Tuesday's Treasures

On Tuesday's we often take a trip down memory lane with some "remember when" photos and stories. It could be photos from a high school prom; a nostalgic look at a 1950's TV program or a collage of family photos that were just taken last week.

Strength and Gentleness
Both of the images I am featuring today came into my classroom on the same day. Both of them are powerful in their own way.

The first one was created by Bob Westphal. This is a collage of one of his experiences in Iraq. He is the soldier on the left.

The setting is a Black Hawk helicopter. He is training his replacement.

Bob told us that they flew 150 miles an hour, 150 feet above the ground. While the enemy could hear them, they were moving so fast, so close to the ground that they couldn't see them coming until they were there and gone.

When I first viewed this image, it made the war so real to me. We read about it in the papers and see images on the news, but they often seem far away. Until someone we know is looking back at us from a seat in a chopper. A picture of courage, concern, strength...someone I know, in battle gear.



The second image was created by Anne Jordan. It was constructed using images from a family vacation. These are her grandchildren and daughter at the beach. She said the family climbed the tower, but she and the little one wisely stayed on the ground and enjoyed the beach!

This is such a lovely glimpse of peace. The beach, grandchildren, a hand holding a shell. So simple and sweet. Precious and poignant. A way of life protected by brave men and women who stand in the breach for us all.



Times are tough, it is true. But we are blessed with so much in this fine country of ours. I for one am especially grateful to the men and women, fellow citizens, who travel to foreign lands, going in harms way to help protect our way of life.

Our hope is one day...

They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. -- Isaiah, II:4

Tuesday's Treasures

On Tuesday's we are going to take a trip down memory lane with some "remember when" photos and stories submitted by our students. It could be photos from a high school prom; a nostalgic look at a 1950's TV program or a collage of photos that were just taken last week. If you have memories, old or new, you would like to share, send them to me at mxw8110@yahoo.com.

Delicious!

How about these? I was just talking to one of my students about the importance of us seeing the marvelous work that is being done by our age group. There is no time to sit in your rocking chair and retire from life. You have too much to share!!

This is from one of my Collage Class students. What a lovely collage! The gentleman's daughter goes to Dallas blooms once a year with her students. He was with them, fortunately had his camera with him and took these images. Then he had them available to use this year in our Collage class. The moral being, the best camera is the one you have with you!


In 2007 he and and his wife went on a Fall foliage trip in Massachutsetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island. How about that for color watching! We did this collage in template form in class and he applied his own images to it. The combination of 5 images fairly jumps off the page!

I do so appreciate my students allowing me to share their work!

George Bernard Shaw said, "Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you creat what you will."

Saturday Star Spotlight

Seniors are doing a lot of exciting things and we're looking forward to featuring their impresssive accomplishments every Saturday in our Star Spotlight.

Thoughtful, Interesting and Classy

My collage class has started up again at the Community College where I teach. I have three classes where students create their own images, and many times they generously allow me to share these gems. Remember my students are all between the age of 50 and 90.

I have the privilege every semester of seeing how smart, creative and talented our age group really is. It never, ever ceases to surprise and delight.

This collage was created by Dora Slover. Here is how she explained her thinking when she created the collage:

"I chose my photographs to illustrate our vacation in Washington, DC last year.

I used the Washington munument and made it the center of interest because if you get to a point where you can see the monument when in central DC you can find yourself on the map. I then chose four of the major buildings in the central area. I tried to find four buildings with a columnar facade, but decided the Capitol was too important to pass up. The buildings on the left are the White House and the National Library. The buildings on the right are the Supreme Court and the Capitol.

Across the bottom row, I chose three photos of the Arlington Cemetery. The soldiers close the collage within a frame, and send the eye to the center photograph. When the eye follows the line of the tombstones it continues into the photo above of the Washington Monument, causing the eye to return to the top of the collage."

The informative text about this attractive collage makes viewing it richer and more interesting.

Special Thanks to Dora Slover for sharing her work with us.

I often think of my daughter's favorite quote when I'm viewing my student's work, "Promise me you'll always remember you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." Christopher Robin to Pooh

Friday Star Spotlight

On Fridays we will feature special projects, photography and ideas contributed by talented seniors along with information about the Internet.


McKenlie and Will Parker

If you are a teacher, you know that you do have favorites in the classroom! Well, Lana Davis is one of mine. Helpful, honest, straight-forward and kind, I have relied on her opinion on more than one occasion.

And she has come up with some charming images that she has agreed to share with us on the blog for Friday.

First we find 2-year old McKenlie her much loved great niece. She calls Lana's sister Mimi--a fine name! And next to McKenlie is Lana's great nephew Will Parker Davis. Now this young man is not called Will, but Will Parker, and is seldom found without his hat. If he is naughty, his mother takes his boots hostage and that is a serious calamity for his little self!!

I’m tellin’ y’all it just doesn’t get a whole lot cuter than this right here!!

Unless of course you get the whole Moreno family involved and then you have another really special image for a family keepsake.

Desmond Tutu said, "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." He was so right!

A special thanks to Lana Davis for sharing her terrific images with us!

Tuesday's Treasures

On Tuesdays we provide our Faculty an opportunity to feature the talented work of some of our students and friends. You may see a display of creative Photoshop work, their beautiful photographs or an interesting story about an individual’s meaningful contribution to his or her community, country or the world.If you have memories, old or new, you would like to share, send them to me at mxw8110@yahoo.com.



A Jewel

Karen Barnett has been a student of mine for 6 months. In that time she has done exactly what you need to do to learn a challenging program like Photoshop. She has hung in there, not given up, come to class after class and practiced at home. She is now one of the strongest students in class, often working ahead on her own.

Not only is she a good student, but she is a genuine gem to have in class. She assists people around her and makes friends easily. Her helpful efforts have benefitted her classmates from her very first Level 1 course.

She represents the spirit of good will and a strong mind that I brag about every chance I get!!

What you see below are three images Karen prepared for a collage class. First the original image is made black and white. Then a smaller version of the very same image is added on its own layer in color. This process takes pictures that are nice but maybe a bit mundane, and gives them pizzazz that will make you look twice!

Start with a lovely waterfall...

...add an image from a Japanese garden...

...and finish with a forest trail.



Pretty snazzy!!!

A special thanks to Karen Barnett for her lovely images and her lovely self!

Tuesday's Treasures

On Tuesdays we provide our Faculty an opportunity to feature the talented work of some of our students and friends. You may see a display of creative Photoshop work, their beautiful photographs or an interesting story about an individual’s meaningful contribution to his or her community, country or the world.If you have memories, old or new, you would like to share, send them to me at mxw8110@yahoo.com.


Nine Square Novelty

This week we are featuring the work of five of my Collage Class students. The assignment was the same, but the results as usual were as diverse and interesting as the students themselves.

I love the Fall! If we keep our cameras with us, we can get some wonderful pictures this time of year. Tom Whitman and his wife took a trip to the Ozarks to see the color and returned with the lovely pictures collaged in the image you see below.

And how about this one. I didn’t realize that we have a butterfly pavilion in Ft. Worth, Texas. That is where Barbara Maimbourg went to gather these delicious images.

And of course the nine square template lends itself to pictures of loved ones. Ed Relder did this charming image using his great grandchild as a model.

Below Alyce Fisher features her son at his graduation. This is a really effective way to present a series of pictures of the same subject. If you had these as individual pictures you might quickly thumb through them, thinking they were pretty much the same. But the nine of them, gathered in one place, along with the text, present an image of a very special moment in time.

And how about this one that Karen Barnett came up with?! It is the The Cullen Family from the movie Twilight. But isn’t this a great idea. I was thinking how much fun it would be to do a collage like this with family members gazing out of the squares and put the family crest in the center square.

As always I am struck by the ability of our age group to continuously create unique images. When we get that technical skill in place, we're dangerous!!

Marcel Proust said, “The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

Special thanks to Tom Whitman, Barbara Maimbourg, Ed Relder, Alyce Fisher and Karen Barnett for their contributions to Tuesday's Treasures.

Tuesday Treasures

On Tuesdays we provide our Faculty an opportunity to feature the talented work of some of our students and friends. You may see a display of creative Photoshop work, their beautiful photographs or an interesting story about an individual’s meaningful contribution to his or her community, country or the world.If you have memories, old or new, you would like to share, send them to me at mxw8110@yahoo.com.




Variety--the Spice of Life!
I love blogging on Tuesday because I get to show off! Or I guess that I should say that I get to show off my students.

Lana Davis was kind enough to let me share the colorful, interesting images you see below. They are different from each other and I love each one of them!

First a collage done from images Lana took when she visited Gethsemani. The background is the wall at the entrance:




And here we have an image taken at Montemarte in Paris:




Can't leave those pets out!




And a charming image of Lana's family. The background is her mother's home which she has lived in for over 50 years!




Special thanks to Lana for making our Tuesday!!

"Variety is the very spice of life that gives it all its flavor." ~William Cowper