Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday Waterfalls on Canvas

It’s Friday, kittens and dawgs! Punxsutawney Phil calls for an early spring. Did you know the cute over-sized rodent is right about half the time? That’s about as good as you get with a toss of a coin. Our temps were spring-like (upper 60s to low 70s) and mostly cloudy earlier in the week, but the last two days it’s been cooler and sunnier. Winter isn’t over. We still have six more weeks of it regardless of Phil’s prediction.

You didn’t stop in for a weather report, so let’s move on. I continue to scour my photo archives to see what new masterpieces I can create. In January of last year I shared the below waterfall, here and when I went through my pictures I found a similar photo I liked better to try with a new app on my iPad to generate this oil painting.

Brushstroke app
In the Brushstroke app, I used Fulton paint pallet on Cold Press canvas, then I increased the color density before adding my personal signature. This program compresses the images more than I like, but I easily resolved that issue by bumping up the resolution quality in Pixelmator. Despite Brushstroke’s flaw, I enjoyed playing with the app and look to more opportunities to use it. Click to enlarge view.

Dabbling with photo-editing that creates artwork sorta brings out my inner poet self…sometimes. Below are my inspired words.

The Master Artist

©2016 Cathy Kennedy

 

The canvas lay barren
A void to form
Until the Master Artist
Stretched forth His hand
Every brushstroke
meticulously placed
A labor of love
Reflected His grace
With its completion
He did smile my work is done
With one last touch
He placed man
Upon the canvas
that we call earth

 

~All images captured with my big girl camera ~ Nikon D7000 & preferred lens Nikkor 18-105mm zoom, unless otherwise noted.~

I’m sharing my photo-art up with the SWF team today and tomorrow on s-A(R)T-urday.  Now, I’m joining Lexa in Celebrate the small things.

I celebrate….

  • trading our 401K funds out for new ones. The stock market is doing miserably and ours have suffered horribly. Our goal is to be comfortable, not wealthy or poverty-stricken, in our retirement. It may not be the golden years we hoped for, if things don’t get better.
  • getting our 2015 taxes done. What should be a simple job is always difficult even when you use TurboTax Deluxe 2015 – Mac Download. The program isn’t at fault; it’s the government to blame! *smack forehead*
  • getting a more together feeling about what I’m doing and the direction to go in the blogging community. This is something I never got a real grip on until now. It’ll continue as a work-in-progress phase, but I have  a certain confidence now.

What are you celebrating!

Let’s begin by celebrating Friendship Friday and Friday Features linky parties where you’re sure to make new friends and get lots of inspiration to boot!

That’s a wrap for now, but if you like music then I invite you to come back Monday for a two-for-one special with Feb. 1st BoTB results and dancing with the 4M crew. If you haven’t cast your vote yet, then I invite you do it now by clicking here to not miss out on the fun!

23 Comments

  • Rorybore

    I love the painting affect!! I will have to try this with one of my nature shots. Especially since I can’t actually paint at all. Love the poem.

  • Claudia Willison| ImagesByCW

    That’s a pretty edit, Cathy. I think it is great that you are sifting through old(er) photos and are breathing new life into them through a different kind of editing.
    Thanks for sharing your beautiful work with us @ Saturday Art!

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Thanks, Claudia. I love discovering new ways to enhance my photos. I hope to share more photo-art with you Saturdays. It’s just a matter of resetting my mental post scheduling. I’ve kinda gotten in a fixed routine, so I have to break that cycle.

  • Lori L MacLaughlin

    I love what you did with that photo. It’s beautiful! Lovely poem, too.
    Taxes are always such a pain. I need to do mine, but I’ve been procrastinating. Good luck with it! Enjoy your weekend!

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Lori, Taxes are a pain! I’m glad we’re done with ours. Turbo Tax really does help to speed up the process. I can’t imagine ever going back to doing the manually. Thank you for stopping in this week.

  • dcrelief

    Hi Cathy! I heard Phil is 39% accurate, but I still think he has our local meteorologist beat!

    I love the things you do with your photos – it, indeed looks like an oil painting!

    Also, I enjoy your blog posts,as well as the hops you play. Keep on writing and being creative. You’re a favorite for me, (smile).

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Dixie, thanks for accuracy percentage of Phil’s forecast. Normally our local weather crew is on top of the game, but for several months they’ve been off. I think I do a better job looking at the radar most days & that’s not a compliment to me, but a slam on the professionals. You’re so sweet with your comments. I’m SO blessed to have you in my circle. Isn’t it nice how blogging beings two strangers together? Thanks for stopping in this weekend!

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Tonja, Yes, peaceful that’s what I saw in my newly reinvented image that inspired my poetic side. Thanks for pointing that out to me. It takes a while to find your footing in Blogosphere. I know there were times when I thought I knew where I was going and then lost my way. Thanks for stopping by, my friend!

  • Cherdo

    Sweet! I use Artrage a lot (PC user) and I always say I can FORCE a plastic box of wires to do anything I want, ha ha.

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Cherdo, LOL it’s interesting how you can manipulate images with a few key clicks. Most photo editing programs are quite user-friendly these days, especially the lite versions for mobile devices. One day I really need to take an online course on how utilize the more advanced features in Pixelmator and Affinity (Photoshop likenesses for Mac from what I understand). Thanks for dropping by for a visit, neighbor! 😉

  • kismaslife

    uuuuug, taxes. I have those on my desk today! I have Mac and I use Turbo Tax. Positive vibes appreciated. BUT, later I am celebrating a friend birthday! Have a great weekend!

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Kisma, Turbo Tax makes tax preparation SO much easier than manually plucking in the numbers on a form. I’m sending happy thoughts your way for this chore completion rapidly and without damage to your purse. Have a good time celebrating your friend’s bday!

  • lexacain

    The rendering of the waterfall is beautiful, and I love the poem too. Very deep. Sorry for the tax problems, and I hope you get better 401k’s. Several years ago, I though I was set. But after the “revolution” in Egypt, prices doubled. My interest no longer covers everything, so I had to tighten my belt. (Honestly, I’m not very good at that…) I love the idea of being in a “work-in-progress phase.” I think we all are. Wishing you a lovely weekend and Gooo Broncoooos!! 🙂

  • kayni

    What App do you use to turn your photo to oil painting? It looks so cool.

    Ack, about preparing taxes. I think we’ll have someone prepare that for us this year. Less headache and stress.

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Kayni, at the bottom of my post I have a quick link to the Apple App Store for the Brushstroke app I used to create the oil painting effect. ? This is an inexpensive app and so much fun to use! Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

  • Thomas Anderson

    Hi, dear Cathy!

    I looked at last year’s picture of the waterfall, then at the oil painting effect your created with the help of that app. it’s beautiful and I am amazed what all you can do nowadays in terms of image enhancement. Art has taken on a whole new meaning. I also enjoyed your beautiful poem The Master Artist.

    What am I celebrating? Friendship. It’s like art in a way. You know it when you feel it.

    Happy Friday, dear friend Cathy, and have a safe and happy weekend!

    • Cathy Kennedy

      Tom,

      It’s pretty cool what you can do with photo-editing software. I always wanted to paint beautiful landscapes. Although, I took art in high school I felt my skills at were too weak and over the years I just drifted away from it. I’m trying to get back in drawing when I feel encouraged. It makes me feel good to do it. Thank you for saying you like my poem. I look at the beauty surrounding us and I see the Master Artist every where. How can anyone not? Yet there are people who think it just all happened.

      Friendships are always worth celebrating. I hadn’t thought of it as art before. That’s an interesting perspective you have on it and I get it. 🙂

      We’re looking forward to cheering the Broncos (Peyton Manning) in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Do you have plans to watch the game, too? Have a good weekend, my friend!

      • Thomas Anderson

        Hi again, Cathy!

        Mrs. Shady is an oil artist but limits her work to portraiture. Her favorite subjects are women of the Victorian age which she finds in book illustrations, magazines and in the work of other artists. We are fortunate to have the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art close to us in Sarasota and have visited many times over the years.

        Mrs. Shady is not fond of football and hogs the TV set when she is home, watching history programs, documentaries and reruns of NCIS. To keep the peace, I intend to follow the big game’s progress online. 🙂

        Have a wonderful weekend, dear friend Cathy!

        • Cathy Kennedy

          Tom, I’m impressed that Mrs. Shady is an artist. I think that’s very cool! I love pictures of Victorian women ~ beautiful era! I’ve always enjoyed football, but what really makes the sport so much fun is sharing it with DH. Otherwise, I don’t know how much of a sport spectator I would be. We are pulling for the Broncos. We’re Peyton Manning fans ever since he played at the University of Tennessee right here in Knoxville. He projects a good example for his team mates and his fans (regardless of age) to look up to. There are many professional athletes who fall short in this area. It’ll be sad when he steps down from the sport, but if I were him I’d do it. He’s young enough to still enjoy many years to come with his young kids. They grow up so fast! Have a good weekend!

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