A Name Calling Owl

Don't get ideas when you read this title!!!

This is actually this week's challenge at Photo Art Friday. Since I hadn't participated for such a long time, I wasn't sure whether I would be up for it. Out of curiosity I checked what the challenge was for this week, and I was totally tempted. Bonnie asked us to "showcase a piece of photo art that references, in even the most oblique way, the title of one of your favorite books". Now, that sounds like a great challenge.

I chose my all-time favorite, a small book that I have loved for more than twenty years, "I Heard the Owl Call my Name" by Margaret Craven. It's the story of Mark Brian, a young Anglican priest who has not long to live and is sent to the Indian village of Kingcome in the wilds of British Columbia.

With all those pictures of the Great Horned Owl I took last year it wasn't hard to find "the base". I used two of Bonnie's textures, "Old Ornate Linen" and "cancel the cost" as well as some detail (an eye) of a piece of art by the First Nations that I saw in the Museum of Anthropology at UBC in Vancouver.

The recipe:
- crop the original photo so that I only have Mama Owl. Blur the entire photo (Gaussian Blur) at 100%, then use a layer mask and the brush tool to get the owl back.
- levels, brightness and saturation adjustments
- "Old Ornate Linen" in blending mode overlay at 100%
- copy, blending mode soft light at 100%
- "cancel the cost" in blending mode overlay at 54%
- add the text
- levels adjustment
- add the second photo (the eye) in blending mode exclusion at 64%

And... I recommend the book. It's a great read, done in a weekend. If you like "quiet" books, this is it.

Wordpress bloggers, please read: I have been unable to leave comments on some Wordpress blogs. It seems that Blogger users have to be enabled on Wordpress blogs to comment there. Since there are Wordpress blogs where I can leave comments without any problems, I assume that each Wordpress blog has to enable Blogger users to comment. It's sad when I can't leave comments...

The Lake

Today was my first visit to the lake this year. By now you know about my weekly walks around the lake with my friend Jo. I've shared many pictures with you. For Jo and me the lake has become a synonym for a good time together where we share with each other what is really important to us, when we talk about our dreams and fears, about motherhood and our children (our daughters have been going to the same schools since 5th grade - that's how we met). It's also the time when we can vent, be it about our husbands, our kids' school or politics (not necessarily in that order) and simply know that the other exactly gets what we're trying to say.

The lake is also the place where we share our mutual love for nature. It was during a walk with Jo when we discovered the nest of the Great Horned Owls. She is a real expert in everything nature, and thanks to her I can name so many birds and native plants now. We crawl through some brush, hoping to see a bittern (we did). We can stand forever and watch the Great Blue Heron, egrets and Green and Black Crowned Night Herons. I can now recognize some birds by their sounds, like the kingfisher (not difficult) and, of course, the red shouldered hawk - a pair of them circles over our house almost every day.

But I also love to walk around the lake on my own. Very early in the morning is my preferred time, when I'm almost alone there except for a few other photographers and bird watchers. At that time - especially now in winter - the sun is not even over the hill and there are interesting big shadows on the lake. Thursday before Christmas I even saw six otters playing in the water. I had heard about them, but never seem them until that day. There's also a bobcat roaming around the lake, but so far I haven't seen it. Sometimes I see deer, and one morning I discovered a muskrat near the shore. In the summer there are snakes, mainly gopher and garter snakes, sometimes a California king snake, but they are very shy. And, of course, a lot of birds.

Walking around the lake alone always gives me a good opportunity to contemplate things that are important to me. Like my Etsy shop. This is the time when I think of new inventory and ponder about a new file system, so that it doesn't get too chaotic when tax time comes along. I think about blogposts I want to write either here or on Vision and Verb. And sometimes I simply dream - of places I want to travel to, goals I want to achieve. In my mind I'm designing my garden in a different way. I try to figure out how to save more water. And how to be more budget savvy.

It's a good place for me, the lake. A place to relax and refresh. And truly a place of my heart.

Do you have a place like this? Would you like to share?

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Big Mistake (WOYWW 125)

It's Wednesday when we show to the world what is on our work tables that we're working on. Julia had the fantastic idea of this weekly hop around the globe - you can find all the details on her blog, Stamping Ground.

Doesn't this canvas look awful?? I was working on it for days and then were quite happy how it turned out - until I tried to adhere the photo of Mama Owl to it that would have been the final touch. I used Modpodge which was a stupid choice in the first place because it's not strong enough for matte photo paper. When I used a brayer to flatten everything evenly, some of the Modpodge appeared on the photo - it looked awful. I tried to save it, but no such luck. So I ripped it off - of course it didn't come off completely!

The stuff to use for adhering matte photo paper is soft gel - and of course that was the one I did NOT have. So I stopped by the art supply store on my way to pick up Kaefer from school and then tried again to adhere the photo (newly printed of course!) to the canvas. Fortunately it worked this time. The last finish were those three metallic letters on the left and finally the canvas was finished. And I'm still happy with it.

Short Update on my Shop

I just want to tell you about three new items in my Etsy shop that I just listed a few days ago.

Many of you probably remember the Great Horned Owls, and I also told you here that I created a photo book about this wonderful experience. Well, the photo book is now available in my shop.

But wait, there is more about those owls. I also made a wall calendar for 2012 with photos of the owls:

And for those who prefer the coast and photos of beautiful landscapes I made a 2012 wall calendar about the coastal Pacific Northwest: 

You can see all the pictures of the calendars and a peek in the book in my Etsy shop - where I also offer mixed media paintings, mini journals, photo greeting cards and handmade cards. I'd love to see you there and of course I always appreciate your feedback!

IA Challenge: Owls

"Owls" is this week's challenge at Inspiration Avenue - well, you would think after my wonderful adventure with the Great Horned Owls this spring I'd have enough photos to participate, right?

Right. I took a photo of Mama Owl - my favorite member of the owl family - and edited it in Photoshop Elements to give her a spooky touch. I actually didn't really do much - blurred the background (there is one of the owlets behind her), turned her eyes red and added some texture ("raised effect" by Shadowhouse Creations) - and here she is!

Just go to Inspiration Avenue to find a lot more of wonderful owls in any artistic way.

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August Break # 24 - Mama Owl

Do you still remember the owls?

I miss those guys.

I'm glad that there's an owl in the neighborhood that I hear sometimes.

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The Owls are Long Gone...

... but there are always the photos, and they will stay with us.

My favorite one of the family of Great Horned Owls was Mama Owl. Sometimes I had the feeling that, the way she looked at us, she actually recognized us after a certain time (I mean, we were there almost every evening). Well, I know, she probably did not. But I can dream, can't I? Anyway, she was a great character and I was lucky to get some great shots of her.

Doesn't she look perky?

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Who has won the Owl book?

There are 46 comments for my giveaway of a photobook about the Great Horned Owls.

I asked Kaefer to choose a number between 1 and 46...

and she said....

3

The third comment is from

Christine of Silver Linings 4 Me !!!

Congratulations Christine!!!

Please e-mail me your address and the book will be on its way to you.

Thank you to all of you who played.

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First Blogoversary and Giveaway

This post will stay on top of the blog until July, 11th. For new posts, please scroll down.

Today a year ago I started this adventure called my blog. I was such a newbie then, had no idea what I was in for. I'm so glad that I simply dove in - it's been such a great experience. I've "met" so many kindred spirits and connected to so many people in the blogosphere.

So in order to celebrate one year of "carola bARTz" I thought it would be nice to have a little giveaway. So many of you responded to the photos and the story about the family of Great Horned Owls that I made something special - a photobook.

I took my best owl photos, told the story of the growing little owlets, uploaded everything to Shutterfly and voilá! there's my photobook. It is an 8x8 hardcover book and has 34 pages. Here are a few of them:

If you want to win this book, you can do the following:

1) Leave a comment on this post only.

2) Become a follower of my blog and leave a separate comment about that.

That's it! I will draw a random winner on Monday, July 11th.

Good Luck !

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Off for Surgery

I will have my surgery this afternoon and I have no idea how long my recovery will take. So I will be away from my blog for some time, but hope to being able to peek in every now and then.

I leave you here with a photo of Mama Owl I took yesterday evening.

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WOYWW 105 and Owls

After the big anniversary last week I guess we are "back to normal" again. I never had so many WOYWW visitors to my blog as last week - it was quite fascinating and I visited some artists for the very first time - and it took me until yesterday!

I'm still playing in my art journal -

I love this heart stamp - one of the "discoveries" during the "She Had Three Hearts" Workshop with Christy Tomlinson.

Blue - I do feel a bit blue. I had a terrible stomach pain attack Sunday a week ago, and on Thursday I had an ultrasound. The diagnosis is that I have multiple gallstones, one of them is 2cm big and stuck in the neck of the gallbladder which doesn't seem to be good. My doctor would love to see me in surgery sooner rather than later. So I'll have an appointment with a surgeon on Thursday and hope to get more information then. In the beginning it really scared me, I had nightmares and felt overwhelmed. After I had talked and e-mailed with several people who went through this as well, I feel a bit calmer. But still a bit blue... I found that it's very therapeutic to be creative and have worked quite a bit in my art journal. It really helps. That, and working in the garden.

Oh, and here's the latest photo of the owls. They are nine weeks old now and seem to be very ready to move on. They're really big now and can fly very well. I guess they won't be around very much longer. We believe that they are boy and girl; I named them William and Kate.

If you want to snoop around the world and see other artists' desk, you just have to hop over to Julia's Stamping Ground to get the whole scoop. Have fun! Happy WOYWW!

Feeding the owlets

When we went to the owls yesterday evening, we were lucky to witness how Mama Owl feeds her children. She suddenly flew over to the nest and came back carrying something with her feet - food for the owlets. She quickly started feeding the young ones.

While we were watching, we heard some people saying how gross this was. I really don't know what their problem was - this isn't gross, this is nature - a mom feeding her kids. Yes, they eat other animals. They need meat for their survival. This is not gross. It's called survival.

However, if you think you cannot see how an owl is feeding a hawk to her owlets, please stop reading here.

Mama Owl brought something for her babies to eat of which we first saw only the feet and weren't quite sure what it was. We guess it was a young hawk.

She started feeding owlet #1 by pulling parts from the dead animal and giving it to the baby bit by bit.

Can you see how she is putting the food into the owlet's mouth?

After she was done feeding owlet #1 she flew over where owlet #2 was sitting, patiently waiting, and started feeding it.

It was fascinating to watch and learn more about owl behavior. After their dinner they didn't do much except for perching on their branches. The evening before, the owlets showed us that they can already fly very short distances - from one tree to another. They won't be around for very much longer I think.

Kaefer was happy drawing the owls in her sketchbook.

Fabric Owl - Paint Party Friday

Well, I guess it had to happen - after all my visits to the family of Great Horned Owls I was inspired to do something artsy about them. So I started a small 5x5 canvas, covering it with acrylic paints and a tree. My mind was set to have a fabric owl on that canvas - this was a great excuse to go and get some fat quarters (no, I'm not a quilter, I can't even sew). I guess fat quarters make a fat owl - this one is rather round...(she probably had a lot of mice to eat).

Now my question is - how do I do the finish? Usually I just cover the entire canvas with a layer of gel medium, but I have no idea whether I can put that on top of fabric. Can anyone tell me, please? Or shall I just leave it as is?

This is my entry for Paint Party Friday which is one of my blogging highlights in the week - please visit the other talented artists, there is so much amazing work to see. It is a wonderful artful journey.

Owls Through the Spotting Scope

We bought a spotting scope.

We had often thought about doing it - while watching wolves in Yellowstone, grizzlies in Glacier and moose in Alaska. Watching wildlife is one of our favorite pastimes on our travels. It's not just the thrill of observing these wild animals in their natural habitat, but connecting with other people who share the same passion. If we see someone with a spotting scope we usually stop and ask what they're watching. And usually they let you look through their scope - because you simply want to share the excitement. So it really was only a matter of time until we finally would buy one ourselves.

The owls were the final kick in the butt. While we went up to Mendocino, we went to a store called Out of this World where, among other things, you can buy spotting scopes. They are all lined up at the big windows, directed to the ocean and the cliffs, so you can try them out right there and then. The Geek - never one to make fast decisions - took a couple of hours to look through all the scopes and test them, until we finally made a decision (good thing the owner, James Blackstock, is a very patient person).

And you know what? He didn't like it. We took it to the owls last week and the first three photos here were actually taken through that scope. However, he didn't like that the viewing quality noticeably decreased with fading light and he wanted one with stronger "light power". So the following Sunday - last Sunday - the Geek and I went up to Mendo again while Kaefer stayed with a friend, and exchanged the scope. The one we have now, a Nikon, makes us very very happy. So it was worth the extra trip (I know, we could have shipped it, but I wanted to go into that independent bookstore again!).

The quality of this scope is amazing. And even better, with a point-and-shoot camera you can take gorgeous photos through the spotting scope. The photos you see here I took this evening through the scope - I love the result. And I want to share this with you since I know that there are many among you who followed "my" owls with me and want to know how they are doing.

They're doing great. Both owlets were sitting on a branch high up in a redwood tree, cuddling up. The light of the setting sun was warm and golden. So enjoy these photos - and if you have time, please let me know what you think.

My personal favorite.

WOYWW 102

So, we're getting closer and closer to the long anticipated second anniversary of WOYWW where the creative world spends the day sailing around the globe and looking at other creative souls' desks. And all this thanks to the wonderful Julia of Stamping Ground who consistently makes this blog hop possible every Wednesday. Julia, you rock!

My mojo had gone out the door for quite a while. I hadn't been very creative - I was either working out in the garden or I spent considerable time with the owls. As some of you might know, the "fallen" owlet had been released back to the site, and it's doing well. Last time I saw them on Saturday, and both owlets were cuddling on a branch with the mom close to them. The family really is reunited. I am so glad about that.

Yesterday, though, I was really frustrated. For one, the bad weather has returned - rain and cold, I actually had to switch on the heater because the house was so cold. And I'm NOT living in Minnesota, no, this is "sunny" California! Huh! That didn't really anything good to my mood and I was feeling useless, had this "I'm not good enough" mood - it was highly unpleasant. Then I grabbed my art journal and started to play around with my water colors - and that actually helped!!!

So I got out a small canvas, 5x5, and some acrylics.

And what is missing here? Yes, you got that right - an owl! I'm thinking of creating the owl with fabric, I have some nice fat quarters that I'm going to cut up for that. Sooner or later I had to start creating owls after spending so much time with the owl family.

Oh - and I made an owl book today - uploaded my owl photos and made a photo book at Shutterfly for my Dad's birthday.

I think my mojo is back.

Owl Family Reunited

A surprise was waiting for me when I went to check on the Great Horned Owls yesterday evening, and of course I wanted to inform you about that at once, but unfortunately, Blogger was down for a very long time - the "fallen" owlet that had been taken to the Bird Rescue Center last week's Wednesday was back!!! I had thought that they would release it when it was much bigger, but I guess that it was worth a try to reunite it with his family. Thus, it can learn all the life skills it will need to survive from its mom.

It was sitting in this tree and was obviously quite tired - and hungry, I think. It was released the night before and it seems that Mama Owl hadn't fed it yet. I was a bit worried that its parents would not accept it back to the family. Here's a look through our spotting scope:

Yep, with a good point-and-shoot camera you can take decent pictures through a spotting scope! We let a woman with her iPhone take a picture this way and that one turned out nice as well. So if you ever have a chance to do that, give it a try.

Mama Owl and the other owlet were still perching on the eucalyptus tree, their "home tree".

With the half moon behind the tree I thought it was worth a shot, even though it didn't turn out very well. But moon and owls just go together, don't they?

This morning I returned to see how the rescue owlet was doing. I was hoping that Mama Owl would take it in again.

I had a hard time finding the owls except for the dad who was sitting in his usual spot. Then I discovered Mama Owl and one of the owlets who turned out to be the bigger one, not the rescued one.  That one I spotted a little bit later high up in a redwood tree. It was hopping around, jumping from branch to branch, spreading its wings - and then it lost its balance... oh dear... was there another drama unfolding?

It was hanging upside down, flapping its wings until it lost its grip and trundled down - to the next branch where it flipped and sat upright again. Thank heaven! It's not that easy to fall down a redwood tree because of all its branches that are in the way - inconvenient for us photographers, but a life-safer for owls. I prefer it that way.

The owlet finally moved closer to the trunk of the tree where it seemed to settle down - and shortly after that Mama Owl came over and perched nearby, only three feet away. So she does care for her lost baby. It was good to see that.

WOYWW 101

Hello WOYWWers, it's 101, only three more weeks to the anniversary and the PiF. I can't wait...

Nothing to show you this week what's on my work desk since I'm mainly working in the garden, watching owls and preparing the last of my German lessons that I will teach tonight. After that I'm done with teaching for the season until October. I'm ready for a break!

Last Thursday I taught the "Tag It" class and these are the tags we made that evening. I actually had six tags, but somehow one has disappeared and since I didn't take a picture of it before class I cannot show you that one.

The "warm-up tag", the owl tag, of course, was inspired by the wonderful owl family I'm currently following. Last Sunday, while in Mendocino for Mother's Day, we bought a spotting scope and now it's even more fun to view the little owlet and its parents. If you're interested to see pictures of the owl family - they're Great Horned owls - there are several posts of them below. For the seastar tag I used a watercolor crayon - I love the ones by Caran d'Ache. This technique was completely new for the participants, and I'm always happy when I can teach them something they haven't tried before.

Here are two pictures that show what it looks like during those classes - the creative chaos!

If you're interested how the canvas turned out that I showed last WOYWW, "the girl who loved dogs" - you can find the finished project here.

If you actually want to see real work desks full of creativity, hop on over to Julia's blog who has an entire list of wonderful creative people and enjoy your visit to them.