Many Thanks to Sheila!

Many thanks to Sheila for her skill and expertise and PATIENCE as she worked out my new blog design with me. I had wanted three columns for a long time, but didn't have the knowledge of HTML to change all that code. Sheila was very accommodating and has provided me with a new template that I like a lot. Thank you again, Sheila!

If you would like to change your look or just open up your layout, give Sheila a visit. Her rates are very reasonable and she sure knows her stuff. And she has a great eye for design, as well!

Mind Portal

That's what digital art is for me, a portal. The technology allows us to create effects that would be either too difficult or actually impossible, to do with brush and pigment in real-time. To think that way back in the 60s I was against the idea of artificial intelligence, because it seemed to take us further afield in our struggle to remain truly human! Many factors in our evolution and cultural choices may conspire to undermine both manners and morality, but the use of a particular technology, of itself, probably doesn't have that power. Whether we further evolve as a species, or devolve, or both polarities of the human experience cancel each other out so that we remain helplessly stuck in one spot, will depend on a multitude of factors of global import. But that's too far a digression for this post!

Now I not only accept the computer as a useful tool, but I embrace it for it's unlimited potential to bring us knowlegde, and aid and augment our research and creativity, among other things. Of course I recognize that it can also be used for ill, but that applies to almost any tool, technique, or technology that's ever been invented. (Evil is in the hands of the perpetrator!)

As for us artists, photographers, writers, and other creative people, I see us as adding new forms of beauty to the world. To me, that is unarguably a good thing!

As I begin to explore a bit more digital painting, I'm finding joy in it just as I do with realistic photography or expressionistic painting. This is one of my new images, and I think I like it.

To me, "Mind Portal" is a colorful, kaleidoscopic digital painting with an inner glow. I find I can lose myself in it, just as I can with many images of other techniques and genres. I know that many people would rather look at something identifiable and realistic, for a pleasing visual experience. For me, there's room for everything along the spectrum of real to surreal and unreal i.e. completely non-objective and fabricated. How about you? Do you find this kind of image engaging, or easy to dismiss?

Image and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Between Heaven and Earth

Between Heaven and Earth - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Between heaven and Earth the clouds form, to bring the rains that fill the rivers and foster life all over the planet. Not only that, but they make the sunny days that will inevitably follow, seem equally welcome and miraculous!

If you look closely at the left-hand side of the image, you can see some rain falling. And thankfully, the river on the right is still viable. Taken at 500 mph from the airplane on our recent trip to Arizona.

Image and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Spectacle Over Sedona

"Spectacle" - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2008

A spectacular panorama of the red rock cliffs and a dramatic blue-gray sky in Sedona, Arizona. I prefer Nature's machinations to the dreary proclivities of man!

Image and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

The U.S. Auto Industry and the Ripple Effect

Yesterday I posted this video on my Facebook page. As I just replied to a friend who commented on the video, I had not wanted to see another bailout for fat-cats who abuse the privilege of earning their living through our Capitalist system, by their tendency towards greed and corrupt and deceitful activities. Ideologically, they are the most likely segment of our society to condemn socialism. Yet they want us to take care of their gold-plated machine. "Let the 'little guy' compensate for our lack of management and foresight," is like saying "Let them eat cake."

But after watching this video, I think that bailiing out the U.S. auto industry may be a necessary evil. So many jobs will be lost by people who do NOT live gold-plated lives. Countless families will suffer in more ways than we can anticipate.

What do YOU think?

Enchanted Forest in Sierra Club's "Daily Ray of Hope" Feature

My photo "Enchanted Forest" is being used in today's Sierra Club "Daily Ray of Hope," along with the following quote from Sandra Day O'Connor:

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.

This beautiful ornamental kale caught my eye late one early-winter afternoon when my husband and I were on our way to meet friends for dinner. Since my husband cannot stand to be late, I had to hustle to take this shot. It was one of those lucky times when I just happened to have my camera with me.

The kale, in a planter outside a store downtown, was so delicate and just glowing in the afternoon light. I felt I HAD to move up close on it. Looking through its leafy arms was like looking into an enchanted forest.

My thanks to Cara at Sierra Club for using my image. I love nature and want to see it preserved, so I'm very happy with this kind of usage (with my permission) of my photos!

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My thanks also to Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage for the gorgeous set of cards and envelopes she gifted me with! Here's the pomegranate photo she sent, which I had admired on one of her posts.

All her photos are beautiful, and her site looks just great. If you haven't visited Cindy, go on over for a look at her work and to read about her gardening and kitty escapades! Her love for nature and life come through in everything she does.

If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Flourishing in Golden Light

A single tree seems to stand proudly over this open and breathtaking landscape south of Sedona, Arizona, aglow in the golden light. Even places we think of as arrid, teem with life in many forms. I love the shadows over the rolling hills and the huge expanse of blue sky. I'll be posting more Arizona and Sedona photos this week, as time permits!

Image c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.