"The Mind of Mary 1245"

Mary Taitt sent me a sketch of a "Zen Rooster" she did, and I pictured her mind at work doing it for this posting. Again, just a way of having fun with the Paint program. And OpenOffice, and Picasa, and a few other tricks those of us lacking Photoshop play with.

"Andree's Visitor"

This is a small "test" version of a larger posting Andree in Vermont is presently working on. It's a picture of a hairy woodpecker at her birdfeeder. Sometimes I do such things just to "try out" a given layout or composition, and see what's what. The poetry is by ME!

"Rainbow Easter Dream 1115"

(Derived from computer art by Mary Stebbins Taitt)

"That Face 1115"

Computer rendering in Picassa and Paint, by Michael Serafin, from a sketch by Mary Stebbins Taitt

"Sunflower Art" by Mary Stebbins Taitt

"Trinidad Beach 1058"

Original photo: Gail Slaughter

Framing and effects: yours truly

"An Irish Rainbow"

The top picture is by Mary Stebbins Taitt (a detail of a larger work). Below is my St. Patrick's day greeting which was created from Mary's painstaking work. Incidentally, Mary tells me her Leprechaun was originally a picture of a Slovenian statue. Weird people over there!

"Skyking Project" in Picasa

The effects shot shown at the top of the post lacked something when it was taken as a crop from a larger work. What to do, what to do. Finally I rotated the image and then applied various color schemes. The extraneous detail was lost by oversaturating, and then the image was sharpened and tinted several ways. The result was a nice bunch of backgrounds for something else later!

"Of Two Opinions"

Which is "real" and which false? (Silly questions around HERE!)

The top version, if you look closely, has more "water" in it than the lower one. It was added in the Paint program using color matching and the Pencil function. With that much more water, for better balance it needed a reflection of the sun in the water, and then I wanted to recrop it. To do this, the whole right edge of the shot had to be "painted out" wider to match the original colors. (Which, if truth be known, aren't in the "original", either!)

"Open Door" from a shot by Mary Stebbins Taitt

"Tennielle Revisited"

Sir John Tenniell(e) was the illustrator who closely cooperated with Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) in creating "Alice's Adventures Underground" and "Through the Looking Glass", otherwise known as "Alice in Wonderland".

(original, enhanced)

"Fiske School Project"

This is not an original photograph or a painting...not exactly, anyway. It is really BOTH. Andree in Vermont took a photo of Fiske School. I cropped the photo and adjusted it in Picasa. I then exported the result to Paint, where I retouched it to hide a TV antenna in the shot.

"Fiske S'cool Cupola"

(Original photo: Andree in Vermont----Picasa work: Michael in Michigan)

"Commercial 532"

"Doorway Rainbow" by Mary Stebbins Taitt

Fine art? It's fine with me!

The Engraver's art is handled by us every day in the form of fives, tens, and twenties, and we take little notice of the craftsmanship involved. Sometimes it takes an extraordinary example to begin to open our eyes wider and start to appreciate the skill and exquisite taste of the designers of our currency.

"Project 1910"

What does it MEAN? Who says it means ANYTHING? Maybe I was just having fun! You be the judge!