue tooth tech - so you don't have to connect it to you camera. And the prints have sticky back film! This little gifty was courtesy of my Muse. I have lusting after one for almost a year and got for almost half price, plus a pack of 50 Zink film inserts for less than $75.00.

The other gadget I just had to have was the new 5th generation iPod Nano. I had been thinking of getting a flip video, but this gadget has everything I wanted: music storage; FM radio; movies; podcasts; photo storage; and it can record up to 2 hours of video. Cool. I don't need high end video stuff because I am not going into movie making.

But the great thing is that I will never have to miss another photo opportunity again.

Happy Holidays from Al

2009-12-07T20:11:00.001-08:00

I gotta say, Al puts up with a lot from me. Considering this outfit doesn't even fit him - I can't get the necktie around his big neck. And there's supposed to be little elf booties you put on the cat's paws. Fat chance of that happening. I think I am going to decorate the doll's trunk that I bought a while back and use it for all of Al's outfits. I can't wait to see what they come out with for Valentine's day.

Recently aquired loot

2009-11-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

I've been out foraging again. Now it's estate sales. I found that if go on the last day, everything is usually half price. And since the stuff I want is usually "worthless" to other people (i.e. antique collectors, decorators...) I can get some choice stuff pretty cheap. In the past two weekend I've purchased:

A old toy steamer trunk (probably from the 1930's) for a doll
Some vintage magazines from the 1950s
Some vintage bottles (small)
A wooden box
Mardi Gras beads (we use them at work - don't ask...)
Some old cigar boxes - one with a beautiful lithographed label from Brazil (perfect for scanning)

As they say "one man's trash is another man's treasure."

Beyond Breast Cancer: “Awareness” Must Extend to Other Women’s Cancers | RHRealityCheck.org

2009-11-04T19:50:00.001-08:00

Beyond Breast Cancer: “Awareness” Must Extend to Other Women’s Cancers | RHRealityCheck.org

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Scrapiteria - the place where paper becomes humorous

2009-11-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

I stumbled upon this blog a while ago while searching on Technorati under "mixed media." It was none other than the witty, humorous, creative crew of Scrapiteria. They make art the old fashioned way - with paper and glue. Every week (more or less) they challenge each other and pick topics. The results are amazing! Just the Halloween pieces made me laugh but some of the past topics such as TV of the Future, Winter Chills (Halloween themes that included wintery aspects); and Autumn Fashions made me laugh out loud. The juxtaposition of old illustrations and magazine photos with other added eclectic bits shows just what a creative team this group is. Every artwork has the tongue planted firmly in the cheek.

So if you want a laugh or see what people are doing with good old fashion paper and paste, check out Scrapiteria.

Happy Halloween from Al

2009-10-31T22:43:00.001-07:00

He's really much to sophicated for the devil costume but indulged my whim.

Missy's Costume

2009-10-29T20:27:00.001-07:00

I will never know why but my daughter chose to be a were wolf. She likes the costume so much that she puts in on to watch TV and freak out the cats. I'm sure she start going to school in it if she could.

Carnivorous plants

2009-10-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I have always been fascinated by carnivorous plants. They are usually found in bogs and areas where the soil is poor in nutrients so they adapted by eating bugs. Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, sun dews are all carnivorous plants. Unlike the flytraps or the sun dews, the pitcher plants are very passive with no movement. They just have hairs that cause the insect to fall into a one-way trip into their "pitchers" where there is some water and they drown. Then they fall to the bottom of the water and are slowly digested as they decay. The plant doesn't really have to do anything except look good or maybe offer a drink. Not a bad way to earn a living.

Today's shoot - Great Heron

2009-10-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of water features and wetlands in an around the industrial park where I work. Usually in the morning I will see an Egret or Heron. This afternoon, I had my camera with me.

Yes, that is a knot in a tree

2009-10-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is a cactus

2009-10-13T13:07:00.001-07:00

Another View of Longwood Gardens

2009-10-13T11:42:00.001-07:00

They have a wonderful orchid room there in the conservatory. I love orchids but I have a black thumb. Here's a really nice shot of one.

Longwood Gardens

2009-10-11T18:22:00.001-07:00

My trip with my Muse to Longwood Gardens yeilded a lot of photos. Here is one of my favorites. A rose by any other name - would not smell as sweet. And it did!

VOTE FOR PICKLES

2009-10-09T19:08:00.001-07:00

I got my mother to enter her lovely dog, Pickles, in the Cutest Dog Competition. She and my younger brother (who sort of co-own the dog) picked out this pooch from the local rescues. She just loves to play and fetch a ball. In fact, when she has a ball in her mouth, she is not paying attention to other dogs barking, kids making noise, or anything else. She just wants to get the ball. She LIVES for it.

Now, some of the other contestants have gone so far as to dress their dogs in silly outfits. And some have puppy pictures entered. And some have even gone so far as to name their dog, Steven Colbert or Mozart. ( A bit underhanded...) But Pickles is a loveable mutt who is most happy when someone tells her she is a good girl.

So prove your love and faith in rescued dogs and vote for Pickles. Do it now or I will have to resort to guilt tactics.

To make it easy for you, I added a link.

Pickles at the Cutest Dog Competition

Well, it didn't quite turn out as I expected

2009-10-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

The gelatin transfer is still not completely dry. The color are not what I expected. Time to try again. I want to be able to make flexible skins that I can glue onto textured surfaces.

But at least this weekend wasn't a total bust. I got some photos of probably the last butterflies of the season.

Art experiment not quite...

2009-10-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I tried doing a gelatin pour transfer yesterday. You mixed some clear, unflavored gelatin with distilled water, heat it up, and then add some acrylic polymer medium. After you pour it on to surface, which was prepared with a coat of polymer medium, you wait for it to cool and start to set. Then you put a DASS transfer on it for three minutes, until the image transfers. All of this was successful.

24 hours later, the image dries clear and you have a flexible skin to put on a piece of artwork. The problem - the image still has not tried. I have a thin layer of this gelatin mixure which does not seem to be drying clear. I don't know what is causing the problem. Maybe I poured too thick of a layer or something.

I will keep trying but it might be easier to look into other methods for clear skins.

Next art experiment - printing on metal sheet.

If at first you don't get in...

2009-10-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

Submit and submit again.

Well, I submitted some photos to a gallery and didn't get accepted. There will be other opportunties. Unfortunately, the decision will always rest on the person(s) who are acting as juror(s) for the exhibition. Therefore, the admission of your work is subjective. All you can do is develop a thick skin and get past it. If you take critique or rejection personally, do not become an artist (or at least keep it as a hobby.)

There will be other exhibitions. So focus on what's ahead...

Getting close ups

2009-09-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, the way to make something ordinary seem extraordinary is to get a macro shot. My current digital camera can only zoom in for 3x the distance but take some really excellent macros shots. Here's one I got at the Market Day festivities in Newtown, PA last weekend.

Why are the women?

2009-09-24T20:52:00.000-07:00

I was looking up famous women artists today and noticed something - the women artists were either married or unmarried but none of them had children. Georgia O'Keefe - married (sort of), no children; Mary Cassatt - Never married; Frieda Kahlo - married (sort of), no children; Louise Bourgeois - married, no children; Lee Krasner - married, no children... the list goes on... Then there are the women who were great artists but killed themselves, Diane Arbus, Silvia Plath, or where spinsters - Emily Dickenson, Jane Austen... the list goes on.

So where are all the women artists who had successful careers (as artists) and were also wifes and mothers, and lived a full, meaningful life?

I am struggling to look for a role model here...

Going Shooting with Friends

2009-09-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity today to go on a photo op with a few buddies. Unfortunately, my camera's batteries died, but I still managed to squeeze a little juice out of them to take a few shots. The best part, was coming home and seeing the photos they had posted on FaceBook. Of course, I posted mine. It is interesting to see how different people can be at the same place at the same time and still come out with different perspectives. I was going for something more abstract. Anne was shooting for the colors. Jeannie was shooting for a capture of a moment in time. I think we all succeeded at what we were trying to achieve and definitely plan some future get togethers.

One the plus side, there was a flea market there and I was able to pick up a brass and copper pocketbook, complete with an aged patina, and perfectly preserved on the inside, for all of $5.00. Sometimes you come across a treasure when you least expect it.

Healthcare Issues

2009-09-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

I just do not get this issue anymore. It strikes me as relatively simple to solve. The only person who should be making a decision regarding my health care should be my doctor. Does one go to the supermarket to pick out a lawyer?

I want my doctor to make decisions regarding my health predicated upon her knowledge, training and experience. I do not want her decision to based upon what my insurance provider will approve or reimburse. I do not want her decision to be based on what her malpractice insurance will recommend in order to prevent a potential lawsuit. I do not want her decision to be based on the latest drug that some pharmaceutical representative is pushing so a drug company can get more profit. I do not want her decision to be based on how fast healing will take and how long of a hospital stay my insurance will accept. I do not want her diagnosis to be couched in obnoxious terms so that an insurance company will not suspect a pre-existing condition. I do not want her to communicate my condition to anyone other than me, the patient, and any other medical professionals she deems necessary.

Everybody seems to want this and we are all in agreement.

What I do not understand is why we aren't medical professionals being put in the forefront of this argument and saying what they need in order to accomplish do their jobs? Where are the doctors when we need them the most?

Life in the Sandwich Generation - part III

2009-09-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

I thought a trip to the doctors would be in store for us today but Mom has improved, dramatically. Her breathing is much easier, less coughing and wheezing. She looks good too. She is even talking about a short walk outside. Go figure.

Life in the Sandwich Generation - part II

2009-09-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

Mom is doing better - there are actual moments when she is not wheezing. But still the wet cough. Particularly alarming since (as usual) she's being very patient but running out of nebulizer medication. She has to call the doctor for more, so I have a feeling he is going to want to have her in the office an take a listen to her lungs.

On the flip side, I can see where I get my ability to disassociate from my own illnesses and aches. Would a normal person even go into work with a very active case of diarrhea? Would normal person dismiss back pain so severe that they cannot get out of bed? But I have and will probably do the same tomorrow. Part of my concern is monetary, as I do not want to take off sick days or pay money to doctors when I cannot afford to see them. (Maybe there is a disease - Disassociation of Chronically Underinsured Syndrome.) I also do not want to run from doctor to doctor only to find out the symptom has gone or the issue has healed. (Been there, done that.) I find, like my mother, I wait until things get to certain level before the "Oh S***" alarm goes off and it is time to call the ambulance.

My mother lucked out, her heart attack was mild and there was no damage to her heart. She got even luckier when they saw that another artery was blocked while they were doing surgery. But sometimes you are not so lucky. So I listen to her cough and ask her about her temperature (which she is monitoring) to make sure she does not develop pneumonia.

Life in the Sandwich Generation

2009-09-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Until Monday, I am staying at my Mom's. She is recovering from a double bypass. I must admit, she is doing really well, and if it wasn't for the fact that she needs someone to do the lifting and driving, I probably wouldn't be here. 75 years old and a feisty old lady. My mother always said she wanted to be like Ruth Gordon when she got old and it appears she is being true to her word. She wasn't sick enough to get into a cardiac rehab facility, and so they put her in a nursing home and she was too well for that. 24 hours later and it's "get me out of here, there's nothing to do and people here are sick and old." Because she has breathing issues with asthma, they gave her a big teddy bear to use as a pillow when she coughs so she doesn't stress her rib cage. So it is very odd to see your 75 year old mother holding on to a teddy like a security blanket. Even funnier was that she got some ketchup on him at dinner tonight. I told her that he might have to "go for a ride in the washer machine."

One good thing - we are near Dick Blick's in Allentown so I will probably make a trip to there tomorrow or Thursday to pick up some more polymer medium and a few other supplies. I am counting my pennies these days, so it is only what is "necessary" in the art supply department.

I did pack a some art supplies for both me and C. A sketch book, a watercolor field book, some watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, pastels in pencil form and a small watercolor set with a Ninji-type brush. (That's a brush with a water well built in and the water comes through the bristles.) While it may seem I packed a lot of watercolors the idea was more to have dual purpose art supplies that came crush-proof tins. Easier to pack and no worries about breakage.

The last transfer...

2009-08-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

This is another transfer using the Arches 88 paper, but I used a PhotoShop filter to create an effect on the photo. While this effect looks good as a straight print, it does translate very well in a transfer. That is because the texture of the photo is in competition with the texture of the paper. It is better to keep the texture very limited in the photograph itself if you are going to do this process.

Yet another transfer ...

2009-08-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

In this transfer, I used Arches 88 silkscreen paper. Arches makes a hot-press watercolor paper that is smooth, like the silk-screen paper, but it is thicker. The thicker the paper, the more hand santizer is needed to saturate. You can speed up the process by brayering it into the paper using a roller.

One thing I forgot to do was transpose the image. When you do any transfer process you must remember to "flip" the photo or it will come out reversed.