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What’s your art nemesis?

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Sunrise on the River Watercolor 070924 For those of you who make what would be considered traditional art - painting in acrylic, oil, watercolor, ink wash, etc. or drawing - pencil, graphite sticks, conte crayons, colored pencils, ink, and those who work in pastel, that crosses through both the drawing and painting categories, what is your nemesis? I have been working on photography for many years because unless you’re into studio photography or weddings, or commissions of any kind, it doesn’t require any real setup time and in the digital age, there’s no cleanup necessary. Violin 100223 Previously I was a traditional oil painter for several years until the day job, massive overtime, and young kids kind of put the brakes on that. I switched to colored pencil, which I still enjoy but don’t have the patience for any more, pastel, which I enjoyed, but found a bit too messy for my taste, and I’ve finally landed on drawing - mostly pencil but also using technical drawing ink pens and combin
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I Am An Artist

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Buttons and Stripes                                I am an artist Growing up, I wanted to be an artist. I think growing up a LOT of people want to be artists. Then reality sinks in and most of us go another route to be able to buy our groceries. In my case, I had a 42 year career managing a translation company, after having obtained a degree in Spanish with a minor in French. That was my vocation. A Feather on the Beach 091523 Along the way, I did take time to paint in oil, and I took some adult education classes like painting, life drawing, and art history at the local community college. That kind of slowed way down when the chosen vocation demanded more and more of my time while also raising a family. That said, I am an artist. I have always been an artist. I never made a living at it, and until about 15 years ago, I never made any money at it either, but I am an artist.                              I, and many of my fellow artists have been frowned upon, treated poorly and even beli
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Epiphany.....or Not

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Three Companions in Snow 2 030423 I have, from time to time, been on the verge of some kind of epiphany, or mental breakthrough to a great truth or some universal wisdom that will change my life forever and give me profound understanding of the universe and the way it works. I’m not sure how to best describe the feeling I get just before this realization will supposedly hit me, but it’s like waiting for a mental “sneeze” that never arrives. You know how that feels…you’re talking to someone and you have to say “wait a minute”, but the sneeze never manifests. Winter Gateway 030423 These instances, where I’m absolutely sure I’m going to realize something that will completely change my perception of reality, eliminate all fear and doubt from my life, and show me the way to wealth and happiness, infuriate me instead because the culminating realization never breaks through that “pre-sneeze” stage and I’m left sitting here with the same stupid look on my face, plodding along as usual, not kno
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Reflections on Reflections

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Amsterdam Reflections   What is reality? Is it a series of perceptions? Sight, touch, smell (taste) and sound are all the means we humans have to judge what is real. Although we can be deceived, of course, by digitally altered images, lenticular clouds that may look like UFOs, impossible burgers that taste like the real thing…but those are still real things even if we miss-perceive them. Consider reflections. Are they real? Or do they just represent other things. A photograph of a person on photo paper is obviously not the actual person but the paper is real. But what about a reflection? A reflection has no substance whatsoever. We can see it, but we can’t touch, smell it or hear it. Does something have to be perceived in more than one sense category to be real? Or is it just a mirror of reality? Metal Diner Reflection 25 062422 I’ve always wondered what I really look like. Consider that in our lifetime, unless someone makes a life mask of us, we never, ever see our face in three dimen
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Chasing the High

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Watery Journey 2 101721 Let’s examine that phrase. “Chasing the high” can mean anything from trying to find that perfect feeling from drugs or alcohol, which becomes more and more elusive as the victim goes deeper and deeper into that bottomless pit. Those who stop that descent are lucky, smart and determined.   Forest Floor Fall 1 110518 But let’s focus on the other  meaning behind the phrase “Chasing the high”. For some, this may mean “getting in the zone” (another often used expression) while driving a race car at high speeds. For another person, this may mean the fear, adrenaline a nd sheer will and strength of doing a free climb of El Capitan in Yosemite. But for most of us, there’s a different meaning.    I am constantly seeking the artist’s high, in my case usually with photography. I have hit that high several times with what I perceive as the perfect photograph. A jury of my peers may or may not agree with my assessment, and even if I post a photo I personally think is fantast
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Halloween OR The not-so-subtle Put-Down

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This main blog site is called “Mary Bedy Photography”, which is, indeed, my main art-related activity, but there are times when I just need a break and to have fun with something else. Thus my adventures with a free drawing program on my iPad, which lets me just “play”. There obviously is no serious, deep, soul-searching meaning behind the artwork in this blog post. However, it reminds me of something that was posted in the discussions on one of my art sites several years ago that really irked me so I’m going to vent about it here briefly. This person started a discussion for “professional” artists only and implied those of us that don’t make our entire living selling art (or photography), and/or are not classically trained, are JUST amateurs and JUST having fun (implying all joy and no work involved). I went off on this person and I will explain why. I’m a linguist in my professional capacity. I majored in Spanish and minored in French in college.  I work as a manager in a translation
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Bridges

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Zakim 5 High Contrast I love bridges. They usually have more character than some other architectural items like office towers. I think the imagination has gone out of a lot of the mid-century office building design up until today. A lot of them are pretty boring. Bridges, on the other hand, are usually pretty interesting visually. Blue Water Bridge     I live in Michigan, and we are all in love with our major bridge, the Mackinac bridge, that sill contains the longest span over water of any suspension bridge in the western hemisphere and 3rd in the world in that category. It’s listed as 24th for length overall because suspension bridges are measured generally between the towers. I also am really fond of the Zakim bridge in Boston near Logan airport. I try to take photos of it every time I fly into Boston. Since you can’t stop right on the bridge, I’ve gotten some interesting angles while trying to shoot quickly. It was completed in 2003 and is a cable-style bridge. I think, however, my
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