Thoughtful

I spent some time yesterday revisiting an older image of my gelding, Alpac in thoughtful mode. Here is one of the end results. 

Raven art

I have a serious case of crow and raven obsession, which manifests itself frequently in my art images. This is a new photomontage I created last week. As with all my photo/computer based images, it is available in a variety of sizes and formats. 

Corvids

Still on corvid watch, more so than ever since I now have a good photo site at a roost not too far from my house, although by definition when they are gathering to roost the light isn't optimal. I have one big lens that has the reach that I need but not the light-gathering ability, and one that is nice and fast but doesn't have the same zoom. This composite is my attempt to convey the impressions I had when something had disturbed the whole field of crows and they were circling and cawing above me for quite some time. It was a strangely unbalancing feeling looking up into the sky at the swirling black bodies hurtling past.

Laura Jean

I'm going to have a few pieces in a gallery booth at the local Gardenscapes show later this month, so I decided it was time to work on an idea I've had for a while. I have a lot of nice flower and garden shots, but I'm never happy just leaving images as shot. Seems kind of boring. So I've been trolling the public domain sites for photos of Victorian and Edwardian women to merge with my garden shots. I've got about a half dozen done now, and as usual, for every one I complete ideas for a dozen more come to me. It's pretty much an endless regression.

This shot features Laura Jean Libby and a nice vine-covered wall I shot last fall. It feels almost Steampunk to me--another direction I need to explore. 

Time Flies

This is an image that I generated a while ago, but I had it in non-standard proportions for some reason. I try to go with "industry standard" proportions for my photo-based images as it makes life much easier when it comes to printing, matting and framing. I spent most of a morning last week reworking it to the new proportions and generally fine-tuning, and I like the new version better than the original. 

I never remember to mention this, but all images on this blog (or on my main website www.judywoodartphotography.com) can be ordered as prints in various sizes. Check the pricing area on the website for details. 

Old days

The basic shot here is one I took with available light (what little there was of it) in a shed on an old abandoned farm. I've always liked the composition and the vague and dark atmosphere, but felt it needed a bit more, so I added the heavy horse to provide balance, history and context.

Aunt Doris

Here's another one in my rocking horse series. This one is titled "Childhood Treasures". The first version  featured a different and slightly older girl. At one of my pre-Christmas shows, a customer (friend of Ed who made the rocking horse) asked if I could insert an old family photo of Aunt Doris instead of the child I had in the original. She brought me the image you see here, and I am totally in love with Aunt Doris. The photo is over one hundred years old, still in excellent condition. Aunt Doris has such a look of sweet optimism and hopefulness that this is now my preferred version of this image. 

Recent work

This is one of my newest photomontage images. Don't yet have a good title for it, but with luck that will come. 

Rocking horse

My friend Ed does amazing hand-carved rocking horses of various sizes. I've designed a line of complementary wall pieces featuring his work. This is one of several I have done to date. Ed, his rocking horses, and some of my images are currently at the Calgary Art Market. We both have booths of our own at the Sundog show in Saskatoon the first weekend of December. 

Whippet

I do quite a bit of dog photography for clients, but don't often get around to using them in my artwork. I've been creating rusty paper for other art uses, and was happy with how this whippet blended in to the paper.

Dark Angels

This image is a special one for me for several reasons. First and most basic is that it features my gelding Alpac and my beloved crows. Secondly, this was a milestone image for applying my  Photoshop skills, as it was the first photomontage I was finally able to do after much time and effort trying to learn the basics. I credit the Mural Mosaic Cadeau du Cheval project for giving me the impetus to do this piece, as it is part of the massive horse mural. You can see the  mural here  . My image can be seen in the bottom row, 6th from the left. This image was created in 2008. I've come a long way since then, but this one will always hold a place in my heart.