Many years ago while teaching in the UK I was smitten by this quilt which had won Best of Show. I loved the images representing the ancient Desert Southwest and was impressed with the artist ability to nail these themes. Liz Heywood had researched the Anasazi (the ancient ones), and assemble this wonderful quilt. I’ve had this quilt hanging either in my office or my home ever since I purchased it. At the time, I was living in St. Louis, far from desert southwest vibes. Now, that region is my home.

You must take time to look at the detail images and see the machine stitching, the hand seed stitching...hidden, tiny prairie points, and so many other techniques. Even after all these years I still find things I never noticed before.

Challenge Photos from Week 34

52-Week Photo Challenge Class: Week 34, Power Of One

Photo by Lynn Watkins

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One basketball in the pool

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 34 - The Eyes Have It

Critique Group Challenge: 

Week 34, The Eyes Have It

Photo by Marion Seasholtz

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Marion says:

Ruby our cat - I played around with her eye color, but decided to go with the actual color. Filter from BeCasso

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 34 - Simple Pleasures

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 34, Simple Pleasures

Photo by Deb Story

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Deb says:

My happy place this week when Western New York temperatures approached 90 degrees! BeCassp filter and Snapseed edits.

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 34, The Eyes Have It

Photo by Ricky Tims

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Ricky says:

This is my co-host, Alex Anderson. It's a triple exposure layered in Photoshop with each layer a different size and the Lighten blending mode creating the effect. I made adjustments to the original layer before duplicating. I wanted the impact of the eye to dominate, but the rest to feel a bit surreal or dream-like.

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 34, Simple Pleasures

Photo by Ricky Tims
from the 2021 Critique Group

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Ricky  says:

Simple pleasures, but also amazing technology. This is Hugo, in Portugal. The simple pleasure is putting your feet up and just enjoying a moment. But also, it's a pleasure, and an amzement to use visual technology to communicate when borders are closed and we cannot visit face to face. I asked to see "his view" and this was it. It's a screen capture of the moment and I cloned out my little thumbnail window showing myself. So essentioally, I took my photo in Portugal this week (smile).

I made Nude Shoe Reclining many years ago as part of an art quilt group challenge that was to be based on a famous painting. The catch was that the new version must include a shoe. Well, I duplicated a hand-dyed tennis shoe and replaced the bathtub with the nude lady. It's fun - and whimsical.

Challenge Photos from Week 33

Critique Group Challenge: Week 33, Cup & Saucer
Photo by Joen Wolfrom

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Joen says:

After discovering the theme, I decided to play creatively within the editing process using multiple cups and saucers within the image. I dozens of photos of a cup and saucer on our wooden kitchen table, but ended up only using a couple.

I worked to death 4 different versions of teacup images, playing with 5 – 9 layers and ended up getting myself caught in all sorts of visual editing problems. Basically, I changed the opacity of the different layers, did a bit of cloning, and used the spot-healing tool to eliminate some distractions. Then I explored the different blending modes to see what evolved with the different options. I believe I used linear light for this image. I tinkered around with shadows, highlights, etc. and then finally said, “enough” as I was driving myself batty. I needed to stop this teacup madness before I got any deeper in the editing weeds and hit the wall

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 33 - Found Alphabet

52-Week Challenge: 
Week 33, Found Alpabet
Photo by Thomas Bradley

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Thomas says:

My initials are TMB, T is part of a fence. M is part of Lazy Tong Riveter. B is boots, I did a lot editing with scaling and distorting the image in Photoshop.

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 33 - Snacks

Smart Phone Challenge:
Week 33, Snacks
Photo by Diane McCue

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 Diane says:

It’s cherry season here in New York. These taste as good as they look! A little help from Waterbrush app.

Smart Phone Challenge:

Week 33, Snacks

Photo by Ricky Tims

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Ricky says:

In Nebraska for the lecture there was a snack table with very yummy cookies - which I did partake, and did take a photo. But I found the tea dispenser and cups more interesting. The trick was to start the flow and take the photo before my cup ran over. I barely succeeded. I like this main element flanked by less dominant companions. Edited in Prisma app with Tokyo

Critique Group Challenge:

Week 33, Cup & Saucer

Photo by Ricky Tims
from the 2021 Critique Group

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Ricky  says:

This is from my small collection of Dingle Pottery, from Dingle in Ireland. Hedi is a wonderful and fun potter and I never stop in Dingle without adding a bit to the collection. For this shot, I tried multiple options—including one which included a portion of my blue-shirted belly (you can thank me later). I chose this one, with the cup upside down on the saucer - near straight on. The slight offset off the center circle was more interesting to me than the bullseye version. The counter top was white - so I added a gradient layer - blended it with a blend mode - and then erased over the cup/saucer. I opted not to clone out the hot white center refelction partly because it draws the eye to the smallest ring, and partly becuse it was a bit like an "eye" with a refelection. No other fancy footwork - pretty straight forward this week.

Photos from Week 32

Critique Group Challenge: Week 32, TickledPink
Photo by Ricky Tims

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Ricky Tims says:

Sometimes I get annoyed at my own challenges. I think, "this will be fun" - and then, I realized that here on the mountain I have very limited options. But... that's what makes it a challenge. My first inclination was to NOT photograph a flower. But I don't have pink things in my house. Like - seriously...nowhere. Or, the little pink that existed did not make for an interesting subject. So.. out to the garden I went. I explored many options on how to presnet this, but in the end, went for two layers. The shot from above and a layer of gradient pink blended over it.

52-Week Photo Challenge Class
Week 32 - Old Paint

52-Week Challenge: 
Week 32, Old Paint
Photo by Phillip Richardson

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Phillip says:

Found some paper recycling bins in a nearby village that had years of benign neglect evident. Took a wide angle shot up close. Liked the corrosion / rust eating away at the lettering and base paint of the bin. Applied normal LR edits in post

Smart Phone Photo Challenges
Week 32 - Bumps

Smart Phone Challenge:
Week 52, Bumps
Photo by Cyndi Johnson

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 Cyndi says:

I recently received this trivet and thought it perfect for this weeks challenge! Hope all are staying safe in your part of the world!

Smart Phone Challenge:
Week 32, Bumps

Photo by Ricky Tims

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Ricky says:

I really struggeled with this one - not a lot bumpy things around here. But, voila! I saw a package with bubble wrap and decided to lay the wrap on top of a piece of hand-dyed multi-colored fabric. I liked it best at an angle. A slight blur was added in the BeCasso oil filter.

Critique Group Challenge:
Week 32, TickledPink

Photo by Jeff Sprinkel
from the 2021 Critique Group

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Jeff  says:

This is a painting in the great room over the fireplace. It actually is a blend of many colors. I thought about the challenge and wondered what it might look like with just the "pinks" highlighted. It was a fun challenge