Thursday, April 17, 2008

Photos - Portraiture - about

A couple more of the Cirque Du Soleil series. Unhappily, I saw one of mine on someones blog, taken without my permission. Flattered, but . . . (click on each photo for a larger view)


A friend asked my why when she looks into the mirror she doesn't see the same signs of aging she does in a photograph. I completely understand how disturbing this is. I had my hair cut in Vegas in a salon at the Bellagio and of course wanted a record of how I looked afterwards. None of the photos will be shown to anyone! The very nature of mirrors is that they soften our features and we only look at small areas at a time. Photos on the other hand are viewed in their entirety and may have been taken under harsh lighting conditions, never a good thing for most of us over a certain age. A flash may have been used and that highlights things we don't wish to notice, or the camera angle might be unflattering. The best portraits are taken in studios with proper lighting so the best we can do is play with filters in PSE or other software programs and get rid of what disturbs us. The other thing we can do is to be photographed in the shade without flash, hold our chins up and try for a 3/4 view rather than straight on; we can also learn to accept the aging process which right now isn't something I'm inclined to do.

Quotes:
is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. ~Mark Twain


Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. ~Samuel Ullman

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~Chili Davis

In youth the days are short and the years are long; in old age the years are short and the days long. ~Nikita Ivanovich Panin

a man's middle years there is scarcely a part of the body he would hesitate to turn over to the proper authorities. ~E.B. White

5 comments:

Cory said...

your artwork makes me feel right at home..Ilove every piece on your blog.

Cory in Arizona

Val Foster said...

These are fabulous. I love them. The texture makes me crazy. So fess up, how'd you get such great texture??? Is all of this gesso? Or gesso plus something else? I'm dying to know. I'm in a technic postcard swap this month, and the technic is guess what? Gesso. Your work is inspiring me for that. Thanks.

Purple Missus said...

Two more fabulous pieces Gail. They really do capture the essence of Cirque.
Are you working from your memories or from images?
As to someone lifting your last piece, it brought to mind what Gaby has written in her sidebar:

This is an art blog. The most of the works here are my creation. If you want to copy it, please be my guest. If you need to copy it, you are not creative. I have the creativity to create more work. You must copy.

I think this sums it all up :)

Anonymous said...

Very kewl but then again you know I LOVE everything you do girlfriend!!!!!

I’ve been tagged for a game where you share 6 weird quirks or habits you may have. So that means I am tagging you! I hope you play along, thanks!

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Mary Buek said...

Gail, thank you for commenting on my blog, because I found yours. I just love your pieces -- so textured and beautiful. As far as having your picture taken, you are absolutely right. There are very few photographs of me anywhere. I can take self-portraits in the mirror, however, and with the digital camera, I can dump the ones that really look like the real me.