My Creative Images Promoting Digital Photo Artistry and Digital Photography
www.mycreativeimages.com
Issue 37 (April 2021)
Welcome to the Mycreativeimages Magazine This last 12 months, many of which I have been shielding, opened my eyes to a number of things. Firstly, making the transition from hobby artist to emerging artist and building a reconcognisable body of work takes focus and commitment. Not only do you have to hold down the day job to pay the bills, but you also need to work full time on creating a new business. It’s ok having a website, and relatively easy to set one up yourself for low costs, BUT, adding content and value to your website and building your personal brand at the same time as creating artwork (both digital and hand embellished prints) is a whole different level of commitment. Take, for example, the simple sounding task of videoing one of your processes when creating hand embellished art is amazingly time consuming, and then when you finish and review the result it is substandard and not polished so you either scrap it and start again or walk away and do something different. The realisation that becoming serious about my artwork meant my work space was not suitable for a working artist as there wasn’t room to create both photo-art and do the hand embellishing. Therefore, I took a big step, both time and monetary wise, and rebuilt my studio space. I took “ownership” of one of our spare bedrooms and started the task of decorating. This included, laying a new laminate floor and fitting worksurfaces all-round the room. Time wise, this took me a week of working a few hours each evening after work and a full weeks holiday from the day job to complete. I’m now moved in to the new studio space and as it is more organised and suitable to work in I can focus fully on creating photoart, making and framing hand embellished prints and sublimating artwork on giftware and clothes.
CONTENTS Clare Barton 4 David Walker 6 Artist Exhibitions 12 James Hurley 14 Joyce Simpson 18 Keeley McCleave 26 Sue Waterhouse 34 Vivien Capper 38
In short, it has taken 12 months at home for me to realise that if I want to make a career from my photo-art, I need to treat it like a full-time job, not like a hobby. Watch this space, it may take some time but I have taken the next step in my artistic journey by physically destroying my old hobby space and rebuilding my art studio and future. Now and can now see what my career as a photo-artist and creator looks like. I invite you to join me on my continuing journey of self discovery. James Hurley Photo Artist / Magazine Editor
Cover Artwork by James Hurley https://www.mycreativeimages.com All images in this publication are sourced / created by the artists, unless otherwise stated on their websites or social media pages and as such must not be copied or sold without the express consent of the artist. This publication is created and owned by James Hurley, ©mycreativeimages.com 2020. Please feel free to share the magazine but do not make changes to any of the content.
Ideas and Support Articles for Artists Creative ideas for packaging your art and craft items First Immpressions We often overlook the importance of first impressions when packaging our art and craft for shipping. First off it is very important to pay attention to the details. People DO notice! In fact sometimes the packaging can enhance the designer experience for your customer. Your packaging is also your brand name, colours, professionalism, creativity BEFORE the customer reaches the product inside. A Special Touch A nice touch is to add a promotional gift inside, along with a certificate of authenticy and a thank you note. Depending on what you are selling, it could be a discount code coupon off another of your products for you or a friend, a note introducing the customer to you and your creative world and thanking them for choosing your product or a small gift sample of another of your products…the list is endless! Happy Creating! Find out more If you would like to learn more about packaging and shipping your products, you can join my online course ‘Selling your art and crafts ‘The Essentials’ beginners’ course here.’ There is a whole unit on packaging and shipping as well as umpteen other ideas to get your creativity flying! Till next time… Happy Creating. Vivien www.vivienartdesign.com
Clare Barton I live in the city of Nottingham in the UK. It all started around 1998 when one day I decided that I needed something in my life to take my mind into a place where I could feel relaxed and enjoy being creative, so I bought myself a SLR film camera. I went to college and did a course in photography where I learned how to do B&W film and prints in the darkroom. Later as digital photography progressed I bought myself my first DSLR camera. Then I began to enjoy my colour. It wasn’t long until I got my first modern computer and started editing my photos in photoshop. I like books so I bought 2nd hand ones about how to use photoshop and a camera more creatively. I soon realised that I really liked creating photo montages with my images, and as I’ve always felt that my photos needed something extra to make them work better, so when I came across Sebastian Michaels Photoshop Artistry & Awake courses I immediately knew that this was for me. I like to photograph old buildings, historical or abandoned, I take urban landscapes and street photography too. In contrast I take pictures of flowers, details in nature, changing seasons, birds and animals. Now I’m looking forward to the rest of my photo-artistic life.
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WollatonHall
Majestic Mallard
David Walker At last the days are lengthening and we move out of the cold dreary months of winter! In “normal” times this would mean more trips out and more photography to build up my repertoire for my PhotoArt. Alas that is not so, it seems we will be restricted from all but very local travel until mid May. That means over the past period from March 2020 to the predicted freedom of May 2021 I have had a maximum of approximately 60 days to go out and build my photographic collection as fuel for my PhotoArt machinations. Recently, on a few very local trips I have taken my camera for a “walk” and tried to be motivated by the everyday scenes from my rural small village. Over the years, I have already photographed everything of interest, but my camera walks taught me an invaluable lesson…you need to practice photography on an on going basis…a year away has made me very rusty in my camera skills…need to rebuild those soon! I wonder if the same will be said about my Yoga and Pilates. For 4 days each week I practice both, in class, with great teachers…but do not partake in solo activities…a watchful eye is needed to make sure my poses are correct! It will be interesting to see what happens after 15th May! I will be practising my photography until I am free to travel again in mid May, but my incorrect belief that my photography was “natural” has taken me by surprise. I could try to blame the first dose of the AZ Covid vaccination for my failings…but I had no side effects, I guess the failing is just down to over confidence in my abilities!
https://www.vista-foto.com/
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Dog Walk in Wintery Woods!
Scottish Islands
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Mum and Three Cubs
Scotney Castle
Harbour View
Golden Eagle
Artist Exhibitions J
oyce Simpson had some great news with regards to some of here work and I asked here if she woul dmind sharing it with the reader of mycreativeiamges magazine:
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Her artwork titled ‘Abstract Sea’ received Special Merit in the Light Space Time 12th Annual ‘Abstract’ 2021 Art Exhibition and was included in their online exhibition through March 2021.
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In addition, ‘Guiding Lights’ and ‘Bronte Bicycle’ were long listed for the D31 Art Prize 2021 and Online Exhibition in March 2021.
Both piecies of art are show below for your enjoyment. You can also see more of here work later in this magazine.
As if these two results werent enough Joyce also has an exhibition of her work current running on the Trapizum Online Gallery! Once you have finished reading this magazine nip on over and take a look at here exhibition, either click on the image below or copy and paste this link: https://galleries.trapeziumarts.com/index.php?/category/30
James Hurley James is a Photo Artist that captures landscapes photographs as well as painterly portraits either in the comfort of his home or on location. He is based in Huntingdon, near Cambridge, and has a passion for incorporating his emotions and frustrations into surreal artwork and painterly landscapes. James is a self-taught photographer and Photo Artist he loves photography and the digital mixed media approach to artwork. His artwork ranges from simple colour corrections in landscape photographs to enhance an image, to a complex piece of art that is made up of multiple images blended together with textures and masked out with brushwork. This month James has been remembering how much fun it is to create photo-art as soon as the inspiration strikes rather than planning out a specific theme and colour combination, in short just letting the creative subconscious take over. “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” Ansel Adams
https://www.mycreativeimages.com/
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Joyce Simpson I am a Photographer and Digital Artist and it’s just 12 months since I started my Photo Artistic Life journey. I can’t believe how far I have come. This time last year layers and masks just made my head spin. I was honoured this month to have one of my images chosen as a starter images in the ‘Seeds Project’ at the Trapezium Online Gallery in Bradford. Starting with a small number of ‘seed’ artworks, artists and photographers are invited to choose one piece of work and make something new inspired by it. In turn this will be available to inspire further pieces of artwork. As mentioned last month I have launched a new website and the new address is below.
https://joycesimpson.myportfolio.com
Bronte Bicycle
Orchids
Rose
Sunflower
Keeley McCleave I studied illustration at art college, so there is a story-telling feel to most of my work. During the summer I re-discovered my love of illuminated manuscripts and was inspired to incorporate some richly detailed page borders in some of my compositions. I love the way borders can draw the viewer into an image and help tell the story. More recently my attention has turned to the festive season and I have had fun playing with different aspects of a British Christmas, drawing on folklore, historical costumes and traditions. I love Christmas, so always find it a springboard to creativity! I hope you enjoy my work, as much as I enjoyed creating it.
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Demeter mourning Persephone
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Demeter
Persephone in the Underworld
So go on and break your wings vibrant
The Snow Queen
Sleeping beauty
Sue Waterhouse I was given my first DSLR camera for Christmas in 2013 and very quickly became addicted! fortunately, I was lucky enough to take early retirement at the same time. From 2013 to 2019 my husband and I split our time between Spain and Portugal in the winter, travelling in our motorhome, and the UK and France in the summer. This provided lots of opportunities for many styles of photography. I am very new to the world of Digital Art and 12 months ago I had only occasionally ventured into Photoshop to remove unwanted items from my photographs. When the first lockdown was introduced in March, I decided I would use some of the extra time that we were spending at home, working to improve my Photoshop skills. Discovering the Photo Artistry course and more recently the AWAKE training has made me appreciate and enjoy creating digital art as much as I enjoy digital photography. I enjoy using photographs I have taken over the last few years and creating digital art from them. I also use models and digital assets provided within the course materials. As I am still at the start of my creative journey I have not yet found one particular style that I prefer….maybe I never will!
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Harley
Lac de tolerme house spring
Lily
Forest Queen
Vivien Capper Hello my name’s Vivien and I’m from the beautiful county of Kent, England though currently living on the coast near Rome in delightful Italy with its exciting, lively way of life and vibrant colours and designs. I started out as an artist in 1982 developing Indian ink artwork of a variety of subjects especially figurative artwork and abstract floral designs, then progressed into creative photography and digital artistry thanks to Sebastian Michael’s amazing courses at ‘Photoshop Artistry’ and the advanced courses ‘Awake’ and ‘Kaizen’. My inspiration is drawn from my love of nature, figurative artwork and Italian design using many textures, patterns and colours. I’m thrilled to have some of my artwork in various publications including: Living the Photo Artistic Life, My Creative Images and have had various artworks mentioned in the Shift Art Challenge and was thrilled to win the challenge with a piece called ‘The Mysterious Cobbled Street’ in 2018. Now in 2020 I am concentrating on a series of Fresco-style Art taking my inspiration from Italian Frescos. This involves a lot of patterns, swirls, designs and colours and adding them to the model. Most of my models are from my Photoshop Artistry and Awake courses and the Colby Files.
http://vivienartdesign.com
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In the depths
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The Psychedelic Time Traveller
Turquoise Ripples
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M e t v IImages ae My CCreative Promoting Digital Photo Artistry