Photos of Summer 2012

An entire summer without blogging...Aaagh. Sorry! Still, there are plenty of summer pics to choose from...

If I'm honest, it's because I'm *still* having huge problems showing anything I do to anyone, and still too prone to press the "delete" button...(Things have moved on since the days when only The Computer Man got to see my stuff, but not as much as I'd like...)

So I've signed up with a course to put things right.


Anyway...Onto the pics!

It was a great year for roses (possibly because it rained solidly from April to late July!). The photo is mine, but these beautiful roses were grown by much more talented gardeners, in London's Holland Park. They also grew this lovely poppy...

What else about London in 2012? Ah, yes, the Olympics.

Well, the atmosphere was fun, and I'd have the Olympics back any day, just for the clean streets and friendly people. Yay!

But we're not the sportiest of people.

 So, The Computer Man and I did the obvious thing for non-sporty people to do during such a time...and went on a tall ship voyage along the Thames.

(Actually, the ships were Dutch, and only in London at all because of the Olympics, so kudos to the organisers for thinking of *everything*).

Anyway, tall ships made for some interesting pictures...even on a camera phone.

As did Olympic rings,

sights that turned me all touristy in my own city...

And it's easy to see how Royal Greenwich was built to impress people arriving in tall ships...

Finally a sunny trip to Devon...

After that, the dreaded 40th birthday turned out OK-and shots from a camera with a zoom lens (which lessened the birthday pain quite a bit!) will turn up soon!

Driving me to chocolate...

It's enough to drive a woman to chocolate.

Let me explain. London has finally gone 100% digital with its TV. "No big deal," you may say. None at all, except if you happen to be married to The Computer Man.

He got all fired up by the challenge of building a multi-media system for the bedroom similar to the (very swish) one he rigged up months ago in the sitting room. Which was a brilliant idea, until it entailed him balancing on the bed at 1am last Sunday morning, after six hours of work,  explaining, "It's nearly there, I've almost got it all tuned in."

He assures me that small teething troubles will be ironed out soon. In the meantime, The Computer Man's project means I have had more time for graphics, and specifically, some chance to mess around with typography, which I haven't done for ages. Making it chocolate-related just seemed to fit the mood of the week.

Enjoy.

Update: Not chocolate-related, but given the comments here, if this post strikes a chord with you, there's more on life with The Computer Man here.

Ducklings!

Not so much time for experimentation this week, but time enough to notice these little ducklings, swimming in a family group during our on-off spring...It's amazing how much the "high pass filter" in Photoshop Elements can sharpen up a mobile phone clip...

Stolen time in the sunshine and a new digital art experiment

The Computer Man's latest excitement this Bank Holiday is a new accounting program. However, I'm not complaining. It's given me chance to finish a new digital art experiment.

And this pic was inspired anyway by a stolen midweek afternoon visit to Kenwood House in Hampstead, complete with spring sunshine. We ambled through the magnolias. And I got to wondering, "What were the original owners like?..."

(For comparison, the actual gatepost, these days , looks like this:

As this took longer than I thought, it looks like all my creative time will only yield about one completed project per week. But hey, it's a start. And, like London buses, there'll be another one along soon.

Saved by Cupcakes, Creativity, and a Challenge

OK, I know. It's been a looong time since the last post. But now an uninspiring winter is past, I'm clear that this space is for fun, play and creative connections...and the magic of cupcakes, creativity and someone else's great idea has me back on track.

First, the creativity. The Computer Man  repeatedly tells me that I am creative. I look at everyone else's stunning creativity online, and am immediately terrified to show anyone anything, lest they start laughing (in the wrong way). Nonetheless, he keeps telling me this. So, my recent efforts include:

1) Attempting to turn back time for a statue:

Or, put very much less grandly, using digital overpainting to re-create this girl....from the face of the statue in the background at Waterlow Park here in London:

And...

2) Gaining inspiration from a cupcake without actually having to eat it (a first in itself).

There was a request for an illustration of a cupcake over at FotoKoi. I screwed up my courage. After all, my stomach has expert knowledge of cupcakes. Surely my eyes had taken in enough of them over the years to be able to re-create one too?

So I did this digital painting of a cupcake (well, like this, but without the background, for web use) in response to the request:

Update: this picture is now available at Cafepress as part of the "Keep Calm and Carry Cupcakes" design.

After this gentle bout of "putting-it-out-there", the question is how to keep up the momentum. Enter at stage right, the Creative Every Day challenge.

I'm already late for this, as this year's challenge started, like 2012 itself, in January. But it seems a fun way to keep creating all kinds of things. Luckily, the time you join doesn't seem so crucial as approaching it as a source of fun, friendship, inspiration and camaraderie.

But don't worry. Even if I actually manage to create something every day, I won't inflict every result upon you. Unless they happen to involve cupcakes.

And if you have any thoughts about creativity, the "Creative Every Day" challenge, or cupcakes, please do leave a comment. Many thanks!

Image courtesy of Creative Every Day.Com