I’m not Chinese nor do I speak Mandarin but when I was creating this photoset, it reminded me of those old school Chinese advertising posters but the photos are pensive as opposed to the actual ads with happy smiley women so I decided to have some sort of sad text with it.

Tea and Me, Without You

(Text translation courtesy of Google Translate)

I feel like I’m cheating a little bit by combining the 365 Days Portrait Project with the “something creative” intention for the year but my intention is also to drop the Perfection Syndrome (which comes out as being pedantic at times).  I’ll show you the difference and you be the judge of whether or not my Photoshop work is creative!

Photo of the Day and the “something creative” (the after photo):

"Adore"

(the before photo):

It was my best friend’s son’s 1 year birthday last week and I wanted to capture an image of him before he turned 1 so I made this:

>1 year old Luca

He had a Mexican-themed birthday party so I sent him a Mexican vintage noisemaker with this card:

Happy Birthday Luca (in Spanish)

This is from tonight’s late night impromptu painting session with an old friend, Jonas. We picked the title before we started painting, thus the mismatched name. The main quote “put out your eyes and touch the black skin of an angel named imagination” is from a poem by e.e. cummings.

acrylic on canvas

A present for Amanda on her birthday:

A charcoal drawing of beloved Ernie

And a Poem:

Amanda’s Songs

She sings:
Puttering about the house
Arranging flowers
Embracing animals
Kissing her beloved
Creating peace
Through serenades of simplicity

Reaching for notes above the cupboard
She sings songs of love
Of a life overflowing
Ever grateful for blessings
Nooks and crannies
Hold lullabies of graces

Her songs are woven into the home
And if you lay your head on a pillow
Melodies whisper into your ear –
Inviting you to dance whilst you dream

A weekend at an art camp away from the hustle and bustle of city life produced the following works. I had nothing to work with but what was found on the land, poems in my journal and a new technique I learned to treat and “paint” paper with lemon juice.