Weekly Photo Challenge -Work of Art

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

Pablo Picasso

A DAY IN THE LIFE

A SIMPLE LIFE

This week my husband and I are hosting a bit of a family reunion, so there’s not much time for blogging.  I hated to miss Michelle’s Photo Challenge, “Work of Art”, so I’m posting an abbreviated entry.  The shot above captures a simple home on laundry day from China’s beautiful Longsheng area. I post-processed it with PS Elements filters to create a bit of an impressionist view of the scene. Below,  I applied a similar treatment to a lovely floral scene in China’s Hangzhou.

PRETTY IN PURPLE

PRETTY IN PURPLE

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”

Edgar Degas

Impressionism has always been my favorite form of painting. I studied the French masters as part of my undergraduate degree, and have visited the incredible collections of the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.  My entry this week is a nod to their courage for creating a new and boldly different (in its day) style in the face of much criticism, and an acknowledgement of their incredible talent.

Impressionism and painting in general are an obvious entry for art, as is photography. But art can be so many things to so many people. To see what some other bloggers chose for their focus, click here.

 

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94 thoughts on “Weekly Photo Challenge -Work of Art”

    • Thanks so much Susan! Appreciate your lovely compliment. I actually have a painting with a similar feel of a chef at work in the kitchen. It’s one of my favorite things 🙂

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  6. I love the impressionistic quality in these photos. Like you I have always been attracted by the artwork of the impressionist, whether it’s Monet, Renoir, Degas or any other. Great quotes, too.

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  7. Great job on the painterly effects. The first one doesn’t even look like a photograph! It’s quite nice to have wonderful family time take you away from the computer.

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  10. Love the painterly effect Tina !
    I too have often thought how brave some artists have had to be in the past . Facing criticism from the public and *elite establishments in following their desire to be explore creative ways of being innovative with their chosen medium must have taken terrific courage .Thankfully although some may not have reaped the reward we certainly have in all the fabulous collections around the world .
    A family reunion … lots to organise …but how lovely ! Enjoy x

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    • Thanks PT, had fun with the textures on these and thought the “art” challenge called for some creativity! The reunion was TONS of work but well worth the effort as we all enjoyed it very much. My husband and I are both in serious recovery mode today 🙂

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  15. What a fantastic effect! I had no idea such a tool existed, but I love what you have done with it. Enjoy your time away. We’ll all be here waiting for more when you “return.” 🙂

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  16. Love the impressionist look, especially ‘Pretty in Purple’. Did you visit Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris too Tina? Where Monet’s water-lilies are? Superb. Your post has reminded me that I must visit Giverny and Auvers-Sur-Oise!

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    • Thanks Jude. yes we did go to l’Orangerie which was spectacular. I have no idea what happened to those photos as I wasn’t into digital in those days 😦 May just have to go back for a second look LOL

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  20. FANTASTIC!! Especially love ‘laundry day’ as I always had a thing for laundry scenes when we traveled….just feels like there is an entire story in that one little scene. Those moments always left much for me to think about the rest of the day….the treatment that u did made it far more interesting…sort of a mystery over it!!!

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  22. I respond to the Impressionistic paintings — but not Impressionistic music; as a musician, it took me many years to reconcile that difference in myself! 🙂

    Your treatment of your images is perfect.

    Enjoy your family time!!

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  23. I loved the impressionistic effect and was equally impressed that with the first one being something besides flowers (which seems to be what a number of the posts are). The second one – yes, it has flowers – it unique as well, although I love pictures with paths and lanterns.

    Nancy

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      • No, I haven’t been posting for a while now. My time has been used elsewhere – I’ve lost 40 pounds for one things, so lots of cooking! – and it’s hard being motivated to work on the computer after doing it at work all day.

        Thanks for noticing. Not many have, although there’s so many good blogs it is hard to see when someone disappears. I’ve been sketching out some changes in my daily routines, but am not yet sure how to implement what I want vs. what I can realistically do in a day / week.

        I might be coming to Charleston this fall to visit MWV’s Specialty Chemical plant there (I work for MWV). If so, I’ll let you know and see if we can meet up.

  28. Tina, what a wonderful use of editing to fit the challenge. I’m glad you didn’t decide not to enter. Enjoy your time. I’ve been away and mostly offline since Wednesday and after the initial feeling of missing out and getting behind, it’s marvelously freeing.

    janet

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    • Thanks Janet! The “art” challenge seemed a good opportunity and I hated to miss it as I’d been wanting to play with some textures on that first photo. It was a nice evening break from our family festivities, which turned out wonderfully.

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  32. so cool to get a quote I know and one I did not know – like I seem to see the first quote everywhere (well not always, but that Picasso one is so classic and just so good) and then I have never heard that Degas quote (at least I do not remember hearing it – and it is one that can be taken different ways – well to me at least).

    anyhow, I like the filter look on both photos – but the fav was the first photo – first – just the way it went with Picasso’s quote – “washes away” – and then we see laundry and the the feel of everyday! nice. second, also – the feel of the stairs moving up towards the colorful clothes – well there is this moving forward energy – a positive vibe – and then third, that positive (or upbeat) vibe is also felt in those colorful clothes hanging –

    and clothes can be so artsy – whether plain and ordinary – or with colors and patterns – and here we have some colorful clothing items – and maybe even a patterned towel (?) – likely skirt – but to me the clothes whisper beauty – amidst all that green – and well totally do not want to comment too much – but that leads to the last thing I enjoyed in your “work of art” post –

    the “impressionistic view” you chose to give us with your filters – (oh – and cool to hear what you studied in part of your undergrad) anyhow, the coloristic effects give us that take on light and I almost was wondering what the same scene would like at dusk – ha!

    hope you enjoy your visitors….

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    • Hi Yvette, thanks for the very thoughtful comment, and for noticing my tie-in between the quote and the wash!!! (you’re the only one who got that BTW!) Thought the “art” challenge was the perfect opportunity for some playing around with filters so had a bit of fun with it. Our reunion was terrific, thanks!!

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  34. I’ve seen some of the impressionist art work and they are impressive. I must admit I prefer the simplicity of art such as the ordinary “photos” of your travels. Enjoy your family reunion.

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  37. Nice effects, Tina. I was a bit strapped for time, too, as I was on vacation. But how can we miss out on this Challenge? I did a blog re-do, which WordPress does encourage once in awhile. Hope the reunion was nice and you are getting some rest!

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  40. Beautiful pictures which give a glimpse of a natural setting in China. Love that quote by Pablo Picasso as it makes one contemplate. Thanks Tina.

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  41. Love both of these pics. When we visited China, I tried to take several photos of everyday life — one of my favorite subjects. I love your technique of creating impressionistic pictures — beautiful. I’m having fun with an app on my iPhone: Waterlogue. Perhaps not as sophisticated, but still an interesting effect.

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    • Hi Rusha; thanks for the lovely comment. I’m as far as you can get from sophisticated but I do enjoy playing with some of the post-processing capabilities. it’s a whole new world for me.

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  42. Love the use of Elements to create the impressionist/painted affect…perfect for this photo challenge. The opening quote is beautiful, what is defined as art is up to the individual ~ but an absolute necessity to make it through the day 🙂

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    • Thanks so much Randall. I’m enjoying playing with some of the photos but really need to improve my knowledge on the post-processing stuff. Kind of a whole new world for me!

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      • Post-processing is this double edged sword, as it can be really enlightening (actually helps the creative process when you’re out in the field), but can also be time consuming. It is fun though, as your shots prove.

      • Thanks as always Randall. I agree whole-heartedly and don’t do it often but sometimes ya gotta go where the spirit moves you 🙂 On another subject, just found one of your previous comments in the spam folder. Only happened once so not sure why but wanted to let you know. Happy shooting and congrats on being included in Otto’s list 🙂

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