Western Exposure

Point of view - Colorful digital abstract composed of photographs taken around my place. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, Corel PSPX

Yuletide Universe | A Christmas tree silhouette filled with space imagery blended with a distressed ochre background. * Winner of the "Image with Christmas tree" challenge in the 'Amazing Challenge Entertainment' group in December 2018 * In Top 10 in the ‘Christmas Greeting Card Only’ challenge in the 'Amazing Challenge Entertainment' group in December 2018 * In Top 10 in the ‘2018 Christmas Creation Challenge’ challenge in the 'Creations' group in December 2018 * Featured in 'Creations' group in December 2018 * Featured in 'Dark Impressions' group in December 2018 * In Top 10 in the ‘Christmas Greetings’ challenge November 2018 in the 'Undeniably Special' group

Mare Hyperboreum - Dream or nightmare? Up to you. The surreal shapes come from photos of of a heap of oystershells and another of beach sand with some small mussels (taken, no, not in the far north or the dark side of the moon, but in Portugal). Combined with a texture by Siala on Pixabay (used under CC0 licence, with thanks) the result is a heavily textured surreal abstraction. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, Corel PSPX

Gathering of souls - Digital abstract work created from my own cloud photographs and CC0 licenced watercolor backgrounds, a paper texture, and a cracked wall paint texture by Marcela Bolívar.

Irish Skies - Half moon. A beautiful evening sky photographed on October 15, 2018. Canon EOS 60D DSLR

An abstract digital amalgam of metal, stone and wood surfaces around my house. Canon EOS 60D DSLR. Layer blending and other manipulation in Corel PSP X.

Red Moon Apples - Strictly speaking "Roter Mond", the name given to this rare and unusual red-fleshed apple variety. I have one of these apple trees growing on my smallholding. Canon A560

I can't imagine the countryside here without the showy montbretia (Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora) . It is a hybrid, created in 1879 by French nurseryman, Victor Lemoine, who crossed two South African species, C. aurea and C. pottsii. Due to our mild winters here in the West they became naturalized and had become frequent in the countryside by the 1930s. This photo however is of a non-naturalized cultivar planted in one of my neighbours' garden It is somewhat darker than the bright orange naturalized hybrid. I gave it extra texture with a photo of a stone surface of a cottage nearby. (Canon EOS 60D DSLR, Corel PSP X)

Orbit | A digital textured abstract in green, white, grey and black, created from a photograph taken at my home* and a texture by Marcela Bolívar (marcelabr) from Colombia on Pixabay, used under CC0 licence, with thanks. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, layer work in Corel PSPX *I'm not gonna say what. Don't want to take the mystery out of it...

Ocean on my mind - It's winter still, cold, dark, muddy and miserable and my mind wanders to warm sandy ocean beaches ... Created from a photo I took in Portugal and a water-stained paper background texture. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, layer work in Corel PSPX

Nothing spells springtime quite like daffodils. These are Narcissus 'Golden Dawn", a small Tazetta daffodil variety in my garden.

This is Tubergen’s Gem Tulip, a hardy species tulip (Tulipa clusiana). T. clusiana is an Asian species of tulip native to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and the western Himalayas. It's been super windy here in the last few days so everything is leaning sideways. Canon EOS 60D DSLR

Consensus | Textured digital abstract in muted earthy tones created from cloud and wall photographs shot at my place. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, Corel PSPX

Resilience - Photograph of a hawthorn tree growing beside a dry-stone wall in the Burren, Co. Clare, Ireland, blended with background textures.

It was that kind of a day here today - wind, hail, rain and thunder that turned into a metallic roar. Dark, moody abstract in gray and ink black created from wall and cloud photos shot at my place. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, Corel PSPX

Birchwood abstract | Digital abstract of stems of birch trees with a distressed texture. Created from a photograph of a sheet of corrugated iron out of all things .... and a background texture by @dyrkwyst . Canon EOS 60D DSLR, Corel PSP X

Glenquin - Created from whole bunch of wall textures and cloudscapes shot at my place and a photo of the house of friends on the Burren in the West of Ireland. The house was also the setting - in the form of a parochial house - of an iconic TV series but that shall remain unnamed for IP reasons. Let's just say a lot of tea was served. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, layer work in Corel PSP X

I was playing around with a photograph of birch bark I had taken in the garden. Just went with the flow. The outcome was strangely fitting with my mood as we had just buried yet another friend. The cycle of life is relentless. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, Corel PSPX

A boardwalk trail in Portugal combined with a texture by Siala on Pixabay (used under CC0 licence, with thanks) gives rise to this dark, moody and heavily textured image, a bit like a dark rainbow bridge. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, Corel PSPX

Intersection | This digital abstract work in vibrant red, purple and blue hues hints at geometry with intersecting lines and color fields while not really containing straight lines. It has a distressed texture rendered in tiny bruhsstrokes. It was created by means of digital manipulation of a photograph of broken plasterboard I found in my shed. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, Corel PSPX

Ladybird Love | Springtime has definitely arrived ... Found these two in my organically managed polytunnel/hoophouse. Canon EOS 60D DSLR

Here I am, stuck in the middle with you - Photograph of a bunch of pretty contented-looking piglets photographed at an agricultural show in Galway, Ireland a couple years ago. Canon A560

Abstract created from photographs of birch bark in my garden here in Ireland. I took the title from a poem by W.B. Yeats: A woman Homer sung ... For she had fiery blood When I was young, And trod so sweetly proud As 't were upon a cloud, A woman Homer sung, That life and letters seem But an heroic dream. Canon EOS 60D DSLR, Corel PSPX

A photo of a beach blended with a fibrous paper texture.

"Grounded" is an abstract painting comprised of blended horizontal brushstrokes in moss green, dark green and orange on a rich red canvas background.

Dandelion, from French dent-de-lion, meaning “lion’s tooth”, a reference to the little 'teeth' at the tip of its yellow petals. So many people try to eradicate this "weed" from their paths and lawns but look at just how beautiful a flower this is and, moreover, it flowers very early in the year and is an important early source of nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees. This work is a digital splashy watercolor render of a macro photo I took in my garden of the underside of a dandelion flower.

This Buddha floral collage shows the seated Buddha in the form of a collage of colorful flower illustrations, against a navy blue background.

Bay Sands is an impressionist abstract digital painting on a canvas texture. It has a warm dreamlike feel with cinnamon brown, hawthorn rose red, sand-colored and dusky pink brushstrokes harmoniously blending into each other, the warmth contrasted only by a few tideways in trendy 'veri peri' blue.

This moody, impressionist, digital work is composed of dripping brushstrokes and splashes mostly in complementary green and dark red with some violet and white intrusions.

This rustic coffee sign is a digital collage composed of ornamental vintage papers in beige to brown tones. It would look great in a coffee shop, cafe, kitchen or office coffee station.

SOLITUDE Solitude is like a rain That from the sea at dusk begins to rise; It floats remote across the far-off plain Upward into its dwelling-place, the skies, Then o'er the town it slowly sinks again. Like rain it softly falls at that dim hour When ghostly lanes turn toward the shadowy morn; When bodies weighed with satiate passion's power Sad, disappointed from each other turn; When men with quiet hatred burning deep Together in a common bed must sleep— Through the gray, phantom shadows of the dawn Lo! Solitude floats down the river wan . . . (Rainer Maria Rilke) I digitally created this moody impressionist-style image from my 'January Dawn Sky In Ireland' photograph.

"Beware of Bull" - Rusty sign spotted at a farm gate in my neighborhood. Could also be understood as a warning to hone your bullshit radar. Canon EOS 60D DSLR

'A little color' is a completely abstract work in light grays and maroon brown with a little light pink and blue intruding on the edges. I am posting this in the last hour of the last day of 2021, a dreary and lonely year in the ongoing pandemic. The little bits of color to me symbolize the hope of better times ahead.

This photo collage shows a pair of Indian runner ducks, a trout drake and a white duck, facing each other in portrait, their beaks almost touching. They are portrayed against a distressed background in a somewhat muted light teal color. Duck photographs by Söhnke Sören Weiner and Sue Rickhuss, used under CC0 licence, with thanks. Background by @DyrkWyst, used under commercial licence.

"Seawall" is a distressed abstract with a color gradient ranging from light blue through dark navy blue to cerulean. The colors are painted while the texture comes from a photograph of a wall with peeling paint. The horizontal lines contained in the texture give the impression of gentle waves lapping onto a shore at night.

So I bought this tasty little organic watermelon and rather than cutting it into wedges I cut it across the equator. Never before did I notice the whirls in its texture. I guess it has something to do with how the fruit grows. This minimalist work is a digital watercolor render of a photograph I took of a slice of the melon, showing a quarter of it on the top right and green negative space in the bottom left.