Hello September

Hello September! School is back in session, the light appears later in the morning and fades earlier in the evening, while an earthy aroma whispers change. I welcome autumn harvests, red apples, blooming chrysanthemums, orange pumpkins, whimsical gourds, and corn shocks all shining under a harvest moon.

The bounty of the garden spills into my kitchen with delectable results...

Summer squash au gratin

Canned whole ‘Roma’ tomatoes 

Fresh salsa

Stuffed peppers

Tomato Bingo Anyone?

The glory days of sunflowers towering over the garden are passing as bulbous heads bowed low salute nature’s change of seasons. The final sunflower has opened her face to the sun and I stand beneath heaving an audible sigh of appreciation.

I am not the only creature that benefitted from all that sunflowers offer; bees, covered in yellow pollen, danced around the spheres sipping and collecting. Butterflies lit on this year’s favorite flower and a goldfinch hung precariously, nearly upside, snatching a not-ready-for-prime-eating seed or two.

I think I will miss the sunflowers most of all. As Vincent Van Gogh remarked, “The sunflower is mine, in a way.” Well it’s mine in a way, too and I have taken over a hundred photos hoping that just one will capture the essence of a sunflower.

Cutting a sunflower head in its crowning golden glory of petals was one of the hardest things I did in my garden this year. I treasured each one and while I love cut flowers, scanning often requires removal of stems. So I float the head in water enjoying it for as long as possible knowing that long after the stems have been cut down I’ll have colored memories.

Come in September.  I'm so glad you're here!

Of X-Rays & Scans

Last week was some kind of busy. A week ago I was picking flowers in my sisters and sister-in-law’s gardens and flower beds looking forward to big bouquets and playing around with scanning a few. Yesterday, I spent the day in a hospital with my daughter and the wasband as we awaited the procedure that would mend a little boy’s broken elbow. How much can change in a jump from a trampoline!  On Friday afternoon, my grandson jumped off a trampoline falling on his left elbow.  After a few phone calls we were off to the doctor for x-rays and the news that yes indeed he fractured his elbow.  A half-cast wrapped with ace bandages was applied to the injury and we were sent home, but needed to arrive at the hospital early Saturday morning.  The procedure went well and with a group sigh of relief the healing process began. Today he's back to normal, except for one full arm cast that reaches from small shoulder to wiggling fingers.

I’m learning more and more about scan art and thought I’d share with you what I’ve learned so far.

Judy's Caladiums

Pick & Drink

My first scans were just-picked blossoms that I brought in and scanned. The flowers faded quickly, of course. As a long-time flower arranger I know that taking a container of water to the garden with me is the best way to go. The optimal time for picking is early morning before the sun has had a chance to dry things out. Doing it right means cutting, plunging the stems into water, and placing the thirsty plants in a cool place to drink in as much water as possible. I cut in the morning and scan the following morning allowing plenty of time for flowers to drink. The turgid flowers hold up much longer allowing for arranging and rearranging without drooping.

Circle of Flowers

I was in the midst of scanning some black-eyed susans when the neighbor brought home my grandson holding his arm. Everything came to a stand still. As phone calls were made and a trip to the doctor ruled the rest of the day. I got back to the scanner with the black-eyed susans waiting patiently many hours later. I went ahead and scanned before removing the wilted flowers from the scanner bed. I was amazed that the scan came out so well. That’s what a water-filled flower will do…it will simply last longer.

Annie's Black-Eyed Susans

Envision

You can lay flowers on the scanner and give it a good zap or you can arrange. I found the best way to go is try to envision how your scan will look. Do a little prearranging on a flat surface. I use the wood cutting board from an antique Hoosier cabinet. I lay out how I want it to look and then place the arrangement on the scanner in the same way.

Don’t forget that your arrangement will be face down.

Nancy's New Hydrangea

Nothing Extra Necessary

• 
  
  I’ve read some tutorials that talk about Photoshop, but you don’t need it to scan. I don’t have Photoshop, Lightshop, or anything special outside of Picasa, Paint, and Flickr. All three are free or come with Windows. Here’s a quick tutorial for scanning using Paint:
• 
  
  Open Paint. Click on File. Find From Scanner or Camera and click on it.
• 
  
  A box will come up that with three selections: Preview Scan Cancel
• 
  
  Click on Preview. If you like what you see, go ahead and click scan. If you don’t, change things about and click Preview again to see the changes. 
• 
  
  Once you’re satisfied with the Preview choose Scan. A large picture will come up in Paint.

Now you need to save your scan as a jpg:

• 
  
  Click on File, Save As
• A box will come up asking you to choose a file to store your scan in. I suggest making a new file just for your bloom scans.
• Give your scan a title
• Change 24-bit, Bitmap, etc to jpg by clicking on the Save as type drop down menu.
• Hit Save and you’re done!

Summer Hots

Tweaking and modifying in Picasa or through Flickr’s partnership with Picnik is another story and about personal taste, but give it a try. You can do all kinds of things from changing the photo to black & white to adding a glow or softening.

Yep, I’ve fallen in love with scan art. It goes hand in hand with photography adding a new and fun layer to the image repertoire. I sure hope you give it a try.

“Your creativity is waiting for you like a dancing partner.”

                                                                           ~ Barbara Sher

Imagining Bloom Scans

A week or so ago I was intrigued by a Gardens Gone Wild post. I clicked on the link in my sidebar and discovered a whole new world of artistic beauty that I’d never heard of…scan art. GGW is challenging one and all to practice scanning flowers, leaves, and all sorts of botanicals before the October Picture This theme.  Craig Cramer will be the judge for the digital collages entered in the monthly contest.  Of course, I checked out his site and was captivated by his bloom scans.  He's generously provided directions for creating gorgeous scans. 

Like a wild woman, I clicked my way across the information highway searching for more information to feed my artistic soul. Anxious to give it a whirl…I put some weeds on the scanner, covered it with a black sweater and well…

it looked horrible like a pile of weeds on a soiled, gray rag. I did a little tweaking in Picasa, but there's not much I can do to make a bad composition look better, except try again. 

I gave it a few days and began thinking about the principles of floral design. Sure I could lay flowers and leaves on the scanner, but to artfully arrange each component with line, pattern, texture, and color in mind creates something far more beautiful. Instill movement within the static and the scan becomes more interesting. Even a sense of depth can be worked out. So I tried again, this time putting into practice basic art principles.

I started with a simple combination of three marigolds and the squiggly curls from a pumpkin vine 

Next I gave Queen Anne's Lace a go, but switched from the black sweater to a piece of deep red felt to lay over the arrangment.

I moved on to pumpkin blossoms, rudbeckia, and again the curls using the same red felt.

Finally I arranged marigolds, rudbeckia, with spirals and curls to add interest and a sense of movement to the design. 

I'm excited about this new-found art. I can't wait to try mounds of flowers and plants arranged on a wide variety of backgrounds.  The possibilities are endless.

"The world is but a canvas to imagination."

~Henry David Thoreau