Weekly Quick Collage: Abstract

Once again, made from only scraps found on my work table. This one is a little strange, but I enjoyed making it, and I do rather like it. Kind of 60's-ish - or something.

I like nonsense – it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of the telescope… and that enables you to laugh at all of life’s realities.                                                                                                                                   ~ Dr. Seuss

Real Abstract

If you've been a reader for a while, you've probably noted my fascination with photographing the abstract patterns that result from the interplay of water and light.  If these were painted, would they be masterpieces of abstract art?  Or should I just leave them as photos?  Something to think about.  While some have been altered using Photoshop, others are straight out of camera, or have only been "auto- leveled."   (For those of you not familiar with PS, "auto levels" is just a standard adjustment meant to correct color and contrast to "normal".)  The variations in pattern, color, and form never cease to surprise and amaze me.

This one has had nothing done to it except auto levels, I swear.  Freaky, huh?  If I saw this without knowing what it was, I don't think I would ever guess it was water.

Again, just auto levels...

When I look at these, I know beyond any doubt that I can never create anything so beautiful.  Who do I think I'm kidding, calling myself an artist?  On the other hand, maybe I should paint them; it would be a challenge, and probably lots of fun.  But there they are, already.

Water Abstraction

I've been absent from blog-world for a while, deciding instead to focus on some other things.  I'll be sharing these with you soon, but right now have lots of pots on the stove, so to speak.  In the meantime, I'm going to share something that doesn't require me to take new photos!

As I noted a couple of posts ago, I've become obsessed with water as a source of abstract images.  I realized that I'm amassing quite a large collection of these photos at this point, and thought it might be fun to put together a slide show.  I hope you enjoy it!

Are you sick of these yet?  I promise this is it....unless, of course, I take more photos...

Water Abstracts (The More Things Change... )

Anyone who's followed my blog for a while is probably aware that I'm obsessed with water.  More specifically, I love to take photos of water in all its various forms.  I love the way it moves, or doesn't; I love the way it reflects its surroundings, or allows us to see into its depths; the way it distorts, and the way it clarifies.  I'm fascinated by what's beneath it as well as what remains on its surface.  I can't ever get enough of the reflections, refractions, and colors it assumes.  Water is constant change, and I never tire of watching it.

A few posts back, I discussed abstraction in art, and particularly in regard to photography.  If you click on the links above, you'll see that many of my abstract photos focus on water as the subject.  (Where is she going with this?, you may wonder.  Well, I'm getting to that.)  So, a couple of days ago, I was looking through my old art journal from when I was in the Master's program at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, and I found this:

 

I was pretty surprised, as I did not remember this at all.  This was written at least 10 years ago, so obviously this stuff has been floating around in the back of my brain for a long time.  (What else could be back there that I'm not aware of?  There's a scary thought!)  The weird part is that I was just getting ready to post these "abstract water" photos that I took last fall.

 ♠

Interesting, huh? 

More Abstracts

Abstracts

I've had a lot of fun lately (and frustration, too, I must admit), trying to expand my Photoshop abilities beyond just re-sizing things. I'm kind of in a 'stuck' place with my art, so I began to play around with some of my photos. I guess there's less pressure with them, because I've never really considered myself a serious photographer, or exhibited my photos as "ART" (whatever that means). Anyway to get to the point, I was thinking of photos as abstracts. I know many people use the terms "abstract" and "nonrepresentational" interchangeably, but when I was in school, I was taught that abstraction was making images that had a basis in reality. For example, Picasso's figures may have two eyes on one side of their faces, but you know they're based on people. In contrast, the work of Mark Rothko or Jackson Pollack would be considered nonrepresentational because they don't reference anything in the real world. Of course, all of this is arguable and pretty vague; they may have based their work on something real at times.
But now I'm rambling. What I've tried to do, essentially, is take real things as recorded by the camera and see how far I could push them into abstraction by altering them with Photoshop. None of these photos are cropped, by the way. Let me know what you think. Can you tell what they are?