Tradition meets Modern Times

Not my work,
but I thought this video shows well how traditional things can get combined with modern things.

Traditional music instruments and "lantern" lights,
modern tune and drones.

Well done!

The Raven

I love my day job, I really do!

I get asked from customers to do something hand-crafty special for them there. Not just cushions, table cloth or curtains.
This time I was asked to make a stuffed raven from a photo:

She bought the material, and gave me the photo. The rest was mine to figure out.
So, first I had to make a plan aka pattern to get the 2D image into a 3D thing.

Luckily the photo was, although small, in the right angles to see some details of how it was formed. Having made stuffed animals from patterns before it was just an easy step for me to get the pattern drawn out on paper in the right size.

Fit the pattern parts on the different colored felt material and cut out. On the photo above you can see that step and the materials used.

Next step was to sew those parts together.

I only then realized that the beak was too small so I had to make a second, larger one. Luckily the material for that was enough.

After that came the stuffing. And only now could I be sure that it was the size it was supposed to be.

Finally, time to sew it closed and add the feet and eyes and feathery fringes on top.

And here the finished raven: 

Yes, it was perfect: =))
If you want to make one too, ask me and I can send you the pattern. This raven is 20cm high.

Kiwi-Apple Jam

So, on a wet Sunday afternoon, with thawing snow, close to Christmas, what to do?
Watch TV all day or play on the computer? Read a book, or get some writing or other creative art work done?
Yes, creative art work, why not. I went to the dinning room to set up my art stuff again after a pause. And saw that the kiwis, those that never really turned ripe after buying them, were shriveling a bit instead of going softer to eat. And I still had a lots of apples left over too. What to do with them?
Instead of painting today, I made something else creative instead. I made a jam from the kiwis and apples.
Wikipedia explains jam as this:

Jam typically contains both the juice and flesh of a fruit or vegetable,^[12] although some cookbooks define it as a cooked and jelled puree.^[13]

In the US, the term "jam" refers to a product made of whole fruit cut into pieces or crushed then heated with water and sugar to activate its pectin before being put into containers:

"Jams are usually made from pulp and juice of one fruit, rather than a combination of several fruits. Berries and other small fruits are most frequently used, though larger fruits such as apricots, peaches, or plums cut into small pieces or crushed are also used for jams. Good jam has a soft even consistency without distinct pieces of fruit, a bright color, a good fruit flavor and a semi-jellied texture that is easy to spread but has no free liquid." – Berolzheimer R (ed) et al. (1959)^{[notes 1]}

Although "it usually consists only of one fruit, a mixtures is seen very often in the stores here. I don't like their high sugar content though. So making my own jam, with a mixture of sugar and pectin (OK, store bought) in a 3:1 relationship (three times fruit to one times sugar). And I can add spices (or extra lemon juice) to my taste.

I simply pealed the apples, took out the core and cut them into smaller bits. Then pealed the kiwis too (hardly any juice came from them - they still didn't seem to be ripe and rather sour) and cut them into pieces too.

After this I pureed them and added a bit of ginger powder and lots of cinnamon powder, mixing it before adding the sugar-pectin mix.

Before I started cooking this, I rinsed out the small glasses with twist off lids with boiling hot water and let them dry on a towel.

Bring the mixture to cook with lots of stirring until it bubbles and boil for another 4 minutes (!!) only. Then fill the glasses to the brim, put on the lid, and place them on a towel upside down to cool off. This will make the twist off lids to vacuum seal the glasses.

I had a bit more than needed and poured that into a bowl for use right away.

This tastes yummy. Nham nham!!

And it can even become Christmas presents. =))

Rivers of Tar

Rivers of Tar

black rivers of tar

like cold lava they are

made by human hand

cutting through the land

with time passing by

no human left to cry

all labour was in vain

nature takes over again

New Projects in Painting - Update #4

I think, I'm finished. yes, I have finalized the squirrel painting by now too.
And that also six weeks ahead of the date I need it for (an exhibition show in my village with other artists).

Here now the photos of the last touches:

that's the stage it was in when I had written the last update

Some more brown color on the squirrel.

=)) - I found a way to make the "fur" stick out more noticeable!

Some more very tiny details and changes to fur and coloring - hardly to be seen on this small photo.

And now - viola - the final photo of the squirrel hanging on my wall:

=)) Thank you once more Jasbir for your great photo for me to paint.

In backward chronological order:
Part 2 Part 1 Part 0 Start

New Projects in Painting - Update #3

So, now that two of the three paintings in this "project" are finished, I have all the time just for the third.

=))

Here an overview of the development of it. The first two pictures are when I was still working on all three of the paintings.

Just the outlines in pencil. 

Some black for the eye and back added.

Adding a background first, but leaving the tree stump and squirrel free of paint.

Since then I have done more to this painting. But slowly, with enough time for the color to dry between layers.

The basic color for the tree stump.

Some more details on the tree stump - with shadows.

Adding the basic color for the squirrel - the eye was moved a bit more the the snout too.

To actually paint the squirrel took me a week of hesitating. And I'm still not quite sure on how to get the fur "realistic" enough. This is the hardest part to figure out. A learning experience - and hopefully one that I can apply to that cat face painting I want to do since April.

Long way to go - and still having fun!!

Ghost in my Machine ;-)

The "Ghost in my Machine" told me this a few days ago:


go exist

smile

at this

A lovely, short poem,
with lots food for thought,

written by an algorithm,

that runs on my computer,

taking 20 random numbers,

when 2 or more are identical

they get a word assigned to them,

(out of a list of over 730 words).

The random number picking then runs for 10 times.

After 10 scans it automatically ends -

telling you which "words" were found.

Here how the inventor of this "ghost radar" app described it:

The real "core" theory of the thing is if the little odd seemingly "random" occurrences that people sometimes attribute to ghosts are not "random" but opportunistic tweaks from the otherside to try and communicate, then creating something meant to be easily tweaked and provided words will be the best opportunity for those othersiders to get their message across and understood.The script just makes it so that the thing that needs to be tweaked is on the users computer {not my server} and the random number generator uses the "seed" generated from the users device. FYI those numbers really aren't random; the algorithm varies by device but uses a combination of internal clock time, cpu speed and sometimes even temperature ... all things that an entity 'might' be able to tweak on the users system.  The more frequently a number is chosen the less likely it is just a random event ... I'm calling this 'emphasis'.

Author "Siguie"

So, I have been playing with this app the last few days. Sometimes the word lists it gives out makes sense. Most times however, it needs a lot of interpretation by the reader.

This morning, noting down the words as they appeared, they formed a rhyme I just had to share.

The ghost in my machine writes poetry. =))

Once it's gone public I might add the link to this app here. Until then, should another poem be given out you can be sure that I will note it down and share.

Oh - there are YouTube videos for "Ghost in a Machine" :

and this one:

And I faintly remember there has been a short anime like sequence with that title too. Well, actually it's called "Ghost in the Shell":

And the wikis to those two references: Ghost in the Machine and Ghost in the Shell

And somehow reading all that (and some further writings on "mind-body dualism" and "ghosts in machine (electronic)" the poem is even more BIGSMILE and makes sense.

Looking forward to more poetry and messages from my "ghost in my machine".

 ;-))

New Projects in Painting - Update

Another week has gone by. One week with daily adding to my paintings.

And I did take photos for each stage - or what I assumed to be a new stage finished.
(Start  and the first stages )

As promised - here now the update on my "success" or "failure", depending on how tight I see my own work.

Or as it's said: You are your own worst critic.  =))

The spider has some colored spots, the bird some more grey and black.

Two days later - a few tiny additions on both.

More details done on the bird.

Some details on the spider too - still not really liking how it is turning out so far.

Done some black linings on the squirrel - and the feet on the bird.

More shadow on the bird, and done some work on the tail as well. I think it might need an additional foot (although it's not visible in the original photo) and then it's about time to start with the background. A bit scared of "ruining" it.

The spider now has it's hairs. Seems I'm slowly getting there. =))
Or not !!

I haven't done anything with the squirrel painting yet, as I will have to mix all those brown hues and keep them fresh and fluid. Acrylics do dry fast.

OK, then on with the work - still some way to go until I call those paintings finished.

New Projects in Painting

The last one I have done in Acrylic is "The Rose".

By now, I feel it's time to get some more projects from the planning into the actual making of them.

Just need some more motivation to actually get the paints out and simply do it.

So, I printed out the ones I had in mind  for weeks / days. All of them contributions from G+.

And got started - and do my own "chronicle" for the project(s). 

photo by Jasbir S. Randhawa , May 2012

Photo by Peter From , May 2012

Photo by Marilyn Fenn, July 2012

Thank you all for making such good photos that I can attempt to make paintings out of them. Way to go ^^;;

And now what I have got done so far:

And yes, always fresh fruits in abundance and some nuts too. 

This is my dinning room table I'm working on; so if need be, I will have to quickly remove all my painting things. Sometimes I wish for a real art room all for myself: what a luxury that would be to just leave everything as I left it for days and weeks.

Now, I'll see if I do all three of them at the same time - layer for layer, color for color. Or if I end up just getting one done, if at all. Those motives sure are not easy ones in the way I want them to look in the end. 

Wish me patience with myself, stamina, lots of continuous motivation, time and no other complications coming along to finish all three of them. Thank you!!

And be assured - I will show them here. =))

Use at own risk!

It was cold. Not freezing, icy cold. But cold enough to feel the pain of it in his body. And to numb his mind.

And it was dark. Not pitch black dark. From somewhere some light illuminated the area around him enough to make out faint lines. He estimated the place he was in to be about four square meters. His back was propped up to a wall of some sort.

With his mind so numb, he found it hard to recall how he got here. Where he had been before he woke up just now in this cold, dark place, half sitting. Was he sitting? His body felt odd. Not quite his and with an awfully aching back and resistance in his legs when he wanted to stretch them fully.

With reawakening awareness, the cold feeling left him. His mind was starting to be more active too. He had to find out where he was. He turned his head, but there was not enough light to see where he was. So instead, he moved his hands slowly behind his back to feel the wall. To his surprise the wall was soft - not hard as his aching back told him.

Soft, and warm, and... furry. Yes, that was the word, furry. He must be leaning on an animal. And with the dark all around he concluded that he was in a cave?? Of a bear?? He took a careful deep breath. Yes, could be a bear from the size - and the smell. Yes, bears smell that way. He knew that from one of his students jobs at the zoo; cleaning out the ice bear cage. The bears had been outside in the pool at that time. The head animal caretaker had made sure of that. No one knew how the ice bear would react to a stranger inside his territory. All assumed it would attack any stranger. This memory made him feel afraid for his own life right now. Very afraid!!

Carefully, as not to wake what he assumed to be an ice bear now, he once more tried to stretch his body. Again he noticed how odd his legs felt. Not the way they should. His whole body didn't feel as it should. Slowly, he moved his hands away from the furry back wall and onto his own belly. It felt furry too. He couldn't remember putting on a fur coat. He lifted the hands of his belly and moved them a little closer towards his eyes. In the dark he could barely make out the silhouette of them. But those were not hands, not human hands!! They were PAWS. Bear paws seemingly and when he touched one with the other he could notice the soft for on them and the sharp claws that were at the place where he had expected his fingertips to be.

Not believing what he could feel of his hands, he bit by bit felt over his body what he could reach. All of it felt like bear now. And he was not feeling as cold as he had been when he first woke. Actually it was quite snugly warm in here. A tiny smile hushed over his face and vanished as fast as it had come as he turned back to investigate more. He moved very slowly, afraid he would wake the "bear" he was leaning on and be discovered. Afraid of what might happen then.

When he reached his face he stopped in shock. That was not his head. Not at all!! It was the head of a bear!! The snout, the cold nuzzle, the sharp teeth the ears some place else than he was used too. Involuntary he let out a small sound. This could not be true. Not at all.

Before he could investigate further, the "wall" behind him moved - pushing him over the land on his, yes, PAWS. And with a soft push on his behind the being past him and opened up an opening into bright, blinding light.

Slowly his eyes adjusted to the light and he could see the outside. All was white - snow and ice. And fresh air wafted in. This made him move, following, what he now could definitively recognize as ice bear, into the open. Crawling on all four, not walking on his legs. He just could not get up and walk as a human would. He was in full disbelieve of what he was but could not actively change his "outside". "Inside", in his mind (and soul too he guessed) he still knew to be human. he always had been human. Not a bear.

Right outside the cave he took a deep breath of the fresh icy air. And, after a soft nudge on the shoulder from the ice bear, walked clumsily, more crawling like in the cave, a few steps more to an opening in the ice where the ice bear stood waiting for him, behind toward him. The ice bear never had taken one look at him, as if he was not a stranger to it. Calm water greeted him from the opening; the sun reflecting on the surface. And the ice bear too.

NO!! THIS CAN'T BE TRUE!!

It was TWO ice bears starring back at him out of the water. A big one and a small one. And no human. Where was the human image, his image!!??

Suddenly, and with shock and realization he recalled and understood the warning:

Long Distance Transporter.

Out of order!

Use at own risk!!

Who are you??

via Wall Photo seen at Facebook

Now, as I'm a rather playful type of person,
I had to try it out.
Right the first time I came across this image the words that popped out for me were:

happy 

patient 

elegant 

peaceful

I checked it again when I came home for my lunch break.
Now these words popped out:

peaceful 

sentimental 

charismatic 

thoughtful

Long words!!


And just before posting, I checked once more (to see if I got all the spelling right too)
lazy 
happy 
rest 
sweet

OH, yes:
Sweet rest you make me happy and I feel lazy!!!


Wishing all a happy, restful (maybe even lazy) and especially happy weekend!!!!!!       

Spring - this is the time for poetry

I see the flowers bloom
spring has come so soon
the sun is shining bright
chasing away the night

the days will be long
as will be my happy song
birds sing with all their might
the fun of spring in sight

bees come out to play
nothing will make me stay
I go out in the sun
to play and have fun

in the sun so bright
I fill my heart with light
so I can pass it on
to anyone that comes along

winter now has gone
spring again has won
no more stories to be told
about the freezing cold

and even if it may rain
it will cause me no pain
I think of the little flower
with rain it has more power

to grow and strife
and show of the new life
coming out of the earth
it is like a birth

Micha Fire; April 2008

This poem is a few years old - and it has been valid ever since.
It even made me take a photo of the tree that I had painted a twig from.

bloodplum on 7th April 2011

This year I'm still waiting for the tree to start blooming - on last years photo it had been in full flower for over two weeks already.

Once it is in full flower I will take another photo to show how it "shines" this year. ^^

A photo - now decorated!

For inspiration on what to do with "boring" nature photos!

In the middle of January this year I took a photo while on a walk through the still not truly wintry landscape.

I showed it on G+ with a lot of others taken the same day ( now in the album "seasonal" ).

A few had a look; some outside of G+ too.

Now, there is a forum I visit daily that I had posted the link to my album and photo as well, as I wanted to "advertise" this new place I was using to share my photos. There, someone had the idea of taking this photo to "decorate" it. We already used to decorate Christmas tree photos there in the past years. 

I thought it to be a great idea to try this. It would be lots of fun to see how it would develop. So I gave permission to use my photo and adapt it to the needed requirements.

The script and coding for decorating (even with .gif animations) was already set up. This kind of coding is awesome - a great "Thank you!" to the man that did it. After starting to learn coding I know how tricky it can be if you have to start from scratch. So, using the given script, only new ornaments were needed to match this scenery - and found and re-sized quickly (in a team effort). 

Now the fun started. Ornaments were placed and then removed again as they didn't fit in properly. New ideas for things to add popped up and were added. And removed again. So over time, which was nearly a month, this photo scenery changed often. I did not save all versions. Actually - only one. And that without all the animated parts and the text scripts added to some ornaments. Those, if read in the order they had been added, formed a little dialogue. One, that someone not acquainted with the forum and its users would find very odd. Hilarious for the insiders.

Here my saved version:

Decorating went on from that for some time.

Now the "webmaster" of that forum was "brilliant" enough to save the finished decoration scene in a page of it's own when he put up a new photo for decoration. There you can see all the text and animated .gif's too!!

The saved end product of decorating the photo!

And when spring has finally arrived here and all plants are sprouting well I will go to that same spot once more and take a photo of what this scenery looks like in "real" life at spring time.