five reasons

I spent a few hours with a friend at the bedside of one of her relatives who is on the brink of death yesterday. It's sobering.

It reminds me that it is good practice to keep short accounts.

Why?

Because it leaves you with fewer regrets at the end of life.

It gives you space to store up good memories rather than holding on to bad ones that just promote bitterness.

It gives you peace of mind.

It makes for better relationships.

It takes less energy to be on good terms with others.

And those seem like good reasons to me.

Digital journalling

I've been playing with Photoshop, learning from Digital Art Wonderland by Angi Sullins and Silas Toball. It's a great book - even tech-unsavvy people like me can understand it :)

This is made of about 12 layers. The background bubblewrap prints are from some actual papers I patterned and then photographed.

I was learning how to do shadows on images and it set me thinking. If we stand in the light we're going to throw a shadow. The closer we are to the light the bigger the shadow we cast. So we have to think about what sort of shadow we want to cause - one that gives protection or one that blocks the light from someone else?

Photoshop experiments

Been having fun playing with Photoshop. Bought Digital Art Wonderland with Christmas money and am learning all about the gazillion menus and what all the different things do. 

Not quite the same as getting your fingers dirty, but I am managing to incorporate some wip photos of journal pages. The circles in the sky of the second photo are from the Fall Fearless and Fly #7 close-up photo posted previously. It certainly makes you change the way you take photographs :)

Out with the old...

This time of the year is a good one for reviewing your life and deciding what changes need to be made. I like to make resolutions that are a bit more fluid than 'I will... every day.' Those sorts of things make you feel guilty if you don't stick to them. I like to make resolutions to change that I might actually be able to stick with :)

So this year I am aiming to take more photos, wrestle and win with Photoshop, learn how to use my Bamboo to full effect, stretch my comfort zone, tackle uncomfortable things head-on rather than retreating into myself, and dreaming big rather than dialling down my dreams.

What about you?

photoshop

So I've been playing with photoshop. I have to say that even though you can get some good effects, it's still not the same as getting your fingers dirty...

The page above really looks like this:

I will keep playing. Feeling like a child in reception class where everything is brand new and a bit scary. I'll probably feel the same way tomorrow when I go to a mixed media drawing class for the first time. Looking forward to it, though.