Far Too Long

It’s been far too long since I sat down to write to you, dear readers. I’ve been dealing with a lot of changes going on in my life. I’m fairly certain I’m pre-menapausal and we’re adjusting to a new budget. The latter has always been hard for me but add to it the former? Yikes!

I’m in a creative slump. I’ve really done more with photography lately, simply because it’s handy. I almost always have my phone with me. I’ve started uploading my work to Redbubble and Society6 again. Looking back through my favorite pieces has really inspired me to restart and see what I can create.

Wish me luck, offer up a prayer or two or MANY. I need it! And I could use some hints, tips, and words of encouragement as well. Goodness only knows what it will take to jumpstart my creative mind. I know I want to get back into jewelry making. And I have a good-sized canvas waiting for me to fill it. My awesome Son and DiL bought an easel for me some time ago and I need to put it through its paces. 🙂

Here are two photos I took at our son’s wedding (and you can check them out on Instagram, too, if you like.) He was married in April. I edited these in my phone (Samsung S5) with the editor that came with it.

Our Sons – Photo by Melody Kittles – I managed to catch this photo before the other grooms-people got to their places.

Our Daughters – Photo by Melody Kittles – I caught this photo while we were waiting for the ceremony to begin. The girls were super happy to be able to walk for their brother as grooms-people.

The photo of our sons was edited with the photo editor that came with my phone. I simply cropped the photo of our daughters and left it alone after that.

I hope to blog next week. I’ll be attending BayouCon in Sulfur, LA this weekend with my husband, John, of J.D. Kittles Photography. He’ll be doing a panel on his passion, storm photography, along with Andy Thibodeaux who is best known in our area as the Cajun Weatherman. Andy heads up our group, Cajun Weather Spotters, and will be talking about storm spotting.

If you’re in the area, you might like to check it out. Their panel will be at 3 pm on Saturday, June 25. (Yes, that’s this Saturday.) Just click here to find out more about the event.

Twistangled

I didn’t realize this post was left as a draft! Life has indeed been crazy as we finished up our school year and began our summer school session. And some of the circumstances left me in a slump during which I simply focused on the extremely important and urgent things I needed to do. So it’s a been a while since this event which happened in January. I hope you will still enjoy reading about it and the photo I was able to catch during the trip.

Our family visited San Antonio, TX last month. We’d gone there to witness the graduation of the USAF TACP Eagle 100 class. My husband is part of Eagle 23 class. It was nice to see some positive changes in how the TACP tech school is done. There’s a fantastic graduation ceremony for those who pass the course, as well as a question and answer session for spouses and parents to get a general view of what their loved ones will be living once they join the career field.

When the graduation service was over, we walked out of the building and I saw this beautiful sleeping tree. The sky was extremely clear and the branches stood out so perfectly against that crystalline sky. I snapped a couple of shots with my cell and created this photo-manipulation. I added an overlay I created by using the fisheye mode on my cell to snap a blurred macro shot of a makeup sponge covered in soft pastels. The overall effect was pretty surprising and I’m really happy with the result. I hope you enjoy it, too! If you like what you see, please share this post. If you’d like to purchase a print or photo gift with this print on it, these options are only available on deviantArt for now. I’ll be uploading to Society6 and Redbubble as soon as possible.

 

Unfathomable Love

I’m a music person. I don’t really collect the music of certain bands as much as I collect certain songs that speak to me in some way, either technically or emotionally. There are certain songs that lodge within my innermost being and will not be removed. Maybe, I am a strange person after all. While I was at work earlier this week, “Jose Cuervo” kept running through my head. It’s not technically fantastic, nor or the lyrics anything special but my elementary school self truly enjoyed that song. I haven’t heard it song for years  but the chorus kept repeating while I kept pinning fringe strips on country Mardi Gras costumes. When I told my husband about it, he had a good chuckle over it. 🙂 This is a recurring thing, though, random songs just popping into my mind at odd times.

This morning, before my eyes were even open, a different song was running through my head. I knew I had to hear it again! After I got out of bed, had my coffee, did my morning reading and wrote in my journal, I pulled it up on YouTube. “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us” by Stewart Townsend has made a huge impression on me. I first heard it during this past summer at a church we were visiting and it found a comfy section of my mind to make its home in. All it took was hearing it once for me to love the message it carried. What a magnificent blessing! To wake to such empowering and humbling lyrics and know I am LOVED this much.

As I listened to the song once more, cried uncontrollable tears while pondering the lyrics and what they meant to me, one phrase stood out above the others and it stood out in a personal way: “to make a wretch His treasure.” He made this wretch His treasure. Me. This meant so much much to me that I decided to do something I’d been putting on the back burner for a long time.
I’ve been wanting to try my hand at creating a work of text art. By now, I have a fair collection of various artworks I’ve created over the last 2 years. I decided to use some of my photography and digital art pieces to create this. I’m pleased with how it turned out. I hope it inspires you to create something equally as important to you!

“Unfathomable Love” – digital artwork by Melody Kittles, not for sale. A free download for personal use only is available at my deviantArt gallery page. Just click here. All the necessary credits for the song it’s based on are embedded in the artwork.

To check out the lyrics of the song, please visit the artist’s website by clicking here.

 

New Photography Up!

I’ve been through the results of my polls and the winner was “Things Only Children See” with 23 votes. The runner-up was “Mystic Sunset.” Both items are now up for sale at my Society6 and Redbubble pages. Simply click on the links provided below to get to them!

To get to “Things Only Children See” at Redbubble, click here!

To get to “Things Only Children See” at Soceity6, click here!

“Things Only Children Can See” – The winner in my current photography poll…for a limited time, it will be offered as a free download for personal use, through deviantArt. Simply visit my deviantArt page by clicking here!

To get to “Mystic Sunset” at Redbubble, click here!

To get to “Mystic Sunset” at Society6, click here!

“Mystic Sunset” photo by Melody Kittles – To read more about it, or to purchase a photo/photo gift, please click here to be directed to my deviantArt page.

These prints are available for sale on deviantArt in these forms. Items marked with an * are only available with “Things Only Children See” on them.

1. art prints
2. photos
3. canvas prints
4. mugs
5. greeting card*
6. postcard*
7. mouse pad*
8. coaster*
9. magnet (2 sizes available)*

They’re available on Society6 in these forms:

1. iphone/ipod case
2. canvas print
3. travel mug
4. hoody
5. duvet cover
6. long sleeved tee
7. all over print tee
8. throw pillow
9. tote bag
10. stationary cards
11. laptop sleeve
12. t-shirt
13. biker tank
14. framed art print
15. laptop/ipad skin
16. ipad case
17. shower curtain
18. wall clock
19. v-neck tee
20. unisex tank

They’re available on Redbubble in these forms:

1. Samsung Galaxy S5 case
2. leggings
3. graphic tee
4. pencil skirt
5. scarf
6. unisex tee
7. women’s tee
8. laptop skin
9. poster print
10. photographic art print
11. art print
12. framed print
13. metal print
14. mug
15. travel mug
16. throw pillow
17. duvet cover (twin/queen/king)
18. shower curtain
19. draw string bag
20. tote bag
21. laptop sleeve
22. studio pouch
23. journal
24. sticker
25. greeting card

As you can see, it just depends on which item you want as to which site you’ll need to visit. I was recently made aware of another site which I’ll be checking out called Artflakes. My artist friend Care Halverson, who does beautiful work, is the one who called my attention to it. Please do visit her deviantArt page to check it out by clicking here!

One new thing to note, I’m removing the “like” button from my posts from this point on. It’s a depressing thing I’d like to remove from my feed. If possible, I would prefer interaction with my readers. To me, giving an honest opinion and/or sharing the link means more than clicking a button on the bottom of a post.

And with that, I do believe today’s post is complete! I’m going to try making the other artwork I previously loaded onto the Society6 and Redbubble sites available on other products but my internet is being very uncooperative. I’ve been trying to load the correctly sized pictures to the sites for the past 3 days with no luck. I’ll keep troubleshooting with my husband and do my best to work it all out. Thanks for stopping by today. If you enjoy my work, please share these links with your friends and remember to support your local artists, artisans, thespians, farmers, and small businesses! Your courteous comments are welcome here!

First Photography Poll

I want to start adding more work to my Redbubble and Society 6 pages. I’d absolutely love to have your help! Would you please consider taking a bit of your time to vote for your favorite photo in each of these collages? There are 4 different polls in this post. I’ll use the results to see which photos should get my attention first. Thanks in advance!

Photo Collage 1: Vote for your favorite photo in this collage by clicking on the link under this picture. It will take you to poll-maker.com where you can click on your favorite.

Poll #1

Please click on the link below to vote for your favorite photo in this collage. The link will take you to poll #2 at poll-maker.com.

Poll #2

Please click on the link below to go to poll #3 at poll-maker.com to vote for your favorite photo in this collage.

Poll #3

Please click on the link below to go to Poll #4 and vote for your favorite of these three photos. The link will take you to poll-maker.com.

Poll #4

Please click on the link below to go to Poll #5 and vote for your favorite photo in this collage. The link will take you to poll-maker.com.

Poll #5

I realize this could’ve been done much easier through Polldaddy if I knew more about how to make it work. I just didn’t have the time to figure out how to link it to my WordPress and I need the results as fast as I can get them. Thanks in advance for voting!

Update!

I’m very excited to tell you I’ve uploaded 4 of my artworks to Redbubble. If you are unfamiliar with the site, it’s a place where artists of all kinds can sell their work on things like clothing, electronic accessories, home goods and more, as well as prints and framed prints. I’ve added a link to my Redbubble profile page in the menu at the top of my blog. The menu is the little icon with three lines to the left of the heart. Even if you aren’t in the market to buy right now, Redbubble is still a great place to visit to simply immerse yourself in the beauty and variety of artwork posted there. It’s amazing! I absolutely love their stickers. I’m a collector of stickers but I’m picky. Redbubble has a wide variety of stickers and there’s definitely something for everyone there! I’m going to share a photo of my laptop which shows 11 stickers I got from Redbubble. The other stickers were collected on family trips and shopping trips to different stores. The photo isn’t for sale or download but I did want you to see an example of the artwork available at the site. While my particular favorites are pretty rare and in a definite genre, I think they still show a decent scope of the variety you’ll find at Redbubble. Please do visit the site and please keep supporting your local artists and small businesses! We really appreciate your business!

This is my laptop. 11 of these stickers are from Redbubble and the rest are from different places I’ve visited or gathered from shopping excursions. I love collecting stickers!

Current Goings-On

I know it’s been some time since my last post. I’ve been so very busy lately! I’ve hardly had time to do normal everyday things, much less any of the arts I enjoy. I have been teaching our daughters for summer school and we are really enjoying our study of the history and geography of Japan.  We’re also continuing our science studies in physics and having fun with many science projects. In our study of Japan, we’ve studied some of the arts practiced in that country:

Zen Painting on fan shapes – The one on the left was done by Magiba, and the one on the right, by Starshine.

These are our attempts at Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. It really isn’t that easy!

Moku Hanga is the art of woodblock printing. We created ours using an idea shared by Consie Sindet. She blogs at http://www.atopserenityhill.com so I hope you’ll stop in at her blog. She’s a wonderful artist!

We also studied a bit about hiragana.

These are the worksheets we used to work on our hiragana skills.

The above photos were taken by me and edited in either Pixlr or Instagram. They are not for sale and you do not have my permission to use them in any way.

I have been working on little art projects here and there when I can but time is scarce. The storm season is upon us and we’ve been out storm spotting quite a bit. This in itself could produce some interesting paintings, if I didn’t mind the havoc it would reap in my spirit. I’ve got two current projects to share with you. One is a work-in-progress and the other is a collaboration with Magiba. I hope you enjoy them!

This is a simple line drawing base that I plan to paint and add a poem or lyric to. If you’d like to download a copy, you can do so by clicking the link to go to my deviantArt page. It’s free but if you use it for any projects of your own, please link back to my deviantArt page, and give me credit in the caption. Thanks!

This is the collaboration artwork Magiba and I created. If you’d like to purchase a print or photo gift of this, please click on the picture to visit my deviantArt page. Any earnings we receive with be split down the middle.

Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful, wonderful, and whimsical day!

Today’s Photo Upload

Today, I uploaded three more photos I took earlier in the year. I hope you will enjoy these! As I usually do, these prints are available for sale in my deviantArt gallery. Please click on the photo(s) you like to read more about them or purchase a print of your own. Thanks!

“The Road To Nowhere” photo by Melody Kittles – To read more about this photo, or to purchase a print or gift item, please click the photo to be redirected to my deviantArt page.

“Spring Comes Softly” photo by Melody Kittles – To purchase a print or photo gift, or to read more about this photo, please click it to visit my deviantArt page.

“Fiery Blades” photo by Melody Kittles – To read more about this photo, or to purchase a print or gift, simply click it to visit my deviantArt page.

If ever  any of the photo links do not work, please do let me know.

Another exciting event happening for us this weekend is our local Artwalk event, hosted by some of the local businesses in Eunice, LA. Many of the stores on 2nd Street display art from the local artists and artisans and help us get our work seen. I hope we have a good turn out! I was able to replace some of my older work with some of my newer pieces and I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of attention it will draw. I framed up “Spring Half Dreamed”, “Desolation”, and “Purple Pouf” and all that’s left is to wait and see. John is also going to replace some of his older pieces with some of his newer ones, though the prints may not all arrive in time for the Artwalk on Saturday. If you’re in the Eunice, LA area and want to see some really awesome art, please stop by at 7 pm. The event starts then, and ends at 9 pm. Support your local artists, artisans, musicians, thespians, and small businesses!

More Photography From January

Here are some more photos from January. I’ve been playing a vicious game of “Catch Up” and trying to get all the things I created this year uploaded and shared out. Here are three more of my photos. I edited all these in Gimp. I think my best photo is “The Shadows Grew Long” but the most fun was “Twins”. What do you think?

“Twas All But A Dream” – photo by Melody Kittles – To read more about this, or to order a print or gift item with this print, click the photo to be directed to my deviantArt page for this item.

“The Shadows Grew Long” – photo by Melody Kittles – To read more about this piece, or to order a print or gift item, please click the photo to be redirected to my deviantArt page.

“Twins” – photo by Melody Kittles – This should probably be qualified as a photomanipulation, as I did quite a lot of editing on it. To read more about it, or to purchase a print or gift, click on the photo to go to my deviantArt page.

I hope you enjoyed viewing these! Please feel free to leave comments. Which one is your favorite? What do you like about it? Any constructive criticisms are welcome, as well. Thanks in advance!

Art and Photography Mashup

I have several things to share with you today! I had an idea about two or three months ago and I was only able to complete it over the past weekend. I’d painted three background panels in three different styles for a mixed media project. I won’t share the photos of each of them because I really like how the collage photo came out. I’ll share that to save space, since I use the free version of WordPress and space is limited. I also have four photos I snapped and edited with Gimp for you to view. To find out more info about any of these items, please click on the photo you like here to be directed to my deviantArt page for each. (Info on the triptych is all on the same page at dA.) There, you’ll also be able to see which of them are available for purchase and in what form (print, canvas, art print, mug, magnet, cards, etc.) None of them are available to download.

The Glitz and Glamour Triptych is made up of A: HoloShi; B: DiscoRo; and C: Purple Pouf and they are all named for three lovely and wonderful ladies in my life. To read more about them, please click this photo to go to my deviantArt page.

“Dreamset” photo by Melody Kittles – To read more about this photo, or purchase a print or photo gift, please click it to go to my deviantArt page.

“Mystic Sunset” photo by Melody Kittles – To read more about it, or to purchase a photo/photo gift, please click on the photo to be directed to my deviantArt page.

“Waking Dream” photo by Melody Kittles – If you’d like to read more about this piece, or purchase a photo/photo gift of this work, click on the photo to go to my deviantArt page.

“One Crazy Day” photo by Melody Kittles – To read more about this photo or make a purchase, please click to visit my deviantArt page.

I hope you enjoyed seeing these photos, which I’ve had to sit on for a while. The absence of internet at our home has put a severe halt to how often I can share. I also have to choose which items seem the most important to share first. I’ve tried to upload my items in the order in which they were created but this set, I felt, needed to be grouped thus. I’ve been uploading current works as I complete them since we’re now able to go to the library on a somewhat regular basis. I thank you for taking the time to stop by and check out my work and for your kind words and encouragement, which seem to come when I most need them. Thanks again!