Category Archives: Painterly Effects

Feeling Versus Reality

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Pond Abstract
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

I always have been drawn to the work impressionistic painters. When viewing their work I tend to walk away with a deeper feeling than I do with other forms of painting. As I photograph, many times I will focus on a scene and think this spot would be a great spot to set up an easel if I were a painter. I squint and try to envision how an impressionistic painter would attempt to create their art piece. Today, I decided to play with one of my images and try to create an impressionistic feeling.

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Moody

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Hostas Along Secret Garden Path
Heatherwood Late Spring

At times I get a little moody, especially after a busy intense period. It feels good to just sit back and reflect. In this image I attempted to create this feeling by selecting a quiet corner and adding a little moodiness through texture overlays. Beauty still abounds in the world around us.

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A Palette Full of Color

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Summer Color
Heatherwood Meadow

Heatherwood’s summer meadow is like a painter’s palette full color. The colors are brilliant and constantly changing. They blend into each other creating a vignette that reminds me of a Monet painting. My imagination wanders as I envision how Monet might view the scene.

Garden Meadow
Monet’s Perspective

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Time to Paint

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Framed Waterfall
Heatherwood Spring

This vignette of Heatherwood’s waterfall framed by a Shin Deshojo Japanese maple and a Norway Spruce is one of my favorites. Most every time I walk by with my camera (or iPhone), I stop and create an image. A little side path provides a little peak from the main pathway. In spring and fall the scene is the most dramatic with the contrasting colors of the Japanese maple.

When I was editing this image, I felt like doing something a little different. I thought I would take the opportunity to practice a little photographic painting. Topaz Impression software and my imagination merged together to create this image.

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A Painting from the Woodland

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Snow-covered Maple Tree Leaves
Heatherwood Woodland

Our October Glory maples are one of the last trees to display their fall colors and to drop their leaves. The first two light snowfalls this year sprinkled the leaves with patches of white, leaving a beautiful woodland winter scene. Last year, an early heavy snowfall blanketed the branches with a layer of heavy snow. Several large branches bent over and broke, leaving large wholes in the tree’s shapes. This year, we have not seen any damage, yet!

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The Painter

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The Painter
Yakima Arboretum, WA

On one of my autumn walks in the Arboretum, I saw this artist painting a colorful image in the maple grove. I paused and thought how relaxing and enjoyable it would be to just sit back, observe the world around me and slowly sketch an image of what I was feeling. So many times I see something that really grabs me and just pause and gaze. After a few minutes, I may pull up my camera and try to create an image that will represent what I see and am feeling. Then I quickly move on. It seldom occurs to me to stop and become one with the surroundings, then slowly create an image, or set of images, that will better represent what I have become immersed in.

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Visualizing for Fun

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“Liatris”
Heatherwood Meadow

As I walk through our Heatherwood garden, I constantly look for little vignettes that catch my eye. When I see something of interest, I pause to look at it from different perspectives. I tilt my head, squat up and down, move around, squint my eyes, and imagine how I can translate what I see into something a little unique. Many times I just move on, other times I imagine what I can do in post processing. For this image, I knew that it was a painting from the start. With a little help from Topaz Impression out popped my interpretation.

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A Special Day

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“Orangeola & Kotoji Abstract”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Today is a very special day full of sweet and happy memories of the past. Many times we spent the day walking through gardens around the areas where we lived. On our adventures, we were always keeping our eyes and mind open to observe the beauty surrounding us, both natural and man-made. We collected ideas on what we could bring home to our own garden.

Other years we would explore various garden centers and purchase new additions for our garden. We couldn’t wait to plant the new acquisitions. Here at Heatherwood, I have been able to draw on these previous experiences to develop a Japanese-influenced garden in part of our property. Strolling through Heatherwood takes me back to prior wonderful memories and stimulates me to enjoy the present and look forward to bright future days.

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Gifts For the Taking

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“Forest Pansy Redbud”
Heatherwood Spring

Heatherwood continues to give up something new and interesting every time we stroll around the garden. Little elements of nature abound at every turn. These gifts are for the taking. I just need to recognize them and add a little creativity.

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