Childlike Wonder: For Art's Sake: 52 week Professional Photographers Challenge

  This week my little angel turns 3 years old. Well maybe angel is not really the right word for a 3 year old ha! But seriously, I love her with all my heart and soul and can't imagine a day without her. I love the way she explores nature, the way she is fascinated by the littlest things. I love the way she collects things, how there are rocks, leaves, and acorns, all over my house hidden in clever places. She is inspecting life, absorbing each little thing with a sense of wonder and awe that not too long ago was all but lost on me. Thanks to her I appreciate wonder again and I notice simple joys. Thank you Fiona, my love.

For Art’s Sake Project: A 52 Week Journey ~ Week 3 In A Professional Photographer’s Challenge - Steampunk Surreal Image

For Art’s Sake Project: A 52 Week Journey

Week 3 In A Professional Photographer’s Challenge

Week 3 In A Professional Photographer’s Challenge

So this week I had some fun at a costume shop! I never knew how inspiring and fun those places could be. After searching through rows and rows of interesting outfits, gowns, and costumes, I found a steampunk outfit. I have always loved Steampunk. The textures, the mix of vintage style and industrial machinery.

I also decided that I would start to do some self portraits. I need to shoot something other than my child and arranging models is not the easiest thing when you live in the country and run 2 businesses full time. It just takes a lot longer to shoot yourself! I actually found it quite amusing, running back and forth from the camera. The background I used here is an old clock I bought at the flea market. I added the apple because I wanted a hint of something organic in the shot to balance out the industrial feel, and for the color of course. There is also a bit of the Adam and Eve symbolism with the apple as well.

I think what I love about the surreal is the lack of limits. I am not bound by reality. I have always liked to push the boundaries of what is possible and this allows me to do so. I love environments and landscapes. This allows me to create any environment I want and to put anything I want into it. After so many years of creating what other people wanted, it is no surprise to me that I am landing on the surreal when doing art just for me.

The magic in these surreal images really happens in the final editing. Running an action over all the layers really brings them together. Adding a texture really adds a more illustrative feel to the image which I love. My background is in illustration and painting so I have always tried to blur the lines with my photography a bit. I plan to work on blurring them even more, so stay tuned as I experiment with that some more this week.

Edited with: Vintage Natural from the Memento Actions Set

Edited with: Old Painting Texture from the Nostalgia Textures Set

I hope you are creating with me. If you are finding yourself stuck please let me know and I will help however I can :) Sometimes we get stuck in life, but we have to just keep moving. Life is movement. Art is the same way I am finding. My inspiration is constantly in motion and I need to just keep creating if I want to keep up with it. If I stop, it seems I fall out of sync with it even more.

Keep up with me on Facebook and like my page HERE to follow my journey...

See you next week!

xoxoxo

Meghan Aileen

For Art’s Sake Project: A 52 Week Journey ~ Week 1 In A Professional Photographer’s Challenge

Week 1 In A Professional Photographer’s Challenge

As I sat down to work on this project this week, I of course felt stuck, with no idea where to start.  I knew week one would be the hardest. The first week I wanted complete freedom so that I could see what would happen. But as I go forward I am going to give myself some more guidelines I think, the complete freedom was a bit overwhelming. I had no idea what medium to even use.! Should I draw? Paint? Shoot? I stared at this robot on my desk. I bought him on Ebay for another project and I think he is just fantastic. I love old industrial textures, form and colors. I then took a walk outside to think about what else inspires me. The skies around here in the South, especially during the spring, are amazing. I missed them so much when I lived in Los Angeles. This is significant because I also think that living in Los Angeles is where this disconnection to art began. People love the blue sky all the time there, they move there because of it. I missed the clouds. So with no thoughts in my head of meaning or interpretation, this is what came out of my efforts. I sat back and looked at what I had just created. I started to laugh to myself. As I stared at this robot in the clouds, I noticed that he looked as if he was dreaming of being free. This of course reminded me of my current state of mind, feeling like a robot longing to be free.

   

I was struck by the magic of art, and the reason we do it. It is living inside of us even when we are feeling detached from it, or not putting time into it. It is longing to come out, to be expressed. Is this my best work? Not by far. Was I nervous to show this to anyone since it is not my best work? Absolutely. Putting ourselves out there as an artist, especially when we are in times of struggle or self doubt, is one of the hardest things to do. It is a subjective thing to begin with, as well as a highly personal thing. Not a good combination for sensitive folk like us artists. :) But that is part of it, taking the risk to put yourself out there so that you can possibly inspire, help, or bring joy to someone else. Some people won't like this, but that is ok because I made something for art's sake, and I am putting it out there. Hope you will join me and make something this week. Anything. For Art's Sake.

Hope to see you next week for Week 2 In A Professional Photographer's Challenge. If you have stuff you made that you want to share please post them on our Facebook page. We would be honored for you to share then with us!

Products used: Light Leak Overlays Memento Action Set

xoxoxo

Meghan Aileen