My Creative Images Promoting Digital Photo Artistry and Digital Photography
www.mycre
Issue 41 (August 2021)
Welcome to the Mycreativeimages Magazine “There is no such thing as the mass audience. The mass audience is made up of individuals and art is created by one person for another. When art is aimed at millions, it rarely moves anyone.”
Featured artists
The original wording of this quote is different and written by Fairfax M. Cone in 1852 founder of Foote, Cone & Belding Advertising. However, the underlying message struck home to me as it is relevant to the all artists who face significant challenges finding the right audience to put their work in front of.
Bernie Tuffs 4 Claude Trew 6 David Walker 10 James Hurley 14 Joyce Simpson 18 Julie Cowdy (ARPS) 22 Keeley McCleave 26 Sue Waterhouse 32 Susan Jones 38
Yes I have said this before, but independent artists have to either hire in marketers, web designers and social media / blogging managers in order to get found and establish a “fan base”. For example, this is a summary of what I have done this month as each month when I pull the magazine together I look back at what I have achieved, what photo-art I have created, what photographs I have taken, how many places I have submitted artwork to for exhibitions and what new techniques I have tried. This month I look back to the list key steps that I published in the July magazine, pleasingly I have made good in roads to 3 of the 6, with one being difrered, this the water drops article opposite replacing the portrait photography. I have an Artist Bio that I’m proud of, I have drafted out the key reasons why I create art and I have started a marketing course. In addition, I have been approved from an Amazon Sellers account, click here to visit it, and I have set up a Google shopping account and am now working through the process of making my artwork show up on Google Local. Having said all that though the omly negative is that I have only created one piece of photo-art this month! So being an indiependant artist is not just about createing art I’m physically and mentally drained but you have to start somewhere and if investing in myself of a hobbyist artist with the goal of focusing on photography and photo-art and ditching the day job is what I really want to do then hey, bring it on. Never forget that there is much much more to being an artist, no matter the medium, and every single person showcased in this magazine and the previous 40 editions deserve recognition and help finding their “goal” and “fan base”. Maybe just a simple comment or message to them saying how much you like their work will make all the difference. Remember, artwork is made with a purpose for a specific person, the fact that you resonate with the image and the reason it was created may mean that you are that person. James Hurley Photo Artist / Magazine Editor
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Cover image “Unreasonable Expectations” by James Hurley https://www.mycreativeimages.com
Please note, that some articles contain affilate links which direct you to 3rd party sales pages, for eample Amazon. In the even you purchase something via one of these links a commission is paid to the editor of this magazine. 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 2021. Please feel free to share the magazine but do not make changes to any of the content.
Exhibition News After refocusing my energy and setting myself some achievable goals I again set out on the hunt for places to offer my artwork for display or sale. Pleasingly 3 of my pieces of photo art were accepted in the D31 Gallery in Doncaster. Two in their online exhibition / catalogue, see the image to the right, and one hung on their wall in their gallery, shown in the insert. Note, I have obscured some of the art in the image not to hide it but to help identify my work. I encourage you to visit the D31 Gallery online or in person and enjoy all the artwork on display. James Hurley
Water splash photography Last month I listed out my goals, but immediately changed them. Why, simply put I don’t have access to a model and studio space, yes I have friends and relatives and can set up in my front room, but at this point in time I’m not comfortable to put myself or others at risk with any close contact (this is a personal choice of mine). Despite having had a model recently contact me requesting a shoot, I declined and focused on a different type of studio work, Water splash photography.
camera settings and the use of gels on the flashes. All these images shown on this page are direct from my camera with no editing at all. They have some issues, in that as I was using two flashes to freeze the water and in manual using bulb I am still getting some movement blur simply due to the ambient light in the room, but that is easily fixed, or will be when I turn al lights and monitors off on my next run!
Why?
A camera with manual controls, two flash guns a flash trigger and a device to allow you to accurately drop water and time the flash and water drops to the millisecond along with a tripod for the camera and one to hold the water dropper. I will do a detailed article on my blog about this but in the meantime check this super bit of kit out: Water Splash Trigger
Well its is technically challenging and incredibly frustrating, BUT, once you have the basic principles in place it is SO addictive. Simply put, if you can drop two or three small water drops into a cup in the exact same place you can create a tower or plumb of water into which the next water drop or drops collide causing a mushroom or umbrella effect. There are various techniques and processes you can follow to create these type of photograph, but it takes time it take patience and a note pad! After two weeks of trials I can now consistently create my own water mushrooms. This then leads on to fine tuning of the
Equipment
Bernie Tuffs Hello! I’m Bernie and I live in the little seaside town of Margate and having lived here all my life, I couldn’t live anywhere else now! I’m continually inspired by the scenery here, with skies and light that so excited famous artist J. W. Turner, who said of this area, “…the skies over Thanet are the loveliest in all Europe”. Apparently, a love of the sea stayed with him all his life and I can well understand that! Painting with light holds a real attraction for me - the gentle light that is still strong enough to dispel darkness. I’ve always been arty, progressing from childhood sketching, through gouache and then oil painting, then paper crafting and scrapbooking which led me to digital scrapbooking and finally to Sebastian Michaels and Photo Artistry. Now I feel I’m home and am having so much fun with my art!
Summer Holiday
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BernieTuffs
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In the Big Chair
Claude Trew I retired a few years ago, and since I had more free time, I decided it was time to expand my photo art skills. I have been a member of my local camera club for many years, but I wanted to branch out in areas of photography that would be more artistic and outside the style of photographs that are most successful in club competitions. With this in mind, four years ago I joined the international online Photoshop course “My Photo Artistic Life” created by Sebastian Michaels. I have never regretted my decision and I am still a member of this vibrant and artistic FaceBook community. A few months ago I joined another online course “Elevate your Art”, this time learning to paint with Photoshop’s mixer brush. My vision is, one day, to be able to paint images which will look like oil paintings. You are welcome to visit my website to see some samples of my Photo Art.
www.claudetrew.com
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Creative Egg Photograhy
Painted Flowers
Using Fractals
The Musician Mask 2
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Daisy the Donkey
David Walker Staffordshire held an Ironman 70.3 event recently, the seventh or eighth time this has happened. Not exciting in itself, I have photographed many of the events before, but all of the roads through my village are closed for the event. So this year I concentrated on the buildings, especially the listed building in the village. I was able to stand in the roads without fear of being hit by passing cars and lorries on our very narrow village streets! Of course I took a few images of the cyclists as they passed through the village, but my main concentration was on buildings. Over my time as a Photo Artist I have learned to take images with the final artwork in mind, rather than take pictures and then “fit” them into PhotoArt. This month I decided to share this tranche of work with you all, as well as a few Ironman action shots. I know the village of Yoxall will be an unknown quantity to most of you, indeed I pass by interesting Grade 2 Listed buildings on a regular basis and just accept that they are there. It was interesting to take the opportunity to explore in a little more detail the history in our local buildings. It just shows that PhotoArt has more potential than you first imagine. I posted some of the work on the local Facebook group, and over 65 people positively responded to the work! Not too bad out of a population of approximately 1,500!
https://www.vista-foto.com/
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IronMan 3
IronMan 2
Main Street, Yoxall
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Parish Hall
Saddlers Cottage
St Peters - Yoxall
James Hurley James is BOLD and direct, this is reflected in his art. He doesn’t let other peoples actions or approaches to life corrupt his mind or attitude. He is his TRUE SELF and has learned to follow his own path brushing himself off and carrying on when he stumbles or has taken a wrong turn, he learns from mistakes or failures. James has turned his negative thoughts about his dreams and ambitions, “its impossible”, into his reality “I’m Possible” this was achieved when he realised he is his most underused and undervalued asset. When asked to describe his work James responded as follows: “I am an Artist. I am a creator. I am a creative entrepreneur. I turn Love, Joy, Passion, challenging emotions into art that makes connections between fantasy and reality to make photo-art that feeds the creative mind and generates happiness at a subconscious level. I LOVE who I am and I POUR this love, my compassion and raw emotions into my photography and Photo-art as a way of sharing my LOVE with you. My sole aim is to leave a lasting impression on people that I meet, that interact with me online or choose to invest in my work, either my artwork or the magazine. In short, if you want artwork that resonates with an emotion you have experienced or that fuels your thoughts then look no further, but remember, emotions should be observed and recognised for what they are they should be learnt from and not drive your choice and decision making.” This month James has submitted one piece of work which sums up his approach to artwork as described above. “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” Ansel Adams
https://www.mycreativeimages.com/
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It takes two people to have a relationship. No matter how much you shout or make life difficult you cant force a meaningfull relationship into existance. Causing pain and mental damage to someone is not love. Forcing your will or point of view on a partner is not love, its simply an “Unreasonable Expectation” and a self-centred emotion driven by thoughtlessness not love.......
UnreasonableExpectations
Self Portraits - Emotions and Expressions
Joyce Simpson I am a big fan of artwork that has a sense of mood and mystery, that allows the viewer to make up their own story to what they are seeing. This is why I love the Tim Palmer technique of editing my images. I have applied the technique to lots of images to put my own take on the process and here are a few of my favourites. • • • •
Media City Motion Shopping Italian Style Parisian Stroll Sky High
This month I received a Special Merit Award for my ‘Sunflower’ piece in the 3rd 555 Special Exhibition which will be shown online with Light Space Time between 5th July and 5th September. ‘Sunflower’ was featured in the April 21 edition of My Creative Images magazine.
https://joycesimpson.myportfolio.com
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Media City Motion
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Parisian Stroll
Sky High
Julie Cowdy (ARPS) I took early retirement from teaching art, and then began to explore photography. Through this medium I have continued to satisfy my creative outlet. I enjoy making photos of still life and flowers, often using a macro lens. In post processing I sometimes create artistic effects by adding textural layers. This is photo artistry. It’s been quite a year! I submitted a panel of fifteen creative photos on the theme of ‘Fruits of the Earth’ and was awarded Associate of the Royal Photographic Society. Three images were selected for the RPS creative exhibition and another, ‘Autumn Child’, was picked to represent Great Britain in the FIAP Colour Biennial in Paris. This was also one of two prints chosen for the Yorkshire Photographic Union exhibition at the National Science and Media Museum. In May, I was invited to hold a solo exhibition of ‘Fruits of the Earth’ at the Yorkshire Arboretum. I also entered a set of six of the fruit images for the Royal Horticultural Society’s annual Botanical Art and Photography Show. My panel has been chosen as a finalist in the portfolio category, which will be judged in September when the exhibition opens at the Saatchi Gallery in London.
https://www.facebook.com/Julie-Cowdy-Photography-640242869458291/
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Eryngium - cyanotype style
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Lavender’s blue, dilly, dilly
Seeking release
The birds have flown
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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Angel Cake
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Baron Battenburg
Baroness of Blancmange
Marie Macaron
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Baroque Balloon Fantasy
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 motor-home, 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 lock-down was introduced in March 2020, 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! For this month I have put together (and played with!) 5 images taken on a recent Camera Club visit to Lancaster University.
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Susan Jones My name is Susan Jones I have loved photography all my life, though I was rejected from the photography class at school due to not having my own SLR camera. About 20 years ago a bought a DSLR and haven’t looked back, I love taking photos, mostly studio but as often as possible getting out and about, particularly London. I have been using Photoshop for a few years, and to my joy found Sebastian Michaels Photoshop Artistry courses and then Awake and have learned so much about Photoshop and continue to learn every day. I love the program, I love changing plain photographs into fantasy colourful worlds. I hope you enjoy looking at my work as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Credits: Model: Marta Svetek MUA: Jo Costume styling concept and wig: Sally Gainsford workshop
https://www.instagram.com/sulisloveswater/
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Come shine with me
wearable artwork Not everybody that likes art wants to hang it on their wall. So why not wear it, you can still enjoy photo-art but in a different way. Visit this Amazon store and take your pick from the 10 designs that are available: https://amzn. to/3lttvvw
portrait masterclass Do you want to learn how to take stunning photographs using one light, well, you can. You can either search around the web for the wealth of information that is out there which can be mind boggling, and after a while you can go cross-eyed and simply get overwhelmed by the different advice and suggestions. Or you can do what I did and found professional photographer, one whose work resonated with my goals and searched for info on any course that he offered. Save yourself some time, learn how to take stunning portrait photographs from a Master click here for more info. I would whole heartedly recommend this Masterclass.
If you enjoyed this issue, follow the link below and check out the previous months magazines. Each one is packed full of photo-art made especially for you.
https://issuu.com/mycreativeimages
M e t v IImages ae My CCreative Promoting Digital Photo Artistry