the inner chamer glass negative toned

Lately I am having a good time selectively toning different areas of photos. I have always admired the selenium toned photos that professionals did in the past. I remember oh so well standing out on my deck sepia toning photos with the stinkiest toner that was also highly toxic, making my printed photos brown. Now its a matter of photoshop. To think of all the work in those days to tone a photo. I am sure there are still the purist who love the smell of the sulphur and other chemicals used to tone the prints but one cannot argue poison in your nose and near your skin over the photoshop tools.
This image is from a glass negative from England from a very wealthy family who owned hundreds of acres. I bought a huge lot and spent way too much money having them shipped here from England. I toned this one in multiple layers and total time for alterations.. 1 hour! Not bad for the finished piece. This is I believe a mausoleum for a woman. You can see the stone roof is missing and through the door is an inner chamber that reveals a sculpture lying sideways in a fireplace like spot. I would bet that there was a body behind that spot. This is all conjecture on my part as usually glass negatives come with no documentation and its difficult to garner anything so I do tend to make up a story for them. This person/woman was well loved as an entire building was made to house her remains. I love the old look of it. I would guess that this building is barely there if at all today. I love how the iron gates seem to invite one's eye into the scene... I really am intrigued by this image.
Click the title so see the listing in my etsy store and then click the magnifier if you want to see it larger.

Lillyella's Front PAge

thanks to Lillyella for putting both my hold my hand tinted photo and my ruffled girl tintype photo both from my 2 different stores.. that was one of the most exciting front pages I have been on ever!

Rose Bloom in High PAss-ode to Portland Rose Garden-dedicated to a friend

I have a fascination for roses.. have since I was small. This one is so beautiful! I took it into photoshop and ran a high pass on it, adjuting the levels. Usually this filter is just for portraits but I wanted to try it out on this flower.
I am dedicating this rose to a dear friend who lost her father recently. She has really been through alot and this latest experience was difficult. I always feel flowers and birds and animals help us heal from our troubles.. its worked for me and I hope it does for her..
I remember on my last trip to Portland which was 2 summers ago, I was so excited to finally see the rose garden there. I got the camera and headed up the steep hill on the bus with Rita. the park in portland is so gorgeous and we were there at the optimum time to see the roses, mid July. I got out the camera when I arrived at the garden of beautiful roses and started to take photos. After one photo the battery died and the little store there didn't carry the correct type for my camera. I stood there upset and then realized that I had come to see and smell the roses.. not just to take photos. I very rarely am moved to tears by anything in nature but the incredible perfection of roses is something that most of us cannot deny. Tears filled up in my eyes at the incredible beauty of some of the roses and I knew that my deep connection with them is much too strong to forget their beauty because I didn't have my camera or wouldn't have photos to look at.
I spent my time content to look and gasp and enjoy the smell and pleasantness of the day. In some way I felt unburdened to not take photos as the other senses could take over. For a photographer it could have been a trauma but I turned it around and was proud. Isimply loved the roses and in return they loved me back.
I guarantee a wonderful experience if you are ever in Portland to visit their rose garden.. one of the most wonderful places on earth, roses love the climate there and like grapes that thrive in Sonoma.. roses are happiest in Portland.. I am convinced of that!

Mermaid w Rose Flower Garland

Here is my latest tinted photo. I bought this image about 20 years ago as a postcard. It was garishly tinted and I never liked it.. I decided to give the photo a make over. I turned the image into a black and white. This is done in the saturation section of photoshop. There is a little box that you can check that says colorize and if you check that you can turn the color black and white and then fool with the dials to make it the hue you wish.. then I selected each individual area and copied and pasted it into its own layer and then tinted it in the selective color area.
Voila an old photo with a new look!
A little about the history of the mermaid
Mermaids are reported all over Europe. In Ireland they are called Merrows or Murirruhgachs, in Cornwall, Merrymaids, in the Shetland islands, Sea-trows, while the Germans on the Rhine called them Meerfraus. The Scandanavians called them Navmands and the Russians, Rusalkas. Reports of mermaids go right back to the ancient Greeks and continued right up to the end of the 19th century. There have even been a few in the 20th century. The ancient Greeks called mermaids ‘sea nymphs’ or ‘nereids’ and describe them as simply nude women who swam in the sea, similar to a reported sighing in the 19th century.
There are so many websites online about mermaids.. I even found one here
http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/selkiefolk/index.html
about selkies.. those merfolk who are found north of Scotland on the islands of Orkney... such an interesting site too.
Well my photo is a human woman who poses wrapped to the feet in a satin or silk cloth. This was a common postcard and now days valued from $50-$100.
Keep your eyes peeled when visiting the sea shore.. who knows you might see a mermaid or merman..
click the title to go to see this image larger in my store where I am offering it as a valentine card. Then click the magnifier to see it full sized.

Little Flag Girl

Here is a quick once over on a glass neg that really should never be printed because the clarity just wasn't there but the image is just too good to let go and not be seen. The effort that the photographer went to setting this up is worth seeing. The little girl adorable and the big flag under her..I relaly love the image and probably would make a drawing from it as that would be nice as well.. I want to say here that although there are not alot of responses on my blog I was thrilled to get an email from a friend who said she reads my blog everyday and enjoys it and also mentions I should write a book. Its so great to get any feedback when you blog as you often can feel as if you are writing into a void and that you are doing it for yourself, which is ok too.
I am dedicating this image and blog to her.. she sprained her hand while trying to clip one of her many many dogs nails and fell over with the dog off the couch.. this sounds comical unless of course you are the one its happening too.
Yesterday my daughter was driving out of the driveway for her basketball practice and I remembered that the jersey was still in the dryer and she was leaving without it. I ran out after her in my socks in the 30 degree temps to stop her and let her know and cracked my right thumb on the doorknob as I ran quickly out to her... of course she was glad I stopped her but then was starting to mentally blame her for the thumb injury because if she had remembered the jersey herself I wouldn't be running after her. then the funny thing is in the morning when she goes to school I ask if she wants me to pack any food and she says" I don't need help" typical teen, and I am thinking of the jersey and how if I hadn't run it out she wouldn't be able to practice as that is the rule. SO every now and then parents are vindicated or whatever the idea is. I know that we all end up injuring ourselves to help our kids or pets one time or another and that we rarely will get the thanks or understanding we deserve... I just hope my friend heals quickly and her hand repairs so she can stop typing with the left hand.... Feel better Sarah!

Ginger Dog and My New Year's Resolution

My new years resolution... let me see.. spend more time making treasuries or better yet.. more time making art and less time making treasuries, which will it be.. I think that is a huge question for all of us who are trying to do a million things at once. I am vowing to spend more time balancing my life between being a mom and working and also getting more exercise.. the more I am on the computer the less I get.. I know Iknow... its cold outside... well that is what they make sweaters and scarfs for and there are alot of those on etsy to be sure.. so here I go,, walk the dog and get some fresh mountain air~I look forward to really trying to spend as much time as I can balancing and that means less tv time and more art time... and fresh veggies and fruit.. always helps the brain~and lots of love to my fellow bloggers.. I hope I make a post each day.. trying and maybe people will check my blog out!
hugs from Marianne

West Fork PArk Sedona Strawflowers in Snow

For no reason at all I told Rita "we are going on an outing to the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon". Despite having to pull herself out of bed after being up late the night before on the computer game, she obliged me and we packed the dog into the back and drove about 10 miles out ofa Sedona to a lovely spot.
There is a little park there with a path over the creek into the woods and the ice and snow had not melted all the way yet so we were able to take our new cameras and shoot some really lovely photos. I wish I had had more than tennis shoes with me as it was really slippery. the dog loved it and he looked crazy moving from one thing to the next having the time of his life in a nature's paradise.
I was able to get some really unusual images as there were some very old brick and wooden abandoned buildings there and even a dugout cave. If you are ever in Sedona please check this park out about 10 miles north out of Sedona on the canyon drive to Flagstaff, it is worth the stop and hike of about 20 minutes in each direction a path running along the creek back into a mountainous cave and onward into the mountains in better weather. I know we will return to this spot in better weather and go further next time.
Happy New Year to all and Joyeaux Nouveau Annee to my French friends!!

Toys in the Attic by J.C.

This is a photo taken by dear friend who lives in France. He like myself is an avid antique and toy collector. This is a photo that he made for my father who is a painter and enjoys set ups to paint from. Amazingly this is only a partial set up as most of these things are really sitting on shelves in his attic. I really love this image and it is only part of the whole photo as there is so much its impossible to see any details so I cropped it a little to have a closer view at all the wonder that is there. Feast your eyes. I hope that this new year will be a great new begining for all of us and also that somehow the conflicts around the world will find a peaceful solution. Enjoy your day and remember to take heart in the little things and never forget the past as it is our window to a bright future!

Just another way to paint photos!

These are two examples I came across in a photo album I was dismantling for sales on ebay. I couldn't help but show these as before the Marshall company sold their photo paints for the average photographer and family picture taker, folks would desperately attempt to color their photos with food dye. I am starting to like this look because it really is the most simplistic way to tint the images but yet retains a garish look one that nowdays might even seem artistic!
At any rate this is my post after a long and many handmadeitems for family later and I, for one, am thrilled it is over. And every year I say the same thing.. not many appreciate the handmade things and go out and get a bar of soap or a dishtowel or things that they know you will use vs a small attempt to make something by hand. I am not here, patting myself on the back... my handmades are strictly a selfish thing as I truely get a kick out of proving that not everything that is a gift has to be bought. But then I realize that I spent all that time making things and would anyone really notice... so next year everyone is getting a calendar. I did get a wonderful calendar this year from a dear artist friend and it is Charlie Harper... if you don't know who he is I suggest you google his name asto me he was truely a unique piece of Americana artistry and his prints/serigraphs are very valuable now.
So here we go into the new year.. lets see what awaits us all.. hopefully a better economy and health care for all, less poison in the air and better water , and while I am moaning can we please pay our teachers a decent salary so we can demand that they teach our children what they will need to compete in the future markets as the Chinese and other Euro countries are already doing that while our schools slowly attempt to catch up. I guess if we didn't allow them so much time on the computer games they might read a good book.. its all a balance I think... one I am working on myself. So that might be the theme for next year.. a balance of ideas, art, work and play... lets see what comes our way!

Baby in Winter Sleigh w Dog Fine Art Photograph

Winter and snow are here for many of us. Children and their parents will be sledding, tobogganing and ice skating around those parts of the country where snow happens. For us in Sedona we would have to drive to get to the snow so that isn't happening today or any time soon.
I wanted to share an image from my glass negative collection that I made of this baby and her dog out in the snow on a home in Vermont.. yes the negative was fortunately labeled when I recieved it. This is a cyanotype photo made by coating a piece of paper with a sun sensitive solution and then placing the large negative on the paper and leaving it int the sun for about 15 minutes, then rinsing the paper and drying. It is the pre coating in the dark that makes this process difficult as you cannot see where you are coating the paper and sometimes the results are iffy. this one was good luck and the paper had a wonderful even coating of the solution.
Enjoy your snow folks as you could be stuck in a town like Sedona with nothing but bright blue skies and sunshine. We may still get snow.. it is cold enough for it!!
Click on the title to go to my etsy store to see the image bigger by clicking the little magnifier under the photo. Enjoy your Sunday!

Polaroid Transfer Vogue Gal w Camera

Here is the new banner image for my shop on etsy.. I went from a mom and daughter w parasol on the steps to this rather mod version of a 50s fashion gal holding a rollieflex camera. I had some suggestion from sister sharon about this and although I had another rather all american idea she thought that it might be a better image because of the camera. I took some artistic license to change the scarf and tones and made it my own look with roses from another polaroid transfer I did awhile back. I love the color and the sharp blacks and the blue where the emulsion peeled away when I was making the transfer. You can try to fake the transfer look but one that is actually made with the process of peeling away the emulsion gives a unmistakable look that takes some genius to invent. I feel excited about a new page online I found where you can put different backgrounds or screens on the photos to make them look old and like you are looking through a viewfinder with the rounded edge. check my store for the photos of the Sedona barn and the pepsi sign as I used filters I created on these 2 images and it looks great!
I am having fun with these images and hope that people will realize I am not just an antique image of kids with a goat or a girl with a doll, but I still love the clean and pure imagery of those glass negs. It is just I feel I have been depriving myself of the toys of the trade for too long and it is time to give myself some time to have fun with them. Heh I used to teach photoshop so I can't let others get ahead on the tools discovery dept. no way! So let me know what you think of my new banner in the store or the new polaroids I am listing.. or anything.. how is your season going... let me know... until then..Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

Thank You POE Photographer's of Etsy Blog team!

Click on the photo to go to my Etsy store to view this image.. and if you click the magnifier under him in the store you will get a larger version of it.
I have really had a great response to this photo and its been printed twice at 13X19 and kept all of its clarity.
Thanks so much to the POE Photographer's of Etsy for posting a photo and giving recognition to my French Boy on Scooter Photo. Click the title to go visit their blog.

meow kitty design

This is an image created in photoshop from a vintage photo of a cat lying on the rug.
It was an experiment which took about 5 hours of digitizing. I wanted a clean yet mod look and so i used the lasso tool and then the fill tool making tons of layers. My arm is hurting from the back and forth of it. I am now printing it on to silk to make into a piece of wall art for a gift for my niece who loves cats. Anything to take the photo to its limit is what I say. I am pretty happy with it and now have a better understanding of the ability to trace and fill.

Old Fashioned Christmas Tree w Gifts Tinted Photo from a Glass Negative

Well, after my birthday on sunday I am heading toward Christmas and wanted to share a little photo I tinted of an old fashioned Christmas tree and the gifts underneath that awaited the lucky child when they awoke. This is cropped from a larger glass neg image but this really is the interest and so i decided to take the liberty to crop out the top of the tree. Note that parents put burning candles on the tree before elctricity and also the little toy trumpet and other wonders on the tree. This year I decided to have only little lights and popcorn on my tree so we could keep it simple and really enjoy the tree. I find I am getting less and less interested in weighting down the tree with heavy ornaments and more about the tree.. I think eventually it will be tree only but somehow I cannot seem to get away from those twinkling lights.
They are predicting snow but so far its only rain. I know many have snow now and really I think it would look good on the mountains here and after dawn breaks there might be some up there, but down on the ground is just water. I hope as the next 10 days go by we all settle into a little relaxation mode. This is when we would be hibernating if we were in a cave.. ok so hibernate in your home!
Enjoy, peace and love and good will to all men and women and children!

Victorian Lace by Poppylove from Etsy

I want to introduce all of my blog fans to my new favorite artist on Etsy.. can I hear a round of applause please. This beauty photo was part of a store started by my neice Krysta who along with caring for 2 wonderful boys and a husband has.. like so many moms on etsy, found time to start a store with her jewelry. Right off the bat you don't need to tell her how to list or photograph as she has it down. Please look forward to more of her treasured jewlery in the future.. after she puts the boys down for a nap that is... good luck Krysta and have a very Merry Christmas!
click the title to go to her store!

I am including a treasury I just did with another pair of her earrings in it, please stop by and see it! click here to view

Boy in Straw Hat w Books-Painted tintype

This is my latest painted tintype. Almost all of the detail is still there. I have not added anything except paint. I like it alot. It is for sale on ebay right now. I probably shouldn't sell it but then what would I do with it. I still retain the rights to the piece and that is fine for me.

Women w Long Hair From the back Unidentified photographer Tintype

This is a tintype from an exhibit currently at the ICP International Center for Photography in New YOrk where the exhibit is now of tintypes in AMerica. I purchased the catalogue that accompanies the exhibit and am not sorry that I did. I have lately gone back to painting over the tinypes and find although difficult due to the small size that there is real satisfaction in taking one art form and transforming it into another. Some would say I am ruining the original image. I try to stay as true to the orignal as possible. Also I paint with acrylic and if need be the entire thing would rinse right off as it is painted on a metal surface. It probably should be sealed with a plastic and could be but for now they remain the way I finish them and that is just with acrylic.
I reccommend clicking the title link to go see these amazing tintypes.. This art form of photography really has some incredible images. I have always loved them and there is an abundance if you want to be a collector!

Lucky me another FP yesterday afternoon about 5:30 pm

New French Collage by Moi!

This is a collage created during a time that i was forced to go on prednisone for a week. I really had never done a collage this big. It is 24"X36". I had a great time collecting and assembling the various pieces and then glueing them to a canvas and then painting over it and then putting several layers of clear gloss acrylic to preserve all the pieces.. It has held up pretty well over the years and I always like to go in and look up close at all the wonderful connective details involved in collage. It really is more of a piece of work on the creative soul than the brain as this took very minimal planning and really just created itself as it went along. I honestly think I finished this in 2 days time.. prednisone is deadly but really great for getting alot done.. I haven't taken it since and it took a week for my body to relax after all the things I did with it but I have 2 large great collages that I know would never have been created had I not had to take that medicine. Look for a section of this collage that I am offering in photopaint store as a print... the can can girl.. click the link to go and see it there.

Dancing Crane, 5x5 Fine Art Photographic Print by BarbaraCarter

Wow.. is what I said when I found this lady's website on Etsy! Wow. All of her work speaks to me on many levels. After reading her profile I realized how close in mood and style my ideas and art dreams were to what she was doing in her work. I love the tone, mood and color of her compositions and her creative and technical skills are unmatched as far as I am concerned. I want to collect her work and have it as large as possible on the wall... if I only had more room in this little condo!
All I can say is that you must check out her site.. by clicking the title.. and see if you are not totally moved and thrilled by her imagery and style of photography/art.
I now want to go to Santa Fe. Sedona is nice but I am sure I am missing something by not having gone there, not to mention I keep finding photographers I love who live there... is something calling me?
Here is Barbara's profile.. enjoy her wonderful imagery!

Santa Fe, New Mexico, where my home, studio and gallery reside, is a stimulating art environment. Here I developed my signature style from an exploration of alternative photographic processes and digital image manipulation. Initially I was attracted to the Polaroid transfer process because it creates a particular mood and texture, an impression rather than a literal expression. However, the original transfers are fugitive and UV sprays do little to increase their longevity. So I started scanning the transfers. Once they were digital files, not only could I create permanent images on archival materials, but I found I could also transform the images, adding more detail in some areas, more softness in others, and work with saturation and hue in very specific ways. I could also add elements, such as a cat in the window or fog rolling over hills. I then began compositing my images from multiple captures, bringing together a sky, a background, and various foreground elements, working more as a painter from the images in my imagination.

My style is painterly (called pictorial in the history of photography) and often at an exhibition I will be asked if it is watercolor or pastel. My themes are pastoral for the most part, the peaceful coexistence of human and nature. My material is drawn from New Mexico, Italy (particularly the region south of Siena), Ireland, France, and most recently, China.

website: www.barbaracarterfineart.com
blog: http://barbaracarterblogs.blogspot.com