My Housing Project
Hi Everyone,
Finally, we have some warm weather here in the South of England. I even sat out in the garden and had some lunch today... yippee!!! We are finally getting there...
My building project is fully underway now. The little woof and I have slipped into a completely new routine as we live in the tiny corner of my home that is still habitable. It's amazing what you get used to and I am glad it's only for a few more months. Seeing my shabby home of 30-odd years stripped back to its bare bones ready for a new lease of life is fascinating! It's certainly one of my better decisions. Stress levels are absolutely fine 90% of the time, the remaining 10% are off the charts but that's to be expected. Just need to hang in there and manage my endless to-do lists ruthlessly.
Houses on Hills
I am carving out a little time to do some playing with images from India. So far I have focused on images from one or two of the days, playing with those to the exclusion of everything else. Hopefully, that means I have some nice surprises to unearth in the days and weeks to come.
One of the first images to emerge was a little house on a hill. It looks as if it still needs a little work... how familiar!
I was completely unconscious of the urge to create something resembling a house until it just appeared! After a little more messing around, I decided to create a few more and have had huge fun in the process. Whether I would call these a 'Project' yet is up for debate but time will tell. They are included in this blog in the order of their creation and are becoming more elaborate as I find my groove. I may do some more...
What do you think? I am quite fond of them. They are playful and just for the sake of it. That's what it's all about, isn't it? I think so...
Arena
In other news, I am delighted to have been invited to join Arena.
Arena is an incredibly varied group of Photographers all based in the South of England. I am thrilled to join a few new friends and to be reacquainted with many photographers that I spent time with both through exhibitions and on trips way back when I did much more landscape photography. Many I have admired for years too so I have a healthy dose of imposter syndrome! I am hoping to be a very active participant so keep a watchful eye for activities within that collective.
Thames Valley RPS - Sunday 26th May
After a bit of a muddle with dates we now have everything in place for a day 'in person' with the Thames Valley branch of the Royal Photographic Society.
If you are based in the South of England and Wokingham isn't too far away I would love to meet you. I will be presenting both of my talks during the course of the day. I also plan to bring plenty of my prints, particularly those created using Acetate, gold leaf and beading. As they are almost impossible to photograph I am so looking forward to having an opportunity to share them at this event.
Tickets needs to be purchased in advance so please follow this link to their Website. Note that this event will not be recorded so it's face-to-face only.
And finally...
As ever, thank you for getting this far. I am finding it so difficult to keep just a small grip on all things creative while making decisions such as what colour bricks I would like to have above my new windows... It's worth it though, I think I would go mad otherwise!
Please let me know what you think, I will always reply. Also let me know if you are coming along to the talk at Thames Valley, it would be so lovely to meet some of you in person.
Thank you and take care
L xx
Quick links to Previous Blogs...
Swing the Pendulum
Hi Everyone, Goodness, it’s been ages since I last sent anything out into the ether. So much for being consistent! I hope everyone is well. It’s supposed to be Spring here in the UK, but apart from the occasional Daffodil you wouldn’t notice, nothing but cold and wet… miserable! It’s been such a long time […]
The Dolphin
Hi Everyone, I hope we are all safe and well in this mad, glorious world. Finally, we have some warmth and sunshine here in the South of England. Yippee!!! I hope it’s sunny where you are. Crazy busy here as ever. The ‘to-do’ list seems to be endless with precious little time carved out for […]
Northampton Extraordinaire
Hi Everyone, Here we are again. Time is flying past as usual. So much has happened since my last blog, all good too. Before I launch into anything creative I have simply been enjoying these fabulous summer months. The early mornings have been magical but despite our typical 5:30am start (fewer rabbits and squirrels for […]
4 Comments
Hi Linda. I’m glad that you mentioned that the pictures were in order. Looking at them that way, I get an initial impression that at the beginning, you had some ideas floating around that you put in the picture and then as you went along, you seemed to focus in more on what you wanted to express in the later ones. (not that I’m meaning this in a critiquing way). Subconsciously I guess that might be because the workers are getting closer to finishing your house and so it’s final look is solidifying?
Hi Jim,
Thank you so much for leaving a comment. And yes, I felt the images needed to be in order so that they made sense in terms of progression. I will admit that in terms of the finishing line the images are getting there far faster than I am though. Your analysis is interesting and you are right, I did find a focus and direction which I then exploited. It’s always good to see what others make of our work – that’s how we grow 🙂
Thanks again and take care
L xx
Hi Linda. I really really like these images! They look like wonderful composites of different elements from your trip – working together beautifully. The colors are absolutely fabulous. I can’t help but agree that your subconscious is telling you that you need your home back whole!
I do wish I could be at your RPS talk but I leave England at the end of April. I too am having work done on my house and I can relate to the stress of having to make so many decisions on the project – especially the really permanent ones! I feel anxious to get home and see how it’s all going and dreading going back in equal measure!
Glad you are managing to carve out some creative time for yourself. It is something I am struggling with but I know it’s important. I’m also very interested in doing more compositing in both Photoshop and physically as well as embellishing my prints. I have been looking for an on-line class to take and I wonder if you have any names I can check out or suggestions?
Hi Judith,
Yes – building work is far more time-consuming than you think it’s going to be. The problem is that if you are not all over it then the builders tend to make decisions on your behalf which is never a great strategy. It’s short-term though in the wider scheme of things, and quite exciting too as long as you can get some sort of balance.
If you are looking at learning about compositing, I highly recommend Karen Divine (https://www.karendivinephotography.com). She works pretty much exclusively with her phone and iPad but the principals are the same regardless of software. She would be my go-to on the compositing.
As for embellishment, take a look at https://www.fibreartstaketwo.com/courses. I haven’t taken any of these courses myself but I know quite a few people who have and they are apparently very good. Once I get my life back I plan to take a few…
Hope this helps and lovely to hear from you…
Take care
L xx