MaraZine

Thelonious Monk & Franks'n'beans

2008-07-12T19:44:00.007-05:00

That's what we had for dinner. Apparently an inspired combination, since I find myself with (weee!!!) enough time to post a quickie.

" you can come out now"... © F. Barrage, 2008

I've been hiding behind the daisies in my new garden, but some kids found me the other day. Oh, well...

Almost finished unpacking (I've moved house, in case you haven't heard). Found my laptop too. Yay me. Just in the nick of time too, now I need to pack a couple of suitcases and go check on what Ms. Cut'n'Paste has been up to in the Land of the Neverendum Conundrum.

If Mothers Ruled The World...

2008-05-11T07:51:00.006-05:00

( digitized from Dover - will acknowledge properly later)

... instead of the mother....s who dominate this mad hatter's universe, we would put our children first - not hatred, greed and big-dog rules.

Happy Mother's Day for all the moms in Lebanon, Burma, Zimbabwe and everywhere else...
I think

Isabella's Syndrome

2008-04-13T20:12:00.009-05:00

Botticelli's Ghost, Digital Something - © R. Koleilat, 2008

Do you know the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston? It’s one of the many pleasurable finds in that amazing city. Gardner was an avid art collector, and she bequeathed her vast treasure of works by the Old Masters for all of Boston (and the world) to enjoy – with strings attached: The precious collection was to be housed in her mansion, also part of the legacy, and no object in the collection or the mansion could ever be moved or removed; or else the whole kit and caboodle would be sold and the proceeds would go to Harvard University.

I recently came across dear Isabella again in a book that had nothing to do with art but everything to do with transition and change. The authors*, both eager de-clutterers, use what they delightfully term the “The Isabella Gardner Syndrome” as a parable for (the sometimes irrational but still perfectly understandable) fear of change. In a cheeky aside to a chapter about "finding a good home" for no-longer-relevant belongings, they talk about Isabella’s obsession thusly: “Needless to say, everything in the [museum] has remained unchanged, even to the blank space on the wall where a Vermeer painting hung before it was stolen. In her final years, she would sometimes rear up in her bed and cry out, “You there! Don’t touch!” to imaginary strangers. Her ghost is said to return to the museum once a month to make sure everything is exactly as she left it.”

Don’t we all have a little bit of Isabella in us? When faced with the unfamiliar, when a new path has to be taken, we often wish we could be as imperious as her and decree that nothing shall ever change. Luckily for me, I’ve learned that change is almost always for the better – or at the very least, I can will it to be so.

And now, a profound profundity to end this post: if things never changed, all we'd have would be caterpillars and not even one butterfly. So there.

*Culbertson, J. and Decker, M. – “Scaling Down”

My Feelings Exactly

2008-03-27T09:03:00.004-05:00

See? I'm not the only one who thinks he's the cat's meow - check this blog, then go and visit Zan the Man here and here

Random Thoughts, As Gilda Gets a Pink Martini

2008-03-23T10:52:00.014-05:00

I love Rita Hayworth. She embodies the ineluctable allure, fragility and tragedy of mythical figures. Behind the indelible, flaming-haired beauty, there was the customary compromise of Old Hollywood, a complex life and enormous sadness. That's not her singing above, btw - it's China Forbes of Pink Martini, who performed in Massey Hall last week.

Rita Hayworth is the mother of Princess Yasmine Aly Agha Khan, President of the Alzheimer's Disease International foundation, and a board member of the Aga Khan Foundation.

On a dreary, wet afternoon in Ras-Beirut - the spiritual Manhattan of Lebanon - I found a small exhibit of one (European? American?) artist's hommage to Hayworth. This was more decorative art than anything else, a series of huge paintings of her stunning face, à la Warhol. I tend to forget a lot of things, but I remember how shy and anxious I was that afternoon, when all I wanted was to sit there and look, and how both the elegant, pretty-blonde of a gallery owner and the smiling moustached artist thought it was all too cute - an awkward kid in love with the idea of art. Haha. What I was in love with then was Old Hollywood and chimerical creatures. I was a teenager who spoke and thought mostly in French and Arabic, and was imbibing the French's love affair with all things mythically American - jazz, musicals, diners and Edward Hopper.

I still love myths. More precisely, I love the exploration of myths - the various myths that provide the self-delusion that drives our lives. Self-delusion is pervasive, individual and collective. Sometimes, it's a good thing (a spoonful of Nutella eaten directly from the jar has zero calories), sometimes not so much (war equals liberty, and the "greed -for lack of a better word- is good" school of ethics).

One myth I never want to see dissipate is this one, which blends (a little) fantasy with reality. Blogging has brought out some of my self-delusions to the surface as well as a lot of self-actualization. Wait, don't go yet, I'm not diving into (a shallow pool of) psychobabble with this. Be patient, this is entitled Random Thoughts after all. Blogging as a path to self-discovery - a tired exposé that we've read and written about ad nauseum. But it's true. I like to pretend I can do this blogging thing with impunity, but I can't. There's a price to pay - can't hide from my own self-created myths.

Ms. High-Falutin' Intellectual once told me, "If you write it, they will come. If you don't ramble on, they will come back (or stay - I forget which)". So I will stop right here, and get back to intransingent realities like peanut butter sandwiches that need to be whipped up and tears of frustration that need to be kissed away.

Nepotistic Announcement

2008-03-11T08:16:00.011-05:00

Publicity Shot for Nadine's Exhibition

Was I complaining about the snow in Ontario? It's much worse in Québec. I know because I'm spending the week in Montréal, and this city, usually able to weather (hah!) winter storms without batting an eye, is now impossible to navigate - on foot (normally a great pleasure), by bus (always running and on time) or on four wheels (a nightmare at any given time). It's aggravating, really. I was so looking forward to walk-abouts in my beloved downtown streets, but it's too much of a hassle with the kids and, strangely, shopping underground is not their idea of fun. Darn. Now we just have to luxuriate indoors until we head out to the museum to catch the sizzling hot exhibition there. More on that tomorrow.

I've received this email from my friend Nadine who now lives and takes pretty pictures in the UAE:

"Dear Friend,
B21 Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in the second Creek Art Fair at Bastakiya from the 15th to the 31st of March. B21’s house will feature photography, video and an installation by Lebanese artist Nadine Kanso, and the work of Belgian sculptor Arnaud Rivieren.
In her exhibition, ‘Fi al Qalb’ (In the Heart), Kanso seeks to expose the troubled character of her cherished Beirut - often masked today by the cosmopolitan buzz of the city - through a presentation of her own black and white photography, accompanied by the lyrical musings of poet Nizar Qabbani*.
Rivieren’s three giant stainless steel pears on display in the courtyard of XVA reflect the artists unique approach to the rough medium of steel, which he recovers from the scrap heaps and steelyards of the UAE and transforms into elegant interpretations of the everyday objects.
Please join us for the Creek Art Fair vernissage on Saturday, the 15th, from 7pm. E-Flyers containing additional information can be found below.
B21 Team"

* celebrated poet and my mother's cousin

Hug An International Woman Today

2008-03-08T17:01:00.002-05:00

Women's Day 2008, Mixed Media - © R. Koleilat

(photo source: WetCanvas)

The Canadian motto for Internation Women's Day this year is "Strong Women, Strong World".

Ya think?

Mama's got a brand new bag?

2008-02-24T08:51:00.007-05:00

Baggy Tag, Digital Drawing - © R. Koleilat, 2008

A handbag meme from Andi's new blog where I have to list the contents of my handbag (this is what happens when you're felled by a bum knee, you dream up more blogs and memes).

Since Andi was a good sport on the book meme, I will be one too - even though I really should be working instead.

Be grateful that I am sparing you details on lint and cookie crumbs, and list only objects larger that a chocolate chip:

A bottle of Tylenol Quick Release
A pair of tiny scissors
An empty gum wrapper (not mine)
A toy from an unidentified fast food joint
A tube of lipstick (a tube of lipstick? when did I buy this one? what a weird colour...)
A pen, a pencil, 2 permanent markers, half a silver ballpoint pen with a logo on it
A $5-off coupon for a Cranium game (ah, goodie - activity idea for tonight)
The other part of the toy from the unidentified etc..
An empty zippered pencil bag
A tiny sewing kit (almost intact)
A button (mine)
2 silver rings (from before I had to wear gloves to step outside)
An American penny
My huge and ugly black wallet (hint to hubby: let the kids choose my mother's day present this year)
An empty bottle of hand sanitizer
A receipt from the chiropractor (first session last Friday - apparently, I have a very unstable spine. Now that would explain the excruciating pain between the back of my head and my knees)
My dead cell phone
A green "green" zippered bag ( I usually forget to put it back and end up going home with plastic bags anyway)

I feel like tagging .... you! If you want me to, that is.

Mwah

Moi

On the way there, I had to stop and show you* this

2008-02-19T13:48:00.003-05:00

because Julie does it much better than anyone else.
*you is SuperHarry mostly (aka Apothecarian of Thorts)

Gone Fishing

2008-02-18T13:51:00.007-05:00

Fishing, Digital Collage - © R. Koleilat, 2008

Every once & again, I feel obligated to take a break from blogging/blurfing to do some serious housekeeping (both figuratively and in the alternate universe we know as real life). Be back soon.

Book? What Book?

2008-02-12T15:49:00.007-05:00

Thank you , dear Frances for tagging me. Here are the rules for this not-a-meme-book-meme.

Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!)

Find Page 123.Find the first 5 sentences.Post the next 3 sentences.Tag 5 people.

I wish I had cheated, because this is what I have for you today, honest to goodness:

"What am I going to do?

'I expect you'll whip through these in no time!' she says gaily. 'The ironing board's just there', she adds with a nod."
from Sophie Kinsella's The Undomestic Goddess.

What? Did you actually expect me to have A Dissertation on the Dialectic of Neo-Hegelian Nihilism? Don't worry, I didn't pay for it - I picked up a copy at the library because it was on display near the check-out. I haven't started this faschinating book yet, but it was the nearest 123-plus-page book underfoot. Literally. See picture. I am sure Martine ballerine or Junie B. Jones, First Grader would have been considerably more interesting. But rules are rules. And so, I hereby tag Andi, Brian, Fawzan, Joy, and Mazen.

Random Thoughts And Things To Build On

2008-02-12T10:01:00.000-05:00

Dreaming of a Love Bird in Paradise, Digital Collage - ©R. Koleilat, 2008

In a column entitled "Be the Change: Living the Me to We philosophy" in Canadian Living Magazine (Feb. 2008), Craig and Mark Kielburger, two very amazing young Canadian humanitarian activists and authors of Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World write:

"... how should we define success?... researchers compared Forbes' 400 richest Americans with the Maasai of East Africa - traditional herding communities with no electricity or running water, who live in huts made largely of mud and dung. The two groups were found to be almost equally satisfied with their lives."

So, for all you thousandaires out there (or in my case, pennyaires), take heart: money really does not buy happiness.

I urge you to find out more about Craig Kielburger - he's the kid who made headlines a few years ago, when he was all of twelve years old, by organizing other children to fight child labour world-wide. He founded Free the Children in 1995 and hasn't looked back since. I love Canada.

Illustration: This is my contribution to this week's 2 Things Challenge, Love/bird. Not only did I actually manage an entry, I also got inspired by Frances' entry, who in turn was inspired by Sue O'Kieffe and John (copyright-dude) Mora, and their fun puzzle-play. If you visited earlier today, you saw a different picture. I had to fix it because Ms. Know-it-all said it could be better. And of course, she was right.

Image Sources: WetCanvas, Gimp-Savvy, my own photographs.

Brrr....

2008-02-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

Snow Dragons, Digital Collage - © R. Koleilat, 2008

I've been trying to dig myself out from under the snow in my driveway since last Wednesday. My neighbours, who all seem to own very un-PC snowblowers, zoom by, wave and smile at me as if I'm having a good time futilely waving that stupid shovel around. That face I had on wasn't me having fun, folks, it was me crying!

I had fun creating these "snowflakes" on this very cute website* (they let you save and download your creations, so you earn extra points with your kids). I used a copyright-free photo from Gimp-Savvy for the background and played with it on photoshop.

And speaking of playing, go check out this fun party that Julie told me about. While you're at it, also check out Julie's icy beauty too (hmmm, our last two posts have dealt with the same themes. Coincidence? twilight-zoney... ♫toodoodoodoo♪... )

* There are lots of sites that let you create really sophisticated flakes (fractals, anyone?), just google snowflake generator to find them.

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY, EVERYONE!

2008-02-07T14:31:00.000-05:00

Lily in the Snow, Digitized - © R. Koleilat, 2008

Diane's Big HeArt and Sue's Joy of Play

2008-02-06T08:55:00.000-05:00

Sue & John Soup (Images used by permission) - © R. Koleilat, 2008

Digital Artitsts/Prestigidators Diane Clancy and Sue O'Kieffe are both prolific and generous. But you knew that already. This week, they each wrote two great posts I would like to highlight here.

First, Sue O'Kieffe is extending an invitation to play with her - very exciting. I can't wait to see what comes out of it. Her collaborations with other artists (not all of them digital artwork) have been jaw-droppingly beautiful. Sue has an incredible eye and the end result is always synergetic.

Diane Clancy , besides being indefatigable and inspired, is always on the lookout for worthy causes, and she's pointing the way towards the One World, One HeArt Giveaway.

Last, but certainly not least, Diane is also collaborating with art marketing expert Chris O'Byrne (a man with impeccable taste )to create a fantastic resource for artists and wanna-bes: It's called YourArtMarketing.com and is a website/forum/information hub. This repository will incorporate all the information they both have been working so hard to put forth on their own sites, to make it much more easily accessible to all. Isn't absolutely brilliant? I think it's the beginning of something very exciting. I haven't had time to add my 2 cents there, but I will as soon as I read all that there is already there.

Now, if only someone could give me a hand to finish up the work on my own website (hint, hint, Ms. Paper&Scissors)...

Yay For Scrapbookers (And The Retailers Who Love Them)

2008-02-04T16:38:00.000-05:00

I am not a scrapbooker. You have to be way too organized, focused and mature to get into it and do it properly, and for some unfathomable reason, I am one or two of those things from time to time, but never all three at the same time. So, even though I, like, totally dig a bunch of talented scrapbookers, this is not exactly my cup of tea*.

But scrapbooking tools are! Now that entire sections of stores are devoted to paper arts and equipment, there are many, many delightful discoveries to be made for those of us who straddle the creative divide of art/hobby/kids' crafty hour. And this year, I have three new favourite tools (sorry, no links, it's really hard to find any additional info about the first 2 online, just take my word for it):

First, this ergonomic cutter (x-acto knife), above, made by Fiskar, which works like an extension of my finger, brilliantly precise
Even better, these glue dots and glue tape dispensers (above and right) - well, not both dispensers actually. I only really like the UHU tape roller, works great for me and my 4-year old equally. The Elmer contraption which is supposed to pump out glue dots turned out to be a complete dud. It's quite clunky and as you can see, it ended up disemboweled because it's so much easier to just pick up the individual glue dots by hand. Still, I love the idea of the glue dots: no more mess and everything lays absolutely flat.
And last, but not least, my trusty microfiber cloth: this, I didn't find at the art supply store, but rather at the grocery or dollar store. Microfiber cloths are amazing, they clean everything - everything - with just a tiny bit of elbow grease, or a few drops of water. What does a housecleaning rag have to do with an art supply list? While playing with gel medium transfers, I discovered that rubbing the outer paper layer with a microfiber cloth to expose the print underneath saved me from all those painful blisters I was about to get. It does a great job of that annoying rubbing chore with much less effort and much neater results: just wrap a slightly damp cloth around your fingertip and rub. There are many more uses for this miracle cloth in the studio, but I need material for other posts so stay tuned.
* I know I'm going to be eating my words soon, because I'm preparing another post about a great scrapbooking/digital art resource

Sunday Funnies

2008-02-03T11:25:00.000-05:00

Julia Cameron: How to Avoid Making Art (or Anything Else You Enjoy),

Aaaahhh, Sunday mornings.... leisurely brunch, brainy-enlightened weekend newspaper, adorable cherubs with freshly scrubbed faces ensconced in quiet but creative play, kitties fed, groomed and satisfied, curled up on the comfiest armchair.... sighhh....

YEAH, RIGHT!! Not at MY house this morning, or like, ever! Consequently, no artwork, no updates for you today. How about some funnies, though?

Here are some edited quotes from this cute little book pictured above by Julia Cameron, famed author of "The Artist's Way" tomes. I'm not crazy about her writings, but I found some of these little thoughts funny and pointed enough to be worthy of repeating here.

So, how do you actively avoid making art or anything else you enjoy? Among other brilliant (and oh-so-recognizable) ploys:

by telling yourself you can only work in absolute quiet
by going for the royal family's official portrait in your first year
by throttling your joie-de-vivre every time it crows,
by talking about it so you don't have to do it
by considering the odds of selling your book/artwork/whatever you're making
by demanding that what you do be absolutely original and totally brilliant
by telling yourself your job prevents you from doing art and then working overtime to prove it
by demanding fifteen free hours to create and ignoring the 15 minutes you've got
by deciding you can't afford a drawing class, and buying new jeans to console yourself
by telling yourself you don't want to be typecast, and turning down that acting job

Are you laughing or crying? What do you do to yourself to hold yourself back? Care to share and get it out of your system? Want to shine a light on one of these self-sabotaging schemes and bannish it from your life forever? No time like the present, my friends.

"Hold On To Your Children and Your Cat"

2008-01-30T15:44:00.000-05:00

Rima's Snowday, circa 1969?

That's what the weatherman told me today on the radio - and boy, was that ever good advice! Boreas (wind dude with serious anger issues) has been huffing and puffing and blowing real hard all day. Kind of reminding Ontarians that this is still Canada, eh?

Well, anyway... NO, I have not been abducted by aliens or joined an internet-free commune. I've just had a bunch of hard-pressing issues to deal with, and could not juggle things fast enough to get back to blogging. Apologies all around for not following up quickly on the Glass Apple challenge. That's why I put a picture of me on a snowday somewhere in Lebanon about 40 years ago, 'cause who can stay mad at such a cutie pie, huh? huh?

Special groveling also to some newcomers to our Digital Re-Imaginings* - like the very wonderful bmtyson of Creative Cogitations, a really good graphic artist/collagist who just started blogging. Go take a peek and stay for a visit - he doesn't have a lot of entries yet, so you can catch up on his musings in one sitting. I love his style and look forward to seeing more of his work.

Another cogitative newcomer is an apothecarian of thought, an old friend of our dear Hala** who has sent me a funny and kind-of-sardonic entry. He's also just started blogging, and thinks aloud about the meaning of life, bikini veils and undo buttons. Not in that order, necessarily.

Magic Apple, Digital - © R. Koleilat, 2008

Soooo... what now? Well, all I can do at this point is to promise not to disappear without a word again - and to make up for my rudeness, I will definitely accept any new Apple entries (if you're still interested, Irene!). Not good enough, you say? Well... I would have offered that you pick my punishment, but like the man said - I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid (all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding)!

Oh, did I mention how lovely all the entries were? You guys never cease to amaze... Thanks for putting up with my unevenness. I'll give proper credit and link-backs on the "wall" at Maraya. ASAP.

PS: Thanks, Bobbie and Debi - you were the only ones who got it right!

* I'll come up with a proper title for this series one of these days. In fact, I think I'll put up a poll to see which would be everyone's favourite.

** Another friend of Hala wrote a rant/poem I liked here

Salade d'Apples

2008-01-09T13:53:00.000-05:00

One of these was made by me, one by Fawzan and one by Neda. Can you match the names to the artwork?

Apple Turnover

2008-01-08T16:20:00.000-05:00

Rotten, Digital - © R. Koleilat, 2007

Bad, bad pun... but hey, it's better than my initial "apple-for-teacher" choice.

Here's my first entry, just so you know I'm working on this too. I'll be showing all the participating entries I am made aware of (hint! leave a comment! Frances!), starting in a couple of days. Four so far, and counting...

How-to: I can't even follow my own directives! I forgot some of the steps because I didn't think I would end up with anything useable - so I didn't make notes, mental or otherwise. For which I was punished by losing a really good one later that day to the memory monster that lives in my laptop - and forgetting the steps there too.
Anyway, here's some of the steps on Photoshop 6:
- I distorted the initial image with Spherize, and by Transforming parts of it (skewing/distorting I think)
- I used a couple of gradient and lighting effects in the background and the central figure (is it still an apple? dunno)
- also used painterly effects, a bunch of them... watercolour as the last touch gave it such a good light, I decided to save it and use it.

Sophomore Class (Digital Makeover)

2008-01-07T09:58:00.000-05:00

Glass Apple - Royalty-free image from Stock.XCHNG

This is a bit of a teacher's revenge (curator's revenge?) - I'm offering you a more difficult picture to work with for this Digital Workshop (is it our 4th only?). But you guys have been resting for a while, so it's time to challenge those eyes and brain cells.

No rules, no restrictions - just flex those creative muscles. Anyone can participate, and for those of you who haven't tried this before, here is what you need to know:

Click on the picture and copy it to your end (this is a royalty-free image, so you don't have to worry about altering it)
Use any digital graphic programme to alter the image - It can be Photoshop (any version), GIMP, PainBox, anything you have. Remember to tell us what it is.
It would be nice if you could remember some of the steps, and share with the rest of us how you got to your end result. If you can't keep track, focus on what you feel are the interesting effects.
Don't forget to email me a copy of your work - but if you prefer not to or don't know how, point me to your work and I'll copy it off your site if needed. My email address is somewhere on my profile.
By participating in this workshop, you are implicitly allowing me to use the image here and on my gallery website, no ifs, ands or buts - and no whining.
I reserve the right to choose what ultimately goes on the "wall" (the page on my gallery website). No hurt feelings, ok?

Start your engine! You have until next Sunday to submit.

Trying for Democracy

2008-01-04T11:28:00.000-05:00

Quick post/poll thingy: Would you guys prefer:

A. - A regular Photoshop/OtherMagic challenge, where I choose a picture and give guidelines for digital manipulation (as usual and more or less)

or

B. - A combination of Photoshop/Whatever and real-world art supplies?

Please let me know in the comments section by Sunday aft (N.Am. time), so I can set something interesting or fun or tedious up.

Tags, Labels and Stickers

2008-01-01T13:25:00.000-05:00

fine print: ©Peacemonger.org (559) 799 9901 moveon.org internationalanswer.org truthout.org

Proceeds will benefit humanitarian non profit organizations

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope this new year brings all good things to all good people.

I've been tagged by Bobbie for this post. Speaking of tags, this great sticker above is my absolute fave holiday present this year.

Here are THE RULES:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.

2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, 1. is done. Here's 2.:

I can't pronounce the name "Rufus Wainright" to save my life. It always comes out "Wufus Rainright" no matter how many times I try, generally with an audience hiccuping through tears of laughter.
I have a really weird single black hair growing out of my arm. Every time I pluck it out, I think of Geena Davis doing the same to whatshisface in "The Fly".... shudder....
I love watching "How It's made" on the Discovery Channel. Also "Myth Busters". Waiting for "Lost" to come back. Hooked on "Heroes".
I have totalled two vans - one I was driving, and the other belonging to the lady driving on my blind side.
I want to retire in the South of France - but I would miss Canada way too much.

I, I, I.... now have to come up with 5 bloggers! How about Hala, Andi, Barb, Belinha and Julie.

On to 5.

Sharpen your mice and tune back in folks - photoshop challenge coming next week.

Basic Books

2007-12-23T11:28:00.000-05:00

I love books. All kinds, any kind. I find them to be the one constant in life - everything else changes, but a favourite book is always a wonderful source of comfort and pleasure.

I will be adding a new folder to my gallery website, dedicated to art books we like and recommend. Meanwhile, here are some basic technique or reference books and book series I find reliable and a better read than others.

Lorraine Harrison's Artist's Materials: All the Materials You Will Ever Need to Make Art : a good basic presentation of all kinds of different art materials. It's not all-encompassing, since no one can reasonably do an exposé of every single use and/or availability of every single art tool, but this book does give you a good basic list to help you make some decisions at the art store.

The Encyclopedia of Colored Pencil Techniques is part of a series of art technique books. The series itself is mostly hit or miss (mostly miss), but I kind of like this one for a younger reader. It explains clearly and visually some basic ways of using coloured pencils, and gives some ideas on how to work on pencil techniques. Since I haven't yet found a book I love unconditionally for this medium, this is the one I would recommend borrowing from the library.

Another series is the Teach Yourself Visually: this one, I highly recommend, whatever your interest may be. I really like their basic Photoshop manuals as well as the ones in other fields of interest (like the TYV Knitting, it's great).

On the fundamentals of art and painting, Charles Dunn's Conversations in Paint is a terrific addition to any library. This is more than just a basic tome, it really is a pleasurable read - a keeper.

Stay tuned for more in the new year.

Not Too Late for DIY Redux

2007-12-17T17:23:00.000-05:00

This one's for all you skeptics out there, who do not believe that something can be home-made (or home-assembled) and compete with store-bought "stuff".

Here is one of my small gifts, comprising of:

A cute mug (from Michaels- cost: around $3 with coupon and tax)
A cellophane bag with a silver twisty and filled with my Chai concoction (cost: around $0.50)
A printed recipe (no real cost)
Assorted gift-wrap trimmings (cost: around $0.10)

Grand total: $3.60. It did take me a while to get it done - the tea prep, the wrapping, etc..., but I think it looks nicer than a lot of similar things I've seen around the stores. So? Not too bad, eh?

It's Not Too Late For Dee Iye whY Presents

2007-12-16T11:46:00.000-05:00

"Dear Santa, I am so happy that Christmas is almost here. Are you?" Pencil and marker and a bit of photoshop - © Y.Barrage, 2007

There are people out there who have everything ready for the holidays by now. Every single present has been purchased, wrapped and tagged; all invitations have been sent out and been replied to; festive meal menus are not only printed on parchment paper, but the food itself has been cooked and frozen in anticipation of the big day. I'm sure there are people out there like that.

Well, not me. This is when I start my shopping and/or scramble to come up with home-made stuff. So if you're like me, fear not, here are some really fun ideas that won't break the bank and won't take 3 days to prepare. And if you're snowed in like we are today, chances are you might even have what you need to come up with personalized presents already somewhere around your home. Bonus: most of these ideas are environmentally responsible, frugal and easy as pie. Or tea.

Lots of interesting ideas can be found on the Buy Nothing Christmas site. But I've also found a number of hilarious offerings online, including an exploding frog, a soda-lightful bath fizz, bath bombs and jellies. They are fun, quick and easily tailored to your recipient's tastes (and sense of humour), and your own creativity.

The Family Fun website has a long list of suggestions that can be made with or for children, but I found the following most adaptable: a Velvet Notebook, a project that can also be made by wrapping a blank notebook, a small sketchbook, or even a photo album or two in coordinated paper or fabric.
Home-made clay for both kids and grown ups, safer to use that store-bought play dough or modeling clay. For children, you can include some plastic cookie cutters that can be found for pennies almost anywhere. For a hobbyist, you can include clay sculpting tools, and a printed recipe for baked clay.
Another cute idea is called Bandages for the soul, a collection of quotes and sayings. A grown-up version of this might be creating a wall decoration with some favourite inspirational words - an inexpensive stetched canvas painted in a favourite colour, and the words carefully painted out. If that's too hard, then use a beautiful hand-made paper and ink or an art marker.
How about some Emoticon magnets, similar to projects I've already shown how to do here. Now these are really easy and not two can be alike.

Another really inexpensive idea, although not very quick, only requires your time and your printer. Why not research a particular topic that your gift recipient might be interested in, and compile a folder with all the printed information? Or even varied articles on current health news, political analysis, book and movie reviews - I know that I hardly have time to keep up and miss being able to browse magazines or newspapers for more than just functional information. Other ideas could include how-tos, free crochet and knitting patterns (Lion Brand Yarns and Bernat are great for that), easy recipes (check out Bobbie's other blog and a bunch of others I'll think of in a bit; or Canadian Living Magazine's Make-it-tonight collection). You can pretty up easily.

Finally, if you know how to bake - even if it's only plain oatmeal cookies or no-bake-rice-krispie-squares - why not bake a batch of goodies and wrap it up nicely? My kids love those kinds of presents - and so do their mum and dad.

Remember also that a lot of the pleasure of giving is that it comes from the heart. It's not how much you spent, or how many mall crowds you had to battle that counts, it's that you were thinking of that person when you were creating your gift. And hopefully, the good feelings you had in your heart became part of the present too.

Hubby's New Photo Blog

2007-12-15T14:17:00.000-05:00

http://photozan.blogspot.com/

Half-Tone Anyone?

2007-12-13T14:04:00.000-05:00

I like playing around with the Color-Halftone feature in Photoshop to create mock comic book frames with a 50s feel to them. Here are two illustrations I’m quite happy with using this fun technique.

Albatros, Digital - © R. Koleilat, 2007

Bathing Beauty, Digital - © R. Koleilat, 2007

To give you an idea of how I get to my final results, here’s a quick demonstration.

To alter your picture, first select Pixelate/Color Halftone from the Filters menu.

(1)

Using an illustration (1) I made for a corporate client a while ago (extra points if you can guess what the theme of the conference was), this is what it would look like in Normal mode with 100% Opacity (2), with the minimum number of pixels available (4 pixels).

(2)
By selecting Fade Color Halftone from the Edit menu, you can tweak it by choosing Screen Mode with 55% Opacity (3), or Overlay Mode with 35% Opacity (4) or any other Mode you like.

I have so much fun with this – the resulting images remind me of the old comic books I used to memorize at my even older cousins’ creaky apartment.

(3&4)

Chai This Instead

2007-12-08T10:47:00.000-05:00

Teacup, Digitized Photograph - ©R. Koleilat, 2007

Another idea for a simple, friendly present for the holiday - something you can prepare quickly, but will show that you care. And what is better than a warm cup of tea to share with a friend? How about a cup of Chai, this sweet and fragrant tea specialty from India? You definitely don't want to buy that from a store. For one, prepackaged tea bags are ridiculously overpriced, and they don't hold a candle to freshly made and brewed Chai. I know that because my dear friend Sonia taught me how to make the real thing - and I have been addicted ever since.

Here's what you need - you can get most or all of it from the bulk food store, any Southeast Asian or Middle Eastern food store, or even a good supermarket:

- Pick your gift container first, to determine how much tea you need to fill it with. A plain old glass jar, decorated with a personalized label and some raffia is usually my choice, but you can also fill a bag with the Chai mixture and pop it inside a pretty mug or teapot (2 gifts in one, yay!)

- Loose tea leaves, like Orange Pekoe, or Ceylon, enough to fill your chosen container.

- Loose Earl Grey tea leaves, about 1/4 of the amount of the tea above (you don't have to, since this is not authentic but I found it enhances the taste)

- Spices: I choose to add one stick of cinnamon, 5-6 cardamom pods, 4-5 cloves, a sprinkling of allspice berries and about 1/8 spoon of ginger (this is a very mild-tasting variation enough for about an 12-ounce jar of tea, you can add more spices to your taste)

Mix all of the above in the jar, and add this tea-making how-to:

Fill small pot with 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Spoon in one heaping tablespoon of Chai mixture, and turn off the heat. Let it steep for at least five minutes, and strain into teapot. Add lots of sugar and hot milk, find a comfy spot and enjoy.

Now this is definitely not the authentic method of making Chai - but I'm trying to save you from a caffeine attack! Here's how you can come close to the real deal - a lot more delicious, but too much for me to handle.

Fill small pot with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Lower heat, add a heaping tablespoon of tea, 1/4 stick cinnamon, two cardamom pods, 2 cloves, ginger and allspice to taste (optional), a lot more sugar than you would normally have in one day, and simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Add very hot milk and simmer a couple of minutes more. Strain and serve. But if you don't sleep for two days after that, don't come knockin' - I did warn you!

(The above quantities assume you are sharing this lovely cuppa with a friend)

Laughter Being the Best Medicine

2007-12-06T10:54:00.000-05:00

If you've been around this blog long enough, you've probably read about my friend and niece-in-law Hala's latest bout with leukemia. Since she never does anything half-a**ly, like her fantastic catering service Cocoa & Co, Hala launched a hilarious, witty, poignant and inspiring blog entitled "Halakemia" - a lebano-franco-english diary of her journey to recovery.

Inspired by Barb's last fun portrait of Hala, this is my take on Hala's latest baldie-portrait challenge. There's still time to join in the fun, and you can send Hala* or me your fun creations, you have until Sunday. Next week, all the portraits will be displayed on a "wall" in my gallery.

Love and laughter, faith and strength: This is what I think of when I think of you, darling Hala, you tough cookie you.

*Hala's email address is on her blog

Early Christmas Present For All Of You

2007-12-04T11:06:00.000-05:00

Peace Doves, Digitized Drawing -

Copyright-free, Rima Koleilat-Barrage, 2007

This is my Christmas present for all my friends, bloggers and others. This is one present we're allowed to unwrap and use early, yay!

I drew this peace dove to illustrate my new motto, which you can see on the upper right hand corner on this page. I am offering these 3 different versions of the same image to anyone who would like to use them - on a blog, for non-commercial holiday cards, for artwork, or any other (non-commercial) good use. So feel free to copy it and use it well!

How's that for another DYI?... well, except that you have to come up with the "dyi" part yourself, hehe...

Cool Glass Beads

2007-12-02T12:35:00.001-05:00

Here's my first idea for small DYI presents for this holiday season*: Another glass bead project. I love these little glass beads that are found in craft stores or dollar stores, usually with the floral supplies. And I love micro-glass beads even more - I actually found my little collection at a very good dollar store that has a wicked craft/scrapbooking section (don't tell anyone, but I even buy tiny canvases from there too - and funky paper and plain frames and boxes).

It's a lot of fun to create personalized magnets with them (I had a post about the how-to a few months ago, so I won't go over too much technical detail). This time, instead of just using pictures to glue on the underside, I decided to try some more dimensional designs on the surface.

I used Tacky Glue to make swirls or lines on the surface of the glass bead, then dipped it in the micro-glass bead container - easy peasy! You can also use ModPodge or plain white glue - they all dry clear and give an excellent result.

I also used dimensional paint with a few micro-beads on top (Pébéo makes lovely multi-surface puff paints with different textures - I used Pearl (in Pearl) and Crystal (in Turquoise) here).

Once the glue or the paint is totally dry, the micro-beads stay put - pretty much. You can try to cover them with ModPodge or some other finishing product that dries clear - but I don't think it's worth the bother myself. If you do try this project, let me know what your experience with that is.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Create a grouping of those with a theme - anything: different hues of the same colour, or use the same colour with different geometric shapes, 3 or 4 contrasting colours...
If you have the patience, create a magnetic alphabet set for an small child - or just the letters in their namem, they'll get a kick out of it.
Pack them in a pretty box with shredded paper for a unique present.

Hubby suggested we also try to string them up to create tree ornaments. I think I'll give it a try, they are so shimmery and delightful - they'd make lovely little presents. I'll show you if I succeed.

* Look at that, it's only the second day of December and I actually managed a post on this subject - yay me!

I Must Remember This...

2007-11-27T10:04:00.000-05:00

♪A kiss isn't just a kiss
When it's from my chi-ild
This is my bliss, my apple pie
As time goes by...♪

Oh well, better a lame attempt at rhyming than nothing at all... My apologies to Dooley Wilson (and the lyricist).

I really wanted to try this new houndstoothy pattern on something -I scanned a wood cut-out I'm using on a crafty project (new scanner, yay!) and fiddled with it on Photoshop. I love this pattern, it's timeless - even though it reminds me of our ... shudder... school uniforms growing up. In French, it's called pied-de-poule = chicken feet...

Speaking of crafty projects, I'm getting a few ideas together for some DYI holiday presents (including the one above). Keep your fingers crossed, folks - or better yet, figure out how to add a couple of hours to my day so I can get these things done BEFORE the holidays...

Don't Just Sit There, BUY NOTHING!

2007-11-18T09:59:00.001-05:00

Here's something we can all not do: buy stuff! How brilliant is this? For one day (23rd of November in Canada and the US; 24th of November internationally), BUY NOTHING.

Don't go to the mall, don't fill up your car, don't pick up a cup of coffee on the way to work, and don't get groceries on the way home. Use what you have at home or do without.

It won't be hard, I promise. In fact, you will feel hugely contented and smugly superior (you're allowed this one time). Or maybe you will just feel like your neighbour down the block feels every day - the one who has no choice but to buy nothing because she has nothing.

So please, buy nothing on that November day (and any other day you choose). But do think about what it means to live in an overfed, overpampered, overstimulated society. Talk about it with your children, your friends, your coworkers.

Don't you love this? All you have to do is NOTHING, and bam! you've done something!

Une idée de génie - Pendant une seule journée en novembre (le 23 en Amérique du Nord et le 24 pour le reste du monde), n'achetez absolument rien. Rien: ni le journal, ni un petit café, pas d'essence et pas d'emplettes non plus. Aidez cette journée sans achat à faire boule de neige, parlez-en avec vos enfants, vos amis, vos collègues. Petit à petit, on peut tout changer, promis-juré.

For more info/Pour plus d'infos: http://adbusters.org/home/ - This is where I got these gorgeous "posters" from. They are free to download, print and distribute. Wonderful.

Miss me? I missed you too - Sorry I've been incommunicado for so long, but I loved all the personal notes and the affectionate wishes sent my way. I promise I will be making it up to all of my friends (bloggers and civilians) very soon.

More Blog Action Day

2007-10-15T14:34:00.000-05:00

Blog Action Day Exhibit at Maraya Galleries

I've added all the information I had about the various artists and contributors to this wonderful page, including links to websites if applicable. If there are any corrections to be made, please let me know about them (hope I didn't get any of the countries wrong).

By the end of the day, I hope to have also finished the links to the larger images, so viewers can click on each piece and get a more detailed look.

Suggestions? Comments? Criticism? All are welcome, please let me know what you think

BLOG ACTION DAY IS TODAY!

2007-10-14T23:31:00.001-05:00

I've posted all the brilliant contributions at Maraya (still need to add a few hyperlinks and some text, please do not freak out if yours is missing, it will all get done before the 15th is technically over). I am too pooped to write anymore (it's past midnight my time) but I'll be back in the morning (or the afternoon).

I am so proud of this collective work - you guys are the coolest on the planet.

Here's my measly contribution - needs work, but it's food for thought at least.

A Big Thank You and An Even Bigger Apology

2007-10-10T17:15:00.000-05:00

I want to thank all the wonderful artists who have created something for Blog Action Day. More on that tomorrow.

And a profound apology for not keeping up (especially after nudging everybody into action kind of hard). All the artwork that I have received will show up on the website, promise, cross my heart, and hope to ... uh... trip and fall - and with the proper acknowledgements and links to your various sites (and info about purchase too for those who chose that). I've just been a little overwhelmed by other stuff around here at Casa Insanity. Hopefully, things have started calming down, and I can create web pages that will upload correctly.

Random Thoughts and Irreality Bites

2007-10-09T11:13:00.000-05:00

My blogger friend Andi has posted this video clip on her blog. It has nothing to do with art, but everything to do with beauty - more accurately, the contemporary twisted perception of it.

http://thethinksithink.blogspot.com/2007/10/real-beauty.html

Whether you are a mother or a father with young girls, a young woman yourself, or neither, don't think that the crassness of the beauty/fashion/diet industry doesn't affect you personally. It does, if only because it reflects the desperation of a society gone mad with the obscenity of greed and the perversion of reality. More on this subject later. Maybe.

Le New Look

2007-10-05T11:06:00.001-05:00

Maraya Galleries

Still working on updating our website. It's taking forever, but once I finished designing the logo, I decided to go ahead and just upload a few pages at a time, instead of finishing the whole website. I'll be talking about the changes here and would love some feedback as we go along.

For now, I'm still waiting for participation in the Blog Action Day artwork project - So far, only Neda and Alfonso have submitted their collages (you can see them in the home page slides).

Que pasa, people? Saving the earth is not inspiring you to come up with something? or, gulp... not worth your time? Time is running out - hurry up, vamos, allez, yalla, andare, пойти

J'ai decidé de telecharger le "new look" de notre site, Maraya Galleries, sans avoir tout fini. Trop de travail à faire - je ferais tous les changements petit à petit. J'aimerais bien discuter des étapes à entreprendre pour en faire un site agréable à visiter, et donc, j'apprècierais énormément tous commentaires, idées et suggestions à propos du design et du contenu du site.

A propos du contenu, que se passe-t-il avec votre participation au Blog Action Day? Jusqu'à présent, je n'ai que les collages de Neda et Alfonso à mettre sur le site. Eh bien? Allez, allez, le temps file, il n'y a plus que quelques jours pour finir votre projet. Le monde attend!

Walk, Walk, Walking/Un Kilomètre à Pied

2007-10-03T09:31:00.000-05:00

Remember:

Wednesdays* are International Walk To School Days.

(Learn more here)

Let's shrink that hole in the ozone layer, shall we?

N'oubliez Pas:

Tous les mercredis*, c'est la Journée internationale pour Marchons vers l’école

(Pour en savoir plus, cliquez ici)

Faisons notre part pour assainir l'air que nous respirons

* Bon, d'accord, ce n'est pas chaque mercredi, mais pourquoi ne pas le faire quand même?

Oh, all right, it's not every Wednesday, but why not make it so?

Bobbie's Who Da Man Tag!

2007-10-02T20:19:00.000-05:00

A girl's best friend, Cookie design by H. Audi - Cocoa & Co

How do you like this gorgeous cookie, designed by Hala Audi for her Valentine's day customers at Cocoa & Co.? I think it's a perfect illustration for this post. As if you needed to know more about my exciting life :-P

1. Who is your man? Zan's Da Man, better known to you guys as artEzan
2. How long have you been together? Over half our lives
3. How long dated? Many years!
4. How old is your man? His next birthday is in a few days, I’ll ask
5. Who eats more? Depends on whether there’s chocolate in it or not
6. Who said "I love you" first? Uhhh….
7. Who is taller? Him
8. Who sings better? ♪He was a singer in a baannd, obladi-oblada ♫

9. Who is smarter? D’oh…
10. Whose temper is worse? Hehehe…
11. Who does the laundry? Hahahahaahha….
12. Who takes out the garbage? ….oh, stop, my ribs are hurting…
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? The cat
14. Who pays the bills? He brings home the bacon, I forget to do the paperwork
15. Who is better with the computer? ♪Anything he can do, I can do better♫

16. Who mows the lawn? We believe that letting the lawn fend for itself will make it stronger in the long run.
17. Who cooks dinner? Pizza Hut
18. Who drives when you are together? Mostly the owner of the car we’re in
19. Who pays when you go out? Go out! Hahahahaa… what a concept!
20. Who is most stubborn? Definitely, absolutely, categorically, indubitably not me.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Well, since I’m always right…
22. Whose parents do you see the most? Not his
23. Who kissed who first? Sshhh, my dad is reading this!
24. Who asked who out? We were best friends, so it sort of happened naturally
25. Who proposed? He did.

26. Who is more sensitive? Boohoohoo

27. Who has more friends? I … don’t know

28. Who has more siblings? He has gazillions of siblings and assorted relatives

29. Who wears the pants in the family? Depends on the weather, sometimes we like to wear shorts

4 Things Tag

2007-09-27T17:02:00.000-05:00

Au Soleil, Digital - © R.Koleilat, 2007

Debi! Do I blame you, Bobbie or Frances for this? But since I am so darn flattered you still remember who I am (and even better, you still LIKE me), I won't blame you. I love Bobbie beyond words, so I won't blame her. Guess who's left? Hehehe....

Name four places you have lived: Beirut, Austin, Oklahoma City, Winnipeg
Four foods you like: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Midnight Snack
Four places you have been on vacation: Côte d'Azur, Florida Keys, Romania, Muskoka
Four places you would rather be: cuddling with my kids, hugging my mom, talking with my sister, at the beach.

We Can Do It Together/Ensemble, on peut tout changer

2007-09-26T20:49:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Jin for turning us on to this very worthy cause, and to Neda

for coming up with this terrific challenge -

Merci, Jin et Neda

Time to get those creativity muscles in gear, folks.

This challenge (this time I am calling it a challenge) is in honour of BLOG ACTION DAY, which will take place on October 15.

This time, I am not giving you a specific image to work off of, nor am I asking you to practice your digital image manipulation skills. You can if you want to, but you don't have to stick to that one venue.

The rules are simple for this Action Day Challenge:

Come up with an image to promote the environmental cause of your choice.
Write one line of text to accompany your image.
Any artistic medium can be used: you can do a painting, a collage, a photomontage, anything that you feel comfortable with. These are only suggestions, not guidelines.
Submit only ONE entry please. Seriously, I mean it this time. Here's why:
Once an entry is received, it will be displayed on the home page of Maraya Galleries, in a slide window. (This is a lot of work to set up, and I want to be able to do it before the 15th of October, so have a heart, people, send me your best one, don't ask me to choose for you - this one will be for all to see, not just the blog readers)

What are you still waiting here for? Go on, gather your materials and your best ideas and get going with this - you only have 17 days left and counting. Oh, and remember to tell your friends about this too - bloggers and non-bloggers, young and old, everyone is welcome.

Time Well Wasted

2007-09-25T11:35:00.000-05:00

I made this handsome demotivational poster at www.despair.com

(bird pic from wetcanvas.com)

You can create your own too, just follow the links!

Andi had a post about this hilarious website, a geeky and witty take on the ubiquitous, mediocre, and gag-inducing motivational industry posters and cards.

Since I am at the bottom of my creative cycle (meaning my mind is an abysmal blank), I think it's only fair to share these fun sites with you. After all, it's right there in my header, the bit about "fun finds" - so why should I be the only one here spending endless hou.., uh, minutes playing online?

So, in no particular order of preference (all games are free if you play online):

MSN Games has a new version of Scrabble here
Speaking of Scrabble, a legitimate cheating tool is available on the official website here
My all-time favourite time-waster is Alchemy (here)
Of course, it would be unforgivable not to mention the grande dame of all dilatory games: Bejeweled2, equally favoured by 7 and 47-year olds (or 48) in this household
Finally, since this is supposed to be mostly an arts-oriented blog, and since the original Miltos Manetas create-your-own-Pollock page doesn't seem to be functioning, here's another smaller scale one created by an artsy blogger here

Have fun, folks - and if you have any suggestions for wasting even more valuable minutes with silliness online, by all means, don't be selfish, share with the rest of us procrastinators.

Darn, I'm stumped

2007-09-22T08:26:00.000-05:00

Gossip, Greed, Envy, Bigotry (Mixed Media) - ©R.Koleilat, 2007

I promised myself that I wouldn't post anything that's unfinished - but I'm stumped with this. Oh, well, I could always pretend this is a demonstration of some technique in progress... yeah, that's the ticket...

Anyway, I'm still trying to play around with image transfers using an acrylic medium. I started with the image transfer on a small canvas panel (4"x5"), then started experimenting with various tools.

I used my battery-operated eraser (love that one, I've had it since university) to take away further layers of paper and leaving only the faintest outline of the image. Unfortunately, I did this after I had covered the body in black, resulting in very uneven layers to wok over.

Because of the textured surface, laying in a wash didn't really work (background mostly), so I tried markers instead (black body, hair, contour, face and accent highlights).

Still, I needed to find something more interesting, texture-wise: the canvas is pre-primed, and some of the marker ink will just sit there.

I used a little bit of acrylic paint (mostly the flesh tones), but I get frustrated with acrylic on such a small surface. So out came the oil pastels. And here we are - I did all I could with this concept, and it's turning out to be just that: a concept that didn't translate very well. Heeelllppp!

Suggestions? Please?

Lift Up Someone's Spirits Today

2007-09-14T16:13:00.001-05:00

This is my friend and niece-in-law Hala, she of the scrumptious edible artwork (read about her here). She's in hospital this week - again - and as you can tell from the bandana, although the head gear is very becoming, this is no walk in the park for her.

So this is my request, dear gang of photoshoppers and others, can you help me cheer my friend up?

Use this portrait below to create something fun and send it along or display it and let me or her know about it. This is her blog: http://hala2.blogspot.com/

Sticky Fun With Gel Transfers

2007-09-11T13:21:00.000-05:00

Image transfers using an acrylic medium as a base is one of those artsy-craftsy things I had some vague notions about, but never actually tried to do. Until I found a great gel medium made by a canadian company called Tri-art which said right there on the label that this product is perfect for photocopy transfers and so I decided to give it a try. Only I didn't use a photocopy, and didn't exactly follow the directions.

This is what I did - I cut out a coloured photograph out of an old magazine, to fit the size of a piece of white cardboard I had laying around. Using my fingers, I covered the cardboard in what I thought was a thin layer of the gel. I must have put too much gel, because as you can see in the bottom left corner of Image 1, the magazine paper fell apart as I was trying to smooth the surface out.

1. Glued-on image with parts rubbed out.

I put the image face down - of course - on the cardboard, so that the gel medium can bond to the ink and transfer the image on to the cardboard.
Once dry - a couple of hours later, I used a bit of water to rub out the paper off of the cardboard.

Once all the paper was rubbed out, I wiped the uncovered image with a dry cloth to take away traces of pulp and moisture, and came up with a really good image transfer - a lot better than I expected.

2. Transferred Image

Except of course, for the part where there was too much gel pooled under the image that I couldn't save.

I waited a little more for the thing to dry, but I think I should have been a little more patient and waited a few hours before applying colour to it.

I first tried outlining some of the branches with gel pens, but it didn't work well at all. I then used a fine-tipped marker, but wasn't very satisfied either.

I then used a little gouache, and found the results quite uneven - the gel medium would suck in some of it, and repel the paint in other parts, but not necessarily to very good effect. After that dried, I went over it with some wet watercolour pencils, and some oil pastels - much more satisfying.

3. Final result

It's no masterpiece, and not really my own work - but it is a really fun technique, easy to do and with endless possibilities. You don't have to use this particular brand, any acrylic gel medium would probably achieve the same result. I've even read somewhere that acrylic paint would bind to the ink the same way. . Julie (Mrs. Lost Luggage) shows a close-up of one of her works using the glass bead gel made by Golden (this one you can find in any craft store in N. America).

I'm going to try making a painted collage with it next. So, go on, give it a go sometime. I'd love to see you experiment with this technique and show us the results*.

*If you don't have a blog, but still would like to share your work, you can email me your creations and I'll show them here.

My Homework

2007-09-08T08:25:00.000-05:00

"At the bar", Digital - ©R.Koleilat, 2007

Since I've started using Photoshop a few months ago, I've been befuddled and intimidated by a lot of the more advanced features - like layer masks. I never understood how this worked until Sue O'Kieffe very generously demonstrated how easy it is (once you know what you're doing that is). I really couldn't believe I would ever use this layer mask feature before I read her clear, complete and straight-forward post.

This is what my first application of Sue's Photoshop tutorial. I used these two images (the original photograph is from wetcanvas), and followed clear Sue's step-by-step. I even used all the tricks she talks about (X and B and [ ] *).

All through this exercise, I used different brushes and the airbrush tool, changing the opacity and the pressure of the brushes, until I liked it the final effect.

I then flattened all the layers, and applied a few more artistic filters. Easy peasy.

Try it and see for yourself.

*don't know what I'm talking about? Go read Sue's post about it.

(Texte français suivra bientôt)

Joining In the Fun

2007-09-03T09:47:00.000-05:00

La Baigneuse - © Jin, 2007

Untitled - © J.Logan, 2007

I haven't updated my links yet, but two of the amazing women I've met through this fired-up artsy-fartsy blogosphere sent me their contributions to the Old Door and Bathing Beauty Workshops. Go check their sites in the meantime, you'll be bowled over like me (Julie hasn't sent anything but I don't want to wait until I update the right-hand column here).

Julie's Land of Lost Luggage - Yes, she's as witty as her blog title
Joy's This Joy of Arts - Brilliant collages and musings
Jin's À propos du sable - An exquisite visual artist, friend of Alfonso Brezmes (need I say more)

J'ai encore beaucoup de détails à finasser dans ce blog, y compris le gros boulot d'ajouter les textes en français et surtout pour rafraìchir mes links. Et trouver mon dictionnaire, héhé...

En attendant, je présente les contributions de deux nouvelles amies dans cette fofolle et fabuleuse communauté d'artistes-en-ligne que nous avons créé ici. L'exquise Jin a créé cette superbe baigneuse pour l' atelier digital de Bathing Beauty, et Joy cette porte ludique pour l'atelier Old Pisa Door. Julie n'a rien envoy&e;, mais elle est craquante dans son blog et son art.

Create Your Own

2007-09-01T21:31:00.000-05:00

Your own Photoshop brush or pattern, that is. It is all very easy, and to make it even easier, I'm including a pictorial to go with this very small step-by-step tutorial.

1. I painted this pattern, using different colours for the background and foreground.

When you define a brush, Photoshop will only use the shape of the brush you're creating, but will reproduce the pattern in its original colour.

2. I then chose Define Brush from Edit to create my new brush.

3.You will find your newly defined brush (and pattern) at the end of your existing list of brushes or patterns

4. You can see how, when used as a brush, the shape of your brush will appear in the colour (s) you've chosen

5. Using the same design, I also created a fill pattern by clicking on Define Pattern in Edit.

6. When you use this new pattern, it will be appear as in the original design.

See? Told ya it was simple.

Hanging Art

2007-09-01T00:02:00.001-05:00

Thanks, everyone for patiently waiting to see our Great Wall of Bathing Beauties - there's some really cool work that's been done. What imagination, people - you amaze me!

Here's my bleary-eyed contribution:

Cameo, Digital - ©R. Koleilat, 2007

Comic Book, Digital - ©R. Koleilat, 2007

On Sabbatical

2007-08-27T13:56:00.000-05:00

"watch me leave", digital - ©R. Koleilat, 2007

Sweet Irene gave me the idea to go on sabbatical - an elegant way to announce that I probably won't be posting much in the coming few days.

Hey, don't turn that dial yet, I'm not done.

I won't be writing a lot of ingenious, fabulous and seriously cool stuff as usual, but I will, however, keep updating the Bathing Beauty workshop wall. Eh...Maybe write a couple of things here and there too.

You see, I really do need to stop futzing around, and get down to business. My business that is - I have been much too slow in bring the needed changes to my gallery site, because I've been on, well, futzing around speed and have shirked my responsibilities as an art-patron-entrepreneur-something or other.

Voilà, c'est tout - don't worry, I'm not disappearing entirely; I'm not cruel enough to deprive you of my incomparable company for more than a few days. I'll be lurking in the shadows and checking up on YOU!

Summer Kiss-Off - Digital Art Workshop 3

2007-08-26T09:37:00.000-05:00

" Bathing Beauty" - from www.wetcanvas.com image library

Despite my best efforts to stall, summer is almost over. I didn't do 1/3 of what I promised myself I'd get done. Wonder if I can cram 2 months worth of work in 5 days?

So here is a befitting kiss-off to the hazy-lazy and decidedly crazy days of summer: a bathing beauty waiting to be reinterpreted in our Digital Art Workshop series.

Since I'm in ultra-slacker mode, I won't rewrite the supposed rules for your participation. However, in case you'd like a good laugh while completely disregarding them, you can still find them here.

To see the previous workshop results, click here and here.

Good sailing everyone!

(and while you're at it, check out hubby's poetry challenge - there's a prize!)

Update on Photoshop Instruction (and PSP too)

2007-08-22T14:24:00.001-05:00

After having posted the previous links, I remembered an excellent, clear, basic Photoshop tutorial online. It comes in several parts and can be downloaded or printed out. (There is no need to print out the exercises, you can come up with your own).

It even shows how to create your own brushes or patterns, which is a lot of fun too.

A good basic beginning at:

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshop/l/bllps5out.htm

This one's not bad either but not as good or detailed: http://iit.bloomu.edu/vthc/ps.html

As for PaintShop Pro, I don't use it myself, but if you do, this seems like a pretty good site (I'd say print it out, probably easier to read off of the page):

http://www.mardiweb.com/web/pspbasic5/psp5basic.htm

Go take a look.

Random Thoughts and Lucky Charms

2007-08-22T08:01:00.000-05:00

Lucky Charm - ©R.Koleilat, 2007

I had this conversation with my 4-year old yesterday - verbatum:

Ms. Smarty-Pants: "Let's pretend I put this on my blog"

Moi: "Your blog? What's a blog?"

Ms. Smarty-Pants: "Some place where you make yourself look prettier than what you are".

Out of the mouth of babes.

My cheat sheet:

http://thesaurus.reference.com/ - I don't have to get up to look a word up any longer
http://www.wetcanvas.com/ - you already know about this one, but surely it bears repeating: immense source of tips, techniques and public domain images
http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/jennifer/blog-templates.html - this was my very first find when I started blogging: a useful site on customizing templates and learning about blogging and photoshop, a good place to start with lots of links and things to learn.
http://www.homepagemadeeasy.com/color_chart.html - where colour codes are easy to find (e.g. for customizing your template)

All You Have To Do Is Try

2007-08-21T10:08:00.000-05:00

http://www.marayagalleries.com/workshop/6door.htm

Not one to follow any rules, not even my own, I've decided to display all of Irene's contributions to the Door project, not just the 3 I limited everyone else at. No fair, I hear everyone crying, how come she gets more?

Settle down, kids - First of all, I really couldn't bring myself to pick and choose from her work. Second, you have no idea how happy I was when someone who says she's a total digital art novice decided to join and came up with ALL OF THIS! Kind of like how I felt with Bobbie and Frances and the lilypad.

I have to be true to my heart: Irene is hereby getting unfairly rewarded for a) being fearless, ; and b) showing us some kind of incredible imagination for a supposedly non-artist.

So here it is, the completed wall with everyone's weird and wonderful creations. I haven't finished reorganizing the website, so you can't click around in there to find our workshops yet - link directly to that page here. Enjoy!

Life Gives You Lemons

2007-08-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Life gives you lemons - © R. Koleilat, 2007

Grab a cup of joe, people, this is a long one. If you have any complaints, let it be known that I blame Neda, Debi and Irene for this. Beverly a little bit too. But not Frances, or Fawzan. Well, maybe Fawzan a little.

I first started blogging a long, long, long time ago – last March in fact, so not long in the hours and days sense but in more esoteric ways. It was at the urging of hubby, financial wizard by day, watercolourist the rest of the time. He had been blogging himself for a while, partly to force himself into a discipline of creating works, whether sketches or full paintings, through this online artist diary.

I love what he does on his blog, he’s fearless about showing his work process, warts and all. He doesn’t fear criticism, and uses others’ input in a valuable, constructive manner. That’s admirable, considering how fragile artists’ egos are. Believe me, I know, because I have to deal with them not only in my family, but in my fledgling online gallery.

I hadn’t really done any blurfing* (thanks for that one, Julie!) prior to blogging myself, and didn’t really know what to expect. I certainly didn’t expect to connect (in all senses of the word) with such amazing, warm and wonderful, creative people so easily, so intimately, so rapidly. I’d read about how virtual reality is a space where anonymity is key, but what I’ve found is exactly the opposite: this is the one place where you choose to be yourself and you choose to show yourself. It is a different kind of reality, one not as encumbered by familial or social constraints, obligations and other ritual (although there is ritual involved, but that’s for some other post).

My blog was supposed to be a vehicle for helping me stretch out a little bit – I had started a newsletter for the gallery, but found it a little constraining: the format, the subjects that would be suitable, the style. Plus, to be honest, it wasn’t being read by that many, and with all the effort that went into it, I wanted more. I felt that there were so many interesting, little and big discoveries out there, a lot of enjoyable and silly/funny tidbits, not really suitable for a “serious” art website. I enjoy writing, and I enjoy the creative process of it all, and this was going to be a fun thing to try.

But most of all, I secretly wanted to emulate dear hubby, and find a way to force myself to get back to my own long-dormant, atrophied artistic self. Early on in this blog, I tried to get back to sketching and drawing, but found that whatever had been immobilizing me was not going to go away so easily. I really, really wanted a graphic for each post. I knew that this was the only way to have some discipline both in keeping a good-looking blog, and getting those creative juices flowing again. When I kicked dear ol’ sister out the blog window (so she can take flight by herself, not because I’m a meanie), I couldn’t rely on her bottomless trove of goodies anymore, so I had to find something quick and fairly presentable (I do have some standards).

Struggling with pen and paper was out of the question at that point, I would’ve had to run back to my old therapist to resolve that one and I wasn’t about to try and fix it this way. Not then, at least. And not before I win the lottery either. So I turned to digital art (with a small a, Irene).

And lo and behold, I found it! It being my little vacation, and my new doodling tool. Since I’d also like to do more design work – I’m tired of creating commercial/corporate logos, illos and designs for cheap-to-free for friends and acquaintances – this was also the perfect combo: exercise my digital design skills AND illustrate my posts.

Now you can go about your day, buoyed and enriched by this profoundly important bit of knowledge. There’s a lot more where that came from but I have to stop now. Be warned though, I’ll be picking this up again later this week, and giving you even more fascinating things to read. I need more tea now. Today is a coffee-free day for me. Endless source of compelling info, me.

* compound word of (pick one):
A) blah and smurfing
B) blue and morphing
C) block and turfing
D) blog and surfing

More Ways to Waste A Sunday Aft

2007-08-19T13:01:00.000-05:00

If you were marooned... asks hubby.

Come play along, it's fun!

Someone's Lurking...

2007-08-18T09:22:00.000-05:00

Untitled - © W. Beydoun, 2007

This is Wissam's contribution to the Door project, and here are his steps:

Step one: clean the picture of the bicycles by cloning, smudging
and copy, paste.
Step two: insert a drawing. Work on it a bit
Step three: lightning effects for a dramatic look.
Lens correction to give the picture a different perspective
I hope I followed the rules... (I am not good at this)"

Hmm, I beg to differ..

Top And Tail - 2 Things challenge

2007-08-18T08:49:00.000-05:00

Can I still participate in an old 2 Things Challenge? My friend sent me these pics of my cat and her kid, and they're too perfect to pass up. I know, talk about not following any rules: not only am I ridiculously behind the times, I'm also using someone else's photographs. But it is MY cat.

Random Thoughts and Favourite Texanisms

2007-08-17T08:52:00.000-05:00

Texas - © R. Koleilat, 2007

In honour of my darling sister's safe return, here are some of my favourite Lone Star State-isms, y'all:

Busy as a one-armed paper hanger - Bobbie W.
Even a blind chicken'll find the corn sometime
Whatever makes your boat float - Seven-11 cashier on Lamar
I'm fixin' to go now - my old boss
You can have my girl, but don't touch my hat - Lyle Lovett
The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom - Lady Bird Johnson
Keep Austin weird - Everyone there

Grown-Up Meme Game

2007-08-16T07:55:00.000-05:00

For Debi: Moi At the Apple Farm, Oct. 2006 -

That's the best I could do at short notice, we don't want to scare the little kiddies

So many topics to deal with, so little time... Consequently, I will, in typical Rima fashion, settle on an escapist break, a (sorta) grown-up version of this unoriginal but still-funny online meme game, where you get to answer prying questions with just one word. I promise to not psychoanalyse.

Here are my 23 questions. If you'd like to play along - and please don't let me feel ridiculous by leaving me to twist in the wind by myself - copy the list, and put in your own answers like I did below. It's slightly less cruel than, say, asking (no, daring!) you to post a portrait. Or, if you're really, really brave, you can combine both.

What is your favorite object?

Do you have music on right now?
What is the state of your hair?
What is your favorite drink?
What do you fear most

What is your favourite season?

Who did you hang out with this weekend?

What are you not good at?

What is the weather like?

What is your favourite cookie?

Do you have a real wish list?

What is your favourite thing in your house?

How did you grow up?

What aren’t you wearing?

What is your kitchen specialty?

Where is your ideal summer spent?

What is your favorite colour?

What do you love?

What’s your favourite word?

What’s missing?

Where were you in 1993?

What’s your favourite timepiece?

What are you not?

My profound answers:
Do you have music on right now? No
What is the state of your hair? Desperate
What is your favorite object? Laptop
What is your favorite drink? Tea
What do you fear most? Time
What is your favourite season? Fall
Who did you hang out with this weekend? Friends
What are you not good at? Lying
What is the weather like? Hot
What is your favourite cookie? Sablé
Do you have a real wish list? No
What is your favourite thing in your house? Antiques
How did you grow up? Worried
What aren’t you wearing? Shoes
What is your kitchen specialty? Eating
Where is your ideal summer spent? Beachfront
What is your favorite colour? Turquoise
What do you love? Peace
What’s your favourite word? Serendipity
What’s missing? Peace
Where were you in 1993? Montreal
What’s your favourite timepiece? Absent
What are you not? Hypocritical

Venetian Charm, O'Kieffian Wit

2007-08-14T08:35:00.000-05:00

Leaning Toward Venice - © S. O'Kieffe, 2007

With her usual mastery, this is Sue's vision of the Door (remember, the original image is titled Pisa Door) - AND she sent steps along. Marvelous woman. Now read and learn. She even calls features by their correct names.

PART 1

Duplicated image.

Created a selection using rectangular marquee of right side of building.

Copied and pasted it into new layer.

Merged visible layers (Ctrl+shift+e)

Moved selection to left side of new layer.

Edit>Transform>Flip Horizontal to create symmetrical image.

Set colors to default. Filters>Sketch>Photocopy.

Set blending mode to multiply.

Set blending mode of building to Hard Light. (This feature is possible in CS3)

Created adjustment layer.

At bottom of layer palette chose photo filter/cooling filter.

I wanted to put image on a slant. Transformed image (Ctrl/Cmd+T). Edit>Transform>Skew

PART 2

Chose photo of ocean water and adjusted size of image to correspond with image size of building

Created symmetrical image of ocean as described above in step one

Dragged image of ocean onto image of building

Transformed image as described above to follow slant of building.

Set blending mode to Lighten.

I wanted it to look like water was running out from under the door and down the street, so I created a mask and set color to default.

Using black I painted out all parts of the ocean I didn’t want visible. The nice thing about masking is you can undo anything you want by painting in white. BLACK CONCEALS AND WHITE REVEALS

PART 3

Created reflection of building in water following steps in Part 1, step 1, except created a horizontal selection and flipped the image vertically

Created a clipping mask over layer with water. Clipping masks only affect one specific layer at a time and are created in the layer palette by holding down the alt/option key while selecting the desired adjustment.

I chose hue/saturation adjustment, and adjusted colors to hopefully reflect a more Mediterranean color.

I still wasn’t happy with the results of how the water looked. First I chose a color in the color palette that was a turquoise green color and chose it for the foreground color.

Then I went to Filters>Sketch>Photocopy, applied the filter and set blending mode to multiply. This is a handy technique I use in many of my mandalas, too, when I want to create a bit more depth in my images without it looking too much like an illustration.

PART 4

Final adjustment. Created hue/saturation adjustment layer at top of layer stack. Set hue at -12/Saturation at +57

Sue has also very generously attached a copy of her layer colour palette and wrote this about it: "Things will look a bit different because of the specific features in CS3 I used that eliminates the use of multiple layers. It’s a great and long overdue feature, and as far as I can tell so far the best thing about the newest version of Photoshop."

Marvelous, marvelous woman.

(Check here for the "Wall", including Diane's modern/urban-dream take, and freshman Irene's very first attempt at digital imaging)

Doors of Opportunity

2007-08-12T19:38:00.000-05:00

Pisa Door Prison D'or - © N.Doany

Thanks for this one, sister mine - especially since I know how tough it is for you to find the time to play.

"When God closes a door, somewhere He opens a window" - Maria von Trapp

Cat From Outer Space?

2007-08-12T09:53:00.000-05:00

I seem to remember a movie like that from eons ago.

Anyhoo, here's Fawzan's first take on the Door (I don't know what to make of the writing on the window, but I know where he got the idea of the green light from...)

What are they doing to you? - F. Barrage

I'm starting to hang things on here. (For the previous workshop, check here.)

Frustration Update

2007-08-10T13:55:00.000-05:00

No luck on the web editor front, still not able to upload anything. Plus my second printer is kaput.

I really wanted to provide a link to the completed Lily wall, and a good start on the Door one, but short of smashing my computer (a colleague used to call it a confuser) against the wall, I'm stumped. It's obviously going to take still longer to see a refurbished Maraya. I'm looking forward to building a much more interesting site, with a lot of reference materials, and hopefully more workshops and more artwork. Fun, fun, fun. Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating.

Meantime, I did the last version of the Door (previous post) late last night, I was kind of groggy and forgot the steps. There weren't that many anyway, and most of them are uninteresting:

- I drained the colour, then did a tan-ish duotone, then went back to RGB.

- I also used the Cloud (or was it Difference Clouds) feature in the Render Filter in low opacity in Overlay (I think).

This sort of washed-out quality is not hard to achieve, and you can experiment until you find an effect you like.

Now for the interesting part: how did I put that light in the window? Easy peasy. I used the Lighting Effects option in Render - to illustrate, here's a quick example (disregard the esthetics, focus on the tutorial please)

Image 1: Plain

Image 2: Lighting effect applied in Flood Light Style, Spotlight Light type with a yellow hue

Image 3: Flashlight, Omni , white hue (I used something like this for the window light effect)

Try it with anything you have - lights on, lights off. On, off. On, off. On, off. Hehe.

Shhhh...

2007-08-09T21:31:00.000-05:00

I'll try to explain the steps tomorrow - right now, I feel as sleepy as...

Open the Door

2007-08-08T20:19:00.000-05:00

Red Door

For my first altered image, I took a page from Debi's book - for the last workshop, she had achieved such a delicate result by laying down almost transparent layers of the original image and fiddling with these layers. I thought I'd try it, and I just love what it helped me come up with.

First, I copied the original image, but cropped, to a new file, with low opacity. I also turned it to Grayscale so I could use the Duotone feature. For this first layer, I chose two hues of red.

Second, I created another layer, copied the image again in low opacity, but left it coloured. This is such a great trick, it really feels like you're laying a vellum on top of an image. I then repeated the process with a third layer, just like the first one, but with purple Duotone, to give more depth to the colours which were now rich and juicy.

Third, I used the Dry Brush in the Artistic Filters over and over, calibrating it slightly differently and using the Fade function in Edit every single time. I can't be more specific, because I couldn't keep track, I just fiddled with it until I liked the end result. I think I did the Dry Brush thing about 3 or 4 times.

Finally, I used the Smudge tool to erase the lettering on the store awning and the plaque on the door, and filled the pipe that was still showing on the right with the same colour as the wall.

Gravure

Just like Frances, I also felt that this image just called for some "antiquing" (love your title, Frances!). For this one, I used the Find Edges option in the Stylize tool in Filters, but edited it with the Fade option, and chose to go with Multiply instead of Normal with about 50 percent opacity. I repeated this step about 2 more times, and felt happy with the final, sketchy, inky look.

I've learned about GIMP a little bit this week - it's a free download and a lot of people swear by it. I think I'll save my next attempt for that new tool, as soon as I figure out how to download it.

Finally, as soon as my *%@!*&?!!@! laptop cooperates, you'll be able to see the new "wall" up at Maraya Galleries, as well as the completed Lily Wall (done but refusing to upload). Sometime before the end of this decade. Along with the new logo (not done yet) and the new features (still cooking). And more. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed. I'll just go rest my head now.

Read Previous Post First!

2007-08-07T16:58:00.000-05:00

Time To Play Again! Digital Art Workshop Deux

2007-08-06T16:37:00.000-05:00

C'mon! Time to get back inside! Disentangle yourself from that chaise-longue, toss that frozen margarita (or better yet, refresh it), kick off your Crocs and sit down to a new digital exercise.

You wanted more of a challenge, so here it is:

Pisa Door, by Ban Sidhe - courtesy www.wetcanvas.com

I found this copyright-friendly image on a terrific art site that hubby suddenly remembered to share with me, http://www.wetcanvas.com/. It's a fantastic resource for artists and wannabes like me, thanks in no small measure to its bottomless image library - by far the best source for public domain images I have found in my research.

To participate, all you have to do is copy the image to your computer - it's a fairly large file, so you may want to resize before saving it. Then go to town with your digital creativity (creative digitality?)

IF YOU'RE NOT ABLE TO GET THE LARGER IMAGE WHEN YOU CLICK ON THIS ONE, TRY THE ONE POSTED LATER BY ITSELF. IF NEITHER WORKS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

Now for some rules - I know it's a ridiculously optimistic request on my part since no one ever listens to me, but please remember to:

Modify the image in any way you like, with any digital art program you prefer. You can use the whole image or only parts of it for the final result - your choice.
Use at least 4 steps/effects, like artistic filters, layers, cropping, whatever – Opening and saving your files are NOT actual steps, and do not count as such, sorry. If you don't try at least 4 stages of modification, I will need a written note from your mom. I'm doing this for your own good. (You know that you can ask me for help on anything, so no excuses). Take your time, you have about two weeks.
Explain your process as well as you can - even if it's just to list your steps. We all want to learn from each other. Well, I do, and I did learn at least one new thing from each entry last time.
3 submissions max, please and thank you! I know it's hard to stop once you start, but I'm old and slow now, and I get easily backlogged. I still haven't finished uploading the last few Irises to the website.
Send me a copy of your finished product, or allow me to copy it from your blog, so I can "hang" it on the Maraya Galleries website (no one can copy it from there). The artwork from last time looks so very lovely on my "wall" (http://www.marayagalleries.com/workshop/5.htm).

That's it. Now, ready, aim...

Better Late?

2007-08-06T10:29:00.000-05:00

I'm always trailing behind. I've always been the last one out the door, the last one to walk into the restaurant, the last one to hand in the assignment - and now I'm the last one to catch up with everyone else online.

I know this little mutual-admiration society of ours has already moved way past all the well-deserved pats on the back - especially the really prolific artists who seem to have a fire in their belly and, thankfully, cannot slow down the creative flow or the rapid-fire posts (you know who you are, Diane and Neda and Sue)... but I'm still here, distracted by summer days, hubby's vacation and toads in the creek (see Fawzan's lovely watercolour of yesterday's park visit here).

And now that I've finally gotten around to it, a round of applause for me too please as I proudly display the following award logos generously bestowed by Neda and Diane respectively (they like me, they really like me!)

Find out who created these awards, and why, here.

Stretching To Wake Up

2007-07-30T08:55:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking about things my doppelganger/separated-at-birth-twin Frances has been musing about - mainly how hard it is to reconnect with those parts of ourselves that require us to do the unthinkable: relinquish conscious control over what we want to do. This applies equally to my two intellectual passions: artistic expression and therapeutic exploration, which I believe are two sides of the same coin.

My "thing" has always been what can be generously termed as illustration, my medium of choice pencil and ink. But because these are unforgiving media that require focus, space and time, I've found myself less and less able to indulge... Paralysis and ankylosis ensued.

Wait, there is a happy ending to this sad story!

Now that I've been blogging, instead of worrying about what I cannot or won't do, I find myself enjoying "drawing" again - with, you guessed it, Photoshop. Such a convenient tool - no space or paper or babysitting required. And your point is, Rima? I hear Frances saying - well, if something looks too scary to do... do something else! And my point to all my friends that I've been corresponding with and discussed the "impossibility" of doing something "artistic": let go, let loose - things happen when you stop planning and thinking and measuring and comparing.

More Random Knowledge and Kinda-Useful Information

2007-07-28T07:12:00.000-05:00

Warning: This bit is for those of us who come to blogging from a non-technical background. Programmers and know-it-alls will find this utterly laughable. All right now, settle down, stop laughing.

I just realized that, when posting, it is much easier to type some things in html format rather than cut and paste from my word processor. Case in point: the copyright symbol used to drive me nuts. No more: html codes for symbols and accents are pretty intuitive. For most of these, it's the ampersand symbol (&) followed by text, like copy or reg, and ending with a semicolumn.

For registered trademark ® , it's (type it in) ampersand reg semicolumn

For trademark ™, ampersand trade semicolumn

What do shoes have to do with this? Nothing, except that I was thinking of my armchair-ridden sister, viciously felled by her tripping high heels.

Random Knowledge and Useless Information:

2007-07-27T12:08:00.000-05:00

Chartreuse green (the colour) is named after the liqueur created by the French Alpine monks, les Pères Chartreux.

quatre, sept, onze -

©R. Koleilat

In the 18th century, a Chartreux monk from the famed Farina family of perfumers, created one of my favourites, the "4711".

There are also very gentle, beautiful, blue-grey cats with golden eyes that are called Chartreux. They were brought into and bred in Europe from Syria.

Wondrous Imagination, Wonderful Image-ing

2007-07-25T20:10:00.000-05:00

Diane has gotten us used to her cornucopia of creativity - but I was still startled at the beauty that she infused these images with, part of our Lily Pad "series".

Look at the energy in these two:

Dancing with the Lilies

Square Dancing Lilies

How delightful and appealing is this one below?

Lily in the rain

Finally, this awesome and very cool tryptich:

Lily at dusk

Lily at first light

Nightlights Lily

Last but not least, Audrey's delightful contribution is on her blog with explanations (click to see the larger image to fully appreciate the fine detail)
They're not up on the website just yet, but they will very soon be taking their rightful place in that mini-pantheon of imagination and creativity.

So, thanks everyone - it's been a wonderful first experiment. I know you've enjoyed this as much as I have because you've said so - so sharpen those ...uh... mice? and get ready for the next one. Coming soon to a computer screen near you...

Bloomin' Marvelous

2007-07-24T20:24:00.000-05:00

I still have a bunch of lilypads to post here and on the "wall", one from Audrey and a few by Diane, but until I do (and I will, be patient - I work slowly), enjoy this funky bloom by Debi:

Debi's steps:
I used the circle selector to select spots all over the non-flower part of the image.

And then I gave it a "Twirl".

I selected water pieces using the magic wand and gave them a "Ripple."

I doctored up a few of the obscured waterlily petals with paint and smear. (Not as good a result as I would have liked.)

And, I think that's it. I was inspired by Frances' 70s Slick Lily.

Well, I'm inspired by all of you - this has been fun, and for the sophomore project, I'm looking for something a little more difficult to work on. Tune back in...

Why I Miss Living in Montreal So Much

2007-07-23T17:40:00.001-05:00

Sigh! Isn't this just so... This is St-Eustache, a small town not too far from Montreal and it's typical of those "discoveries" one makes in this corner of Canada.

This charming photograph was taken by my old friend (and talented photographer) Louie Louay, who used to sit on the schoolbus behind me and lend me his Agatha Christies. Centuries and many universes ago.

On another note, I'm still not done going through the Lily Pad images that I've received - man, you guys are good! And prolific... Just taking a break ... still haven't finished my new book, so please don't tell me how it ends.

More Bounty

2007-07-23T09:43:00.000-05:00

Sue has sent some amazing interpretations of the Lily Pad that I've already "hung" on the wall - Go check them out right now!!
http://www.maraya.virtualave.net/workshop/5.htm

Ladies and Gentlemen...

2007-07-22T17:07:00.001-05:00

While waiting for more entries, enjoy these Interpretations of Lily Pad on the "Wall":

http://www.maraya.virtualave.net/workshop/5.htm

I think they look stunning, don't you?

There's plenty of room for more...

Participants: Bobbie, Debi, Diane, Fawzan, Frances, Neda, Rima, Sue

You're Having Way Too Much Fun

2007-07-22T15:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, slow down, you guys, you're having way too much fun with this digital art exercise! Just kidding, don't slow down - I'm still waiting for the rest.

This is Lily's Puppy who lives in her Pad, according to Neda

I already have 8 entries besides mine (and YES, you're allowed more than one) and I'm having a hard time keeping up with y'all! So please pardon me if I'm late in commenting or posting - the good news is, all the entries look terrific on the "exhibit wall" that I'm preparing.

It is so fantastic to see how everyone's sensibilities are expressed and translated - technical know-how notwithstanding. It doesn't seem to matter whether you've done this once or a thousand times - all the "experiments" are darn blooming good.

You'll be able to see most of them in the next few hours - since I haven't heard otherwise, I'm assuming that it's ok for me to copy the images you've all created to my own website and the new page is coming together nicely.

Oh, I'm so happy ... but I have to go now, I have a date with Harry.

Lily Pads, Takes 3 and 4

2007-07-21T18:31:00.001-05:00

I'm working on a "wall" to put up all our different takes on the same image. It's fascinating to see what everyone "sees" in this. I'm having so much fun with this - still waiting for the others, but we did give ourselves a couple of weeks. Tick-tock, tick-tock... Oh, and we're allowed more than one entry.

Frances was the first to post hers, and she's come up with a very lovely result (see here - pay especially close attention to the title of her post, it is so perceptive and astute, and so profoundly true...). She's also listed her steps. Thanks, Frances.

Below are two more takes on the Lily Pad exercise - one by Neda (guess which one); the other by Fawzan with the very modest title of Modern Manet, but with no explanation. Still waiting - Let's hope they remember to post their work on their own blogs, and include some explanation for the rest of us mere mortals. What can I do, I share a gene pool with one and a mortgage with the other, eh...

Addendum: This is Neda's email this morning:

Here's my submission to you, o venerable one....oops, wrong email address..
Uhum.. here's my submission to the digital altered collage:

I used Dad's old laptop to do this project so I was limited in my choice of technical options (and I would not know where to start if I had a more sophisticated tool anyway). I used the archaic "Paint" program which is basically a glorified cut-and-paste software. Here are my steps:

- After scanning the lilypad picture, I traced certain elements (the flower and the delicate branches) and I cut them out and pasted them on a white background.

- I inverted the colors of the original image and cut out the branches and twigs which had turned into a mauvish hue.

- I then played around by laying the original and the negative cut-outs until I achieved a sort of a basic structure: the 2 flowers in the center and the branches.

--I noticed that the branches looked like little doggies (...)so I flipped" the left side of the design and I made it face leftward.

-- I cut out the flowers petals and I added them to the design. To me, they looked like pink leaves.

-- I cut out the flower pistils (sp?) as added decoration.

--- And I have to confess: I really did not write everything down so I am doing this list from memory. Sorry

Thank you for offering us this lovely project. I have to say that this is my first official digital entry and I am thrilled that you were my mentor :)

My Lily Pad

2007-07-20T16:34:00.000-05:00

I chose this copyright-free image so we could have a simple, but not too simple first exercise. I like the subject (I love lily pads, and this one is quite handsome), the quality is great, and it’s such a generic picture, with no baggage – perfect for dressing up.

To me, this lily pad needed to be stripped down to its bare essentials – the lines. I didn’t want to use any special brushes or effects that wouldn’t be available to everyone, so I stuck with what Photoshop had to offer already… which is plenty.

I made myself take notes, so this process ended up a little bit self-conscious, I must admit. I wish I had the patience to take vignettes of each step, but I don't. I might in the future, if I decide to incorporate something like this on the gallery website. But that's another post.

Ok, now - explanations: (NOTE: I'm updating this as needed from the comments)

First, under Filters, Stylize, I chose Find Edges, edited with Hard Light Mode at 74% opacity. This really bleached out the photo, and gave me colours I liked as a base.

I then went back to Filters, Artistic, and chose Cutout to give the image more of a hand-painted look.

I then selected the water feature with the Magic Wand, and filled it with the Satin pattern in the Paint Bucket feature at about 22% opacity, in Overlay mode. I prefer the Overlay mode for most “fills”, and generally reduce opacity for most everything for more subtle effects.

I then selected the lily pad leaves individually, and filled them in Overlay mode with the purple pattern, in some places with 22% opacity and others up to 84%.

I also cropped the image to get a narrower frame, because it was looking more and more like a Japanese print from the 50s. Which is why I went back later, and added an extra Layer with a vertical "brushed" signature and stamp.

Finally, I selected the centre of the flower, and did a Gradient overlay in a diagonal line with the Radial Gradient option, at about 25% opacity, with the violet-to-orange option (with mostly the orange showing up).

So, here are my six steps – I didn’t go overboard like I normally end up doing, because there was no need for any additional tweaking. I liked the lily like that and wanted to focus on its elegant shape, without all the distraction in the background.

Waiting for Harry

2007-07-20T07:56:00.000-05:00

I See Cacti People

2007-07-20T07:24:00.001-05:00

Debi has turned us on to Picnik, a terrific online, free site for editing pictures and general goofing around. In answer to her last post, this is what I saw...

I had forgotten my password (you don't need to sign in to play with Debi), and this is the quote they sent me with my new password:

"Better by far you should forget and smile than you should remember and be sad."

- Christina Rossetti.

Here We Go! Our First Digital Altered Image Workshop

2007-07-19T07:20:00.000-05:00

(I didn't want to mention Photoshop in the title, just in case you want to use another graphics program).

But here it is: A simple, but not too simple, image that we can use to flex our creativity muscles.

Copy the image or open it with your program (I'll be using Photoshop), and do something with it... anything goes.
I've left the image as is, it's large and has a high resolution, so feel free to alter the size as well to fit your needs and your computer's capabilities.
Most importantly, try to remember (or write down, Rima) the steps, so we can appreciate the final result even more. Minimum alteration: 4 steps!
Comments and critique are part of the deal - it will help us all get comfortable with this medium, and see things from different perspectives.
Post the results on your blog or send it to me at rima@marayagalleries.com and I'll post it here instead (or as well). It would be nice if we could put them all side by side on one page on the Gallery website too - let me know what you think.

Time frame? oh... about 2 1/2 weeks?

Good luck everyone ... and hey, let's be careful out there...

Now and Zen, Again (for Frances)

2007-07-17T21:14:00.000-05:00

Can something old be new again? You bet.

I found a brand spanking new reprint of an old classic at the library: "The Zen of Seeing", by Frederick Franck, a book originally published in the early seventies. The book itself is a very lovely creation - it's not typeset, but handwritten (as all love letters should be, Franck tenderly explains) and illustrated with wispy, minimalist (well, zen) drawings, all by the author himself.

One of my favourite passages in this book touches on what I've been musing about here - that the innate artist in all of us is so easily silenced by those invisible shackles we collect through our individual lives. Here's what he said (capitals are the author's own):

"... WHO IS THE MAN, THE ARTIST?... HE IS THE UNSPOILED CORE OF EVERYMAN, BEFORE HE IS CHOKED BY SCHOOLING, TRAINING, CONDITIONING UNTIL THE ARTIST-WITHIN SHRIVELS UP AND IS FORGOTTEN. Even in the artist who is professionally trained to be consciously "creative" this unspoiled core shrivels up in the rush toward a "personal style", in the heat of competition to be "in". " Indeed.

(This quote can be found in the introduction to the paperback edition by Vintage, NY, 1973).

Now how to get out of a creative rut? or how to get some inspiration if you have no idea where to start?

I just remembered that there is such a thing as public domain images - images that one can use as a springboard for inspiration without worrying about the ethics of copying/copyrighting/cheating...

So I went looking on the internet (love ya, Google) and found an endless supply of sites that offer treasure troves of "free images". I'll be exploring this subject more in the near future, but in the meantime, here's an example of what one can play with. I didn't have any illustration for this post and was not in the mood to pick up pen and ink to do some zen-inspired drawing (I'm going through a terribly dry spell, but that's another story...).

So I decided to look around for a picture I could use, and found this nice one of a bamboo plant reflected in the water.

On Photoshop, I cropped it, used "crosshatch" to give it a sketchy feeling, changed it to B&W, infused it with muted colours, skewed it and added some "noise" to make it look like an old picture of something vaguely asian. Obviously, one of the points I am also trying to make here is that it doesn't have to be good - but it's good to practice!

The Queen of Everything Sweet

2007-07-12T07:13:00.000-05:00

My dear friend-niece-in-law Hala Beydoun, and the titular Queen based in Beirut (so far), has sent me this picture of how a teapot cake should actually look like. So, for your viewing pleasure and while waiting for her to finally launch the Cocoa&Co website (so we can ORDER her divine confections)... ta-daaaa!!

I Won! I Won! I Won!

2007-07-10T20:45:00.000-05:00

I won the lottery! No, not that one, silly!

I won a wonderful collage from Belinha's Papelustro site collection. Isn't that wonderful? If you are a faithful reader of this here blog, as well as my sister's, you'll recall that she talked about this giveaway in a comment. All we had to do was pick a favourite, and wait for the winner to be announced. And cara Belinha chose me! Yaay me! Yaay Belinha!

I'm so in love with her witty, whimsical, funny, cute, beautiful collages. It was really hard to pinpoint a favourite, but I'd always found myself drawn to "Pretty in Pink", and I hope to be able to share it with everyone here soon. In the meantime, you can admire Belinha's funky creations here.

To celebrate, let's share this calorie-free cake. (Yeah, it's kind of wonky and melty, and it didn't taste that good really, but the kids loved the teapot shape. And the Smarties.)

Who Let The Cat Out?

2007-07-04T20:10:00.000-05:00

I did actually. Then spent the whole night waking up and going downstairs to see if she'll come back in. She did, eventually - at 5:32 am but with such dramatic scorn, I almost felt guilty. What I did feel was groggy (and very resentful) this whole drizzly, grey, sticky day.

Thankfully, the house was full of kids so after throwing heaps of junk food at them to keep them occupied without me, I made this to reconcile myself with Blossom (who spent her whole day sleeping in my bedroom).

Funny thing is I didn't set out with this cat in mind, but as I finished and looked at it, I realized that it could only be about her, my little savage beast.

Finally!

2007-07-03T12:15:00.000-05:00

Hey, everyone! It is now safe to go back and check artezan, now that there's a (quite lovely) new watercolour there.

Of Chaos and Creativity

2007-06-30T08:50:00.000-05:00

"Tidy up time! Tidy up time!"

Barney

Well, since we're sharing...

My friends Debi and Frances have coincidentally on purpose posted some musings on this shared bane of our existence - housecleaning. I, like Debi, used to be quite neat and good at cleaning. Unlike her, however, my organizing skills are now mostly theoretical. Having 2 small, boisterous children in my advanced middle age is quite challenging - and I can't even claim to have another "real" job outside my home.

Excuses, excuses. Since my tiny ventures into the art/web world all stem from my precious laptop, I should really be much more in control of my environment. Should, could, would. Can't. Or don't wanna. Haven't figured that one out yet.

I do, however, generally end up with some method to my messy madness - especially around my desk area. I'm always making endless lists of chores, projects, whish-lists really and find them overwhelming and impossible to even check off in the end. So I've come up with this little trick: I write one item at a time on a small scrap of cardboard (coloured, of course), and stick them all in no particular order on my corkboard. For some reason, things seem to get done/ purchased/eliminated much faster this way.

One last tip: I found these useful corkboards in a package of 4, probably at Wal-Mart, and covered two of them in a cloth contact paper. Red-cork-red-cork. Yes, this is the lame reference to creativity in the title.

Little Butterfly Deconstructed

2007-06-28T12:48:00.000-05:00

Now that I've broken this little dry spell, and thanks to Debi's kind comment (as always), I thought I might as well use the latest post to talk about using Photoshop for altering images.

I started out with this adorable snapshot of my little ballerina at her recital about 4 weeks ago, and used it to play around in Photoshop. I liked what I came up with enough to post it here.

(Before)

I started by using the blur tool in the background, but used a shaped brush - I'm not sure how much of an impact this had, but I feel it did soften the edges.

I then decided to turn it into a grayscale image to see how the special effects filters would come out. I settled on rough pastels with a bit of texture.

I then used the magic wand tool to highlight part of the image and used the paint bucket/gradient tools to fill in various parts with varying degrees of opacity and different colours.

(After)

It's really fun to take a picture like that, and alter it with this really magical program. It's a tool that's really as good as your own imagination. Although I do have to admit, sometimes it is also hugely frustrating - but as the old (French) saying goes: "There are no bad tools, only bad workers".

Even if I end up chucking hours of work to my laptop's recycle bin in utter disgust, I'm still drawn to playing around with some image on this really cool tool almost every day. It's like doodling, only better.

Little Butterfly

2007-06-28T06:57:00.000-05:00

So, no... I haven't been swallowed by some crater. Or abducted by aliens. Not exactly. Is there such a thing as Rebound Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome? Maybe I'll just invent that one. Talk about creative paralysis - I hope this will be over soon.

But that's neither here nor there. Here's my little photoshoped ballerina butterfly, by way of saying hi to sis's latest post from a parallel universe.

Oh

2007-06-06T17:17:00.000-05:00

"she looked for trouble as if it were money and she needed some..."

not by me

Another Side of Wissam

2007-05-29T08:17:00.000-05:00

Wissam Beydoun is one of my favourite artists. Not only because we're family (par alliance) and I've known him, like, forever, and he's really cool and a sweetheart - but truly because of the dizzying, emotional, startling punch of his artwork.

A lot of his latest work screams about the raw, unbearable pain of being human. But some of it has the whimsy and fun of his youthful past as a cartoon artist and illustrator. To wit, this textured collage entitled "Sensations about my city". Can you see the urban jumble of an old neighbourhood?

There's a lot more that I'll be showing shortly on the gallery site as soon as I finish rehauling the whole dang lot of it. Which, by the way, is why I've been slacking off here - not enough hours in the day to take a break here and do the other stuff I need to do.

Finding Your Inner Artist

2007-05-23T13:17:00.000-05:00

This is dedicated to two of my dearest friends, H.B. and C.K.

Art, like beauty is everywhere. It’s also - however trite and cliché - mostly in the eye of the beholder. I’m flattered and pleased when you, my two friends say all those complimentary things about my scribbles and half-baked attempts at digital art, but I get upset when you say things like: “I could never do that”. Well, nu-uh! You don’t want to do that, you want to do what you do – and that could be anything. From painting stars on dainty little girlie nails to hand-made scrapbooks or scarves, you’re creating artful stuff without being self-conscious about it.

It’s when you plan to “do” artwork that it happens. First, you manage to convince yourself that there is only a certain way to “do” it properly (and worse of all, that someone/everyone will snicker at what you’ve created). Then you sit down to a blank paper, canvas, heap of clay, whatever, with all this critical baggage. And, boom! You hit a self-created, self-perpetuating insurmountable block: “I can’t do this”.

Hmm, do what? Come out with a fully formed, perfect “artwork”? Not gonna happen - for you or anyone else for that matter. Never, ever worked for me.

Creating in an artistic sense is the same as creating in other areas of our lives. You can’t cook, put your make-up on, write a funny poem or run a marathon if you don’t try. And maybe fail. It may be a bromide, but it’s true: let go of your expectations, and you will find the muse that will guide you. But Ms. Muse won’t come knocking if you don’t go looking. As my favourite Ridiculous Person used to say in the eighties, just do it. You’ll see, you’ll even surprise yourself.

Tag, I'm it

2007-05-22T13:38:00.000-05:00

Before I start here, yes, I'm aware that I'm doing this all wrong. I'll figure it out eventually and fix it.

So, thanks to Neda and Bee, here are the rules of the game:“Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs 7 things that are a habit, unusual or that no-one else knows, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.”

(Scarf - R. Koleilat © 2007)
How could you do this to me, sis? Payback coming soon. I couldn't come up with anyone who has a blog yet. But I won't keep you waiting to read these fascinating (and, as specified, random) facts:

1. I hate melons, but not watermelons.

2. I wish I could live underwater - it's so quiet there. At least it seems so for the few seconds I can hold my breath in the pool.
3. I've been known to look for my glasses while wearing them.
4. I'm addicted to coffee, even though it's poison to my system.
5. I think Desmond is the cat's meow too, now that Sawyer is too much of a little boy lust, uh, I mean lost - and I'm very sorry to say, John too. I'm so old now.
6. I'm actually being restrained when I make all these snarky comments, darling. Most of the time.
7. I didn't know until a few weeks ago that you had to click inside the highlighted portion to copy without losing your selection.

Happy Victoria Day!

2007-05-20T10:51:00.000-05:00

Monday is a day off for us Canadians - for some, it's Victoria Day, for others not. Since my kids think I was alive when she was queen of everything, we made these greeting cards together for a decidedly modern Queenie on her own special day.

My Very First

2007-05-13T21:15:00.000-05:00

Here it is, my very first collage. Looking at all the amazing work by Neda and Belinha, to name only two artists I love, I got the itch to try it myself.

Hold it, I know, it's not a very good collage, and it's not even a "real" one - no glue, no paper, no cutting or tearing. Just my little mouse and me. I used digital pictures of various things (a wooden ornament painted by my then 2-year-old, portions of different images I'd created for something else).

On the left is the the "collage" with no effects added, and on the right is the "stylized" one (I used the cutout function in Photoshop).

Dunno, I guess I needed to play a little today, having spent the last few days obsessing about a logo design for a friend. Stretch a little. Yay.

But Will It Go With My Couch?

2007-05-05T16:25:00.000-05:00

Never fails. Every time I mention that I have an online gallery and that I sell "real" artwork from "real" artists, the dreaded question comes:
(Le monde du silence © I. Algranti)

"How do you know what to buy when you're buying art?" (a question I actually like better that the assertion that usually follows: "I'm looking for something that will have the same colours as my living room furniture").

How do you buy art? Do you buy something that stirs you? Something pretty? Something that might as well have the price sticker still on it? A "conversation piece"?

My sincere answer always is: "Buy what you like" - and I mean it. I believe that even if you "don't know what you're doing", or don't have a trained eye (or much... what's that word? oh, yeah, taste) - and whether you're aware of it or not - when you acquire something not intrinsically functional to display in your own personal space, you inescapably have an emotional investment in that object.

Something has drawn you to that particular sculpture/painting/monstrosity - it "spoke" to you, it made a connection with you... it "picked" you. Like a pet.
(Tattoo © M. Hallab)

So "buy" and cherish and display and be proud of what you like. And remember that whoever created the piece that you chose poured their heart and soul into it. Cherish that too.