A friend of mine has a teenager who was wanting to post an image for his avatar in one of the chat sites online, I was sent a regular portrait image and took it immediately into Photoshop. Because there were harsh background shadows, I selected the core of the subject (asking: who is this person, what in this image is 'telling'?) then worked within minimalist "less is more" parameters, after all - don't you agree that this image gives enough visual information for a teen online - I do.

As much as I like realistic images, I have a great deal of fun editing digital images in Photoshop - the 'dry brush' being my absolute favorite tool. I think a lot of what makes an image eye-catching is the deliberate thought process while it is being composed. Balance, exposure, cropping, texture, color and of course subject.

Almost without editing, my images are usually pretty well composed in my camera's viewfinder, framed in what I consider to be the most pleasing way. But, often when I am faced with the 'whole' in the editing window - I will crop it way down - and find the results more pleasing because often - just a hint of what IS... really, is all we need.

Last Easter we were at the Governor's Mansion in Williamsburg where we saw glorious flowering dogwood and apple trees... and awoke to see a fresh snowfall lingering on the tulip bed outside our room's window.

I was taken with this piece of ornament - (I'll call it a finial, as it tops off something) located in the rear garden of the mansion. I love the way the flowers appear as if they are carved, also am particularly taken with tone on tone. Where it's simply the relief that makes the designs pop. I try to take this inspirational element into my art, both in form & imagined execution.

The gardens also had numerous hedges and bushes that were trimmed to such exactness, that I would imagine it could be an execution in compulsion - making sure that no single element grew more than any other! Giant boxwoods carved meticulously into the shape of cylinders, hedges with sharp angles and down-turning curves, much like the wall beyond the finial. Very pretty...

Yesterday I had said that inspiration/art is out there for everyone - but you had to learn to see it.

This was a small outbuilding also at the Williamsburg settlement - With so many repeated elements... doesn't it make your heart skip a beat? I imagine that the fence in the foreground has little points on it also, but the angle of the shot didn't capture it.

Repetition strengthens a design - repetition emphasizes a statement - repetition gives cohesion... repetition unites a scene.