Good Earth: Excerpt Four

Labuck could tell you all about trolls. He had seen them many times in the mountains which hid Fily-Ferth from the rest of the world and its kingdoms. Trolls lived only to destroy. It was the Ancients which first tried their hand at the magic of shape-changing. In those beginning days, those shape-changing attemps were more humorous or disastrous (which is still funny, since Trolls are so wicked) than successful - especially since they had no desired outcome. It is quite possible that the rock sitting in your nieghbor's yard marking her property line is an Ancient Troll, who had never made is way back from the Changling. It does bring up the interesting point regarding the Transference of Negative Energy. Aah, but that is another discussion, another day. Back to the story:

Through the ages, each generation made new understandings and became more manipulative and perfect into this black magic. Most of the time, they manage to avoid turning themselves into inanimate objects - although, just to make sure you don't have a Troll sitting around your house, you might want to consider saying "YES!" when your computer asks if you are sure you want to delete your ex's photographs. Assuming the physiques of warriors and maidens enabled the trolls to pass the sentries and move among those within the boundaries of Fily-Ferth. They sought those who were alone and unaware, those who were susceptible to their wide-open smiles. They courted their prey with meat and cups kept full of fermented berry wine until they finally stole them from safety.

Good Earth: Excerpt Three

Well, of course, Labuck would think it was thunder, hanging up there from the moon among the clouds. And, it certainly was logical that, in spite of all his bravado, he would jump inside up to his throat. He squinted his eyes to find the lightning that would surely accompany the thunder. What he saw instead was a herd of horses, their hooves racing against the clouds. Mist kicked up behind them as they flew over the ponds and lakes of cloudless sky.

Labuck swung in the current, his eyes squeezed tight, like a leaf on the ripples of a lake, as the horses flew past him. He wrapped his body around the waving moonbeam.

The sounds of the stamped faded and Labuck dared to open his eyes. Framed by the Creeping Charlie was a set of hooves directly in front of his nose. The stream dripped from its mouth. Labuck contemplated a plan of escape; it was a Wild Beast, after all. But the Wild Beast was unaware of Labuck hiding there in his bed of Creeping Charlie.

So Labuck kept his brave self quiet and still.

abandoned barn

abandoned barn
Originally uploaded by PeterKvG.

Hello Dearest,

Here is the answer for your questions on balance and composition! There are a million lessons in this piece!

Peter, the photographer, grounded the composition with the use of the dark foreground. Not that you always need to floor a composition with a dark foreground, but that is what is happening in this piece. The use of the "brick ledge" on the back wall makes a very nice frame for the "action" portion of the photo: the black vertical lines create quite a musical pattern which is backlit by the light blue cool glow on the wall. It is very nice indeed that he did not cut the phot in half with that brick ledge; instead it is placed in the composition above its center...a smart move. Then notice how the two windows balance the weight of the blacks in the foreground. A little shape on that side wall, plus the light shining from the top window above the black verticals, gives that traditional triangle of composition that I was showing you once in "The Modonna and the Goldfinch"...you might not remember-that was a long time ago.

Peter effectively uses color to balance also...the warm light glow on the back wall and on the ground in front fades into warms that comfort.

Importantly, the photo demonstrates clearly Theme and Variation. The theme is carried in the black verticals, a musical pattern...you can imagine it sounding like the long low notes of a bassoon. The bricks give four piccallo'd staccatos while the horizontal line in the top window sopranos over them. The beats are faster on the left with the close lines that slows to the lower window that is divided by one line. The lines carry the theme but are varied in size and duration, like music.

I see more things...but instead of telling you all that I see, why you don't you tell me?

I will give you a clue to one...what do you think of that piece of wood that is lying on the ground along the back wall?

Love,
Mom

Thank you, Peter!

latch and dog

latch and dog
Originally uploaded by susanmedgerton.

I won't eat the couch if you let me chase the bunnies.

Angels Play More Than Organs

This piece was created from a Christmas picture of my daughter when she was opening the guitar her brothers had bought for her. I covered her blue jeans and sweatshirt with an angel gown that I painted on her. I erased the piano and Christmas tree and decorations and seated her on this bench from a photo I took at Cardinal Stritch. Then I erased Cardinal Stritch and added the trees from a photo I took at Greenfield Park during her cross-country meet.

Ahh, the old Rabble-Rouser emerges!
Do you recognize her, Mary Lou?

This picture is dedicated to Pastor Hill and His Holy Legacy.

There they are-the Beasts

Ahhh...there she is, the Evil Couch-Eater, the Gross Toilet-Brush Eater, the Mighty Hot-Water Pipe Puncturer, the Garbage Tearer-Aparter!!! There she is, my Sophie, that I love with all my heart. Notice how well she poses! What a ham!


The orange one is Patch, the Sand-Blaster. She was a stray found on Christmas Night in Kenosha a few years ago. She was naughty today.

Matisse, the grey cat, is my Fat Cat and has been with me for about 8 years already! Oh, my goodness! He was, undoubtedly, the Good Beast today, since he doesn't move much.

Tree of Life 3

This digital art is a collage of three photographs. Regrettably, I won't be able to play with another tree tonight because my dog, Sophie, pulled apart the garbage and threw it all over the living room and kitchen and Patch, my little cat, was playing in her kitty litter and got it all over the washroom while I was at work bringing home their bacon. And now I REALLY need a shower!

Have a good night, my darling daughter...and dream good dreams with no big bugs or hermit crabs.

Good Earth Work in Progress Link

I have started a second work for the Good Earth series. You can see its progress by clicking on this link:

http://www.susanmedgerton.freeservers.com/photo4_3.html

Good Earth: Excerpt Two

It was thin, a wisp of sparkling light.

It hung from a cloud in the deep blue of night.

Labuck's hands reached and grabbed it tight

letting it carry him, drawing him upwards

to the sky in sleepy flight.

Labuck's feet left the ground and he rose higher and higher. His Creeping Charlie bed shrunk smaller and smaller.
The trees became one shape of forest and still he rose(ha! The author smiles...Tricked ya'! Thought this was rhyming, didn't you?Sorry, it's that horn that keeps poking the corner of my halo.) until he sat just beneath the moon!

There, Labuck sat, swinging from a moon beam.
And as he sat, Labuck pondered.

He pondered how light he was, 'cause he's not a light man, but now he was.
Most curious.
And even more curious was the moon beam, of course!
How can he hold such a thing of glassy-looking shimmers?
And most curious of all was that
this was not a scary situation to him.
Well, I am Labuck, he snorted, punctuating his pondering.
"I am Labuck - the Fearless!" He shouted to his friend, the ever-smiling Moon.

Good Earth: Excerpt One

Whatever brought him here, he was grateful, he thought as he grabbed a pear from the benevolent fingers of the tree. He'll find his way home, he shrugged. This will be a good place to rest for a day or two.

There was a stream that ran through the valley, which became his day's goal. When He reached it, Smoke Mountain was a dancing shadow over the water. He chose a spot that flicked pink sky speckles to take a bath and wash some of his clothing. Welcoming sleep, the Creeping Charlie made a fragrant bed for Labuck while the stream sang to him Sandman-lullabies.

Welcome to my blog!!!!!!

This weekend had been tremendously exciting for me. For the past month or so, I have been exploring the capabilities of Jasq Paint Pro 8-or rather, I have been exploring MY capabilities with this program. As I wish I were anywhere but here, adjusting photos to create an Other-Reality satisfies my desire to transcendentalize myself...yeh, I am into Escapism. (That is why very few pieces of my artwork are of a cathartic nature!)

There I am, rambling along...I certainly don't mean to insult anyone!

The exciting thing that happened to Susan this weekend is that I made several movies of my digital art...and, AND a resume-movie! With music! They are, by FAR, the most impressive promotional material that I have put together so far!

I am excitedly thinking and researching about my next series of digital art: The Tree of Life.