I’m Turning Nature Inside Out! …with Digital Techniques For Original Art
I’m trained as a professional artist but have been photographing since I was 5…just for myself.
When things turned digital, I was excited to see I could almost paint with pixels!
Over several years and lots experimenting, I found ways to create unseen worlds by flipping photographs into negative, then digitally enhancing them to achieve what the image seemed to want: more dreamy, pulsing with energy, spooky. Out in nature now, I can imagine how it will look in the negative, but there are still many surprises. Enjoy!
Poised to Fly
Always loved the idea of seeds floating to unknown destinations. Here, the familiar seed head is half blown away, showing the structure of the pod. Airy!
Floating Elsewhere
These are things from nature lying around the studio for another project. Suddenly I was intrigued by the possibility of how they would look in a mirror box I had made. Rocks, quartz pieces found in the desert, and corals washed up at the Red Sea.
I love snorkeling, and looking at this picture makes me feel as if I could dive into my own created world.
Catching the Flow
A little grove nearby often gives me ideas. The tree and plants around are in inverted colors..
But what I like is that most people see a waterfall, which I didn’t think of!
A very large print was sold, looking stunning in a big modern home.
What is Hidden
I take my sweet AussieDoodle, Sophie, out twice a day…one day I noticed the interesting shapes on the trees where there had once been branches.
Photographed from up high and very close to the tree, the effect reminded me of the atmosphere in many fantasy or SF stories.
Three Spirits
One of the first, and one of my favorites. In the little grove nearby, there were 3 burned trees…the photo as is didn’t look special, but inverted, I was amazed to see what immediately seemed like spirits from the past.
Now gone–to build a new road, I miss seeing them and their strange spooky shapes, but am glad I manage to capture and create something otherworldly.
Growing Wild
Just walkin’ with my doggie, cloudly sky, almost dusk–suddenly, rays of sunlight broke through and lit up some weeds just ahead, growing on the side of the sidewalk.
So in reality, the weeds (wild wheat?) were very light. In the negative image, light flips to dark, dark (background) to light, and an alternative scene results!
At 73 years old, the only problem was getting up from sitting on the sidewalk ;-)
….but it was worth it.
In the Beginning
Ah. How I love this.
My son build a house very near the beach, where he runs every day. I love to go there, too and run after special images.
This is the sea and the white is black rocks.
Seems primordial, doesn’t it?
As They Fall
Walking, looking intensely as a hunter after her prey, I glance down–and see this scene: the forest floor. Inverted, the dark ground is white, the pale dried fern leaves dark green.
Hello, Aloe
Some of these images seemed to pop up by themselves, saying something to me. Others have promise, like these aloe vera plants, photographed from directly above.
These take hours of experimenting and making changes until the image ”works”.
Sometimes they never come out and I discard about half.
Being willing to ”ruin” the picture means I can come to new born images I didn’t quite imagine, but am glad to greet.
Dance of the Briers
I hope the title says it. The plant no one notices, the unbeheld texture, the hidden growth…the dancing briers…they can speak.
Spring Comes to the Dunes
Near the Mediterranean… in a Nature Preserve, fields of flowers. Soon, in the hot dry summer, all will be grey and brown. Here, the ”real” colors were yellow and light pink and green, but with digital magic–a dream landscape.
A Twist in Space
Music festival! Outside concerts!
A feast for the ears, for the eyes, too: a place to sit, rest and eat Overlooking Jerusalem, Abu Gosh.
Food stands with local wines, too.After drinking a glass, I had the chutzpah to ask about the stand’s decoration–old vineyard prunings. ”May I buy one? for an artwork?” “No, but I’ll give you one.”
So now the one is the star of a new series of artworks.
Flowing Up, Down, and Over
Curious about how this is made? Two images here, both in the negative from nature. The field of flowers seen before, and the inside of a hole in a tree–each made translucent and collaged one on the other: magic!–turn into mountains with a river flowing.
Of course, there’s a lot of tweeking here: areas made lighter or darker, unwelcome blots taken out, edges darkened to focus on the middle, and more.
Making this series is like an adventure trip: it the way–if you live in the now, full of challenges and discovery, not just the destination.
But with making art, something more–giving pleasure to others.
If you’ve enjoyed these, or would like to buy one, please write:
The Shadow
The source is something one often sees here in Israel–but colors inverted, upside down, close crop.
A date palm. On the left, the stems the dates have fallen from, on the right, the trunk with bark peeling off, and the shadow of the hanging stems.
Yes, I meant also the shadow in our souls, too.
In an Alternate Reality, Spring in the Dunes
Dunes again! how rich in life–how important nature preserves…
A little walk, and we come to the beach. No lifeguard, no trash cans, no kiosk.
Water and sand. And hares and turtles and wild black irises.
(Near Harara, in Israel.)
1
0