Mike Major: California Chalk Pastel artist

Even though chalk pastels are excellently suited to plein air painting in the Texas heat, I don’t think I’ve yet featured a Texas landscape artist who works in pastels. The other day when I was searching for painters of the harsh landscape of California's version of  Big Bend I found Mike Major. Major's blog, if you scroll down far enough, details his process from the pumice and acrylic undercoat to the beautifully detailed pastel finish. Here's the link: http://mikemajor.blogspot.com/

TAL Fall Show Winner snags Commission!

I can't tell you how excited we are here at the library. Mandy Hamilton's Horse painting hanging in our meeting room as part of the Winners exhibition from the Fall Show snagged her a new painting commission this week.

On Monday a man stopped at the reference desk and asked me if I knew who had painted a particular painting hanging in the meeting room. When he pointed out the painting I've copied on the left here, I remembered that Mandy had attached business cards to the back of her painting and gave him one.

When I stopped by the reference desk on Wednesday our Young Adult Librarian was all excited. "Guess what gr-r-eat news I have?!" she beamed at me. She told me that Mandy had dropped by to tell us that the man had phoned her and commissioned her to do a painting for him. We're delighted for you, Mandy!  Way to go!

So, I hope this will encourage all of you to hang your winning pictures here after the Spring Show!  Someone remind me when that is, will you? I need to reserve the meeting room!

Free online Photo Editing Sites

One of the wonderful things about digital photography is that you’re never stuck with the image you captured. All your images can be cropped and edited--improved for exposure and color and saturation. Then you can turn your photo into something that looks painted or sketched or like a graphic poster--or you can apply other imaginative and playful effects. You may have been intimidated by some of the more sophisticated (and expensive) editing software programs such as the famous Adobe Photoshop software. For beginners and those of us in a hurry there are a number of free online editing programs. Here are two you may like to try:

FotoFlexer

http://fotoflexer.com/

Adobe Photoshop Express Editor

http://www.photoshop.com/tools/expresseditor

In the free Digital Photography class that we teach here at the library, the class explores editing a photo in FotoFlexer. Phone the library at 832-559-4213 if you want to sign up!

Avoid the Rocky Mountain Effect--or use it to your advantage!

Back in design school we were taught, when hanging pictures on a wall, to create a calm, integrated visual effect by lining up the tops of all the frames. "Avoid that Rocky Mountain effect," our professors exhorted us, "that happens when you hang pictures hung at uneven altitudes across the room. Line them up with major horizontal planes--the top of a window or door frame, a bulletin board, a shelf in a shelving unit." Most of the time that's a good rule of thumb, because most of the time it works. But not always.

So what do you do then? You line up the focal points and let the frames fall where they will!  I've created an example on the left of a typical family photo wall. As you'll see, all the eyes connect to each other. This is a little tip that we teach in our Digital Photography class here at the library. The class is free; we run it every couple of months; and you can sign up by phoning 832-559-4213.

Happy Little Clouds: Bob Ross Remixed

If you remember Bob Ross' famous oil painting classes on PBS, I think you'll enjoy this re-mix. Happy painting!
Bob Ross Re-Mix Video Link

The World in London Photography Exhibition

I love the Olympic games.  It's such an exciting time for all the sports and for me, for all the visual excitement of the opening and closing ceremonies, the special sports architecture, and the cultural exhibitions and celebrations. I found a photography project online that may interest you. Here's the link and the description is below!  Enjoy! 

About this Project

London boasts one of the most diverse populations in the world. The World in London presents portraits of Londoners by British and international photographers taken from 2009 – 2012. Each portrait shows a person or people from one of the 204 nations taking part in the London 2012 Games, accompanied by individual stories.

The World in London is a celebration of Londoners and demonstrates photography’s ability to capture the human form in interesting and distinct ways. The project is organised by The Photographers’ Gallery and forms part of the London 2012 Festival, the finale of the Cultural Olympiad.

Ben Heine: Mixed Media

It's time to feature another artist. While I'm blogging about the use of photography in art, let me introduce Ben Heine. Ben Heine is a Belgian artist and photographer who grew up in Ivory Coast and has a degree in journalism. Combining disparate things seems to run deep in his consciousness, because his photographs contain drawings, or are morphed with digital circles, or are combines with acrylics.
A whole new 'take' on 'mixed media. Enjoy his website.