This is a flash fiction piece I wrote for my Creative Writing class.

Weight settles on my hip. Familiar, but unexpected and not quite right. My eyes pop open in the darkened room, and without my glasses, the shadows feel alive, almost sinister. Goosebumps form on my exposed flesh. It's cold in here. Heart racing, I wonder why I didn't hear the bedroom door open. I'm usually a light sleeper. A breath of warm air stirs the hair on my neck, and I can feel his presence behind me. The room waits, but I'm afraid to disturb the silence that settles over us.

Eventually, I can't stand it and say, "I miss you."

"I know," he replies.

"I have so many questions."

"You usually do," he says, amusement lacing his voice.

"You won't answer them, will you?"

"You know I can't."

Frustration claws its way through me. I want to know where he's been, why he left, and what he's been doing.

Eyes stinging, I ask what I really want to know, "Will you stay?"

"I want to."

"But you won't."

He sighs deeply, "It's not good for you if I do."

Tears strangle me and flood down my face.

I sob, "Why did you even come then?" before gasping for breath. This is so wrong.

Grief rattles my body, and he says nothing. I love him. I want him to be here. He's missing everything.

"I don't want you to go," I say.

The mattress shifts slightly, and the keys in his pocket jangle, but he remains quiet. I want to breathe him in. I want to smell home once more before he leaves, so I turn over.

Jax's head slides off my hip before looking at me with wide eyes and floppy ears, clearly annoyed that I disturbed him. Stryker lies on the pillow, his nose so close I can feel his puppy breath fan my face before he leans in to give me kisses.

The only signs he was here are the clothes hanging in the closet, still waiting for him to return. It's been six months since he rode out of my life, and yet, he still haunts me.

Struggling to catch my breath, I sit up. My head feels like stuffed cotton, and I need to blow my nose, so I get out of bed. The wind has picked up, and I can smell snow in the air. Closing the window, I head to the bathroom and the bedroom door squeals when I open it.

He's not here.

He's everywhere.

He's part of the floor that I walk on, the kitchen that we built together, and the bathroom where he levelled the tub instead of letting it angle to the drain, so water spills onto the floor, leaving white trails on the black tile like ghostly fingerprints. Nearly eighteen years of memories live and breathe in this house, stalking every moment of my day, and reminding me of what's lost.

Maybe he's right. Maybe it isn't good for me.

I enjoyed writing this piece and would love to hear your thoughts on it! Please share them below.

Two Heads Are Better Than One?

Table of contents

• Two Heads Are Better Than One?
• A Giggle Fest Conceptual Portrait Inspired By Nirvana
• The Making Of: Severed Head PomPoms, Zombie Makeup and Anarchist Tank Tops
  • An Anarchist's Attire
  • Zombies and Severed Heads For a Conceptual Portrait
  • Compositing the Image
• What I Learned: Sometimes Your Creations Don’t Resonate With Others
• Final Thoughts
  • The Portrait Story Series
  • Keep In Touch

A Giggle Fest Conceptual Portrait Inspired By Nirvana

In 2022, my photography friends and I decided we were going to complete another Jukebox June conceptual portrait project. The previous year was a free-for-all: think of a song, make an image for it, and share it. For this year's project, I wanted to up the ante by setting some parameters. Dubbing it 90s Creature Feature, I could only choose songs from the 90s and each image had to feature a “supernatural creature.” This would allow me to also explore special effects makeup and costume design, both of which are things I’m also interested in.

Inspired by a classic grunge song, I made the image to resemble a frame from the music video. That song is “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana. This song came out when I was in junior high and to say it resonated with me is understatement.

I probably don’t need to explain the profound impact Nirvana had on the world, but their brand of irreverent, boundary pushing songs spoke to me. I’m a rule follower, and I hate to get in trouble. My husband always gave me a hard time about. He had no such compunctions and encouraged me to live a little more. To say I kept him out of trouble would be an understatement. Being such a “good girl”, this song spoke to my inner bad girl. It allowed me to say “Fuck You!” when I otherwise couldn't.

When I first came up with the creature for this image, I couldn’t stop giggling. Even now, I have to hold back the giggles. Some of you may think I’m a little cracked. I accept that.

So what creature did I think would suit this song? Heheheh. Zombies, of course. And why? A zombie would have the perfect pompoms! Prove me wrong! I’m giggling even as I write this. Man, I enjoyed this idea. You can watch the music video below.

Now, how did I come up with zombie cheerleaders? Well, I have to credit Gob’s music video, “I Hear You Calling,” for that. However, my pompoms are way cooler, don’t you agree? You can see their zombie cheerleader music video here:

The Making Of: Severed Head PomPoms, Zombie Makeup and Anarchist Tank Tops

Even though this image looks fairly simple, there was a lot of set up involved. I wanted this conceptual portrait to feel authentic and that meant doing as much as I could in-camera before taking it to photoshop.

An Anarchist's Attire

First, I picked up a black Hanes undershirt and some iron-on printable transfers. Then I made the Anarchist logo. Unfortunately, I didn't save the original file for that. It's a little stiffer than I’d like but it would serve its purpose.

Zombies and Severed Heads For a Conceptual Portrait

Then came the makeup and setting the scene. I busted out my new special effects makeup, hello Liquid Latex and fake blood! I rounded up a couple of teenagers, my youngest and a close family friend, they painted themselves to look dead. Hey, look at that, we spent quality time together making gory stuff! Finally, I had to set up the space. I used an old sheet on my Strobe Pro Background stand, a Strobe Pro AD600 to light myself and an AD200 to light my background. I used a cheap fog machine from Rona to haze up the space and a step ladder to raise my zombies up above my head. I wish I had taken more video and pictures, but it’s tough to think about doing all that once my creative hat is working on building an image. Check out these very short clips of the studio space and makeup.

NOTE: Strobe Pro, didn’t sponsor this, but pretty much all of my lighting and studio gear has been sourced from them. They are based in Calgary, AB and ship things out pretty quickly. I've only ever had extremely minor things to deal with and they are wonderful to work with in resolving them. I highly recommend them for the lighting you need for conceptual portraits and love that they are (somewhat) local.

Compositing the Image

When I said I wanted to get as much of the image done in-camera, this is what I meant. See how much work has already been done.

The video below shows the various layers I used to composite this image. I added motion blur behind the heads to create a sense of movement. I made the eyes look more lifeless and I tweaked the colour and atmosphere. Notice how little I had to do at this stage?

What I Learned: Sometimes Your Creations Don’t Resonate With Others

I absolutely love Smells Like Zombie Spirit. From inspiration to execution, it brought me joy. It still brings my weird little heart joy. That doesn't mean anyone else in the world will love it like I do. It is one of my least popular images.

I did enter it in the 2024 Canadian Association for Photographic Arts (CAPA) Photography Artistic Competition where it scored 24/30.

If I had to do this again, I would make the makeup on myself even more gory than I did. I would probably tatter this shirt. What proper zombie has clean clothes??? I would consider adding people in the background like you can see in the film still above. And how fresh are those pompoms? Do they need more gore? More blood? And I could refine the masking on the pompoms a bit more.

Overall, this one was about having fun, so I would still call it a success.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my twisted mind. You can check out the rest of the collection here: 90s Creature Feature. If you do, let me know which conceptual portrait you’d like to know more about in the comments.

Sometimes, making art is just about the joy. The idea of my zombie living her best life with some fresh severed head pompoms brings me tons of it. How would your zombie be living their best life? Tell me in the comments.

The Portrait Story Series

Portrait Stories is an ongoing series where I share my conceptual portraits, the sparks that inspired them, behind-the-scenes chaos, and the lessons each image taught me. It's a blend of photography and storytelling - an honest look at the making of art.

See other stories in the series here:

Keep In Touch

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Did you know that I send out a newsletter every new moon? I do! In it I share what's been happening, Behind-The-Scenes stuff, links to Grimoire Entries like this one, a tarot reading and some personal thoughts. Sound like something you might be interested in? Sign up here: New Moon Missives

Portrait Stories

Portrait Stories is an ongoing series where I share my conceptual portraits, the sparks that inspired them, behind-the-scenes chaos, and the lessons each image taught me. It's a blend of photography and storytelling - an honest look at the making of art.

Table of contents

• Portrait Stories
  • A Desire To Learn To Build My Own Worlds: Mushroom World
  • A Fantasy Portrait Inspired By A Young Teenager's Love of Mushrooms
    • The Teenager's Obsession
    • Further Creative Pursuit
  • The Making Of: Compositing a Fantasy Portrait With Blender and Photoshop
    • Modelling The Mushroom World in Blender
    • Painting The Mushroom
    • Sourcing Textures and Images for the Final Image
    • Applying The Textures and Images in Blender
    • Taking It To Photoshop To Refine
  • What I Learned: A Successful Fantasy Portrait
  • Final Thoughts

A Desire To Learn To Build My Own Worlds: Mushroom World

A Fantasy Portrait Inspired By A Young Teenager's Love of Mushrooms

The Teenager's Obsession

In 2021, I was doing a 365-day photography project, and my then 13-year-old became obsessed with mushrooms. She was also a ready and willing victim for my photography adventures. I wanted to create a little mushroom world for her. I was new to compositing, but I couldn’t find existing free stock images that fit what I was looking for. And you know what they say, “If you want something done right, do it yourself.” So, I learned how to use the 3D Software Blender to build what I needed.

Further Creative Pursuit

After completing the project, I went on to get my Cinema4D CGI for Photographers Certificate. I loved working in Cinema4D, but found the program to be much too expensive for what I was doing. I may one day go back to it, but Blender is a great program, and it is free. Let me know if you’d like to see some of what I made there.

The Making Of: Compositing a Fantasy Portrait With Blender and Photoshop

Modelling The Mushroom World in Blender

I first had to “model” the world I wanted. In the video below, you can see the mountains, the mushrooms, and placeholder rectangles where I later applied images I photographed. The hardest part of this was modelling the mushrooms because I had to sculpt them. I am happy with how they turned out, but I hope to learn to sculpt better in the future.

Painting The Mushroom

Once I had built the structure, I had to “paint” or “apply textures” to my creations. For different things, this was applied in various ways. I began by painting the mushroom. This looks funny right now, but the image gets wrapped around the mushroom top to cover the entire thing.

You can see how the paint is applied to the mushroom cap here:

Sourcing Textures and Images for the Final Image

After that, I sourced textures from Textures.com and Poly Haven to apply to my little mushroom and collected the images that I planned to use for my girl, my dragon, and the background.

Applying The Textures and Images in Blender

In the image below, you can see what the Blender workspace looks like for applying textures to the mountains. It seems very confusing at first, but once you learn the rules, it isn’t so bad. It’s been a few years since I built this piece, and revisiting it reminded me how much technical skill fades if you don’t use it.

In the video below, you can see how the world looks with the textures applied before I rendered it out.

Taking It To Photoshop To Refine

Now, you might assume I was finished at this point. Not so! I had to render out the layers and bring them into Photoshop to do the editing for the final image. These are a few of the images I exported from Blender:

Finally, we have a video of the editing layers in Photoshop. I didn't apply too much. You will notice that the very last change seems like a big jump. For this last layer, I applied a Photoshop Action from OnlyTheCurious (Formerly The Color Lab). The action I used is no longer one they offer. It was The Castle Stones action from The Artisan Collection by Joel Robison. If you are looking for ways to make dramatic colour tweaks, it's worth checking them out. There are a couple of actions that I still use occasionally.

What I Learned: A Successful Fantasy Portrait

Clearly, I don’t do things the easy way. I like to dive right into the deep end and figure things out as I go. Was it worth it? All learning experiences are worth the effort. This is still among my TOP 3 favourites, so I would say it was “Absolutely worth it!” I even have it framed and on my dining room wall.

Being able to draw, paint, or sculpt the assets that I would like to use, like dragons, is a big reason for my return to University to study Studio Art. I have this insane need to be able to “do it all” myself. I want every part of an image to be something I created. Then I don’t have to outsource somewhat imperfect images like the dragon that I used.

Realism, or believability, is another thing I strive for. When you look at my work, I want you to be immersed in the story I'm telling and not be pulled away by graphics that look a little off.

I submitted this image to a couple of competitions. For one, it was a submission to participate in a series of weekly creative competitions. They provided feedback on all the photos I had submitted. For this one, they indicated that my smaller mushroom needed to be more in focus. Another critique of this image is the wrinkles in the dress. That is an issue for many a critic, but I personally love the “realness” of it. What teenage explorer has perfect clothing?

I had also submitted this image to an Instagram competition (they are no longer active) and won an album from nPhoto Lab, which you can see below. It came in a beautiful box with the image on the front. I am so grateful to have this collection of my early work, back when I was McDermott Images. Seeing your work in print is an absolute must.

Final Thoughts

I know this one was a lot to take in! Did you enjoy it? Did you learn something? Please share your thoughts. I want this to be a conversation between us, so it’s important to me to understand what parts of these portrait stories you value. Is there something else you would like to know? Something else I can share? Drop a comment and let me know.

Have you worked in Blender or another 3D program? I’d love to see what you created. Drop a link to it in the comments or tag @theportraitwitch in your Instagram or Facebook posts for it.

Revisiting this image was a wonderful experience for me and inspires me to go back and relearn Blender. What other worlds can I build? What worlds would you like to see? It also reminded me how much fun it is to have an idea that I want to bring to life. One of my biggest struggles as a creative is having ideas but not being sure how to make them real. I try. Often, I fail, but sometimes, like Mushroom World, they become an epic part of my collection.

Have you signed up for my New Moon Missives yet? Each New Moon I share what I am up to, share a bit of what I am doing, a glimpse of what I am working on, share links to blogs like this one, and gift you a reading to help you in your creative journey. Sign up here: New Moon Missives.

Portrait Stories

Portrait Stories is an ongoing series where I share my conceptual portraits, the sparks that inspired them, behind-the-scenes chaos, and the lessons each image taught me. It's a blend of photography and storytelling - an honest look at the making of art.

Table of contents

• Portrait Stories
  • A Music-Inspired Portrait: Butterfly
  • Inspired by Crazy Town’s “Butterfly”
  • The Making Of: A Living Room Studio, Broken Gear & Miserable Teenagers
  • What I Learned: Bad-Asses, Backups and Bodacious Light
  • Final Thoughts

A Music-Inspired Portrait: Butterfly

Inspired by Crazy Town’s “Butterfly”

Back in 2021, a couple of photographer friends and I undertook a project we called “Jukebox June” where we aimed to create a music-inspired self-portrait every day. Since then, it has evolved into an ongoing project for me and I have made many music-inspired portraits since. You can see more images from the collections here: The Jukebox Projects.

“Butterfly” was inspired by a song from my early adult years by a band called Crazy Town. I remember listening to it on repeat when I pregnant with my first daughter. And yes, I listened to the CD on repeat! Spotify wasn't a thing then. Not only do I love the song, I found the album's artwork incredibly interesting. When I decided to make an image for this song, I knew I wanted to attempt recreating the cover artwork. I knew bringing the light to life was going to be a challenge.

Here is a link to the song on Spotify with an example of the album cover's artwork:

The Making Of: A Living Room Studio, Broken Gear & Miserable Teenagers

I set up a studio in my living room. I am lucky that it has 10’ ceilings to allow for the overhead light. Here is a behind-the-scenes video clip of how I transformed my living room into a portrait studio for this image:

Just before this shoot, I was making a portrait outside and, as I was hauling all my gear back in to shoot “Butterfly,” my tripod fell over, hit my flash trigger, and snapped the hot shoe right off my Z6. The horror! How was I going to make this portrait now?! I enlisted my teenage daughter to hold the trigger down on my camera so the strobe and speed lights would fire. Let me tell you, she was not happy about it, but she stuck it out like a trooper.

Here is the straight-out-of-camera version that I started with:

What I Learned: Bad-Asses, Backups and Bodacious Light

First, don't I look bad-assed in this image? One of the things I love about photography is being able to channel your alter egos. You get to see what you would look like as someone else. Here I got to explore having finger and arm tattoos, devil horns and halos, butterfly pupils and purple irises. Playing dress-up is one of my favourite things about creating conceptual portraiture.

Second, when I was in the process of backing up my hard drive to online backup service, Backblaze, I had incredibly slow internet. I started taking my drive with me to places that had fast internet in the hopes of getting everything backed up. On one such trip, a family dog hooked the cord and yanked my hard drive off the table. The fall damaged many of my files including the Photoshop and Final version of this one. All I have of it is the original raw file and an exported jpg. I have since gotten much faster internet and no longer worry about backups, but I lost many great files due to that fall.

Finally, I enjoyed the process of figuring out how to make the light in a hand-drawn artwork look realistic in a conceptual portrait. For this image I used every light I had that time. I even had to shoot an extra frame to get the halo light because I didn’t have enough lights to do it in one shot. There are speed lights with green gels on either side of me, a strobe facing me, and an LED panel sitting on my knee to create the orange light on my hand and lower cheeks. Here is a frame showing the orange halo light:

Unfortunately, these attempts ended up not aligning during my edit (in post) and I ended up painting the hair light in with Photoshop brushes. You can never learn too many skills.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into my creative process for conceptual portraits. I wish I had the Photoshop file so I could show you the layers I added to bring the image to life, but for this image, those edits were largely adjusting the light, adding tattoos and modifying my eyes.

Since I photographed “Butterfly,” I have acquired forearm tattoos on both of my arms. Unfortunately, I don't have butterfly pupils.

My Z6 is still broken. I might take it to get fixed this month. I bought a Z7 like a week later because I was too impatient to wait for my Z6 to be repaired. I tend to use the Z6 for low-light situations like music photography. You can check some of that out here: Music Photography

Since this is a new series, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Would you like to see more? Is there something you specifically would like to know about my work? Is there an image you want to know more about? Share your thoughts in the comments.

“ . . . and he wants me to . . .”

What he’s saying isn't important. He’s telling me about the job he has coming into the shop. Just like he has a million times before. And it doesn’t matter that this bed we’re lying in isn't ours. Or, that I’ve never seen this loft before. I’m content to be here cuddled up with him listening to him talk.

“Well, I better get moving, he’s going to be here soon,” he says as he stands up and heads for the stairs. I follow him and grab his hand.

“Not yet,” I say as I drag him to the couch. “Just five more minutes.”

I sit down, tugging on his hand. He smirks and lightly laughs, “Why?”

“I don't know,” I sob and tears spill down over my cheeks. He sits down next me and I wake up.

The tears are real, but everything else was a dream. It was a perfect, everyday moment that I wish I could have back. I want a million more of them. And that is impossible.

This is the only dream of him I’ve had that has felt real and true since he passed. And every time I try to talk about it, I get choked up and the tears well. I cried as I poured it out on paper. I’m crying now as I write it here for you. I’m nearly choking on the damn tears.

I don’t know why I am sharing this with you. It’s deeply personal and it fills me with so much longing! Longing that will never be slaked. But I feel compelled to get this out.

My heart doesn’t want to believe it.

It's in these moments that I wish for anger, indifference, anything else! Just so it stops hurting. Just so it doesn't feel like a part of me is missing.

It's been nearly three months. Only a short time and yet I feel like I have already lived lifetimes since then.

Cherish those seemingly insignificant moments. They matter more than you might think.

I miss hearing what he had going on. I miss hugging him in the kitchen. I miss seeing him out doing his thing in the yard. I miss hearing him breathe beside me at night. I miss him teasing me. I miss smelling his neck. I miss his laugh.

I miss HIM. Greatly.

This is the last photo I ever made of him. He was helping me with my 52-week Exposure Project. This assignment was to use candlelight to tell a story.

When Wedding Day Plans Go Sideways

What do you do when your wedding venue has a fire, they cancel your wedding, and your wedding is in a little less than two weeks? You re-plan your venue, food, bar, and wedding day plans in 12 days or less. No small feat, but this couple did exactly that! Unfortunately, Candle Lake Golf Resort had a fire that destroyed their kitchen, and they informed the couple that they could no longer accommodate their wedding.

They managed to relocate to the Spruce Home Activity Center which, while a bit rustic, could accommodate the size of their wedding, had a built-in bar, and an area for the Bride to get ready. They found some volunteers to work the bar and were lucky to acquire The Dam Smokehouse from Nipawin to cater. The food, brisket, mashed potatoes, and Ceasar salad, while simple was delicious and the groom's mother baked delicious cupcakes for dessert.

And what do you do when it turns out it is supposed to rain on your wedding day? Where do you make portraits in the country in cold and wet weather? Well, if you're lucky, you have a wonderful photographer who can set up an indoor backdrop. Ok, a little nod to myself. I like to help as much as I can. Wedding days are stressful, if I can ease that stress, I will.

How The Day Went

The couple showed up with bright smiles and made the best of everything. I couldn't ask for a better couple than these two lovebirds who kept positive attitudes and had fun every moment they could. Despite the sudden change of events, they made the best of everything. This couple was tested and proved their mettle indicating a strong future together.

The weather cleared enough to photograph the wedding party and the couple's portraits outdoors. Spruce Home Activity Centre's grounds even offered up some unique portrait opportunities.

While I generally don't do weddings, I do love to photograph love and intimacy. I would love to photograph highly unique or themed weddings (A Gomez and Morticia-style wedding is on my bucket list). Are you interested in creating some dramatic and intimate portraits with your partner? Or are you planning a horror-themed wedding? Contact Me!

Check out Austyn & Danielle's Gallery and let me know what you think!

There is a reason why The Empress card in Tarot is often depicted as a pregnant woman. Creating a human is the ultimate act of creation. I had the pleasure of photographing Christine and her partner, Aaron, this past July in Edmonton. Government House is a beautiful location and we had a sunny day, but the most beautiful part was how much they laughed together. That's pretty special. Back in September, they welcomed an adorable baby girl into the world. She is lucky to have such fun parents.

I love exploring connections in both colour and black and white because they tell different stories. Black and white feels timeless. Do you have a preference? I'm always fascinated by the images my clients resonate with the most. Which are your favourites?

I would love to do more maternity photos. I do the typical, dramatic, creative and unusual ones. If you'd like to see more of my maternity work, check out my gallery: Maternity and if you'd like to book a session with me: Contact Me

I took a short trip to Edmonton for a graduation shoot in July. Sometimes the weather doesn't fully cooperate. I was supposed to photograph two ladies but one decided she didn't want rainy photos. The other was a rockstar and was game for anything. It was a touch cold and wet but she was a trooper and I absolutely love what we created.

We ventured down to the Alberta Legislative Grounds. When I lived in Edmonton, I worked on 108 Street; the area has changed a lot. The fountain area was still under construction, but we found a way to make some magic.

It's important to note that anything is possible. A rainy day might lead to something epic. After browsing this gallery, let me know if you would do grad photos in the rain!

Here are a few tips for rainy portraits:

• Come with a sense of adventure.
• Bring a sweater or warm jacket and tell your photographer if you are getting cold.
• If the weather is looking wet for your grad shoot, create a Pinterest board of ideas to share with your photographer.
• Lean into the drama.
• Talk to your photographer about your hopes. If rainy weather is a hard no, work with your photographer to set a new date. Otherwise, embrace it and make something no one else has.

Grad season is arriving soon and I am taking bookings. Book A Session With Me

P.P. Cauldron was the first opener at Hollow Oax's Release Party at Amigos Cantina on July 6, 2024. Can I say that I love the "cauldron" part of their name? But I am dying to know what the P.P. stands for! Their set made me want to sink into the couch and get lost in the music (others might include some of the devil's lettuce in that wish). Their songs had that hypnotic stoner vibe.

Here's a gallery of their set.

On July 6, I had the pleasure of capturing Hollow Oax's Album Release Party at Amigos Cantina in Saskatoon. I was there for the North Sask Music Zine with writer Melanie Macpherson. You can check out her review of the show and their new album here: A Punk Injection: Hollow Oax bring us 'Another Dose'. It was my first time visiting Amigos Cantina and it was a pleasure to be out shooting live music.

Here are the images I made of Hollow Oax. I'll post the Tunnel Kids and P.P. Cauldron sets in the next few days.

Which image is your favourite? Let me know in the comments!

On Jul 7, 2024, I grabbed my camera bag and hopped on the back of my husband's bike to shoot some motocross racing. My daughter's friends, Samie and Kyra were racing and I love to learn new things! It turned out to be a beautiful day and I got a touch sunburned. What did I learn? Faster shutter speed faster! A few of these are not quite as sharp as I'd like them to be but I love the moment. Will I do this again? Absolutely. Plans are already in the works to spend some time doing creative portraits with these ladies too. We're working out a time that we are all free. I have SO MANY IDEAS!

Anyway, here are a few of my favourites. Let me know what you think.

Here are a few things I learned about Hayden while photographing him and his family for his 2024 High School Graduation:

• His favourite subject is Pre-Calculus. Really? My teenage helper couldn't disagree more.
• He loves track and his race is the sprint! I admire that as I used to be a long-distance runner. The bear would eat me first.
• He's good at doing the opposite of what he's told, and it's humorously intentional. I admit it took me a minute to catch on!
• He doesn't drink saying, "Alcohol smells like divorce." I laughed at how true that could be and how unexpected it was.
• He is part of a wonderful family with excellent style and a sense of humour. I appreciate the opportunity to capture these fantastic spirits!

Since the outdoor track at Carlton is under construction, we took to the indoor track at Alfred Jenkins Field House for the first part of our shoot. I appreciate them allowing us to use the space, and for the couple of track goers who didn't mind us being there.

Then we moved over to PACI where someone in the neighbourhood yelled out a window that the Edmonton Oilers won game 6. I was excited. they were like "So they're going to the Grey Cup?" Haha.

It was my first time capturing the beautiful mosaic at PACI and I think it worked well. I love how Mom and Dad appear quite angelic with their coincidental halos.

Good luck at the University of Saskatchewan next year! I'm sure you will do well in Engineering.

At the end of May, I attended the Lightchasers Nature Photography Conference in Pincher Creek, Alberta. My friend Tracey from Tracey Halladay Photography was speaking. Tracey and I became friends when we participated in a year-long mentorship together. Discovering that we loved the same music and had a lot of the same interests, we became fast friends. She and I meet once a week to keep each other on track with our creative goals. She continually inspires me and I wanted to support her when she shared her extremely emotional journey with a room full of friends and strangers.

Another perk of attending the conference was hanging out with other women from a creative group called the Creative Analyst Unit (CAU). A group of approximately 25 women who cheer each other on but all have different photography and creative goals. Altogether there were six of us at the conference, some I'd met before and some I got to meet for the first time. And after the conference, we added two more to our ranks.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was deeply inspired or highly entertained by so many of the talks. I had wonderful conversations and learned some new things. But the best part was going out to play with my friends or enjoy a meal and thoughtful conversation. Tracey spent an evening showing me Waterton Lake National Park and I returned with other friends from the CAU the next evening. I also visited Lundbreck Falls for an early morning shoot for the conference.

If you receive my New Moon Missives, you will have seen these points (and a few of these images) already but my biggest takeaways from Lightchasers were these:

My biggest takeaways from the conference:

1. Spend lots of time getting to know your subject or main interests intimately. The more you know, the more you can get creative.
2. Collaborate - no (wo)man is an island. Magic happens when you play with like-minded friends and collaborate with creatives with different passions.
3. Remember what your camera (or other tools) and creativity mean for you.

Here are some of my favourite landscape images from the trip. I'd love to hear your thoughts on these because I am still learning the landscape ropes!

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of working with Shannon once again. Shannon is a wonderful human who aims to help women build six-figure businesses as a Business and Mindset Transformation coach. Photographing her is always fun because she's full of humour, thoughtful insights, and a rebellious spirit. I also love that she lets me play with my lights! These are a few of my favourites from her session. Which one is yours?

You can learn more about Shannon and what she offers at Rebel FEMME Preneur.

Would you like to book a session with me? Drop me a line: Contact Me

P.S. Things will be shifting here. You may have noticed the name change from The Artist's Grimoire to The Grimoire. I am still passionate about art and creativity but have decided to build The Portrait Witch and The Artist's Grimoire separately. So I aim to share only things related to The Portrait Witch here on The Grimoire. You can expect to see me showcase my clients, photography projects I'm working on, concerts I've covered and the like.

I will share more about what The Artist's Grimoire is becoming soon.

Drawing has not been a skill that I've excelled at. I've always wished I could and have admired those around me who excel at it. So when I decided to undertake this BoP (Bachelor of Photography) project it made sense to step out of my comfort zone and give it a shot. I mean, it would be deadly if I could draw my own dragons to composite in my images! Over the years I bought a couple of books about learning to draw (Drawing For The Absolute Beginner and The Art of Drawing Dragons) but never sat down with them seriously. I picked up Drawing On The Right Side of The Brain by Betty Edwards and designed a course around them. I haven't yet gotten into all of the books, but Betty's book has blown my mind so far. If you saw my post, Mind Maps and Project From A Hat, you'd have seen the extent of my drawing abilities!

The unit that has blown my mind is the Chapter on Crossing Over From Left to Right. She talks about how we aren't incapable of drawing, but that our "left brain" which is verbal or language-dominated wants to do the job that our "right brain", the spatially-dominated side should be doing. Once we start noticing what something "is" we start thinking in symbols instead of about how things are related to each other and we falter. The exercises in this unit force your right brain to do the work. And I must say that the results are pretty incredible!

Have you ever wanted to learn how to draw? Are you trying now? How is it going for you?

Mind Maps

For my Studio Seminar: Methods of Inquiry class I had to create an "artful" mind map. Mind maps are not only a handy tool they are one of the most frequently recommended ways to brainstorm. So what is a mind map exactly? Typically, you start a mind map by writing an idea in the center of a page and then branching off with other related ideas. Mind maps can branch out as many times as you want. I created this one for the Open project I'll complete for this class. It has three levels.

A visual mind map expresses the same ideas using pictures instead of words. This is my "artful" mind map. Can you see how everything relates to each other?

There are many ways to create mind maps. My maps represent just two of them. You can make them as big or as small as you want. Programs like Simple Mind or MindMeister allow you to create a map as big as you want.

Project Out of A Hat

In another unit, I was to pick a project out of a hat, research it, and create it. Since I am my own "teacher" and didn't have a hat full of projects, I collected some and placed them in my trusty witch hat!

I pulled: "Find a piece of microfiction and create pictures to tell it."

This is the story I chose, see if you can "read" it:

I took some creative liberties with my version. The story is called A Gift For Cyclops by Rhys Hughes. Drawing is not my forte but I'm working on it! So, what are your thoughts? Do you dig my version of the story?

Would you like me to pull a project out of my hat for you? Let me know!

For the second unit of my Photography Basics, I had to create a series of images as follows:

• Lines – three different and distinct types (From Man Made Structures)

• Man-Made Environments – Interiors & Exteriors (2 each)

• Geometrical forms & Organic forms

My vehicle was down when I completed this, so I was limited to my acreage for this assignment. I feel like I didn’t quite have enough guidance for it. Or at least, my syllabus didn’t incorporate any instruction on lines and structure to coincide with this assignment. I used lines as defined in my 2D Element and Principles course.

There are a lot of lines and angles in and around my property, in both natural and manmade structures. It’s interesting to see my world in shapes and textures. I did spend more time using “sharpening” and will have to start using lens corrections more than I have been.

What are your thoughts?

For my 2D: Design Elements & Principles class of my BoP (Bachelor of Photography) project, my second assignment was to create a Digital Still Life Painting. For this exercise, I first had to develop a digital still life to work from. I sourced images from websites like Pexels and tried to collect ones with light coming from the same direction. Then I had to cut out each element and place it in a Photoshop Document Until I had an interesting composition. Then I flattened my image and exported a .jpg. This was my final composition.

At this point, I had to apply a filter to my image - Stylize - Find Edges and adjust the brightness and contrast until it was easy to see. So my project looked like this:

Then I had to choose a neutral background colour, change my reference image from a "Normal" layer style to "Multiply" and then place a layer in between these to do the actual painting.

Using the .jpg I saved as my visual reference, I blocked out the main elements with a hard round brush. Then I added a coloured gradient to the background, blended with soft and hard brushes to bring the details out, and finally painted in shadows until I had a completed digital still life (the first image in this article). The entire process took me a few hours!

What This Taught Me

The entire project was a lesson in patience! But seriously, I had to consider the light direction and the shadows that should be cast, the composition, and the colour scheme. I worked with layer styles, gradients, soft and hard brushes, and opacity. So many details had to be observed and transferred to the finished product. Depicting various surface textures: glass, yard, bone, and plant, was more challenging than I expected. Surprisingly, it resembles what I hoped!

Critique:

This is a pleasing composition organized into a triangle composition. The piece exhibits variety in elements and repetition in the round and flower shapes. The tones and shading are fairly well done and cohesive except for the orange on the butterfly wings. While the orange existed in the original composition, I could have taken the liberty to shift the colour to match the scene. The orange pulls your attention away from the scene as a whole. The light appears to be coming from the left of the frame for all included objects. The timepiece is a tad misshapen, and the bottle top’s lines are wavy but these things may come with more practice. On the whole, I am happy with it. I'm surprised I created this!

What do you think? I'd appreciate any feedback you have for me!

Art is a conversation. It is an exchange of ideas that begins with the creator. Pen is put to paper, brush to canvas, and camera to eye as the artist explores something. Expressing thoughts, ideas, fears and hopes, and then a creative exchange begins. Once the artist is ready to release the work, they may file it away, never to be seen again, or they may send it out to the world to begin new conversations with new people. One might think interpreting this artistic discussion is difficult, but people do it every day with little thought. How much richer could the conversation be if we paid more attention to this process? If we took a closer look? If we gave it a little more thought. Art critics organize the process into observing, describing, analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating.

OBSERVATION

Observation is a deceivingly simple act, but in an age where people are bombarded with visual information, little time is spent doing so. Endless scrolling means we move on to our next fix in less than a second. Many of the creations we scroll past took a great deal of time to bring to life. Do they not deserve more than a second of our time? What would happen if instead of scrolling, we land on an image and spend some time with it? One minute? One hour? One day? What would we notice? What would we have missed if we only gave it that typical second? The first challenge of analyzing art is spending time with it. We’ve been programmed to get bored if we aren’t rapidly consuming but grab a notebook and stop on an artwork. Jot down what you see, feel and think about the work. Note any questions you might have. Once you have done this, you can begin contributing to the conversation.

DESCRIPTION

Once you have spent time with the work, you can begin describing what you see. The description helps us start the analysis process. Utilizing a guide such as Joshua Field’s An Illustrated Field Guide to the Elements & Principles of Design, you can describe the use of elements like line, colour, and form in addition to principles like balance, rhythm, and movement. Consider what the subject is. Is the work an abstraction or a representation? Are there dominant elements? Does the piece evoke a mood or a reaction? Remember you are only describing what you see. This description provides the cues we need to begin the next stage, analysis.

The image above is a landscape image in black and white of waves rolling in. It appears to be a moody day and is high contrast. There is a sense of turbulent movement due to the frothy white nature of the wave in the foreground which is in sharpest focus and is likely the main subject. In the background, a mass of land rises out of the water but is out of focus. There are many horizontal lines created by varying lights and darks but there are also many curved lines in the foreground wave.

ANALYSIS

During the analysis stage, you examine the artwork structurally. Essentially, you are looking at all the elements that make up the work and deciphering how they impact what is presented. If you did your homework well in the description stage, you will have much to work with in this stage. Exploring the structure of the work entails deciphering how things like the types of lines or colour palettes used contribute to the energy or mood of the artwork. Do the lines create flow? Or do they ramp up the energy of the piece? Does the colour palette inspire sadness? Happiness? Calm? Did the artist use symbols? If so, what do they typically mean? These aspects are the more obvious things you see in an artwork and they are assessed objectively. In the next stage, interpretation, you get to take a more subjective approach.

Balance is achieved in this image by alternating lights and darks which also creates a reptition. The turbulence of the foreground wave is also balanced by the steady and strong landmass in the background. This also creates a sense of movement from calm to energetic and the frozen nature of the waves lends the sense of movement frozen in time. The alternating calm between waves creates a rhythm. The foreground wave takes up nearly half of the image and so is given the most importance in the image and utilizes the Rule of Thirds composition. The choice of high contrast monochrome builds a sense of drama. Earth, in this case the landmass, is symbolically linked to steadiness, foundation, and strength. Water, in this case the ocean waves, is symbolically linked with flow and emotions.

INTERPRETATION

When interpreting an artwork, we approach things more contextually. Consider when the artwork was created. What was the political and cultural landscape like at that time? What things were being invented? What was life like for people? Did the artist have any struggles or challenges they had to face? What types of entertainment were enjoyed? What were the prejudices of the time? How might these things have influenced the artwork? What do you think the artist was trying to express? What in the artwork leads you to that conclusion? During this stage, you explore your thoughts and feelings about the work but remember to support them with evidence from the work.

This photograph was created recently but bears a sense of timelessness. Nothing in the frame speaks to the context of today's political or pop culture climate but the world today focuses a great deal on the preservation of the environment. The artist may have been showcasing the beauty in the turbulence of the wave suggesting that even roughness has value. Possibly even the environmental climate of the day is full of energy. The inclusion of the landmass might suggest that an anchor is necessary when experiencing turbulent times though its importance is often downplayed and underappreciated. If considered from an emotional perspective, this suggests that we all need a rock to support us when feeling strong or wild emotions.

EVALUATION

Evaluation is the final stage of the process. This is where you take all the information you have gathered about the artwork and make some decisions about it. Discuss the criteria you think are critical to successful artwork and determine if the artwork is successful by that standard. Do you like it? Why or why not? Is the work effective? Did the artist succeed in expressing their idea? Balance your thoughts with facts about the artwork. What questions or discussions do you think the artwork raises, if any? Don’t forget to consider what you may have learned about yourself during this analysis. Some of the most valuable lessons are those in which we discover something about ourselves.

From a technical perspective, I believe this image is successful. It has a clear focus, includes many elements and principles of art such as line, texture, rhythm and movement. The image holds your interest. I do like it (though I may be biased since I created it) because it bold and dramatic and carries so much energy. Questions that arise for me are why did this wave capture the artist's attention? Is this about life? Emotions? Politics? In all cases, I believe the artist might believe that turbulence is needed for progress to happen (again, I'm guessing my own mind here but you get the idea). There could have been a choice to push in tighter to the wave or pull back and show the vaster oceanscape, what does this slice suggest? What did I learn about myself? I enjoy turbulence!

If you are an artist, consider what you may take away from this when approaching your next conversation (aka artwork). I challenge you to spend time with a single image this week and go through these steps. This is a simplified summation of the critical analysis process, but I hope it helps you look at art more critically. Often these steps are not quite so distinct but are naturally intertwined.

Happy analyzing!

For the first Unit of my Photography Basics class, I had to create 10 Images telling a story of myself without using self-portraits and exploring these Art Elements and Design Principles:

• Rule of Thirds (Breaking up the photographic image)
• Line (Perspective)
• Frame Within a Frame (Composition)
• Abstract Close Up
• Cropping/Filling the Frame (The Four Corners of the Viewfinder)
• Point of View (avoiding the 5’7” inch problem)
• Texture and Pattern

It is much more difficult to tell the story of yourself using only "things". I'm curious what you think these images tell you about me. Please share your thoughts below!

I am not sure what this is going to look like overall. I'm just getting started. For this first week of my BoP (Bachelor of Photography), I might touch on what I've done and learned. I may decide later to post about each class individually or might only share some of the work that comes out of this intensive learning process.

My Fears

I spent so much time planning and organizing this project (well, I have 50% of my courses figured out for a total of 20), and I highly enjoyed researching and planning what I'm doing for each course. But, if I'm honest, I often start projects, lose interest, and fail to complete them. This habit of mine might be the bane of my husband's existence. In my heart of hearts, I know doing this project matters. So my word for 2024 is FOLLOWTHROUGH. I'm inviting you all to help keep me accountable on this learning journey. Ask me questions! Share your thoughts.

First Batch of BoP Courses

Here's what I'm starting with:

• Studio Seminar: Methods of Inquiry
• Foundations in Drawing
• Survey of Photography
• Photography Basics
• 2D Design: Elements & Style

I am currently in the middle of completing Unit 1 of Photography Basics and I start 2D Design tomorrow.

Studio Seminar: Methods of Inquiry

I am working off of a syllabus I found online for this one, adapting it as I proceed through. Technically, I started this one in December. If you receive my newsletter, New Moon Missives, you already saw the mind map I created as well as one of the videos that I found fascinating, Everything is a Remix. The mind map is the first step toward a project I will be doing for this class. The video talks about how we learn from those who come before us by copying, then we transform those ideas and finally combine them into great works. You can see those things by visiting my newsletter profile here: New Moon Missives. Be sure to sign up to receive them in your inbox every New Moon!

My assignment for this class:

I am also supposed to answer and discuss the following:

Discussion: What is creativity? What skills are involved? Who uses it most? What circumstances foster creative output? Are we born with it? What are the traits of a “highly creative” person?

My Answer: Creativity is the ability to form and execute ideas. The skills involved are a good understanding of a subject, an ability to recognize or make connections between things and the courage to try. Everyone uses it. People tend to think that only artists are creative but I believe that everyone is creative, it just looks different for different people. Environments that are ok with failure foster more creativity. We will try more things if it is ok to fail. A highly creative person just tries and fails more often than others.

What are your thoughts on this? Comment below!

Fundamentals in Drawing

One thing I've always wished I could do is draw. My husband and both of my daughters have an affinity for it, but it hasn't been a skill I've developed. However, I want to draw dragons! Also, many Fine Arts Degree programs in Universities require you to take at least one, if not two, drawing classes. So here we are. I created the syllabus for this myself based on the book, Drawing On The Right Side of The Brain. To know how you've progressed, you need to know where you're starting from. So I set up a still life and attempted to draw it.

According to my youngest, this isn't so bad. Better than some people. I'm interested to see how much I improve over the next few weeks.

Survey of Photography

This is another course that I designed for myself. I based it on two books, The Short Story of Photography, which provides an overview of the genres, themes, and techniques and presents 50 key images; and, Criticizing Photographs, which teaches how to read a photograph essentially.

My first assignment in this course was to search for photographers and choose an image in 10 of the 32 genres, answer a few questions, and note which of the 32 themes in the book are present in that image. This process was interesting but took a fair amount of time to complete. Here are a couple of examples:

Genre: Monochrome
Artist Name: Tracey Halladay
Country of Origin: Canada
Name of Image: Takkakaw
Year Produced: 2023?

1. What are your thoughts on this genre?

   1. I do enjoy Monochrome, especially the more dramatic versions of this work

2. Why does this artist’s work appeal to/interest you?

   1. This particular image appeals to me because it is dramatic, high-contrast, and full of texture. The story seems to be about the water.

3. What themes as noted in The Short Story do you notice in the artist’s work?

   1. Movement, Nature, Texture

Genre: Advertising
Artist Name: Ransom & Mitchell
Country of Origin: USA
Name of Image: Absinthe
Year Produced: 2023?

1. What are your thoughts on this genre?

   1. I am not sure I have thought too much about it previously. However, I suppose that Book Covers, Album Covers, and Portraits for Musicians would all be Advertising photography. I have done some product photography but it was simpler and cleaner than the work of these artists.

2. Why does this artist’s work appeal to/interest you?

   1. I love the rich colour, the well-established settings, the vibe, the mood. I especially love the storytelling and drama included in the image.

3. What themes as noted in The Short Story do you notice in the artist’s work?

1. Beauty, The Surreal, Consumerism, Gender, Age, Power, Texture

One of the things that I found lacking in my photography journal thus far is useful criticism. It is my goal to gain a better understanding of how to criticize not only my images but those of others. I would like to contribute to the growth of fellow creatives by offering useful feedback.

Photography Basics

My syllabus for this one is a blend of one I found online and stuff I've added myself. It is based on the books, Light & Lens, and, Adobe Photoshop CC and Lightroom CC for Photographers Second Edition. While it's been quite a bit of reading, here are some gems I discovered:

Why is it important to find an audience for your work?

Part of a photographer's job is to interact and stimulate thinking within the community of artists and the world at large. This involves getting others to pay attention to your concerns. Without an audience to open a dialogue, the images remain incomplete, and the artist remains unsatisfied.

This image, The Two Ways of Life, by Oscar Gustav Rejlander, is a composite of 30 different negatives created in 1857. I had no idea that photographers could even think about compositing multiple images into one with film! How amazing is this? I can't even fathom it.

And I'll leave you with one last quote from this textbook that I find highly accurate and informs much of the work I have done and wish to do:

Photography is a sign language, and symbols are its shorthand.

While I haven't designed those courses yet, I will be delving deeper into symbolism and semiotics in the second half of my BoP. I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into my learning journey. Please share your thoughts and ask any questions you might have. I'd love to discuss this more!

If you subscribe to my newsletter (or are amongst my inner circle), you have likely learned that I am undertaking a massive project inspired by a book called Ultralearning by Scott H. Young. I lovingly call this my project "my BoP" which is essentially an unofficial Bachelor of Photography degree. My goal with this project is to gain a deeper understanding of photography from an Art Degree perspective. Unfortunately, I am not currently in a place where I can attend an actual University to pursue this. However, two of my superpowers are an insatiable curiosity and an ability to learn pretty much anything I want to.

In September of 2023, I started researching, compiling, and designing the first half of my BoP. I collected syllabi, rubrics, and degree plans from various universities to determine what this should look like. I also discovered something valuable. Since I am doing this on my own I can incorporate ANY subject I want! So as I progress through this, I intend to study other art forms, mythology, critical thinking, and languages.

Are You Mad? Why Are You Doing This?

Well, we are all mad here but I understand that you might wonder, "But Tara, there are so many courses and workshops available, why do you need to create a degree program for yourself?" Since I began studying photography with intention in 2019, certain questions plagued me:

• Why? Why? Why? Everyone can tell me HOW to do something, but very few of them could tell me why I should do it.
• What is the history of photography? Who are my predecessors? What can they still teach me?
• Where do I find good feedback? How do I know what I need to improve?

And because I'm such an avid learner, there are things that I have wanted to learn so that I can take my art further. I want to draw dragons, sculpt and apply make-up, take my costume designs further, and have a thorough understanding of various mythologies, themes, and symbols. More importantly, I want to create more meaningful work. I want to push out of my comfort zone and create work that evokes strong reactions, causes people to think more deeply, and challenges what is accepted. I want to create positive change. I want to have an impact.

OK, So How Does This Work?

How will this BoP help me answer those questions? First and foremost it outlines a clear path for me to follow. Instead of chasing white rabbits with timepieces looking for answers and being sidetracked by mad tea parties. I will forge a path to follow. Let's call it a yellow brick road of my own design (I know we're changing stories here). I will learn from artists, sculptors, photographers, and digital artists that I admire by studying not only their work but also their lives. No more wandering around aimlessly searching for answers, my path will have clear objectives and activities to keep me focused on being curious which is my number one value.

Our ancestors have lessons to teach us, we just need to listen. I believe there are things to learn from the photographers and artists of days past. And while we may have heard of Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Pablo Picasso, Artemisia Gentileshchi, and many others, have we stopped to understand why they created what they did? Have we considered how their lived experiences contributed to the works we admire today? We live in a very superficial world of immediate gratification. If nothing else, I want to spend TIME with things instead of rushing off to the next and the next. I want to slow down.

Since I will be creating specific "portfolios" of work, I intend to submit them to various bodies and contests, to pay for mentor time, and call upon friends in my creative community to acquire feedback that helps me grow. I also aim to fully understand the art of giving feedback and critique so that I can offer those services to my fellow artists. How can we grow if we don't know what we don't know? My biggest struggle as an artist and photographer has been acquiring useful and meaningful feedback. I want to offer that to you because Growth is another of my top values.

These are the things I feel are lacking in much of the photography education available to people. So if I can't find what I'm looking for then I must create it, right? So I'm working on creating my own Round Table.

Here is a Snapshot of the first half of my BoP Plan. I'm testing these courses out and will tweak them as I go. Learning what works best for when I develop the second half.

As I progress through my BoP, I aim to share my thoughts and experiences about it here in The Artist's Grimoire. Sometimes it will be in the form of Journal Entries, and other times I will share the essays, projects, and portfolios I create. I'm excited to get started. I hope you are just as thrilled to join me on this journey. Please share any thoughts, suggestions and questions you might have. I'd love to chat with you about this!

Early in 2022, I participated in a challenge to photograph something different from what you typically create. I decided to take on shooting Horoscope-Themed Cocktails. Since the Gemini season just started, I thought it would be fun to introduce The Gemini Cocktail first. My adult daughter is a Gemini, and she approves of this cocktail!

The Gemini

2 ounces RumChata Cream Liqueur
2 ounces Phillips Butter Ripple Schnapps
A Pinch of Cinnamon
Cinnamon Sticks for garnish
Ice

Place the RumChata and Butter Ripple in a blender with ice and blend until desired consistency. Pour into a fancy glass and dust with cinnamon. To be extra fancy, you can rim the glass with cinnamon sugar. Garnish with a cinnamon stick, and enjoy!

If you like milkshakes or blended cocktails, you are sure to love this! It makes a perfect summer deck drink. 

Let me know if you give this a try, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

What is a Ritual? 

The word ritual feels kinda scary, doesn't it? Does it feel like you are joining a cult? I promise I am not indoctrinating you into anything. According to Cambridge Dictionary, ritual is: "a way of doing something in which the same actions are done in the same way every time". You may not realize it but you likely employ many rituals throughout your day. Maybe you have a coffee ritual, a supper ritual, or a shower ritual. A way you like to do things that make sense for you and offer some ease in your day. 

For example, the following is my morning ritual:    

1. Bathroom and Teeth brushing.
2. Prepare my coffee grounds.
3. Put one of my two favourite cups in my Keurig.
4. Set a 12-ounce coffee to brew.
5. Go to my bedroom and weigh myself.
6. Fill my water bottle with ice and water.
7. Take my vitamins with a big drink of water.
8. Collect my coffee.
9. Go to my office. 
10. Feed my fish, Lancelot.
11. Grab my Gratitude Journal and Pencil. 
12. Take my first sip of coffee and begin writing. 

Why this order every day? Because it keeps me on track and it all flows well. It helps me do things I otherwise might forget. Change one part of this routine and my day might go sideways. To be fair, these are not overly intentional rituals, so much as they are habitual rituals. What I am asking of you today, is to be more intentional. 

What Do You Mean by "More Intentional?" 

I am a big believer in the concept that where you focus is where your energy goes. That means it's important to be aware of where you are focusing your attention and, possibly even more important, where you aren't focusing your attention. Take a minute and think about where you spend the most time focusing. Is it your work? Hobbies? Meals? Fitness? Kids? Social Media? Are you starting to see where I am going with this? When I ask you to be more intentional, I am asking that you decide where your energy deserves to be focused. 

So You Want Me To Focus On Creativity?

Essentially, yes. But it goes deeper than that. In what area of your life would you like to see more creativity? What are you willing to commit toward that creativity? Spend some time thinking about this. This is your creative life after all. The power rests in your hands. 

Why The Full Moon?

The Moon cycles are incredibly important to me for various reasons. The most important is that the phases remind me that everything has an ebb and a flow. Everything completes a loop and comes back around again. That we will always experience new opportunities, new challenges, new peaks, and new valleys. It's part of what makes life so magical. 

The Full Moon, in particular, is a time to count our blessings. To recognize that our cup is full and celebrate the gifts we've received. It is also a time when people experience a "lunacy" of sorts and it seems like the world goes a little crazy. What better time to tap into our creativity than when we are feeling a little mad?  "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." Why not have a little fun with it? 

OK. How Does This Work? 

First things first, this is YOUR ritual, so only do what feels right for you. Anything I write here is a suggestion. Only you know what feels good. 

1. Count your blessings.
   I like to write this out on a torn piece of paper. Write it on anything you want. Write as much as you want. But spend some time with each of them. Feeling how grateful you are for each. 
2. Set an intention.
   Decide where you are going to focus your creative energy for this cycle. For example, "I am going to focus my creative energy on creating four images that speak to my core values and I'm going to invest four hours each week on this project." 
3. Write this down on your paper or on a separate piece of paper. 
4. Gather a source of flame, and if needed, water or a fire-proof container. 
5. Take everything outside under the Full Moon. 
6. Spend a few minutes contemplating your intention.
   Visualize achieving the goal. Imagine how it would feel to accomplish it. 
7. Offer a prayer or a wish.
   Maybe you pray to God, or another deity such as Artemis, or maybe you simply wish on the Moon. Again, this is whatever feels comfortable to you. 
8. Set your paper(s) alight and send them out into the Universe.
   Please be fire safe. Safety is always first. Consider the wind condition, dry conditions, and how likely it is that you may inadvertently start a serious fire. Use a fire-safe container in a sheltered place, if necessary, and be prepared with water to put it out. 
9. At the end of the cycle, assess how well you met your intention.
   If you met it, pat yourself on the back! Wonderful job achieving your goal! If you didn't, well the next Moon Cycle is always an opportunity to try again. I recently read in The Genius Zone by Gay Hendricks that committing is important, but re-committing might be even more important on the path to reaching our goals. 

Adopt Your Own Creativity Rituals

This is just one possible way to commit to your creativity among infinite possibilities. Do you already have your own creativity rituals? I'd love to hear them!

If you enjoyed this ritual, you might enjoy crafting other creativity rituals into your life. Doing so only helps your creativity in the long run!

P.S. This Full Moon is also known as Pink Moon for the lovely carpets of pink flowers that begin to appear in some areas of the world at this time. I like to think those little flowers are telling us to spread our love widely. Happy Full Moon!

If you hang around here long enough, you will quickly learn that I am obsessed with symbolism and archetypes. Not to mention Tarot! For what is the Tarot but a collection of symbols and archetypes?

A Super Brief Intro to Tarot

Tarot, in recent years, has mainly become mainstream, but it wasn't always so. In some circles, it was considered taboo if not outright blasphemy.  In truth, the origin and intended purpose of the Tarot is unknown. Though there is much speculation. According to the Library of Esoterica Edition of Tarot by Taschen, the earliest Tarot decks date back to the 1400s. Some believe it was originally a game to be played for fun. And it bears more than a passing resemblance to classic playing cards. But we're not here for a history lesson, are we? We're here to enhance our creativity. 

Tarot's Structure

There are three well-known styles of the Tarot: Thoth, Tarot de Marsailles, and Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS). The RWS is by far the most prolific and most indie decks are modelled off it. I think the artwork of the deck is terribly ugly (Sorry Pamela Coleman Smith but I like what I like!), but I am the most familiar with that style. So, that is the style I will be discussing.

A typical RWS deck consists of seventy-eight cards divided into twenty-two Major Arcana cards and fifty-six Minor Arcana cards. The Minor Arcana are further divided into four suits comprised of the numbers 1 through 10 and four court cards: Page, Knight, Queen, and King. 

The Major Arcana are often referred to as "The Fool's Journey" which is quite similar to the writer's "Hero's Journey". Essentially, these cards reflect the major emotional and spiritual milestones in a person's life. On the other hand, the Minor Arcana reflect the everyday moments, trials, and people that colour and enrich our worlds. 

Symbols, Symbols, Symbols

In addition to being symbols themselves, each Tarot card is chock full of numbers and symbols. From the faithful dog found in The Fool to the ever-turning wheel of the Wheel of Fortune and the complete circle of The World of the Major Arcana, smaller symbols are used to tell a richer story. Likewise in the Minors, each suit, number, and court card represents various qualities. Each suit corresponds to one of nature's elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Those are further correlated to aspects of wealth, intellect, creativity, and emotion respectively. Each number represents a set of traits. For example, ones (aces) generally indicate the beginning of something. Each court card represents a general age or gender. Queens are typically mature women. I'm being very simplistic here for the sake of brevity. My goal is to show you that the imagery, symbols and numbers alone are a source of inspiration. You don't have to know what each card means. 

That Sounds Hard! How Does That Help Me? 

Imagine, if you will, that you are feeling incredibly stumped for an idea. Maybe you have Creator's Block, who knows? But you have this handy (and fancy) deck of Tarot cards sitting on your shelf. You walk over to the shelf, pick up the deck and return to your seat. You open the box (or Tarot bag) and pull the cards out. Feel their silkiness between your fingers as you shuffle while them thinking about where you are stuck. Wondering how you might move past this creative block. At some point, you draw a single card and study it. Notice its lines, its colours, its symbols. More importantly, notice how it makes you feel. Notice if it brings up more questions for you. When you feel there is nothing left to take in, close your eyes and let your mind wander. (If you have to be somewhere, I suggest setting a timer for maybe 10-20 minutes.) When you are ready, start free writing about where your mind went. About what the card brought up for you. About the explorations your mind took you on. 

Maybe a particular colour drew your attention. Perhaps you felt an unexpected emotion. Hopefully, it inspired you to ask more questions. Feel free to draw more cards! As artists, we must open ourselves to inspiration. We must give ourselves the time and space to invite ideas in. In and of itself, Tarot is a source of inspiration. You don't even need to know how it works intimately for you are holding 78 mini works of art in your hands! How amazing is that? 

Need A Little More Complexity?

As you become more comfortable with the Tarot and how it works for divination, you may wish to start exploring new and more complex methods of building ideas. Some people use spreads to do this. Selecting a number of positions and assigning each a particular significance. 

Like this spread I created in my former business: 

Years ago I participated in a NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Tarot challenge where a woman designed spreads for everything you need to outline your characters and the overarching theme of the book. There were spreads for the book name and the genre. For the character descriptions and the character's goals/desires. It was a fun way to develop a storyline. 

So, What's Next? 

My intention today was to dip your toe into the vast ocean of possibilities that the Tarot contains for creativity. There are books on Tarot and creativity, even writing specifically (some may be waiting in my cart!) that you can read for further inspiration. However, if you like what I've had to say so far, I'm planning to explore each card in a series of Tarot Tuesday articles. So check back next Tuesday to learn how to be a Fool!

Got a question? Drop me a line and I will do my best to address them in future Tarot Tuesday posts!

Dear Curiosity,

Today I had a horrifying thought! For a moment . . . just a moment, I swear! I imagined what life would be like without you. Forgive me! I beg you! I do not wish it to be so.

For as long as I can remember you've been my faithful companion. Together we've seen and done amazing things. It's been magic, I tell you, magic!

I don't know what I was thinking! Pondering a life without you is a nightmare! I wish I could go back and undo such dastardly thoughts. Promise me. Promise me you'll always be with me! Don't ever leave my side. I could not bear your absence.

How would I learn? How would I discover life's great mysteries, without you? Shudder the thought! Would I even care? I should think not. For without you, how would I form the necessary questions that would lead me to worry over your disappearance? I wouldn't! I'd be nothing more than an aimless ghost. Passing through life blindly. Wholely unaware of the amazing tapestry that life is.

No questions. No answers. No discoveries. No friendships. Terrifying! Such a life cannot be!

Promise me, please!

I swear it. I swear it with my whole heart. I will never imagine such a thing again!

Together we've grown in incredible ways. Everything that makes life fascinating is because of you. I know this to be true!

Please don't ever leave me. I love you, Curiosity, I love you! You make life worth living! Your encouragement allows me to soar free! And to live the fullest of lives. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I want to continue asking the deepest of questions. There are still so many places I wish to visit. Foods I'd like to try. People I'd like to meet. Would I even want any of that if I didn't have you?

I never want to stop wanting things out of life. I can't wait to see what adventures we get up to. So please, please forgive my transgression. I am ever so grateful to you!

Let's continue this epic journey together.

Love,

Your adoring companion, Tara

It's important to me that I recognize those artists or works of art that influence and inspire me. I believe in celebrating the community of creatives that make a positive impact on the world. They are not my competition, they teach me valuable lessons. Today I want to recognize a fellow Canadian Artist who has had a profound impact on me and the work I want to create, Joel Robison.

A Bit About Joel

Joel is not only an accomplished artist, photoshop expert, and mental health advocate, he is a beacon of light. He approaches everything he does with a positive attitude and a belief that there is something he can do to effect positive change. Unlike some artists who wallow in the struggles and see the negative side of things, Joel always looks for the best in a situation and holds out hope that things will work out in the end. Just follow his Instagram stories and you will see for yourself. 

I have been a member of Joel's Patreon account where I have learned countless photoshop techniques as well as how to navigate the demands of being an artist in a world of social media. There is some incredibly useful content there. Patreon is where I learned how he put together "Nightwatch In The Garden" which is my favourite piece of his. I even got a print of it for my inspiration wall!

I'm currently working my way through his Fantastic Photo Adventures course on Expert Photography. I believe it happens to be 50% right now so if you want to learn some amazing photoshop techniques, I highly recommend it. I thought I had learned all the photoshop tricks I could from Joel but I am still learning new things with each lesson! 

How Has Joel Robison Impacted You and Your Work? 

If you have perused my Galleries you may be surprised that someone who likes to explore darker themes would be so inspired by a whimsical and light-hearted artist.  My palette is vibrant colours, deep shadows and edgier subjects whereas his palette is somewhat more subdued and as I already mentioned, whimsical. Pushing boundaries is something that I'm passionate about. I love boldness, strangeness, and power.  But I don't wish to injure or damage people in the process. I want my people to take the plunge with me. To step out of their comfort zones willingly but with the strong belief that it is WORTH IT, and that they will experience incredible growth because of it. Where better to learn that skill than the Master of Hope himself? 

While that may be the most important lesson I've learned from him, I've also learned many techniques for compositing that I consider invaluable. Tools that help me put my own work together. To make scenes more believable. I've discovered much about shadows, framing, and colour grading through his tutorials that I never expected.

In yesterday's blog post about the colour red, I shared an image called The Burning Red. The swing portion of that image was inspired by Joel's lesson, Spring Swing. In fact, it was the initial seed that took root in its development. I plan to share more about that image in the future, but for now, know that inspiration can come from anywhere!

And, if that wasn't enough, I know that if I am stuck searching for an idea, his handy little Creative Spark Cards just might give me something to work with. 

Here are two images directly inspired by Joel's work. The first uses a template he offered on his Patreon. And the second takes the knowledge he's shared and applies it to my own environment. 

Final Thoughts

During a time when we are continually scrolling social media and consuming the work of other artists, we tend to get bogged down in where we fit in. Or where we will find original ideas. In truth, everything has been done in some fashion already. The trick is to take what you admire and apply it to your own work. Now, I don't mean, go out and copy everything someone else is doing. But if, for example, you notice an element, a vibe, a technique, or a colour scheme that speaks to you on a deeper level, pay attention. Ask yourself how you can apply it to your own work.

And don't forget to show appreciation to the artists that teach you something. So, Thank You, Joel, for often being my creative north star! Whenever I'm in doubt about what I am trying to show the world, I ask myself, "What would Joel do?"

You can learn more about Joel at https://www.joelrobison.com/

Who Inspires You? 

I'm always on the lookout for new inspiration, I'd love to hear who inspires you.

Red is used to send us messages in our everyday lives. What are those messages? What do they mean? Red is one of my favourite colours and I often use it to help tell my visual stories. Let’s explore the colour Red.

Just the Facts About Red, Ma’am

Before we get to the deeper meaning of red, let’s review what is generally known about red. In school, we learn that red is one of the three primary colours or pure colours. While red can be combined with blue or yellow to make other colours, red can not be broken down any further. And if you are a visual artist working in the digital world, you might have learned that red is also one of the three colours of light that can be combined to make white light. Crazy right?

If you are a science geek (OK, it’s me), you probably know that the light we see as red has the longest wavelengths of the visible light spectrum in the range of 625 - 750 nm. Did you know that the reason we see something as red is that the object we are observing doesn’t absorb those wavelengths? It absorbs all other wavelength colours and reflects the red wavelengths. So we see scarlets, crimsons, vermillions and more. Isn’t that cool?

Red is used to make important messages stand out in our everyday lives. You have likely noticed that stop lights, stop signs and dashboard warning lights in new vehicles are all red. (Those dash lights freak me out, man!) Red grabs your attention and says “Pay attention to me!”

It is the colour of the life-giving substance that courses through our veins and seeing that colour leaking out of our bodies is a sign that we need to pay attention and mend ourselves quickly. Sometimes the consequences of ignoring that vibrant fluid are dire.

Can You Give Me Some Examples, Please?

Red Things

Brands, countries, and foods use red to tell us about who they are. Bold, daring, sensual, and important to name a few.

• Logos: Coca-Cola, YouTube, Adobe, Red Cross, Levi’s
• Muladhara - The Root Chakra - the seat of our power controlling our stability and security
• Red roses are given to symbolize passionate love.
• Sweet and juicy fruits - cherries, strawberries and raspberries
• Spicy peppers
• Roman Catholic Cardinal robes
• Flags: Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Japan 

Red Sayings

Using red in our conversations helps us efficiently express ourselves.

“Seeing Red"
“Red Tape”
“Red-light District”
“Red in the face”
“Paint the town red”
“Roll out the red carpet”
“Caught you red-handed”
“Red Flag"
“Red Herring”
“We need to get out of the red”

Red in Film, Literature, and Life

Red is used in all forms of media to help us understand the significance of something. Is the character meant to provide a distraction? Does the colour mean the person did something bad, or is dangerous? Does it inform us that we can’t go somewhere? Maybe it thumbs its nose at those who try to control us.

• The blond in the red dress in The Matrix

• Little Red Riding Hood

• The Scarlet Letter

• The red room in Jane Eyre

• Dorothy’s red shoes in Wizard of Oz

• Red in The Sixth Sense

• Mary Queen of Scots’ scarlet nightgown

Can You Just Tell Me What Red Means Already?

The simplest answer is that it depends on who you’re talking to. Depending on culture, personal experience, and education, the colour red can have a variety of meanings. Red might be worn for mourning in one culture and for weddings in another. How would someone with colour blindness feel about this shade? What might red mean to those in the medical profession? The science profession? A church? A brothel?

I know, I promised I’d tell you why it’s my favourite, but first, let’s explore what it means to you.

Take a minute and think about these questions and any other questions you can think of about the significance of red in your sphere of life.

• How does it make you feel?

• What things are typically red in your life?

• Are there red foods or treats that you enjoy?

• Have you had bad experiences where red was involved or a factor?

• How do you feel when you wear red?

• When someone else wears red?

OK, I Get It, So What Does Red Mean To You?

Red is an empowering colour for me. When I wear it I feel confident, sexy, and powerful. I often use it to highlight those qualities in my portraiture. But it can also mean temptation, danger, and sinister intentions. To illustrate this a little better I created a gallery at the end of this post for you to explore. Click on each image to see how red relates to the image. 

Alright, So How Can I Use Red in My Art?

Go back to those questions I asked you earlier. Start there! Think about your intention for the piece you are working on. Do your thoughts on red intersect with the message you want to send? If so, how can you incorporate your symbols or your thoughts on red into your work? I believe that your work will become more meaningful if you apply your thoughts and beliefs to it rather than someone else's.

I hope this has helped open the door to deeper use of red for you. I would love to see how you used it in your work! Feel free to share your work or thoughts with me in the comment or tag me on social media so I can learn from you!

You can find me at:

Instagram: @theportraitwitch Facebook: @theportraitwitch Twitter: @portraitwitch