MONDAY MORNING MUSINGS

Introducing Monday Morning Musings...wherein the blogger blogs about whatever strikes her fancy.

This morning it's to INSPIRE and ENTHUSE, and to that end, my Photo Fusion Facebook Fan Page is now open for business!

In addition to my blog feed with tons of FREE information, I've added lots of photos, some videos, and a few discussion topics awaiting your participation. Much more to come, including links to my new video workshops. My hope is for the page to become a living, breathing thing as we share our passion for all things photographic. It's eclectic, exciting, and effervescent (shrug...I can NEVER resist the opportunity for a little alliteration)!  So join the fun, become a fan, and please do tell your friends!

Coming up...Wedding World Wednesday (groan, there I go again!):  Tons of tips on wedding and engagement photography—whether you're a bride, groom, guest, or pro shooter—and even Photoshop tutorials on what to do with those great images.

FOLLOW THE DOTS

Don't you love thinking about how one thing led you to another thing which led you to another thing and on and on until here you are? Like following the dots of our creative experience that make up the picture that is us? Nothing is wasted!

Shortly after I began shooting in earnest, I discovered alternative Polaroid processes and dove right in. Though the technique became a bit over-used, I still love the fresco-like texture and painterly effect. A few years later, after I had learned to use Photoshop, I scanned my favorites, so even though Polaroid is no longer making instant film, I can use my transfers forever.

Now my passion has turned to photo encaustic, and my eyes are constantly on the prowl for likely candidates. I had made this little booklet of Polaroid transfers as a promotion piece. The pages are interspersed with vellum containing text. Recently I took the book apart, edited and reprinted the title page, then dipped the imaged pages in encaustic and rebound the book. It's a great little table-top piece...I love the tactile quality and the way the light shines softly on the wax. Imagine your photos complemented by some of your favorite quotations, poems, or lyrics.

Very simple, very satisfying. Order my photo encaustic kit and see for yourself.

WHAT IS PHOTO FUSION?

Photo Fusion is the term I use for combining photographs with mixed media. For those of us who love art but can't draw to save our soul (c'mon, raise your hand with me!), it's the perfect way to satisfy those creative yearnings. Don't you just love going to the art store?  To me it's like going into a candy store...but healthier! I may not spend a lot on clothes, and I eat pretty simply, but I absolutely CANNOT resist indulging my appetite for art supplies. I love looking at the different materials and thinking about ways to work them into my photography. So that's what I do, and then I figure out how to share my ideas with you through books, articles, kits and workshops ...and soon, video workshops. That's next for 2010!

Here's an example of a mixed media work in progress I've been working on with my gifted artist friend Amadea Bailey . It started with a photo I took of her in her studio and evolved into a multi-paneled piece that now stands five feet tall. We used Bonny Lhotka 's process of transferring via Purell hand sanitizer. Bonny is a wizard...well, an alchemist really...mixing a little of this and a little of that to enable us to print our images on uncommon surfaces like very heavy watercolor paper, wood, metal, and even glass.  She co-authored one of my favorite how-to books, "Digital Art Studio: Techniques for Combining Inkjet Printing with Traditional Art Materials," and I'm just putting the finishing touches on an article I wrote about her, soon to be published in "AfterCapture Magazine." Will let you know when it comes out.