February 2008 – Page 3 – Deidre Adams

Baleful looks

I think lots of people find these rolled hay bales rather intriguing; I know I do. As I’m usually speeding by on the highway when I see them, I’ve always wondered how they were created. Last year, we were driving by on a small side road in Nebraska when we chanced upon a field where they were mowing and baling, so I got to see the machine that makes them. It kind of took all the mystery out of it for me, but they still make a great subject for the camera. The original colors of the image were somewhat uninspiring, so I played with some colorizing effects in Photoshop.

February 10th, 2008|Photography|1 Comment

The joys of Web browsers and CSS styles

To everyone who commented about my margins being messed up: I think the problem is fixed now (please let me know if not). It was something that only showed up on Internet Explorer for Windows, as far as I could tell. Since I use a Mac, I was blissfully unaware of the problem until you pointed it out to me, so thank you! It was something that was created by my attempts to left-align the images, because I don’t like how they look when they get centered if they’re narrower than the full width of the post column. But I wasted an entire morning trying to figure this out, so I’m just going to leave the evil centering for the time being so I can get some studio time today. If anyone knows how to left-align an image without breaking the display in IE for Windows, let me know!

February 9th, 2008|Miscellaneous|Comments Off

Horizons series

Horizon VIII, 25 x 25 inches, ©2007

Horizon IX, 25 x 25 inches, ©2007

Horizon X, 25 x 25 inches, ©2007

The influence of the vast horizon line is something that’s buried deep within my psyche. A couple of times a year, I drive the 450-mile journey between Denver and Albuquerque, where my family lives. A lot of people think I’m crazy, but I just love doing this drive. There are some different routes you can take: You can either just get on I-25 and stick with it all the way, or you can head west at Walsenburg, Colo., and take the scenic route down through the San Luis valley and then through Taos and Santa Fe. Each has its advantages, but in either case the scenery is full of wide-open vistas and amazing skies, and is truly soul-restoring for me.

The Horizons series pieces are some of my favorites to do. I love working in squares, and I love the simplicity of dividing a square into just two major areas. The challenge is to make them restful but interesting.

These 3 Horizons works were included in a SAQA-sponsored show last year called “A Sense of Place: Artists working in Series.” It was an invitational exhibit curated by Peg Keeney, one of SAQA’s very generous and tireless volunteers. The Sense of Place show is documented along with another show, “SAQA: Creative Force 2007,” in a beautifully-printed catalog available directly from SAQA.

One side note – I was thrilled to learn that all three of these pieces sold from the show!

February 8th, 2008|Influences, Inspiration|6 Comments