Overload, Magic Jack and Citra-Solv

                                              'Overload'                                           © Eva Macie

This has been one of those weeks when everything has happened at once. I’m taking another online workshop to brush up on my Photoshop skills. I’m also trying to get my tax information together and deal with the State of Georgia’s new online filing system that doesn’t work any better than the employees. No one knows what they are doing so they just seem to make up stuff. Then they say they can’t understand why they are flooded with calls. This explains the sixty minute wait and longer on the phone. Thank goodness for Magic Jack! For $20.00 a year I have unlimited calling minutes and it doesn’t tie up my other phone. My son also has one so now we both have a private line. It was a bit tricky to install and if my son wasn’t here I’m not sure I could have done it myself. To add to the overload one of my email accounts has become un-assessable. I have spent hours in online Yahoo tech chats trying to solve it and no one knows what the problem is. (Apparently Georgia isn’t the only place that incompetency rules!) It looks like I may have to abandon it and try to notify those who contact me at that address. Ugggh!

The above Citra-Solv image really illustrates my state of mind. Overload! I was fascinated by the graphic elements and the distressed lettering. I could have digitally cleaned this image up but decided not to for now. The only manipulation I did to add a touch of clarity to the image, was to add the number 15 to an area that looked like a tag. I may have to take a break from my Citra-Solv fun as I have a full schedule ahead of me and looks like I’ll remain in ‘overload’ for awhile. I have discovered so many things that I can and not do with Citra-Solv that I think I could teach a course on the subject. Hummm.... another thing I could add to my overloaded schedule?

The Peekaboo Principle

Robert Genn, painter and author of ‘The Painter Keys’, on February 10, 2011 wrote a great post about "The Peekaboo Principle”. This principle term was coined by V.S. Ramachandran, who is a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, San Diego. Ramachandran, looking into various brains, including the brains of people who look at art, came to the conclusion that things are better when they are less visible. According to Ramachandran, concealment works because we are hardwired to solve puzzles. People get turned on by problem solving.

A friend of mine and wonderful artist, Susan Faircloth said “I've always loved mystery in a painting. It keeps me coming back to look for more in it. If it's all spelled out from corner to corner, I get bored looking at it really fast”. She also said it was the reason she enjoyed looking at my abstract designs. Thanks Susan, my goal of intrigue has been accomplished. Hopefully my above digital collage ‘Celestial Runner’ meets this standard.

You can read the entire Robert Genn "The Peekaboo Principle” post by clicking here.

Citra-Solv Collage

After all of the excitement of playing with Citra-Solv, I came down with the worst cold I have had in years. I usually use Zicam nose swabs when I feel a cold coming on and it would nip it in the bud. Unfortunately there were a lot of bad reports this past year about people losing their sense of taste and smell from using them. Needless to say I threw away the remainder of the package I had. After three days of a painful sore throat and cough, I surrendered to the Zicam Cold Remedy Tablets. They helped my throat, but the cold had taken over my system so I’ve had to deal with it.

Confined to my room with my box of tissues and herbal tea, I decided to play with the Citra-Solv decorative papers I had previously scanned into my computer. Photoshop is my angel in times like these. I have had a great time creating digital collages with the scans. Inspired by the many circular shape in the transfers, I made a couple of an organic circle brushes to add to my brush collection. I went a little overboard with the new brushes as I put circles in every image! Above is one of the first images I created. There is no meaning behind it, just a collage of textures and shapes. I’m looking forward to the end of this cold and being able to venture back into my cold basement studio to do some actual collages.