celieweb

[celieweb]

Adventures with Webster

I was intrigued and inspired by my friend Cara Barer’s work with paper where she took a book, folded the pages and then applied paint after which she photographed it. Her work is stunningly creative.  My approach however was different.  I first soaked a book, in my case an unabridged version of Webster’s Dictionary, folded its pages, photographed it and then added another layer in Photo Shop of an image I had made from my garden. I was enchanted by the results from beginning to the end. After the first image, I challenged myself to stay with the project and explore different techniques.  Here’s a sampling of what I call  Adventures with Webster.

[celieweb]

[celieweb]

Abstracts

Starting several years ago, I began sharing my images online each day. It keeps me practicing with the ever-changing digital editing tools. The images in this series all began as one of my photographs, almost always made with my iPhone and then processed on my iPad Pro. The process is serendipitous. I’m never quite sure where it’s going to take me. I just follow until a little voice says ‘That’s it’. And I stop. After post processing, I title each post  which gives me tremendous enjoyment. It's my way of completing the gift before I send it out into the world.  

[celieweb]

[celieweb]

Along the Shore ......

I spend a lot of time photographing waves rolling on to the beaches of central California and thus I feel familiar with that zone where the ocean meets the land. However, on Newfoundland’s western shores recently, I had an altogether different experience. Instead of crashing waves along the Gulf of the Saint Lawrence I found the water to be so calm that I was able to wade out up to my knees. There I peered down through the undulating water to the submerged, rounded rocks in colors and textures that I'd never seen before. Looking through my iPhone camera I felt such awe that I didn't want it to end. I didn’t want to leave. 

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[celieweb]

Spring and Summer all in One ...

It was late June 2019 when I arrived in Newfoundland with my friend Julie from Kansas and a group of 10 other photographers led by Richard Martin. I had no idea what to expect besides quaint fishing villages perhaps. Well I was pretty much wrong on that account. I had no idea that we’d see millions of wildflowers each day intensely blooming everywhere. There were fields of pink clover and tall mallows threaded through knee-high grasses.  Ranunculus mingled with campanula while dandelions carpeted hillsides sometimes in swaths yellow and at other times in brilliant oranges. In the wetlands I found pitcher plants and marsh cinquefoil as well as tall elegant iris. Many plants were familiar while plenty of them were mysterious even with a field guide in hand. That's when names simply gave way to moments of sheer enjoyment. 

[celieweb]

[celieweb]

Geologist/Artist

Layers of rock that represent thousands of years of the earth's history are laid bare in steep vertical formations towering high above Newfoundland's Greenpoint Beach. Scientists have studied these formations extensively for decades. My interest however was to view and experience them as an artist focusing on their textures, line, forms, colors and patterns. The photos in the series were made with my iPhone 8+ camera and processed with an artistic rather than a scientific intent. What a thrilling experience! 

[celieweb]

[celieweb]

Abstracts

After seeing David Hockney's exhibit several years ago, I went out and bought myself an iPad Pro with a magic pencil.  I wanted to create images like his. And yes of course, I wanted to be David Hockney. Short of that I wanted to loosen the ties that bound me to representational photography in favor of more hypothetical art. I decided that I could and I would do just that.  These images began as photographs like a broken windshield or a shadow on the sidewalk or a frozen flower. Often, they morph into something altogether different that evolves as I’m working.  This serendipity gives me great pleasure. 

[celieweb]

[celieweb]

The Land Meets The Sea

Purple iridescent seaweed appears on the rocks each summer along California Central Coast. It’s covered completely by the sea part of the day during high tide and completely exposed at low tide. The seaweed, also called kelp, look like long purple tongues. It's oily like surface shimmers with reflected light. I noticed on foggy days that the seaweed reflects shades of gray compared to shades of blue on sunny days. Then one day I noticed my red shirt reflected on the seaweed wrinkled surface. After that, I started experimenting with different colored umbrellas resulting in a dizzying array of colors. In addition, I can't help but see faces appearing in these wrinkled purple tongues. And finally, to my surprise one afternoon, I came upon the bleached remains of seaweed that had grown onto an empty mussel shell. Wonders never cease. Without a doubt, my seaweed photos are some of my most favorite. In this series, I used my iPhone as well as with my Canon 5D full frame and Olympus OMD em1 mark ll cropped sensor camera. 

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[celieweb]

[celieweb]

Soul of the Sea

I don't pretend to know the soul of the sea but when I gazed into it's approaching forms while standing on the beach, I'm struck with awe I feel its soul. I feel its many faces of wonder. Waves crashing onto the shore happens so quickly that even with the advanced technology of my big camera, I'm never absolutely certain of what all fine later when the images are downloaded on to my computer, I like to think of them as gifts from the sea. It doesn't seem to matter what the weather is nor what season, I'm simply led by a strong pull to my favorite spot on the beach there I placed my tripod in the sand like a fisherman with his pole and I wait.  I wait for the wonder to appear.

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