Artists Down Under - Australia and New Zealand - June 2023

DOWN UNDERartists

Australia and New Zealand

Welcome to the June edition of Artists Down Under.

Winter is now upon us and it certainly has turned chilly. The frosts have hit and it is a great time for our artists to stay indoors, turn off from the world for awhile and do some art. What better excuse do they need ... lol.

Once again, another successful month for our artists, well done to you all.

Andrew Haysom delights us all with another of his informative Photoshop tutorials. This month he expands on last month’s tutorial and explains all about Multiple Exposures with The Adamski Effect.

The challenge was set this month as Pam challenged Maureen with a tough one, but Maureen rose to the challenge and you will be delighted with the outcome. Clever girl.

This month’s interview is with the very successful and delightful Christina Brunton. Christina is a very talented lady and her art varies over several different genres. Grab a cuppa and settle in to read this interview.

This month’s Featured Artist is our ever loving Photoshop guru, Andrew Haysom. Andrew has an amazing style and is a very talented artist. I know you will all love his images and interview.

Each month I try to challenge our artists with a Photo challenge. This month I really stepped up the challenge and set our artists the challenge theme of “Calendars”. Simply amazing results.

Well that’s it from me for now. Stay safe and take care of each other.

Backgrounds: Foxy Squirrell

Laitha’s Designs - Jai Johnson - White Lane Studio

Copyright 2017 ©

Julie Powell - Cassie

Julie Powell - Steampunk Raven

Pam Henderson

https://artistsdownunder.com.au/artist-3/margaret-kalms/

artists Achievements monthly down under

artists down under facebook page

The Artists Down Under Public Facebook page has been set up to allow the artists in the group to showcase their work and to enable them to share promotional information about themselves, e.g. exhbitions, awards etc...

You can find the Artists Down Under Public Facebook page at this address; https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtistsDownUnder/

So, if you are an artist in the group, don’t forget to regularly share your work and information here, and to let your friends and family know about the page if they are interested in viewing the latest art and news from the group.

If you are a reader of the magazine who does not have access to the page, please click the link above and request to join. When you request to join you will be asked to answer three simple questions that will allow us to determine if you are an eligible artist who may wish to join the group and therefore be able to post on the page, or a member of the public who can view, comment and like the work on the page. It’s a great place to see some great art from this vibrant group every day!

Julie Powell - Wish Upon A Star

Julie Powell - Night Skies Over Lake Tyrell, Vic

Kaylene Helliwell - A Moment Lost

Rosa Perry - The Crow

Three ADU members receive a special gift

Our very good Awake friends Teddi Rutschman of Foxey Squirrel and Diane Stafford from WhiteLaneStudio continue to give gifts as a reward for members of the Artists Down Under group who contribute to the ADU Facebook page by regularly posting their artworks and supporting other members with their comments.

Teddi, from Virginia, USA, is well known for her fantastic sets of digital designer backgrounds, masks and all kinds of wonderful elements ready for designers to add to or build a wondrous creation.

Teddi Rutshman can be found at http://www.foxeysquirrel.com/ http://www.oscraps.com/shop/Foxeysquirrel

Teddi has given a 50% off discount voucher for one very lucky member to spend in her on-line shop.

Diane Stafford from Chester, UK, designs Photoshop textures and overlays for photo artists and photographers to use in their digital artworks. Diane has created another special kit just for Artists Down Under for the month of JUNE.

Two artists will receive a Diane kit each.

Diane Stafford can be found at https://whitelanestudio.co.uk/biolinks

The JUNE lucky winners are

Teddi Rutschman (Foxy Squirrel) 50% off Gift Voucher

- Elenor Gill

Diane Stafford (WhiteLaneStudio) Texture & Overlay Kit

- Bev Terrawskyj

- Bill Oldham

Julie Powell - The White Rabbit

Hemant Kogekar - Mt. Laugh-More

Rosa Perry - Be Your Own Unique Self

Tracey Perrin - Fly Me To The Moon

LIVING THE PHOTO ARTISTIC LIFE

https://issuu.com/thephotoartisticlife/docs/issue99-final?fr=sMTJkZTI1ODEw

Congratulations to the following artists for having their images chosen to appear in the International magazine

“Living The Photo Artistic Life”.

Kim Ricci

- The Night Watch

Rosa Perry

- Button Collector

- Annabelle

Helen McLeod

- Abandoned For The Sake Of Progress

- A Bit Of Surreal Fun

Kaylene Helliwell

- ... And The Moon Bloomed

Sonia Pusey

- Different Drum

- Dream A Little Dream

Gitama Day

- The Solomon Trees

Maureen Maxwell

- The Guardian

- The Angel Protector Of The Forest

Sandra Dann

- Sorrow

- Isolation

Ilona Abou-Zolof

- Let’s Get Moving

Julie Powell

- Rose Study II

- The Photographer

Louise Smith

- Gaia

- Window Shopping

Christina Brunton

- Tea Ceremony

- Dragon And The Samurai

Elenor Gill

- Extinction

Lynette Paul

- Colour My World

- Tulip

Julie Powell - Rose Study II

Sonia Pusey - Dream A Little Dream

Rosa Perry - Annabelle

Kaylene Helliwell - ... And The Moon Bloomed

Lynette Paul - Tulip

LIVING THE PHOTO ARTISTIC LIFE

Christina Brunton - Dragon And The Samurai

Ilona Abou-Zolof - Let’s Get Moving

Elenor Gill - Extinction

Sandra Dann - Isolation

Sonia Pusey - Different Drum

Christina Brunton - Tea Ceremony

Louise Smith - Window Shopping

Kim Ricci - The Night Watch

Julie Powell - The Photographer

Louise Smith - Gaia

LIVING THE PHOTO ARTISTIC LIFE

Maureen Maxwell - The Protector Of The Forest

Rosa Perry - Button Collector

Helen McLeod - A Bit Of Surreal Fun

Gitama Day - The Solomon Trees

Sandra Dann - Sorrow

Lynette Paul - Colour My World

Maureen Maxwell - The Guardian

Helen McLeod - Abandoned For The Sake Of Progress

light space and time

“Figurative”

https://lightspacetime.art/figurative-art-exhibition-may-2023/

Congratulations to the following Artists for their special achievements in the “Abstracts” Light Space & Time competition.

Overall

3rd Place Ilona Abou-Zolof - “High Tea”

4th Place Julie Powell - “Hummingbirds”

Photography & Digital

1st Place Ilona Abou-Zolof - “High Tea”

2nd Place Julie Powell - “Hummingbirds”

Special Merit

Christina Brunton - “Lady In Hat”

Julie Powell - “Forest Nymph”

Christina Brunton - High Tea Christina Brunton - Lady In Hat

Julie Powell - Hummingbirds

Julie Powell - Forest Nymph

Jane Tovey - Queens Of Fire And Ice

Prue Wright - Lost Kingdom

Penny De Jong - Gambling With The Kingdom

MARY JANE

BATH TIME

NEW ZEALAND )

(

KAYLENE HELLIWELL

I WAS LOST BUT NOW I AM FOUND

THE RAINBOW BIRDS

DOWN UNDER

Australia and New Zealand

SOME PHOTOSHOP INSPIRATION

MULTIPLE EXPOSURES IN PHOTOSHOP

THE ADAMSKI EFFECT

By Andrew Haysom

Following on from last month’s article on the Pep Ventosa “In the Round” technique, this article discusses another multiple exposure technique called the Adamski Effect. Unlike last month’s technique, which could be accomplished “in camera” or in post-processing, this technique is purely done in Photoshop, or a similar app.

The Adamski Effect is named after Josh Adamski, an Israeli photographer who uses the technique in a lot of his work.

I was introduced to the technique by a dear friend of mine, Charlotte Hedman. Charlotte has created a number of images using this technique, all of which I loved.

The Adamski Effect involves keeping the main subject of your image in focus, while using creative motion blur techniques to blur the background of the image. You can use vertical motion blur, or horizontal motion blur, or using other techniques like Path Blur, you can create multidirectional and even curved blurs. Any of these can be used on their own, or in combination.

My first example is “Pedagogy Promenade” a beautiful image from my friend Charlotte, based on a photograph she took at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada.

[Figure 1 – “Pedagogy Promenade” by Charlotte Hedman]

SOME PHOTOSHOP INSPIRATION (CONT.......)

In this image, Charlotte would have had at least three copies of her photograph stacked as layers in her Photoshop document. The top layer has the central subject, the man with the yellow backpack, masked so that it is the only thing showing, and he is left in focus. The layers under neath have had horizontal motion blur and vertical motion blur applied, and again layer masks have been skillfully used to apply these to varying degrees in different parts of the image to achieve the beautiful result you see.

The second example, “Adamski Surfers”, shown in Figure 2, is my first attempt at this technique, based on a photograph I took at Logan’s Beach in Warrnambool. Figure 2 also shows the original photograph.

[Figure 2 – “Adamski Surfers”]

[Figure 3 – Layer stack showing base layers]

The basic layer stack for the image is shown in Figure 3.

SOME PHOTOSHOP INSPIRATION (CONT.......)

Here is the process I used to create this image.

1. I duplicated the Background layer twice.

2. I used the Pen Tool to create a selection of the surfers and their shadows, then used that selection to create a layer mask on the top layer.

3. I activated the selection created in step 2 by [Cmd/Ctrl]+clicking on the layer mask, then expanded the selection by 10 pixels and used Content-Aware Fill to remove the surfers from the bottom copy of the image.

4. I then converted this layer to a Smart Object, this allows you to easily reconfigure the blur to be applied in the next step if required.

5. I then used the Path Blur option, found in Filter / Blur Gallery to apply three separate blurs following the lines of the waves, the Path Blur dialog is shown in Figure 4.

6. The Path Blur was applied a second time to create even more blur.

7. Various adjustment layers were then used to adjust the tones and colours in the image to taste (these are not shown in Figure 3).

The Adamski Effect process can create some really beautiful results, I encourage you to take a look at Charlotte’s other Adamski images on Flickr, you will find them at the link below.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/111778568@N06/albums/72177720304063000

[Figure 4 – The Path Blur Dialog]

SOME PHOTOSHOP INSPIRATION (CONT.......)

You will notice that a few of Charlotte’s images have beautiful swirly, curved blur in the skies. I assumed these were created using Path Blur but when I asked Charlotte about her technique, she said;

“When I do the skies with the curved blurs - I add a layer from another image - say a sky. Or sometimes just take a portion of the sky if it’s very interesting and make a new layer out of it. I then use the Transform tool, and first make it narrower, and then use the Warp tool in Transform, to shape the sky into those curves. In some of my beach scenes, I used three to five different layers of different skies. On each of those layers, I used a low opacity brush to mask the edges to blur them so they aren’t too sharp.”

So, just goes to consolidate my view that there are many equally effective ways to do things in Photoshop.

“Shall we stay or shall we go” shown in Figure 5 is one of the beautiful swirly, curved blur sky images by Charlotte. It is based on a photo she took in California.

I hope you like the Adamski Effect and will give it a try to create your own images. You can view some of Josh Adamski’s work on his Instagram @josh_adamski.

Andrew Haysom

[Figure 5 – “Shall we stay or shall we go” by Charlotte Hedman]

DOWN artistsUNDER

Australia and New Zealand

DIGITAL ARTISTS GROUP

A COLLABORATIVE GROUP OF PHOTO ARTISTS

CHINESE WHISPERS #67 “TRAVEL DREAMS”

STAGE 1

These collaborative efforts by the two of us get more challenging each month.

Pam started this month’s round, and she gave me a few moments of ‘OH! NO!’

But, then I thought how I would love to explore our wonderful world further and turned into a dream.

STAGE 2

ENJOY!

Maureen Maxwell

Pam Henderson

Maureen Maxwell

ANDREW HAYSOM

INTO THE VORTEX

YARRA’S EDGE

VALLEY OF THE LIQUID AMBERS

YARRA RIVER FROM SEAFARERS BRIDGE

SOUTHBANK, MELBOURNE

SACRED KINGFISHER

MALE BLACK COCKATOO

Melbourne Victoria

1. Tell us a little about yourself and where you live?

I am English by birth, my family emigrated to Australia when I was 10 years old. I spent my childhood in the Geelong area, and the beaches of the Surf Coast and Great Ocean Road have always been a favourite place. I moved to Melbourne to attend Melbourne University where I completed a BSc degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. I met my darling wife Adrienne at the residential college we lived in, and we have two grown children, Chris and Kate. I worked in IT for my whole career and retired in 2018. I live in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.

2. How did you become interested/get started in Photo Artistry?

I took up photography as a hobby in 2011, and this soon drew me into learning how to edit my digital photographs. This obviously led to Photoshop, and I soon became a little bit obsessed with learning all I could about what I thought was an amazing (and complex) bit of software.

Whilst looking for Photoshop training I came across Sebastian’s Photoshop Artistry and Creative Black and White courses, and quickly completed them both. Initially this was very much just a way of learning all I could about Photoshop, but I quickly got interested in the artistic possibilities. I signed up for Awake, and it was this course that really changed the way I saw myself, and really gave me the confidence to try and express myself artistically. I had always believed I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body, Awake and specifically Sebastian’s motivational MP3s changed all that for me.

3. What inspires you or gives you inspiration to create your art?

With my photography the major inspiration is nature and wildlife, primarily birds. Since taking up photography I spend a lot more time outdoors and “in nature” and notice things I never did before.

Sometimes my art is inspired by my political or philosophical viewpoints, but more often it just evolves from playing with photographic techniques and Photoshop methods.

Futzing in Photoshop is how I relax. This might be editing my most recent photos, but is often just playing – trying different artistic techniques, and more recently just trying to create digital patterns. More often than not this mucking around in Photoshop doesn’t result in any “art” that I keep, but I find the process of playing around with the software very relaxing.

4. Do you have a certain approach to creating your art?

No, not really. It is rare for any artistic piece of mine to actually be created from a specific idea, and then to end up looking like the initial plan or thoughts I had. Usually they just evolve as I play, but that’s ok with me because it’s usually the journey that is more important than the destination.

5. What does your art mean to you?

For the majority of my life I really didn’t have any creative outlet. My photography and digital art has given me that.

While I still don’t think of myself as an “artist”, being a part of a community of artists is really special to me.

6. Do you think since starting in photo artistry it has changed you and if so, how?

It definitely has. Finding out that I did have some artistic ability was a shock but it has increased my self-confidence, introduced me to a lot of wonderful people, and given me a way to engage my brain and relax at the same time.

7. Is there anyone that you draw inspiration from?

Yes, there are so many people.

Fellow photographers, many who have become great friends have taught me so much.

One friend, Ali, changed my whole photographic philosophy from someone who was so technical (everything had to be sharp, everything had to be straight) and taught me that blur is beautiful, that light is the important thing and introduced me to a whole new world. I have made so many friends on Flickr and some inspire me everyday with their work.

In our own community there are so many that inspire me with their work. Even though I know that my digital art may never reach their level, what Awake and Sebastian have taught me is that this doesn’t matter. I realise now that I need to do it for me, do what I enjoy and if others like it then it’s a bonus.

I am a keen follower of the Melbourne street art scene and have also made a lot of good friends there (both artists and other street art hunters). So many of the street artists I follow are such beautiful talented people that you can’t help but be inspired by them.

8. Where do you see (or hope to see) your art taking you in the future ? What are your next steps?

My next steps are really just to try to keep learning, keep trying new things and to keep enjoying it. If that is the future then I am happy.

WHERE’S

https://artistsdownunder.com.au/artists-1/ann-wehner/

THE

DOWN UNDER

Australia and New Zealand

INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA BRUNTON

By Maureen Maxwell

Christina, you’ve been a member of Artists Down Under since the beginning. We are now up to the 75th edition and you’ve had artworks in each edition. That is a remarkable achievement, both for you personally and ADU.

You’ve contributed to our success in many ways by writing articles, taking part in our Zoom sessions, and working with Ilona to organise a highly successful 4-day catchup in The Blue Mountains out of Sydney. In addition to all that, you are always willing to help others in our group.

You been published in many overseas magazines, including the international ‘Living the Photo Artistic Life’. Many international awards and competition successes have also been achieved with your photography and photo art.

YOU WERE RECENTLY THE FEATURED ARTIST IN THE ‘LIVING THE PHOTO ARTISTIC LIFE’ MAGAZINE. SEBASTIAN MICHAELS ALSO CONDUCTED AN INTERVIEW WITH YOU ON THE QUILL AND CAMERA SITE. I’VE INCLUDED A LINK TO EACH OF THESE SITES FOR THE INTEREST OF OUR READERS. CAN YOU GIVE US A LITTLE INSIGHT AS TO WHAT THIS MEANT TO YOU?

It is always awesome to have my art published in the ‘Living the Photo Artistic Life’ magazine amongst all the other international artists on a regular basis. I was truly honoured to be chosen as a featured artist and also honoured to have Sebastian Michaels conducting an interview with me for the Quill and Camera site. It is an extreme privilege to me.

https://issuu.com/thephotoartisticlife/docs/issue96-final

https://www.quillandcamera.com/the-christina-brunton-interview/?fbclid=IwAR3cKtQHou30POvnPiYm8YKDHeyIFoGt0rmfKa3PKzTunErKiuZZ68Kttg

OVER THE YEARS IN ADU YOU’VE COVERED A WIDE RANGE OF ARTISTIC GENRES, RANGING FROM STEAMPUNK AND PORTRAITURE THROUGH TO CAPTURING IMAGES OF WILDLIFE IN THEIR NATURAL HABITAT. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE GENRE, AND IF SO, WHY?

All those genres you mentioned Maureen are very dear to my heart and I love all of them but my favourite genre is what I am working on at the moment. For instance, currently I am working on a new style to me for my next exhibition and doing a number of simplistic faces.

Zebra Criss Cross

Steampunk Scientist

Dr Paul Dad, Mum And Baby

MOST OF YOUR IMAGES TELL AN INTERESTING STORY. DOES THE STORY EVOLVE AS YOU CREATE, OR DO YOU VISUALISE FIRST, AND THEN CREATE THE STORY? OR DOES IT VARY?

I see myself as an image maker, where I plan my photo-shoots and what I want to create. I use a two-step process for my artistry taking photos and then enhancing through digital artistry. My process for any photo-shoot is firstly to choose the theme and then everything else follows from this choice, such as which model for the shoot, what wardrobe and props, whether it is an indoor or outdoor setting and what needs to be included. The second part of the process is the digital artistry and I have normally visualised first, but sometimes it just evolves. I do love to create stories with my art.

YOU’VE BEEN INVOLVED IN MANY EXHIBITIONS IN SYDNEY AND COUNTRY NSW. THE THEMES FOR EACH EXHIBITION ARE VARIED. WHAT APPEALS TO YOU ABOUT PARTICIPATING IN EXHIBITIONS? HOW DO YOU PLAN FOR EACH EXHBITION?

Another Artists Down Under member, Ilona Abou-Zolof, and I were approached at a Goulburn Steampunk Festival, and asked to join their community (co-op) gallery, Gallery on Track in Goulburn. The two of us have an exhibition every year there.

I am part of the Meraki Artists, which is a small group working to produce fine art and to exhibiting our art. “Meraki” is a word which means “to do something with soul, creativity or love; when you leave a piece of yourself in your work”. We endeavour to do an exhibition every year, sometimes twice per year.

Every year we each choose a theme which we develop into a body of art which we call ‘projects of passion’. I really enjoy working on a body of work or series and to me they tend to say more as a group than as a single image or art piece. They need to be cohesive and look good together as they often end up as an exhibition. We purposely choose a different theme each year, we meet up monthly to discuss what we have worked on, ensuring we are on track to be complete before the exhibition starts. Extra eyes from the others help to decide what works together, what needs more work or what doesn’t work.

Kahla

Art Deco Blue

Fur Coat

INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA BRUNTON (CONT....)

THE PHOTO ARTISTRY ENVIRONMENT WE ARE INVOLVED WITH IS A NEVER-ENDING JOURNEY WITH COUNTLESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR LEARNING. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT THE LEARNING PROCESS?

After joining Sebastian Michaels’ courses, I continued on to Awake and when I had finished them, I moved on to Kaizen. My tutorial buddy and I generally meet weekly for a tutorial day and when we have done Sebastian’s courses we will also watch other courses we have purchased or find on YouTube. I enjoy learning and think it helps my mind from going stale. I never want to stop learning.

WHAT NEXT ON YOUR CREATIVE JOURNEY CHRISTINA?

I am quite happy to continue creating and hopefully keep improving. Creating art is like a meditation to me, my bliss.

PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF.

I am an artist with a background in oil painting who took up photography to capture images as a reference for my paintings. It was only when I learnt to do digital artistry where everything fell into place perfectly and I was able to merge my two passions of painting and photography. Creating art is a way of life that sings to me and I hope it touches the viewer’s heart and soul.

CLOSING COMMENTS by Maureen

This is a most interesting read, Christina. Your storytelling art is inspirational. The amount of planning you do for your photo shoots, the digital enhancements and the preparation for your exhibitions is obvious in the quality of your images. Our readers will be very interested in your comments.

Effie Kneeling

Effie Umbrella

Effie Sunset

https://artistsdownunder.com.au/artist-3/lynsey-stirland-mitchell/

monthly artistic down under

Rosa Perry - Artsy June

Julie Powell - Surfer Girl Big M Calendar

Karen Waalwyk - Calendar

Maureen Maxwell - June 2023

Colin Campbell - Climate Calendar

Andrew Haysom - End Of Days

artists

DOWN UNDER

adu artists business advertisements

Helping Women with Endometriosis

50% of profit donated to endometriosis research

When I first heard about endometriosis I felt a deep compassion and need to do what I could to help. Women with endometriosis suffer debilitating pain, disruptive symptoms and often endure multiple operations simply to function normally. Few people are patient when listening to descriptions of pain, symptoms or illness. This can have the effect of silencing people who are ill.

My compassion inspires my photoart which I show in presentations to raise awareness. I joined Awake to teach me advanced Photoshop skills, specifically to expand my photoartistic skills to create imaginative and dramatic images.

My photoart opens dialogue enabling freer expression of hidden feelings, experiences too private to mention in ordinary conversation. I create photoart inspired by the concerns of women with endometriosis. Several women have said that the process of imaging their suffering has helped them to face their pain and illness. There is immense strength in being heard. I want my photoart to become visual screams!!

26 women with endometriosis have told me about their experiences. They spoke to me about their concerns and collaborated during the photo session. We explored meanings of body, ideas of self and impacts of illness together, agreeing which ideas we would explore photographically. My photos are often carefully arranged, but that doesn’t mean they are fake. They represent the personal truth and experiences of 26 women with endometriosis. These women are remembering and acting out their OWN experiences. They choose their own stance and facial expression. Women with endometriosis are the only people who truly know what endometriosis FEELS like.

Unfortunately endometriosis is relatively common; an estimated 1 in 10 women living with endometriosis, being over 175,000,000 women worldwide! And an estimated 500,000 women in Australia! Their experiences are heart-breaking. Regular illness and debilitating pain result in missed education and poor career opportunities leaving them women vulnerable to poverty.

Women with endometriosis need real medical progress to reduce their suffering. I passionately desire to raise money for endometriosis research so that faster diagnoses are made and more effective treatments are found. To raise money for endometriosis research, I host events and sell products on Redbubble. Recently I gave $3,000 to Canberra Endometriosis Centre!

Art by Margaret Kalms

Share ‘EndoWomanArt’ with your friends on social media to raise awareness and money for women’s health!

We all need clothes & household goods. Buy yourself a treat or buy a special gift for your friends. Make your shopping count!

Remember 50% of profit goes to endometriosis research!

https://www.redbubble.com/ people/EndoWomanArt/shop

Follow ‘Life with Endometriosis’: https://www.facebook.com/ LifeWithEndometriosis

See Margaret Kalms photoart, ‘Life with Endometriosis’: http://www.endowomanart.com

Margaret Kalms

Bunch Of Butterflies On Grevillea Sweatshirt

Butterflies False Colour Grey Stripes

Bunch Of Butterflies On Grevillea Pencil Case

WEBSITE: http://artistsdownunder.com.au/ http://tinyurl.com/artisitsdownunderpublic