The artist emerges

*So this is a little backwards but I thought I would show the "Pay It Forward" products that I have made so far.
1) the first person requested something green to display so I came up with an 11x14 of this:
2) the second person loves music so I created a mini book with quotations about music and pictures of instruments:

In this last image I had fun selecting 2 of the strings to retain their copper color while desaturating the rest of the guitar

*The 2nd project was made possible because my sweet J finally convinced me to let him buy me a professional camera.

What a beauty, eh?

I guess that means I have to get to work learning a new medium. I studied photography in college but we used this medium referred to as "film" so I feel like a novice with all the buttons and options on my new camera. I need to practice before I will feel comfortable calling myself a professional again, but J is so supportive and encouraging. It has been fun rediscovering the artist side of myself, though I developed another outlet making bows for E but it just wasn't the same as photography. I had a really good time conceiving the music book, taking the images and then tweaking them for a soft, timeless feel.
My true loves are nature scapes and abstraction, but I know the easy money is in portraiture. I hope one day to make table books on an endless number of topics rolling around the right side of my brain, especially the ones designed for a specific person in mind like the one I made for person #2. Until that becomes a popularly requested reality for me I will enjoy taking portraits. So, for the next 6 months I will be offering reduced fees (or trading of services) for any photo shoots I am asked to do so I can rebuild my photographic muscles. J's and my hope is to get a website going so as to reveal my photographic style, but until then feel free to ask to see some of my work (whatever interests you, I probably have something to show you).P.S. Out of respect for an artist's rights please do not copy or save any of my "professional" images-you will recognize the difference because I will stamp my initials on them. Thank you so much and enjoy!