Hydrangea #2

I'll continue to work with the one hydrangea flower head to see what I can do with it.

Edited with RadLab and pdpa Notes de Provence

Trying out a new PDPA Texture

Bonnie of Pixel Dust Photo Art shared another of her artistic textures and encouraged blog followers to try it out. I couldn't wait.  "Light Source" is the name of the texture; I applied it to a vibrantly colored image of a painted daisy that was just opening.  I used the color burn blending mode and then applied the Photoshop filter "texturizer - burlap."

Photo Art of Maple Leaf on Snow

It's a new beginning for Photo Art Friday , a meme I participated in rather haphazardly last year.   As soon as Bonnie sent out a reminder of the opening of the virtual photo gallery, I started looking for an image to use.  I settled on this leaf on frozen snow and applied two layers of Bonnie's "notes to myself" texture. I like how it frames the image with some text and still allows the texture of the ice to show.

Photo Art Friday

"SKY" is the optional operative word this month for Photo Art Friday.   I've chosen a photo of a beautiful cloud formation, edited it in Topaz Adjust to accentuate detail, and then added a layer of PDPA's "Heavenly Texture" at vivid light. (I left the trees in the foreground to provide some perspective.)

Photo Art on Display

The digital gallery of Photo Art Friday is open once again!  This month's optional theme is "water."  My photo actually features mud...but mud requires water. This photo was taken at a recent mud volleyball charity event. While the adults played volleyball in a muddy rodeo arena for 12 hours, the kids played in the mud (made possible by three visits from a local fire truck with high pressure hoses).  This image is my 9-year-old great-niece, Gracie.  The image was edited with Bonnie's "Drips of Rainbow."

Graffiti

I love Bonnie's challenge for PDPA's Photo Art Friday this weekend:  graffiti.  Rural communities don't see too much of it, but we can find it on the trains passing through.  In my case, the train is one that travels back and forth transporting wood chips from the lumber mill in our little town to the particleboard mill and chip storage 20 miles away.  I've always liked train graffiti, as have my two sons.   A few years ago, I put together a mini-album-in-a-box for my youngest son.  All the photos were of graffiti on train cars that were temporarily sitting in our little town.  I named the album "Art on the Rails."   The graffiti for the altered photos below was on two rail cars at the local mill.

PDPA "Abstract Splotches" -- linear light

PDPA "Abstract Elements"-- RadLab Claire-ify

Vintage Photo Art

"Vintage" is the theme on Photo Art Friday this week.  (I never seem to know the starting time for the memes I visit weekly!)   For years, I've photographed this old Ford  truck when visiting an elk farm in the mountains.  Unfortunately, the elk farm is now out of business, so I won't be visiting Old  Red  very often...if at all.    I first applied three RadLab stylets to this image and then finished with two layers of PDPA Old Master Dust.
(My initial post said the truck was a Chevy...which it isn't!) 

Connection

Photo Art Friday features "connected/connecting/connection" as the optional theme challenge this week.  My  image is of wooden steps in a slope at a little byway above the river near my hometown.  The youth crew that set up a couple of picnic tables also set chunks of wood into the hill so visitors can "connect" with the tables.  (In addition to various RadLab stylets, I applied two of Bonnie's textures:  Helena Inspired and Vintage Craquelure.)  

Art and Negative Space

Bonnie of Pixel Dust Photo Art and host of Photo Art Friday has invited us to post a photo that features negative space.  I've chosen a tulip image from my recent files, added a foggy lens effect and then applied two layers of Bonnie's "Backlight" texture with soft light blending mode.

Green for Photo Art Friday

I struggled with this post for at least two hours....and I finally resorted to more familiar processes to create my post for Photo Art Friday. I'm glad that Bonnie makes at least 3 suggestions--and then says, "anything goes."   I wanted to try something "hidden" in my piece, but I still lack the knowledge to get that to work. Everything I tried was totally abstract; there wasn't any focal point.   So my entry for the week is quite basic:  two layers of PDPA Artist Texture 1 on an image of Queen Anne's Lace, PSE preset Poster Edges, RadLab Prettyizer.

Everything is Illuminated

Oh, look what Bonnie (Pixel Dust Photo Art)  shared!  I didn't have any "photo art" ready for her Photo Art Friday meme last week, but today is different.  In spite of the fact that she even gave one of her new textures my name, I chose to use the overlay "Everything is Illuminated" for my tulip trio.   After de-saturating the image to reduce the "peachy" color,   I used two layers of the overlay to bump up the color saturation....with me, it's almost always "bump up" instead of  "tone down."      Thank you, Bonnie!  

Abstract Photo Art?...maybe.

When I start playing with a photo to create a piece for Photo Art Friday, I'm never certain where it's going.  One of the options Bonnie suggested for this week's Photo Art was abstract art.   I'm not sure that I achieved that, but I like it.  And one of the great things about Bonnie's meme is that we can really create any kind of photo art.

Beginning with this pretty rose image, I applied the Pointillize Pixelate Filter and de-saturated the image slightly (-44).  After flattening the layers, I added the PDPA Berry Merry Xmas texture in Vivid Light at 100%.  I flattened the layers once more and then followed the "recipe" for the Orton effect.  

Very Vivid Pears

I do love Photo Art Friday with Bonnie's artsy textures and layers!  It allows me to choose the bright, in-your-face/eyes colors now and then.   My pear duo has been altered with "Drops of Jupiter," first in vivid light and then in soft light blending mode.  The texture is definitely one of my favorites.   Between the layers, I erased some of the heaviest texture from the pears.

Winding down...or up?...to 2012

51 weeks ago, I committed to P52 on Darcy's blog, with Flickr posts HERE.   After this week, there's only one left.   After 45 photos, I ordered an 8x8 photo book from Shutterfly, so most of my weekly choices are now in print.  (I imagine I'll order another book at the end of the year, too.)

Week No. 51 is an image of a beautiful Gerbera daisy in the cut floral display at Trader Joe's in Beaverton, Oregon.  I've played with an artistic filter in PSE, some RadLab actions, and the beautiful gift texture, "Backlight." from Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art. 

Holiday Photo Art

Photo Art Friday's  theme is to process a photo of "holiday preparations"  to look like a piece of art.  For this handmade ornament from my friend Denise, I've applied two RadLab actions, a PSE artistic filter, color burn blending mode, Nelly Nero Chocolate Fade, and PDPA Wicked.

Photo Art Friday -- Painterly Aspen Trees

The invitation for Photo Art Friday was to choose an image that has otherwise been ignored and turn it into a piece of art.   I like this image of an aspen grove, but I have others that  I like so much better.   I simply applied PDPA's Blue Me Away with vivid light blending and then applied the PSE preset artistic filter Palette Knife.

Something Different

Bonnie of Pixel Dust Photo Art has encouraged us to create "a piece of art that moves beyond our usual modus operandi" for Photo Art Friday this week.   This is the first time I've layered two of my photos...before adding one of Bonnie's textures.

I began with a construction sign I photographed at a traffic stop during the summer; then I added an image of a profusion of beautiful purple clematis blooms....finishing with "Abstract Splotches" as an overlay.

A Rainbow for the New Location

Lisa has moved The Creative Exchange to a new location, and she marks the move with a wonderful rainbow-on-a-highway photograph.  (I don't believe men take photos while driving the way women do!)   The image reminded me of my first Creative Exchange post:  a series of rainbow photos that I shot while driving a short country loop.   This week, I've chosen a photo of a simple leaf caught in a chain link fence....but edited with an usual texture from Pixel Dust Photo Art, ""Magic Dust 1."
(Leaf in a Fence is also my choice for Week 44 of the P52 Challenge) 

Stretching the boundaries again

Bonnie of Pixel Dust Photo Art has made me look at photo art in a new way with her very artsy textures!   Her own post for Photo Art Friday features one of my favorite images (also available as a rubber stamp), and some glorious colors.

My image is of yellow maple leaves in my yard with Bonnie's "Happy Day"texture at multiply and then RadLab's "Oh Snap" to brighten the scene.

More Photo Art

I had to try Bonnie's PDPA artsy textures again before moving on to something else. Still recovering from hip surgery, I don't walk very far, but I made a circuit around my house to find something I could photograph.  Two flowers in their last stages:  a Double Delight rose and a hardy hydrangea.  Before applying the textures, I treated each image to the PSE artistic Poster Edges filter.

"Abstract Scratches"  -- PDPA

"Drops of Jupiter"   -- PDPA