Hello 2017!

As so here we are 2017 already! amazing. I wonder what 2017 will bring.  

Before I start this post I want to share a little pic of what many Australians do on New Years Day - go to the beach of course! Yesterday we spent the day with our extended family at my sister's summer beach house.  How did you spend your New Years Day?

 
Do you make New Year resolutions? I'm not going to make any outlandish New Year resolutions. But I do hope to travel more, photograph more, write more, exercise more, eat more healthy, listen, be still, spend more time with family and friends, and be brave to put "myself out there". This last one probably means being brave to take new opportunities that come along which may test me and take me out of my comfort zone. It might also mean taking a risk and exposing myself to critique by entering a few photography competitions.

But for today I send a prayer for PEACE throughout our troubled world, and a prayer that people will be kinder and more tolerant of others despite their race, creed, abilities, looks, financial status.... whatever. We all have a story, and we don't know all of the story of those around us. As they say, we can't walk in the shoes of others. So please don't judge, don't try to push your beliefs onto others. Just try to be a good person, listen, be open, and try to understand. 

The last couple of days I've been playing around with what I hesitantly call "fine art photography". I know it isn't for everyone, and I know I have a long way to go. But I hope to experiment more with fine art photography in 2017. 

Please click here to see my slant on fine art...
 

Open your hearts

Sometimes we just need to take time for ourselves, look after ourselves, only do what and when our heart tells us. Time to reconnect and appreciate the life we have been given and the beauty around us. Think about what is important in life. Be calm. Grant ourselves peace. Open our hearts and spread our love. And let light into our life.

And remember - When you open your heart you add light to the world. 

This is white roses with texture - for Kim's "Texture Tuesday".

The brief was to use an image centered around the colour white - so here is an all white rose image (except for shadows) overlayed with Kim's texture - "Annabelle" multiplied, levels & brightness adjusted.
Quote came from the back of an envelope!
Along the bottom is a "stamp" pattern that you can download to your "brushes" in Photoshop. Always learning something new!

Have a wonderful week.

To check out Kim's website and learn about textures or join Texture Tuesday  - go here - Texture Tuesday at Kim's Cafe

Mother love

My dear mother is sick in hospital at the moment, and I am not sure what the future holds for her......so I send her this rose with love.......
And my heart to my father and embrace them with my love during the days ahead for them both......

I am linking up to Texture Tuesday at Kim's Cafe. I have just started doing a couple of texture and layers classes with Kim at Kim's Cafe - please go to her site and visit Kim and the other talented contributors - you might like to take a class too - Kim's Cafe

To this image I have applied a levels adjustment, two of Kim's textures called "providence" and "embrace", and adjusted the words with a "soft light" adjustment.  Basic I know, but I have only just started learning.

Roses for the day of love

It is Saint Valentines Day, 14 February, and the day that lovers everywhere tell their loved ones what they mean to them. So for my post today I send all those in love a red rose for love. The rose has come from my garden and the Champagne cork is from a bottle of Champagne we drank with friends in Paris - a trip we gave to ourselves to celebrate our wedding anniversary in 2005 - beautiful Paris! the city of love!

You said "I love you"

      and time stopped

And your words hung  suspended 

      in the air –

A magic whisper.

You see in the mosaic below a bunch of dried red and yellow roses which hangs on the wall outside my bedroom door. No-one probably knows where they came from or why they hang there. In 1996 I was involved in a boating accident, suffered two crushed vertebrae in my back, was in hospital for 4 weeks, and in a back brace for another 2 months after that. I was extremely lucky to still be walking. I had visitors every day  during that 4 weeks, friends and family who came to visit me, and my room almost looked like of florist shop. I saved these few rose blooms, and hung and dried them, and brought them home and they have hung on the wall ever since. They remind me of the special love that enveloped me during that time. 

As I lay in that hospital bed I had a long time to think about the preciousness of life and what is important to me, and the resolve that you must do and experience all that you can while you can. Life is precious but all too short, and we should make every special day count in our words and actions and spread love and caring around us.   So here is a mosaic of roses. Yes they are faded, and they are edged with tiny spider webs, and a few petals fall off if I touch them, but they are very special and beautiful to me.

And so I send my special valentine to my husband and my beautiful family, all those people who showed me their love in those long days. Thank you.

I played around with different mosaic arrangements through Picasa, and came up this this shuffled look which I thought suited the photos. For isn't life like a deck of cards - you never know what hand you are going to be dealt next - and what is important is what you do with it.

This is my contribution to Mosaic Monday - to see the beautiful work of Mary and other wonderful contributors on Mosaic Monday, please click on the link -  http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

For the love of roses

 Photographing roses is one of my favourite past-times...this is one of the iceberg variety from my garden. It has quite a small flower. I love the way the light comes through the petals in this photo.

The rose is the enduring symbol of love and friendship. It is also like the circle of life. It starts as a tiny bud that gradually unfolds, grows, changes, evolves, and then blooms to display its full potential and radiance. Just like our lives - as we grow and are nurtured, we gently unfold and reach the potential of our full bloom. Each step is precious and beautiful. As we look at the rose we can see on the outside the petals that have already evolved but in the centre is the richness of life that is still to come to us if we open up our hearts and minds. When I photograph the rose I seek to capture its perfection and the inner beauty and promise of what is to come. 

I have been experimenting with some collages of this beautiful rose through Picasa. I don't always get the boxes the size I want them, as the program does it for you, but it is interesting to move the pictures around to achieve the final result. I hope you enjoy them. Thankyou for visiting. 

This post is part of Mosaic Monday. Please visit the work of Mary and other contributors, on Mosaic Monday at Little Red House - click here to visit - 

http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/search/label/Mosaic%20Monday