ELFWOOD, SECRET DANCE OF THE TREES, BELLY UP, new version of BIRTH OF KOKOPELLI, & BELLY UP

OK, I admit it. The colors in "Elfwood" above totally seduce me. And I'm sure anyone working with coloring digital pix knows just how I got them. Nothing remarkable, a simple "reverse" of the color scheme. But I will take credit for the crop (what sort of credit I leave up to you, dear viewer).

And here's another from the same batch of brand new photos "Elfwood" is in. I had to do a lot of color manipulating to get the effects in "Secret Dance of the Trees," and it's also been cropped and re-cropped. This is actually only one small deeply shadowed corner of a much larger picture that as a whole did not work. But I know from long experience that the edges and pockets in larger "failed" photos can yield some intriguing results. At least to me, and to my constantly associating mind's eye:


And here's a new coloring of one I posted here yesterday, "Birth of Kokopelli" --


I finally decided to let go of my strong attachment to the blue/purple family in general and go with the vague urge to make "Birth of Kokopelli" colored more like a desert, as above. I've also cropped it a liittle bit so that it's better balanced visually. (Scoll down to previous post to see the earlier version.)

I've also got to remember to try working on color changes in one of my other programs more often. I'm getting a little bored with the ranges and combinations I get in the photo editor that came with my printer, which is what I've been using almost always. I used Microsoft Picture Manager's color functions on "Belly Up" below, for instance, and found the results a little different from what I tend to get with my printer's picture editor. I could "go softer" without sacrificing the color/contrast as much:



LOL! I just realized "Belly Up" would have fit right in with yesterday's photos ("Omphali" & "Birth of Kokopelli"). Hm, I wonder what that particular theme is about. In a general sense, I see pregnancy, birth, and babies in dreams and symbolic associations as referencing various stages of creativity. I also saw a slant reference to The Empress card in The Tarot in one of my dreams last night. She's frequently pictured as pregnant, and often represents fertility and creative imagination. And I should not forget that occasionally these sorts of symbols are a heads up for me to be patient, or to really take note of what's gestating as it may not be what it seems.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

OMPHALI & BIRTH OF KOKOPELLI

"Omphali" is a brand-new photo. I had great fun from the giddy-up with this shot as when I saw it "live" I immediately thought that it looked like a bunch of belly-buttons. Then I stumbled across this sort of comic book-like look as I played around with it on my computer. Oh, yes, it's good to be back to taking pictures. Especially in such lovely weather.

And with further reference to bellies, here's "Birth of Kokopelli," another very new "abstract" picture of mine [Note: see subsequent post of 4-12-12 for a very differently colored and slightly cropped version of this photo] --



Years ago, I was very much into improv music. Though not a trained musician, I enjoyed collecting unusual flutes and other sorts of wind instruments (I still have a few, including two didjeridus) and improvising on them. Sometime during those years, I heard about the American Indian figure Kokopelli, a hump-backed flute player of the locust or insect-like Mahu people, who wanders spreading seeds. In reading I did back then it was suggested the "hump" might be a bag of seeds on his back.

Here's part of a Yule card I made and sent out in 1987 with my own interpretation of Kokopelli on it. As I look at my version of Kokopelli all these years later, it looks a little like a space alien. (It's that round head and antennae ...) But my intentions were respectful at the time, if unfortunately coming across a little silly when I look at the drawing now. However, since also being considered by some to be a Trickster figure, I can imagine Kokopelli enjoying this silliness.


NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

OSTARA'S JEMS

Not only are the colors in this brand new re-edit of a two and a half year old photo very Easter-like, but Ostara is a Goddess of spring. So it's a fitting picture with which to wish you all a Happy Easter, as well as a "Gut Pesach" (Good Passover).

And, boy howdee, has my photography block been passed over (no pun intended). I took another several dozen pix yesterday. And this dummy nearly passed out (still no pun intended :-D) on the way back to my rooms. I'd eaten nothing but sugar snacks that morning and for lunch, then did all that standing and walking, bending over and reaching, even some precarious (for me with my bad knees) stepping up and over garden edging ... mostly with the very warm sunlight at my back. Duh! Thank Heavens and Ostara for that chair in an ironing room in the very long empty hallway before my rooms.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****