photoflow: sharing is fun!

so i've been working toward sharing my photography in an etsy shop, and recently have spent much time browsing around etsy photography. i'm looking for a way to jazz * snazz up my pictures. for some reason, all of a sudden they seem boring and bland and plain. so i'm learning how to use textures to make my pictures look old * interesting * layered * rich.  and i'm also looking on etsy for different ways to present my photographs.

and then i found this: 

LOVE gayle's work, and LOVE her presentation: photos mounted on wood blocks.

it just so happens that i had already bought some wood blocks and canvas blocks, and had started trying different techniques for mounting photographs onto them.

promptly i left gayle a message singing the praises of her work. i asked if she'd share her technique for mounting. didn't hear back. 

must admit i was quite disappointed. you see, i LOVE sharing! i don't think artists need to keep secrets from each other, because inevitably, everyone sees and works differently, uniquely ... even if they use the same technique. but not all artists feels that way. and not everyone wants to share their techniques and methods which may have taken them years to learn. it's understandable, i guess. it's just fear. still, i prefer to think of everyone as an ally instead of the competition. which isn't always easy. but which definitely is my highest self in action.

i also said i'd buy a piece from her. and so i did. and in purchasing her photograph on etsy, i wrote this: 

i promised i'd purchase a piece from you so here i am. it will be a treat to have your art in my home.

i'm frequently on the shuttersisters site where so much sharing of information happens ... which is what prompted me to ask you about your mounting process. i hope my asking didn't make you uncomfortable in any way.

keep up the beautiful work!

all the best,

your fan,

hillary

a few days later, the mail came and i received this gorgeous piece from gayle:

and this:

wow! thrilled! to the moon! yippee skippee! jumping for joy! happy dance all around!

not only do i now have a beautiful piece of art. and another method for mounting photos on wood blocks: 3M 77 SPRAY MOUNT. (i've been using gel medium as a glue, applied with a brush, which seems to work fine) ...

but i also have SHARED WITH A FELLOW ARTIST/PHOTOGRAPHER.

i shared my money with her. she shared her arwork with me. she shared a technique with me. and now i've shared our techniques with you. woot!

thank you gayle, for sharing with me!

q: what did you learn on the internet today, honey? 

a: sharing is fun! 

photoflow: words + pictures

i'm kind of crazy about adding words to photos. i LOVE (whole body shudder) finding the *right* words for a certain image. and the *placement* of the words in the photo, or next to the photo. then choosing the *font*. the *size* and *shape* of the letters. the *color* of the letters. sometimes i even use *more than one font* in the same photo. ooooooo!!!!! ohhhhh! i iove it so. and as i continue with words + photos in my 'wisdom words' series, i love it even more.

i've never had any formal design training. can't even remember when exactly i first picked up the text tool in photoshop. certainly it wasn't when i was a photojournalist. must've been when i started my boutique stock photography agency see jane run. i created my own marketing materials. (heck, i did everything.) and i didn't know how. i just banged around until i figured it out, or figured out who to ask for help. 

i'm still learning where to get great fonts (i've downloaded some at 1001freefonts.com and dafont.com). then i had to learn where to move the downloads on my computer so the fonts would show up in the drop down menu (Library - Fonts folder). i know, pretty basic huh. i really don't know what i'm doing. but i know i LOVE what i'm doing. 

in an e-chat with tracey clark with our fellow picture winter attendees, i asked tracey how she got here in her career. she said something like "i just followed the whims of my passions." wow. and look where she is now: founder of shutter sisters, uber popular e-photo course instructor at big picture classes, writer, photographer, etc etc etc! she is lovely and deserves it all. 

oft times, it's murky waters finding our passions. but this words + picture thing? no bout a dout it, this is my passion. one of em. all mine. purely truly mine. from the core of me mine. not whispering but shouting through my whole body: I LOVE THIS!!!!! 

so i can't NOT do this. and so i begin. and i try. and i learn. and i do. most important, i do.  

i add to wisdom words once a week, sometimes more. creating those pieces is always a completely pleasure-ful creative endeavor. 

being in creative flow is the ultimate place to be, and a few nights ago that's exactly where i was: playing with words and images, the ones you see in this post. 

i'm thinking of adding a new line of greeting cards with words.

someday, i'd like to add more than a few words ... my own words of wisdom. 

would love to hear what you think of the words + photos? words + photos on cards?

i'd appreciate SO MUCH any tips about using the text tool and words + photos design in general. and where do you get great fonts? 

thanks friends!

If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera. 

~Lewis Hine

Give-away deadline extension!

So many of you stopped by, but so few of you--our best supporters--were bold enough to leave a comment that we're giving you a little more time. Don't be shy; even the shortest comment will qualify you! You now have until Friday, April 30th at noon to tell us how you'll be experiencing Mother's Day. Mother Earth counts too!

Mother's Day (Meg)

I've been meaning to write about my mom for a long time but, as it probably is for most people, my relationship with my mother is so complex, so varied, and so intimate to me that it's almost impossible to step back and look at with clear eyes. One thing I know is that our relationship has undergone a radical shift in the past 10 years. As she ages, I take over more of the stereotypical parenting roles, and she becomes more child-like, although she's very sensitive to any attempt to do too much. So it's extra interesting that Hillary had to remind me today, as we were discussing the upcoming holiday, that I am a mother too. I'm pretty sure that for the rest of my life, when I think of Mother's Day, I'll first think of my mom, and not myself. And so I'm attempting to plan for the day, to celebrate the day, to help my mom enjoy the day to the fullest. The problem is that I have no idea what to do! Give me some ideas people, and I'll give you something back!

Give away: Before noon on Thursday, April 29th, 2010, leave a short comment telling us how you're celebrating or honoring your mom and you might be the lucky randomly selected person who wins a free eyechai greeting card set or print (your choice).

And just in case that celebration involves some gift giving, over at eyechai.bigcartel.com we're able to take greeting card and print orders for Mother's Day gift delivery (domestic only) until Sunday, May 2 at noon.

gratitude (hill)

thank you to all who have ordered *eyechai* card sets and prints.

thank you to all who have been reading our *eyechai* blog.

thank you to all who like our *eyechai* page on facebook.

thank you to all who have browsed our *eyechai* bigcartel shop.

thank you to all who have posted a comment on our *eyechai* blog.

thank you to all who have written on our *eyechai* facebook wall.

thank you to all of those who have yet to do any of these things.

thank you universe!

***********

i am grateful to have something beautiful to share with the world.

(the card bundles above are traveling all the way to israel.)

***********

how do you spread beauty and love out into the world?

spring forward (hill)

well we just launched our little greeting card store yesterday, and today is my birthday, and it is the beginning of spring. good time for un debut. we may be debutantes in the card arena, but we are no spring chickens!

anyway, wanted to give a loud shout out to tina and nina! tina is one of my oldest and dearest friends. nina is one of my newest and on the other coast friends. somehow real friends always stay in touch, and time passed in between matters not.

tina and nina performed true friend gestures: they offered support and encouragement by being the first two to make purchases of our greeting cards! my heart was deeply touched by their gestures, and reminded me of something i learned from my dad.

my father was not one to say i love you until much later in life. but he was ALWAYS THERE for me. supporting by showing up, being physically there, at my games, performances, races, visiting me where ever i was living no matter in the usa or europe, making weekly walking dates, etc.

in the cyberworld, being there takes different forms. one form is actually suppporting by making the time to look at a friend's blog, new online store, and in this case, actually making a purchase, a physical being there in a great way.

thank you tina and nina for being there! and anyone else who happens to purchase, or make time to look or read, or better yet COMMENT! we appreciate it all very much.

when you put your heart out in the world, even in cyberspace, it feels good to know that that world, too, is a safe place, filled with friends and loved ones.

thank you.