My Creative Images Promoting Digital Photo Artistry and Digital Photography
Issue 46 (January 2022)
Welcome to the Mycreativeimages Magazine Well December came, Christmas and new year flew by and we are already part way in to January. So what does the year ahead have in store for us I wonder. Will you just sit back and wait to see what happens or have you got your route through 2022 mapped out already? Making artwork, no matter the medium, is incredibly satisfying, sharing it with others and seeing how they react is an amazing feeling. Seeing the artwork hung on a wall or used in a metaverse home is the icing on the cake. REMEMBER, art is not a frivolous luxury, its soul warming necessity. Look around you, the workplace, the pub, the cafe, the waiting room at the dentist, are they all blank walls? NO they aren’t they are decorated with artwork bought from a shop to brighten up the room or corridor...... Artwork is important and brightens up your life even cavemen had artwork on their walls. SO for all the artists out there YOUR WORK IS IMPORTANT!
Featured artists
Bernie Tuffs 4 Claude Trew 8 David Walker 12 James Hurley 18 Sue Waterhouse 24 Vivien Capper 28
Keep creating keep inspiring and keep in mind that you have a talent and all you need to do is make one person smile when they look at your work. If you are reading this don’t just flip through the images, take some time to visit the artists websites or social media pages and TELL THEM how much you LOVE their work. Put a SMILE on a strangers face. It doesn’t take much and it means the world. Help an artist manifest their perfect life and let them know there are people out there that love their work as much as they do. Finally I draw your attention to the article on the next page and would ask you to support me with my quest to raise funds and plant trees in the Lake District. James Hurley Photo Artist / Magazine Editor
Cover image “Deep” by James Hurley page 18
Links: Kindle Magazine: https://amzn.to/3GhTZYF Facebook Page: http://bit.ly/MYCIFBpage Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/FBArtGroup
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Please note, that some articles contain affiliate links which direct you to 3rd party sales pages, for example Amazon. In the even you purchase something via one of these links a commission is paid to the editor of this magazine or the author of the article. 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 2021. Please feel free to share the magazine but do not make changes to any of the content.
Decorate your home and plant a tree Trees, water, clouds and mountains. These are my go to’s for clarity and inspiration. A walk through woodland, by fast moving water, up the side of a mountain ALWAYS helps me clear the negative emotions and thoughts and ALWAYS results in me creating my best artwork.
The Larch Plantation at Lantys Tarn
Take a peak at the set of 5 fine art photographs and indeed a photo composite I have made celebrating the majesty of a simple Larch plantation on the Patterdale Hall estate near Ullswater. If they whisper a story to you then you need to have copies of these fine art prints in your home or workspace so you can continue to listen to what they are trying to tell us even though their roots no longer hold them firmly to the earth.
Some places just call out to me, mostly I don’t know why, but I can normally hazard a guess. The Larch plantation near Lantys Tarn is one of those places. Taken at face value it is just another small forested area. But take a closer look and it starts to reveal some of its secrets.
For each framed print sale or NFT sale I will donate a percentage of the profits to the estate to help them plant new trees in areas like this. Help me plant new on Patterdale Hall estate, maybe one day the new trees will tell someone else their story or help someone else clear their mind of confusion and ground themselves in nature.
Can you hear the story they are telling you?
The wind whispers through the trees, which are planted in lines, like soldiers ready and waiting to be called to action or like a knights lance held pointing at the sky ready for the joust. The sunlight playfully chasing the shadows away plays tricks on the eyes. The rustle of birds and other animals playing high in the treetops add to the magic.
View the Larch NFTs: https://bit.ly/LarchNFTs View the Larch Prints: https://bit.ly/MYCIPrints
Sitting amongst the trees sheltering from the rain and wind sipping on a hot coffee I feel the tug of something pulling on the strings of my imagination. The whisper of the wind is distorted by the branches of the trees stood tall and proud around me, what was that? The wind eases and the steam from my coffee swirls upwards heading for the canopy high above me. The bark on the Larch trees surrounding me is “crusty” cracked and crazed with texture and green mosses and lichens. If I let my imagination run wild, I could easily picture Fae or Druids dancing around fires and celebrating life and nature, I can also see wild camps with makeshift shelters made from fallen branches as temporary resting places for weary travellers with rabbit roasting on the split over their fires and tired horses tied to trees nibbling on the grass surrounding the trees. Yes the Larch plantation was trying to tell me a story, trying to wake up my imagination and show me the happiness shared by trees around the world when they see the joy and love people show them. Did they know their fate, were they sharing their stories with me to carry them into the world, is this why I felt so drawn to them and why I took this series of atmospheric photographs of them. I wonder if they made the choice to let go of their hold on the earth and let storm Arwen bring a graceful end to their lives rather than waiting for the cut of the chainsaw. Maybe I need to seek some counselling or just have an over-active imagination, who knows. What I do know is that this magical, for me, larch plantation has now gone (or is in the process of being cleared) and the welcome embrace and shelter offered by these lovely trees will no longer be calling me when I head down from Red Tarn or after wandering around the Grisedale valley walk. I find this very sad and will miss them and the stories they conjured in my mind whist sitting under their protective canopy.
James Hurley Photo Artist / Magazine Editor
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. My latest venture is designing and selling digital overlays and textures. Now I feel I’m home and am having so much fun with my art!
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/BernieTuffs
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The Way Home
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Christmas Gift
The Year to Live Again
Claude Trew I retired a few years ago, and since I had more free time, I decided it was time to expand my photo art skills. I have been a member of my local camera club for many years, but I wanted to branch out in areas of photography that would be more artistic and outside the style of photographs that are most successful in club competitions. With this in mind, four years ago I joined the international online Photoshop course “My Photo Artistic Life” created by Sebastian Michaels. I have never regretted my decision and I am still a member of this vibrant and artistic FaceBook community. A few months ago I joined another online course “Elevate your Art”, this time learning to paint with Photoshop’s mixer brush. My vision is, one day, to be able to paint images which will look like oil paintings. You are welcome to visit my website to see some samples of my Photo Art.
www.claudetrew.com
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Winter Dragon
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New Year Wishes
Xmas Wishes
D is for Dog
David Walker Computer technology is continually improving both in the computers themselves and in the software available to users. I have an iMac Pro (2017) which was certainly state of the art in 2017 but is now considerably “slower” than today’s equivalents. “Slower” is of course a relative term, my iMac is still so much faster than many computers but still relatively slow compared to the latest Apple developments. The cost to upgrade will be a couple of thousand pounds, or more. I guess I will have to await a bit longer before decide to upgrade! As far as software is concerned the story is quite different. Adobe, by far and away the market leader in digital photography software, has a subscription service which ensures that I have available all of the latest program updates. When the subscription service was introduced some years ago the digital photography fraternity were very suspicious of Adobe’s motives. In retrospect we were clearly proved wrong and the latest version of the software had some very exciting additions. After reviewing the latest improvements I realised that my nature (both flora and fauna) photography could benefit. I had concentrated on this sphere of photography in my early days with a digital camera and have nearly 20,000 images stored on my computer. Since then I have widened my photography scope, but still include nature as one of my “likes”. I was fortunate to visit Kenya in 2012 and decided Ito review my images from that date to see if I could include them in my PhotoArtistry portfolio. I have of course ventured a few times into PhotoArt nature subjects, but found the transition from photography to PhotoArt quite a difficult hurdle to overcome. Perfect nature photography requires a definite series of skills, working towards a crystal clear…pixel perfect image…everything perfectly focussed…the subject in the perfect pose (sometimes difficult with wild animals!)…lighting perfect…etc. Put these requirements into PhotoArt and the artistic options can be very limited. If you want a photo realistic image, I suggest a photograph is the best, and perhaps the only, option. Artistic renderings of nature, both flora and fauna, rely on aspects such as softness, imagination, carefully imagined backgrounds all leading towards an image that could adorn an owner’s walls. I cannot bring myself, even in PhotoArt, to bring in fantasy, improbable or fanciful additions. To me the concentration should be on the subject in its own right. Having a person stroking, or lying next to, a carnivore or other “beast of the jungle” is improbable at the best. Likewise fairies, elves and other distractions are pretty rare in the real world. Not everyone will agree with me, but as the artist it is my prerogative to decide the direction of my art! I said earlier that there is a dilemma with nature and PhotoArt, I hope that this month’s images can show that there is some room for PhotoArtistic impressions in the realm of nature!
https://www.vista-foto.com/
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Mama Lion
Love you Sis
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Family Tree
Elephant with a Thirst
Leopard
Mighty Beast
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TGIF...Zebra Style.
Paw Patrol
That was Tasty!
James Hurley James is BOLD and direct, this is reflected in his art. He doesn’t let other peoples actions or approaches to life corrupt his mind or attitude. He is his TRUE SELF and has learned to follow his own path brushing himself off and carrying on when he stumbles or has taken a wrong turn, he learns from mistakes or failures. James has turned his negative thoughts about his dreams and ambitions, “its impossible”, into his reality “I’m Possible” this was achieved when he realised he is his most underused and undervalued asset. When asked to describe his work James responded as follows: “I am an Artist. I am a creator. I am a creative entrepreneur. I turn Love, Joy, Passion, challenging emotions into art that makes connections between fantasy and reality to make photo-art that feeds the creative mind and generates happiness at a subconscious level. I LOVE who I am and I POUR this love, my compassion and raw emotions into my photography and Photo-art as a way of sharing my LOVE with you. My sole aim is to leave a lasting impression on people that I meet, that interact with me online or choose to invest in my work, either my artwork or the magazine. In short, if you want artwork that resonates with an emotion you have experienced or that fuels your thoughts then look no further, but remember, emotions should be observed and recognised for what they are they should be learnt from and not drive your choice and decision making.”
“You don’t take a photograph, you make it.” Ansel Adams
https://www.mycreativeimages.com/
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”Deep” I create art to help me clear emotions and negative thoughts. To wipe the slate clean and move on. This piece is created to show how disconnected some individuals have become from the world, from family, from nature and is a reminder that being unhappy is the universes way of telling you that you aren’t on the right path. Find your path, find your “what” and strive to remodel yourself into the person you want to be.
Sue Waterhouse I was given my first DSLR camera for Christmas in 2013 and very quickly became addicted! fortunately, I was lucky enough to take early retirement at the same time. From 2013 to 2019 my husband and I split our time between Spain and Portugal in the winter, travelling in our motorhome, and the UK and France in the summer. This provided lots of opportunities for many styles of photography. When the first lockdown was introduced in March 2020, I decided I would use some of the extra time that we were spending at home, working to improve my Photoshop skills. Discovering the Photo Artistry course and more recently the AWAKE training has made me appreciate and enjoy creating digital art as much as I enjoy digital photography. I enjoy using photographs I have taken over the last few years and creating digital art from them. I also use models and digital assets provided within the course materials. I have not yet found one particular style that I prefer….maybe I never will! I have recently been working on a series of images illustrating “Collective nouns” Here are 4 of the images from that series.
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A Circus of Puffins
A Committe Flamingos
A Puddle of Puppies 26
An Argument of Wizards
Vivien Capper For this month’s magazine I’ve decided to go back in time and show three pieces that I created in January 2019, 2020, 2021. What surprised me most is the fact that I used similar blue/purple tones with a modernistic approach. I love looking back at past artwork, but also enjoy trying out new things. In the final piece I’ve designed an art-deco-style lady artwork. I’ve been moving in this direction for a while now, and really enjoy creating these pieces.
https://saatchiart.com/vivienjane
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Moving between planets
The Mindreader 30
Art deco 20s style
The ABC Album
that one special place If you hadnt realised by now I have a “thing” for one particular area of Ullswater, and thats Waterfall Wood Walk in Patterdale. I love moving water, I love trees and seculeded spots but put them both together and im in nervarna. Like most people I have my faults and my personal struggles, thankfully I have a place I can go to help me focus and find my true self, sadly its a 5 hour drive away from home! BUT I have an endless supply of memories and a nice selction of captured moments in the form of my fine art photographs. So what is it that makes this place special for me? I suppose it started with the friendship that I built with the people that maintained the land, sadly one of them has now moved on but I occasionally do keep in contact with them via the magic of WhatsApp. Anyway, that friendship allowed me to appreciate the love and hard work that goes into the care and preservation of areas like this. I remember when I first started spending time here that there were areas that were so overgrown that it was a scramble and fight thro many invasive non-native plants through part of the walk, and then there was the damage caused by some major storms over the recent years including the devastating flooding of Glenridding and Patterdale in 2015, the major land slippage just above the main waterfall that resulted in the reinforcement of the valley wall to prevent the rod from sliding in the beck and more recently the sad loss of a lovely area of Larch trees next to Lantys Tarn that were victims to storm Arwen. Through all this and more the small team of staff and lots of willing volunteers work tirelessly to help mother nature by working
in rain, wind and snow to keep the land looking as it should. So I guess its a combination of the area and the people that look after it that draws me back and the fact that I can sit a drink a coffee totally undisturbed by anyone and let my mind focus on the complex beauty of nature and my place within it. Memories and Imagination are vital! My love of this area is embeded in my fine art photos, they are my memories and my go to “safe place” which I hang on my wall and carry on my phone. They are a key part of me. Help me share the beauty of this amazing spot in the Lake District. Not everyone will be fortunate enough to be able to sit and enjoy the sights and sounds of Waterfall Wood Walk. But they can get a feel for what its like from seeing my fine art photographs hung on a wall in your home, workplace or even their own homes or in your NFT collection Add to that, whenever I sell l a print or NFT I will donate a percentage of the sale to the estate so they can continue to do the amazing work they do. How can you get involved? Help me help the estate, ether you can buy one or more of my prints, click here, or buy one or more of my NFTs, click here, and I will donate funds to the Estate. Either way you will be helping me spread the love of this small area of Ullswater and will be donating the equivalent cost of planting a tree to the Estate. James Hurley - Photo Artist / Magazine Editor
Back Issues If you enjoyed this issue, follow the link below and check out the previous months magazines. Each one is packed full of photo-art made especially for you.
https://issuu.com/mycreativeimages
M e t v IImages ae My CCreative Promoting Digital Photo Artistry
