From the Known Past to the Uncertain Future

Homage to the Talents of J.L. Autrey

Somehow some of the fabulous creatures drawn by my mother Jean L. Autrey have shown up in a photo I took in the Presidio on Sunday.

Limantour on a Windy December Day

It was so windy at the beach yesterday, the sand was moving in waves towards the sea.  Cold, clear, beautiful.

Red and Green Christmas - Hello, is this 1949?

2nd in a series of experimental red and green digital composites for Christmas 2016.

A Breath of Fresh Air

In order to successfully combat malignant political forces, one must occasionally take a break to retool.

Red and Green Christmas Abstract

Costa Rica drawings, rusted garden wire, colored circles for woodblock print chine colle,  and clouds photographed at Skywalker Ranch - a composite of multiple memories on a December rainy day.

Taylor Twin Vacation Art

Wilson and Cole Taylor vacation art.  I added a bit and modeled (although I hate to admit the modeling part)

Lucy's Vacation Art

Some pencil, pen & ink and watercolor drawings/paintings done on vacation at Turtle Inn in Belize

Sunset

There is nothing quite so calming as time spent outside soaking up the beauty of nature.  Sunset photo taken during a super moon shoot in Marin County.  More super moon photos here: https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Lucy+Autrey+Wilson

Life is Beautiful

at every stage - especially if you are a rose!

Debris Photo Quilt Creatures

Working on some new creature designs made with digital photo quilts, created out of 2"x 2" square cuts composited from 16 themed photos.  The four above are a cat, giraffe, emu and a larger cat cut from a collage of street debris and steel road plate photos.

Disturbing the Vultures

Out and about in the neighborhood.

Variations on a Foggy Rodeo Beach at Dawn Theme

For a new self-directed photography class, I elected to shoot a series of photos based on invisible forces of nature, which were to focus on the unseen forces of gravity and magnetism. So, I got up at dawn to shoot high tide at Rodeo Beach.  It was very foggy.  My favorite picture didn't even include the tide.  And when I thought about it, I realized every photo ever shot represents invisible forces of nature.  So I shifted gears and decided to do variations on a theme instead.  The theme is my dawn photo session in the fog.  The variations reflect different techniques.  Here's what I ended up with:
Top to Bottom
1 and 5:  Original printed photos, taken at Rodeo Beach, of Fort Cronkhite and of the high tide
2:  A digital patchwork of 3" square sections taken from several foggy photos
3.  The Fort Cronkhite scene printed on fabric, then quilted and machine and hand embroidered
4.  A digital composite of the Fort Cronkhite scene with a photo of my father in 1942, in the army during WWII, combined with a periodic table of the elements and a table of fundamental force particles.  My brainy father, who I miss, was a rocket scientist, chemist, lawyer, artist and photographer.  He would have understood the science.  He hated the army.
6:  A reshoot of the original foggy high tide photo with two wooden artist models playing with a red rubber ball.

Color Emerges Out of the Gray Fog

These photos were shot in Salem, Oregon, where it can be foggy.  It happened, however, that it was sunny when I took the pictures.  Am experimenting with adding gray gradients to color photos to illustrate the impact of a little color on a gray day.

Migratory Sea Birds

Terns and Seagulls at Drakes Beach in Pt. Reyes National Seashore.  It's September and I believe some, if not all, are getting ready to migrate.  Probably not happy I disturbed them! More photos from Drakes Beach and nearby Mt. Vision up soon @Shutterstock here:  https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Lucy+Autrey+Wilson

Fairies in Sausalito

Bird at the Beach

Obsessed with 3D?  Yes.  Another wool-punched fabric bird made whole in the computer, combined with layer after layer on top of a photo taken at Muir beach.

Are You Going the Wrong Way?

More 3D applied to fabric birds.

3D Fabric Bird in Photo Composited Bucket

I'm newly enamored with the 3D feature in Photoshop CC.  Hence this 3D bird with cast shadow rendering of a previously created fabric wool punched and embroidered bird, which I then added to a photo of a bucket taken in Mendocino, already combined with another picture of the algae in Abbotts Lagoon.  Digital manipulation provides hours and hours of fun!  Especially since 3D rendering seems to take 1 1/2 hours at minimum.

Playing Ball at Stinson Beach

This took all day!  First drawing my wooden models, then painting them, then trying to figure out 3D in Photoshop so I could create real looking shadows.  I need a longer 3D lesson.  So much I don't know.

Old Art and New Photos Come Together as One

Trying something different compositing art with photos both in camera and digitally in Photoshop. Top image was done in camera in multiple exposure mode - shooting the original art and a copy of the photo printed in the same size as the original painting, then edited in Lightroom and Photoshop. 2nd from top is a digital blending of the two bottom pieces with minimal editing in Photoshop.

San Anselmo Creek Meets Albion Forest

I was invited by the San Anselmo Arts Commission to paint at "Music in the Park" - a weekly Sunday event at Creek Park in downtown San Anselmo from July 31 to August 28.  So yesterday, I packed up my pen & ink & watercolor gear and headed out.  I was the only person doing any art that I noticed, but there were a lot of other people enjoying themselves.  The band was the Lonestar Retrobates - playing retro big band style music.  It was all very enjoyable.  My result was the 7"x10" image above. This was scanned and enlarged to approx. 13" x 20" and merged with a forest picture shot in Albion earlier this month.  Two nice memories merged into one!

What is this Photograph About?

My latest LensWork magazine's editorial exhorts every photographer to shoot with a purpose, rather than simply snap a picture because it looks pretty.  This is something I am trying to do more often.   Having just spent a few wonderful days with twin grandsons, 60 years younger than me, I've been thinking about family and the differences in age (from the amount of energy one has, to how one perceives reality).  These thoughts took me out into the garden, seeking images that reflect the cycle of life.