Mycreativeimages - December 2020

My Creative Images Promoting Digital Photo Artistry and Digital Photography

www.mycreativeimages.com

December 2020

Welcome to the Mycreativeimages Magazine Established artists, Emerging Artists, Hobby Artists, what’s the difference?

This is a personal definition and I use it to help me identify where I am in my personal artistic journey.

Established Artist: someone that has been a full-time practicing artist for the last 5 years and regularly sells their work and does not have another job to pay the day to day bills.

Emerging Artist: they have developed the skills associated with being an artist in their chosen area, they have a body of work that clearly shows there chosen style. They have had success in their career with getting their art noticed, have made some sales and been recognised or won prizes / awards relating to their work. They have developed their own personal brand and are committed to a career artist but still rely on a full-time job to pay the daily bills.

Hobby Artist: someone that simply makes art for their own pleasure, does not sell their work or plan to as the creative process is reward enough for them.

Personally, I fall into the Emerging Artist category, having built the basic skills to create photoart, making a small number of sales and being recognised with 2nd places and special recognitions in a number of international online art competitions.

MY focus now is developing a recognisable style and body of work that reflect this whilst trying to identify my ideal customer and how to engage with them thereby allowing me to build my personal and professional brand.

Featured artists Bernie Tuffs 4 Claude Trew 8 David Walker 12 Esta Moon Artistry 16 James Hurley 20 Julie Cowdy 30 Keeley McCleave 32 Norma Slack 38 Susan Jones 42 Vivien Capper 52

All the artists featured in this magazine fall into one of these categories each of them are at different stages in their personal development and are trying to find their idea audience and build their own “fan” base. This magazine is here to help them do that simply by providing them with an additional platform to show their work to potential fans who one day may become regular customers.

You can help them do this, simply by visiting their webpages or sharing this magazine with your friends on social media. Each like and share helps artists of all levels continue along their chosen career path and take one more step on their artistic journey.

James Hurley Photo Artist / Magazine Editor

Cover Artwork by Bernie Tuffs

https://www.facebook.com/bernadette.tuffs

All images in this publication are sourced / created by the artists, unless otherwise stated on their websites or social media pages and as such must not be copied or sold without the express consent of the artist.

This publication is created and owned by James Hurley, ©mycreativeimages.com 2020. Please feel free to share the magazine but do not make changes to any of the content.

Photo-art by James Hurley www.mycreativeimages.com

Who is the Captain?

Crowdfund at Ko-fi

Support this amazing performer to fund his next Album The Adventures Of Captain Of The Lost Waves is a musical, storytelling fuelled show which is different every time. Taking its inspiration from music hall, vaudeville & folk/cabaret, fused with the modern twist of an intergalactic time detective’s travels. Where anthems, anecdotes and absurdity reign, expect improvisation and intuitive performance.

The Captain is running a crowdfunding exercise to raise £5555 to produce the final part of the album trilogy, Hidden Gems – Chapter 3, which is to be released in Spring 2021. This follows on from chapters 1 & 2, both lauded and critically acclaimed albums.

A Captain show has been described as ‘like trying to describe the colour number 9…impossible, it has to be experienced to be believed’… “ Like imagining Charlie Chaplin with the voices of Freddie mercury and Klaus Nomi, singing songs written

by Irving Berlin ” Glastonbury Arts Festival “ There really are no words in the English Language to describe The Captain...he was born to be a showman, perhaps even a prophet “ The Huffington Post

Chapter 3 will be a most unique and special package that will be housed in a ridiculously special book design.

Help the Captain, head over to his Ko-fi page and select one of the 6 support levels starting at just £5.55.

To find out more visit: https://ko-fi.com/captainofthelostwaves

Bernie Tuffs Hello! I’m Bernie and I live in the little seaside town of Margate and having lived here all my life, I couldn’t live anywhere else now! I’m continually inspired by the scenery here, with skies and light that so excited famous artist J.W.Turner, who said of this area, “…the skies over Thanet are the loveliest in all Europe”. Apparently, a love of the sea stayed with him all his life and I can well understand that! Painting with light holds a real attraction for me - the gentle light that is still strong enough to dispel darkness.

I’ve always been arty, progressing from childhood sketching, through gouache and then oil painting, then paper crafting and scrapbooking which led me to digital scrapbooking and finally to Sebastian Michaels and Photo Artistry. Now I feel I’m home and am having so much fun with my art!

https://www.facebook.com/bernadette.tuffs 4

Winter Of Discontent

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Winter Friends

Secret Friends

Claude Trew I am a retired lady who is a keen photographer and I belong to a local camera club.

However, while I enjoy entering the competitions organised by the club, I feel that the style of photographs that are most successful in club competitions is inhibiting my creative output.

I am following some online courses to try to improve the artist in me. So far I have enjoyed every course I have done and hope to share my work with a bigger audience.

This is an ongoing process.

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Buddy - hand painted

Pug Trio - hand painted

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Halloween Pumpkin

David Walker As an artist you are frequently affected by events that happen, be they local, national or ethereal This month’s images are certainly outside my normal modus operandi. The Remembrance themed artwork was evolved during Remembrance Week and features the War Memorial in Looe, with Poppy Fields from Derbyshire, and significantly War Graves from the a small cemetery in the Somme.

I am against violence, of any sort, in any situation. There are always better ways of so living prob­lems, acts of aggression are usually fuelled by peoples’ egos, how I wish that people could con­trol their aggressive behaviour. Notwithstanding my stance, I have visited the beautifully kept, Al­lied War Graves in Africa, Europe and Asia to share my respects for those who died for me, and my fellow countrymen, to maintain our Freedom and Democracy. Perhaps my most challenging visit was to El Alamein, Egypt….a gravestone entitled 3 Unknown Soldiers, killed together in a scout car, well not one gravestone but many, many carrying exactly the same message.

On a happier note Mars passed as close to Earth as it will in my lifetime. I was working on one of my seascapes, when everything turned on its head and out came “Life on Mars”. How this happened, I just do not know, everything just came together!

The corollary to “Life on Mars” is “Blue Instead of Red”. This is a purely personal response to the new era that should see a change of direction, in the western world, following a recent election.

The colour of the map changed from Red to Blue over a couple of days hence the Red of Mars changed to the Blue of hope for the future of mankind on our planet. Some would say that artists should not edge towards controversy, but there are many, many examples of those who did, and like Banksy, still do!

Finally I continued with the joyous theme with my “Queenstown Panoramic” and “Paddling by the Pier”.

https://www.vista-foto.com/

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Never to Forget

Paddling by the Pier

Blue Instead of Red

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Queenstown Panorama

Life on Mars

Esta Moon Artistry I retired in 2017 and am able to spend my time doing all the things I enjoy. I am a hobby photographer and particularly enjoy going to nature reserves with my cameras hunting for bugs. I am trying to learn more about birds but bugs will always be my love.

I have always enjoyed playing about with my photos and after taking part in some challenges in a 365 photo project, I was told about the Photoshop artistry course. I signed up not long before I retired and in the following January, I also signed up for the AWAKE course. I found myself getting interested in creating things to use in my photoart and this reawakened my love of multi media art and I have been concentrating more on that recently.

Going into the new decade, I want to bring my photography, photoart and multi media art together and to do that I have decided to do both bullet and art journals. I have also started a new blog on Wordpress which I hope to do regular updates on. There are links on there to my other social media accounts and also to the two places where I intended to put work on so that it is available to purchase.

Esta Moon Artistry is the name I will be using going into the new decade. I hope that you will follow my journey.

https://estamoonartistry.art.blog

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Lilith

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fading memories

Give my heart to the reaper

James Hurley James is a Photo Artist that captures landscapes photographs as well as painterly portraits either in the comfort of his home or on location.

He is based in Huntingdon, near Cambridge, and has a passion for incorporating his emotions and frustrations into surreal artwork and painterly landscapes.

James is a self-taught photographer and Photo Artist he loves photography and the digital mixed media approach to artwork. His artwork ranges from simple colour corrections in landscape photographs to enhance an image, to a complex piece of art that is made up of multiple images blended together with textures and masked out with brushwork.

This month James is exploring the fun side of photo-art which and is presenting a set of images that tell Fairy tales and Scifi Adventures.

“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”

Ansel Adams

https://www.mycreativeimages.com/

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Julie Cowdy I am a photoartist based in North Yorkshire, although we live in the Occitanie region of France most summers.

My work is informed and inspired by my journey through art; I’ve been a fashion designer, art teacher and property presenter, until I retired and then realised how interesting and rewarding photography can be.

My work covers different genres including narrative, still life and floral subjects. My images have been exhibited online, in International salons and in a solo exhibition.

Through post-processing techniques I create unique results, combining my original images with painted and photographed textures. The result is creative photography which often tells stories to engender emotional responses.

Botanical art has always interested me and the iconic rose illustrations of Pierre-Joseph Redouté, the great 19th century botanical artist, seem to have inspired my love of photographing flowers, fruit and vegetables. So recently, I have chosen to take a closer look at the fruits of the earth.

In doing this, I wanted to create a new take on a traditional subject, with each one created in a trompe l’oeil style. The addition of antiqued framing is a nod to the illustrated plates in botanical books of old. The decision to suspend each specimen with rustic string was a practical presentational solution.

These two pieces form part of a portfolio “Fruits of the Earth”, based on botanical art, that I submitted to the RPS for a distinction. It took over a year in total to create the images and complete the set of fifteen. I was delighted to receive notification in November 2020 that I have been awarded ARPS, which means that I am an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society.

https://www.facebook.com/Julie-Cowdy-Photography-640242869458291/

Fruits of the Earth - Fig

Fruits of the Earth-Walnut

Keeley McCleave I studied illustration at art college, so there is a story-telling feel to most of my work. During the summer I re-discovered my love of illuminated manuscripts and was inspired to incorporate some richly detailed page borders in some of my compositions. I love the way borders can draw the viewer into an image and help tell the story.

More recently my attention has turned to the festive season and I have had fun playing with different aspects of a British Christmas, drawing on folklore, historical costumes and traditions.

I love Christmas, so always find it a springboard to creativity!

I hope you enjoy my work, as much as I enjoyed creating it.

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Christmas cake

Christmas Pantomime

Lady Christmas

Snow Globe

Strawberry Cake

Norma Slack I am an artist from Northern Ireland who enjoys working with a variety of mediums and experimenting with new techniques. This includes photography - digital and alternative such as cyanotype, paint, collage and a variety of mixed media.

My work is driven by emotion and a sense of connection to place, people and life events. When you view it my hope is that you will get a sense of my love for what I do and that certain pieces may remind you of connections and events in your own life.

The art I share here all includes a elements of a digital or photographic processes.

More of my work including a sample of my illustrated poetry book, Thunder In My Soul can be viewed on my website

www.normasue.com

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Wet Cyanotype Fern

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In The Stillness Of Each Breath I Feel Your Presence

Fearless

Susan Jones My name is Susan Jones I have loved photography all my life, though I was rejected from the photography class at school due to not having my own SLR camera.

About 20 years ago a bought a DSLR and haven’t looked back, I love taking photos, mostly studio but as often as possible getting out and about, particularly London.

I have been using Photoshop for a few years, and to my joy found Sebastian Michaels Photoshop Artistry courses and then Awake and have learned so much about Photoshop and continue to learn every day. I love the program, I love changing plain photographs into fantasy colourful worlds.

I hope you enjoy looking at my work as much as I enjoyed creating it.

https://www.instagram.com/sulisloveswater/

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Angel Dust

Colchis

Artist Interview Th e Ela i n e Dav i e s Inte te r v i e w

My work is an eclectic mix of photographs, of collaged paperwork and painterly textures I have created, of scanned mixed media and elements taken from dismantled jewellery.

These components are amalgamated into jewel encrusted, decorative, whimsical photo art.

--Do you consider yourself to be more a photographer or a photo artist?

I see myself as a multi-disciplinary magpie with a passion for art in many genres. My particular favourites are, textiles, photography, mosaics, collage, zentangle art, and mixed media painting.

Each discipline has led me on an exciting journey, but digital artistry has lit a fire in me that is unlike anything I’ve experienced before. It enables me to interchange between many contrasting techniques and to take concepts much further than only working with traditional media and the limitations they dictate.

---

8 eyed owlyeronfly

b y Vi v i e nJa n e

When did you first start out in photography and photo art?

When I was young my family used to have photography competitions on holiday. I remember vividly the first time I went round a botanical garden with my camera and really studied the exquisite beauty of natural forms.

It was like I was seeing the world through completely different lenses, both my camera lens and my expanded vision. I attribute that awakening to my lifelong love of nature, art, textiles, pattern, colour and the magic of photography. The creative seed was sown and it has been a constant throughout my life.

Photo art was the key, the digital catalyst that removed limitations and enabled me to tie all my eclectic creative interests together into one magnificent, awe-inspiring bundle of inspiration and creative joy. I found that key when I joined Sebastian Michael’s Photo Artistry course in 2018 ---

Antetiguana Have you been influenced by other photographers or digital artists? tBecause my interest in art is so wide ranging I find myself inspired by a mix of artists, mosaicists, designers, crafts people and digital artists. Instagram and Pinterest, museums, galleries and art books are constant sources of inspiration. Pinterest is a cornucopia of creativity.

I have also taken numerous painting and mixed media courses which bring me into direct contact with other artists and their working practices and methodology.

In nature I find as much interest in the mundane as the awesome. The peeling paint on an old door or the Taj Mahal at sunrise can be equally inspiring.

Without a doubt my greatest source of inspiration has come from the immensely talented artists in Sebastian Michaels’ Awake and Kaizen Facebook groups and also the Living the Photo Artistic Life magazine and the UK’s My Creative Images magazine.They provide a never ending source of delight, inspiration, wonder and support.

It is reassuring to know that people with much greater talent than I have begun

Bejewelled Hare

their journey in the same place as myself. There is an old saying that art is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration and with endless practice I’d like to believe it is possible to become exceptionally proficient when creating digital photo art. I am frequently in awe of the work I see from other digital artists in these specialist magazines and the social media community.

--Do you already have a basic idea or story in mind when you start creating a new piece?

I wish I could put Sebastian Michaels’ advice about journaling into practice by planning ahead and seeing the image in my mind’s eye before creating it. This rarely happens to me. I might have a vague idea of what I want to create, but each image leads me on a journey, dancing between Photoshop layers, tools and the blessed history palette - it’s like alchemy. I feel if I surrender to the process things sometimes turn out better than I can actually envisage them. An inadvertent accident or misplaced keystroke can be your best friend (or worst enemy!). My muse is in control so why fight her?

--Can you tell us a bit about your creative process and routine?

I am longing for the day when I become so proficient at Photoshop that my workflow is not hampered by a lack of technical knowledge.

Chametoise Until that time arrives I am committed to learning progressively as often as life’s circumstances allow.

My practice goes through intense periods of learning, only to be brought to a grinding halt by numerous other commitments beyond my control!

I have found I am much more productive when working on a set of images such as my Fantasy Animal series. Once a theme has been established I can concentrate on the details. On the creative journey I find that ideas feeds into one another as the original concept is developed. Gradually it takes form and then related ideas develop from the work in progress. Presently I prefer making groups of related images rather than singular statement pieces.

When working on my Fantasy Animals imagery I tend to create the creatures first, cutting out ,compositing and concentrating on the seamless blending of body parts and then adorning them with textures and jewels. Only when they are completely finished do I plan the background environment, so it is a distinct two part process where the landscape is inspired by the main animal image..

--Could you tell us about the equipment and software you use and which item is indispensable in your studio?

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Breakthrough to Another World

Mac, Wacom Tablet, Photoshop, Sebastian Michaels course content, Topaz Studio, OnOne, Canon EOS 700D, Canon Macro lens, Panasonic DMC TZT,

All the above are indispensible in their own way, but the extra details I incorporate into my work come from the brushes, paints, mosaic pieces, jewellery components, gel plate prints and collage papers. Whatever is tickling my creative fancy at that point and anything which will make my work interesting to me. That multi-disciplinary Magpie always wins out!

--Can you tell us about your fantasy animal series?

Are they animal, vegetable or mineral? In truth they are a combination of all these plus mechanical parts and plenty of ‘bling’ scanned from my huge stash of beads, jewellery components, ribbons and trimmings that I use in my mixed media mosaics.

The series evolved from my wish to create 100 creatures for a 100 day Instagram project.

However, it soon became apparent they were far too time consuming to just churn out on a factory conveyor belt! Consequently I stepped away from that idea and took the pressure off myself. This removal of a deadline has enabled me to be more detailed and to allow each piece to develop organically in its own time frame.

I adore all fauna and flora, but the amalgamations of random parts of animals

Cheeramydeer truly sent my imagination into overdrive.

The devil is in the details- pink nail polish on Jelduckyring’s web toes, the stitching together with staples of the Horcamhino body parts (whimsical, if a bit gruesome, perhaps!). The chainmail armour on Octoeleino. I had a ball creating these animals and I hope that shines through in my work. Creating their names was fun too!

One day I would love to make a children’s book, a poetry book or just a picture book from this series;with the help of a writer of course!. It would be interesting to develop a back story and narrative, although the viewer is deliberately invited to create their own interpretation. So far I have finished 19 quirky animals but would love to create 100 eventually; so watch this space!

--What would your advice be to an aspiring photographer/digital photo artist?

For me it was a revelation I could create digital art even though I was a very amateur photographer.

Don’t get obsessed with taking the perfect photo. It’s not necessary as it all changes and may even virtually disappear after multiple layers have been applied in Photoshop.

Cowzebeleon

Think of a photograph as the underlying structure just awaiting you embellishment and

development. A means to an end and not an end in itself.

‘Don’t die with your music still inside you’(Dr Wayne Dyer) - or your computer come to that. You’re unique and that also applies to your art, so don’t let your creative masterpieces languish in a folder on your computer, never to see the light of day.

Be courageous and show it off - the world needs to see your artwork. If you’re full of self doubt (and let’s face it all artists are at some stage), the best place to get constructive criticism or support and encouragement is in Sebastian Michaels’ Awake and Kaizen Facebook groups.

I got such wonderful support for my series when gripped by a bout of artistic insecurity.

I treasured the valued input and opinions of likeminded creative people. I am truly grateful that as community, through the digital social media platforms, we have the opportunity to reach out at any time. It is easy to question ones ability and become highly self-critical when in the thrall of the creative process. We all need interaction from time to time, especially when we are working in isolation.

Never give up - Photoshop is such a huge learning curve and the rewards of putting in the practice are priceless.

Dalduckymur Have fun...always. If it’s not going well, give yourself a break or start on a new image. Artists used to sharpen their pencils when trying to find inspiration; we now rearrange our folders! Come back refreshed and with fresh eyes- you will get there!

You can find all this amazing artwork available to buy on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/octoeleino/

Deeryhen

Donkzebydalmur

Goatytig

Horcamhino

Octoeleino

Raffetrievering

Vivien Capper Hello my name’s Vivien and I’m from the beautiful county of Kent, England though currently living on the coast near Rome in delightful Italy with its exciting, lively way of life and vibrant colours and designs.

I started out as an artist in 1982 developing Indian ink artwork of a variety of subjects especially figurative artwork and abstract floral designs, then progressed into creative photography and digital artistry thanks to Sebastian Michael’s amazing courses at ‘Photoshop Artistry’ and the advanced courses ‘Awake’ and ‘Kaizen’.

My inspiration is drawn from my love of nature, figurative artwork and Italian design using many textures, patterns and colours.

I’m thrilled to have some of my artwork in various publications including: Living the Photo Artistic Life, My Creative Images and have had various artworks mentioned in the Shift Art Challenge and was thrilled to win the challenge with a piece called ‘The Mysterious Cobbled Street’ in 2018.

Now in 2020 I am concentrating on a series of Fresco-style Art taking my inspiration from Italian Frescos.

This involves a lot of patterns, swirls, designs and colours and adding them to the model. Most of my models are from my Photoshop Artistry and Awake courses and the Colby Files.

http://vivienartdesign.com

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The Woodland Beckons

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Christmas

The Mystery Door

https://issuu.com/mycreativeimages

M e t v IImages ae My CCreative Promoting Digital Photo Artistry