Reality is an illusion, albeit a persistent one.
- Albert Einstein

* * *


I'm immersed in a project that's using up most of my brain power. So, here's some unexplained (possibly unexplainable) digital art eye candy to keep the blog going until I come up for air.

These are hot off today's press -- untitled and unposted, but Coming Soon! Look closely, and you'll see they're both from the same source photo. Ah, the joys of photo-manipulation!

Have an amazing weekend, all!

~ The Other Road To Perdition

* * * *

~ On the road again . . .

Once, a fairly routine drive between Austin and San Antonio.

After several incarnations, this photo just had to go 'red'. Once I turned that artistic corner, the rest was inevitable.

Eventually, this image will be printed on Kodak Endura Metallic Paper (of course!) and will be available at Art166.biz and at my 'real world' shows.

* * *

I lifted the following list from Staci Rose Designs blog.
Though it glaringly illustrates many of the gaps in my ongoing human experience, I thought I'd post it, here.

Feel free to do the same, boldfacing or coloring the things you've actually done, and adding your own comments if you're so inclined:


What Have YOU Done?

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4.Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6.Given more than you had to a charity (I'm not sure how this is possible...)
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis (Yikes!)
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped (On my 'bucket list'.)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art form from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (I like to think of them as mental health days.)
24. Built a snow fort (I grew up in Wisconsin. 'nuff said.)
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping (See #24, above.)
27. Run a Marathon
28. Rode in a gondola in Venice (How about a barge on the San Antonio River?
http://www.sanantonioriverwalk.com/Boat%20and%20Bridge700w.jpg)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (It was a sunset cruise around an island, but a cruise, all the same.)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David (Trick question! Doesn't say "in person", so I'm taking it!)
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt (Many, many times. You can too -- visit this link:
http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/oldfaithfulcam.htm)
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (A scary carbon monoxide incident. They evacuated and transported most of the apartment building. One of the big excitements of my childhood; luckily, I survived to tell the tale!)
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (Nope, but I like to peek at it, nearly live. Visit this link:
http://www.paris-live.com/paris_webcam/eiffel_tower_cam3.htm
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (Nope -- took the ground course, went up in the plane, let a friend convince me to chicken out. One of many regrets...)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter (Definitely on my 'bucket list'. Feel free to let me know if you have/fly a helicopter and are in the area!)
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (For Extra Credit in my high school French class. Also tried escargot, octopus, and some other horrific not-so-goodies. But, hey, I needed the grade.)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (Several. I'm the Evel Knievel of my generation. Minus the motorcycle, cape, fame, and Vegas contract, of course.)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (Not related to #77, above.)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (As a kid, I thought the Bible was the ultimate storybook. My grandmother had a huge, lavishly illustrated Bible, bound in hand-tooled, gilded leather, which was kept on a display pedestal in the formal Living Room. It was a treat just to touch it -- of course I had to read it! Well, the Bible and every Nancy Drew Mystery.)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person (Yeah. It's, like, walking distance from the house. Or, you can see it by visiting this link:
http://jman5.com/alamo/
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone (I know -- the last of a dying breed.)
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day (One of my favorite indulgences on a day off.)

* * *

So, there you go -- I've managed less than half the list. Of course, many of these are not on my personal 'to do' list. And, many of the important items on my list are nowhere to be found on this one.

Truly, we all follow our own path and build our own list -- but this was a fun exercise and triggered some interesting thoughts and memories.

Drop me a comment if you decide to try it, so I can come read all about you! Thanks, again, to Staci Rose Designs!

Pipe Dreams - Photo-manipulation - Digital Art

~ Pipe Dreams

available as Fine Art print or high quality Poster,
or mouse pad.
Choose options when placing order.

Available now, in my Art166 - Zazzle Store.
* * * *
~ Pipe Dreams -- we've all had 'em!

A digitally manipulated photo - another of my submissions in the Online Professional Visual Artists Forum's "Materials" competition.

* * *

"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle."
- George Orwell

"Pipe Dreams" has become one of my favorite pieces (don't they all?), though it took several years of off-and-on tinkering to get exactly the effect I wanted.

I know, I know -- I could have painted the Sistine Chapel Ceiling in that much time. Assuming, of course, that I could EVER have painted the Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Not!

As you can see from the 'Original' photo, above, I had a very long way to go. I just knew there was something special hiding in those unassuming pipes -- it was my job to ferret it out.

May I say -- I love my job!

.

5 steps - beginning to end

~ "Incognito" Fine Art Print or Poster

Also available as a Mouse Pad

(click image to see larger view)

Available now, in my Art166 - Zazzle Store.


* * * *

Every really new idea looks crazy at first.
~ Alfred North Whitehead

* * *

~Incognito -- From Thought to Finish

Incognito was created for submission into this month's Online Professional Visual Artists competition. The theme is 'Materials' and winners are chosen by popular vote (members only). In the past few months, one of my entries was honored with a 2nd Place and another, a 3rd Place finish. Typically, there have also been several Non Placers (Losers?). Always a Bridesmaid, never a Bride, eh?

Well, it's really not whether you win or lose yada, yada. It's always fun to create and choose my entries, letting them trickle onto the submissions Gallery, one at a time, to join the other fascinating works.

Ova, where I'm known by my "EyeSpy" alias, is populated by all manner of visual artists: photographers, painters, sketch artists, fractalists and other digital dreamers, etc. You can imagine how differently each of us interprets a theme like "Materials".

Here, have a peek!

As soon as I heard the theme title, a loosely-imagined version of this image popped into my head. There were many, many steps between that original thought and the final image -- a very few of which are shown, above.

So, if you've wondered how my work gets out of my head (scary thought, I know) and onto archival, UV protected paper, here's a wee bit of the process.

Incognito took about 18 hours to complete -- in part, because I'm a chronic tweaker.

Hey, I'm betting you already knew that. :)

.