Homage (work in progress)

This painting here is an exploration in using acrylics. I don’t think that it’s finished yet. This was a first pass. The contour of the hill came from my memory. Without thinking of it, the shape is very similar to Mt. Pisgah. I see it nearly daily while driving towards the freeway and work. It’s often shrouded in fog or clouds and sometimes lit from behind by the rising sun. It’s very often a spectacular and breathtaking view. I guess it’s burned into my visual imagery.

More about my painting exploration can be found on my art blog.

Gratitude creates it’s own attitude. It can give you a new perspective, a new focus. I am going to use this day as my opportunity to see those things.

Take a few minutes today to create your own Thankful Thursday.

How:

Visit these other blogs that often participate in Thankful Thursday:

Luna has gone home to her breeder and original owner, Patty. I have had the intention of getting down to just one horse for a while now. So I knew that this was the right thing to do. She looked happy and relaxed when I left her. Lily did seem to miss her when I got back, but she has adjusted. Lily has her next vet checkup on 7/16 and is still on pasture rest until then. So, I go out and just spend time with her finding new spots to scratch and massage. She may be a bit bored, but I think that she’s enjoying it too. It has been interesting to adjust to just one horse again. It’s been a month and I am starting to get used to it.

I’m took an entire week of vacation to clean out my studio. This was a momentous task, as it has been accumulating STUFF for years. Pretty much ever since I stopped being involved in model horses around 2002. I had boxes of old papers, thing to give away, things to sell and a few things to carefully pack away and label to look at another time. I cleared out enough to allow room to start painting again. And this time, it’s not model horses.

I already have a few paintings in progress and a number of panels waiting for a bit more prep. And then there are the sculptures that are staring at me. It was a real pleasure to unearth art supplies and work in progress that I had forgotten was there. I’m making a point of carving out a few hours every week to do art. It’s been a treat.

There are still a few piles to go through and some untouched areas to organize, but I feel such a weight lifted! I can’t say that I wish I had done it earlier. It just wasn’t the time yet. Now it was. I’m not sure if I’ll continue to post here about my artwork or not. I have simratkhalsa.com where I can do that. Though I may want to keep that as more of portfolio site. Ah well, time will tell.

My new favorite thinking spot, where I can study my easel.

Visit other blogs participating in Macro Monday here.

Click for a larger view.

Tallula or Pebbles?

Either way, they are some of my favorite subjects

I was trying out a new point & shoot camera last week and found this. The camera didn’t quite suit me, so it’s going back, but I did find this image interesting… Click for a larger view. I am glad that at least it got me back into the groove of Macro Mondays.

Visit other blogs participating in Macro Monday here.

Do you see what I see?

What fun this has been. I continue to receive cards of all varieties. It does make coming home and checking the mail so much more inteesting.

Here are a few of my favorites from what I have received so far…

From @CaterpillarArt ... intriguing how small parts of the collage were damaged in the post.

From @sjafana ... done entirely on an iPhone with apps.

From @sparkyour art ... deep with texture

And a couple of favorites from what I sent…

Dream State #14

Dream State #30

The theme was “Time and Being Human” …[not the "Human Being", but what does it mean to be human and live in "Time"]. I considered this for a while and chose to explore a state of consiousness beyond time, but certainly part of the human experience, the dream state.

All the pieces started with a monoprint following the same template. I let the ink be depleted though a couple of prints before applying more ink. As I went further along through process, water from the soaked paper further diluted the ink on the plate. I was using 140# watercolor paper from a water bath.

After they dried, and were pressed overnight, each one had further work done on them with Prismacolor pencils and sometimes pastels. All were sealed with a matte fixative.

I believe that my work improved towards the end. Each became it’s a character and took on a life of it’s own. If you find a favorite, please let me know. Here is the entire series…

I am very much still in the tweaking stage, trying out a few different themes, activating widgets, etc. Oh, and uploading past work. I will post there, as I add new pieces to my Etsy shop as well. This new blog will remain as an ongoing archive of my work.

Check it out and subscribe to the RSS feed, if you are interested in seeing what new things I am creating. And to get in on the regular give aways…

It was a goal to set up an Etsy shop by the end of the year. I am happy to say that it is finally up and active. I have listed 3 blank, handbound books and a painting so far. More will be forthcoming during the week. I have small edition silkscreen prints and a few other items. Most of this existing work was done a number of years ago and will be priced reasonably. I want to move it out and make both physical and mental room to create more!

I most welcome any feedback, especially on the shop policies, bio and such. Writing about myself is not a very comfortable or fun thing for me to do.

Please take a look and let me know what you think. There is a permanent link just to the right as well. These photos were taken way back in April of this year, so you can see how long it has taken me to get in gear… It’s a relief to have done it…

Click Here for the Shop

Still Life (smashed jar)

Hand sewn journal or sketchbook

Rest and Motion 1998 Monoprint/collage on waxed paper 11 1/8" x 17" Matted and framed - Private Collection

I have decided to create monoprints and rework them with drawing and collage. I really enjoy this type of media. The image here is just one such work. It is larger than a postcard, but shows the basic concept. I’ll be including my son and daughter in the process, if they are so inclined. They may do their own work or participate in the project.

So far, I have purchase some watercolor paper and sized it to sheets that will be further torn down to size, after the printmaking process. Reworking them will be at the postcard level. Each will be unique and follow the guidelines put forth for the project.

I’ll be posting the finished images here before mailing them, so check back. I think that Labor Day weekend will be my first opportunity to get to work.

This week’s Macro Monday is a guest feature. These are photos by my daughter, Gurunam Atwal, playing with her new DSLR. Who knew our front yard contained all these interesting images? Click for a larger view.

Visit other blogs participating in Macro Monday here.

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And from outside the 'bug's life' theme...

This week’s Macro Monday brings up photos from last summer and a visit to Tired Dog Ranch. I wish that this old neck and back could tell us their stories… Click for a larger view.

Visit other blogs participating in Macro Monday here.

My favorite

Muscles of unknown age

How many have sat on this back and how many miles has it taken them?

Gratitude creates it’s own attitude. It can give you a new perspective, a new focus. I am going to use this day as my opportunity to see those things.

Why had I been thinking of it? Two reasons… I’ve been under the weather on and off for a while with asthma related respiratory issues. I figured that working a little less would allow me some time to rest and develop a plan to manage it.

Still Life (smashed jar) 1999 Oil on linen 18" x 26 1/2" ~~ This will be the first piece to go up on Etsy.

No more of that! I’ve already started things in motion by registering “Simrat Khalsa Fine Art & Photography” as a dba in Oregon and opening my business bank accounts. Next will be transferring simratkhalsa.com to the same host as akalranch.com and setting up an email account for my business under simratkhalsa.com. My current photo site will be down for a while (hopefully short) while I get everything functional.

Then I’ll be setting up an Etsy shop and a fresh new paypal account, taking photos of my completed work in stock and getting it all listed on Etsy. Be sure to check in next week, as I have small edition screen prints, artist’s books and handbound journals, as well as a few paintings.

The end goal is to integrate my photo/art reproduction site (currently at simratkhalsa.com) with the new Etsy shop and this blog all under an integrated home page at simratkhalsa.com. The design end will be a bit more long term, but I hope to have it all working by the end of the weekend, if all goes well! This blog will stay at akalranch.com, but be linked from simratkhalsa.com and eventually similar in look and feel.

And then it will be on to marketing and building income from my artwork. This entire plan has been forming in my head for a long time. I guess I just needed the lost day from my paying job to light the fire under me. The real opportunity is having the time to get this all set up.

And once some of my current to stock of completed work has moved on to new homes, I will have the space to create more, fresh work. And by space, I mean not just physical space, but emotional and psychic space as well …. I needed a jolt to get me out of the rut I’ve been in. I’m just grateful that it was a gentle one.

How:

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Mandala

Hearing Me

Favorite Place to Be

This week’s Macro Monday brings photos from my latest visit to Tired Dog Ranch and some time with their flock of chickens. It was cold, snowing and wet. Most of the flock took refuge in the hay barn, where they were happy to pose for me this morning.

I took out my Sigma zoom macro lens this time. I’ve also been making a point of using the full frame and not cropping my images. It makes me think more before shooting. I first learned photography with a Yashica twin lens reflex camera and did my own developing. Shooting full frame takes me back to that more thoughtful shooting just a little bit.

Visit other blogs participating in Macro Monday here.

Feathered Landscape

chicken feathers

If you like this image, see the rest of them here.

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Feathered Textures was first posted on March 8, 2009 at 11:03 pm.
©2011, Simrat Khalsa.

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Macro Monday and some photos from my model horse days. Since the largest of these is about 10″ high, most of the photos end up being macro photos. In fact, documenting my model work got me more seriously into macro photography, as I had to collect equipment, set up a small ‘studio’ and arrange lighting. Click for a larger view.

Visit other blogs participating in Macro Monday here.

Entirely new sculpted neck on a Breyer Lonesome Glory.

Breyer and Stone model heads on sticks - waiting to be attached to their new bodies, often not the one that they came from.

The Lonesome Glory - finished as a mare. All resculpting and painting by myself

Details of a Marlena resin airbrushed and hand painted by me to a dapple bay appaloosa half Arab.

Here is one of her striped hooves.

And the whole resin (sculpted by Carol Gasper)

Face detail on a Miss Kitty resin sculpted by Laurie Jo Jensen

Another eye on a Nocturno resin sculpted by Kitty Cantrell

Sabino Arab mare that I did early on in oils. I believe that she is in Europe now. Resin by Pamela DeMuth.

Alzubra resin by Debbi LerMond. A little stylized for my taste, but I loved the color she came out as.

She had a cool skinny blaze too.

And last, because it is one of the few Stablemate scale resins that I ever painted, a Spinnaker, sculpted by Sarah Minkiewicz Breunig. He is 3.25 inches tall.

And that may be one of the reasons that I wear reading glasses now. I no longer customize and paint models or resins. There is a possibility that I will go back to sculpting some day. Only time will tell. Well, how much time I have that is.

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From my model days was first posted on February 22, 2009 at 8:48 pm.
©2011, Simrat Khalsa.

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Macro Monday and a memorial. Skittles was an orphan, who was hand raised at Tired Dog Ranch. He was just coming into his plumage, when his life came to an untimely end. He was inquisitive and fun. Photographing him was wonderful, though it was sometimes hard to get him far enough away to take any photos. Click for a larger view.

Visit other blogs participating in Macro Monday here.

Texture

Juvenile Texture with a tiny hint of color

And more texture

I got this shot only after pushing him away.

Here he is, showing off to the chickens.

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The Glory that was Skittles was first posted on February 16, 2009 at 12:22 am.
©2011, Simrat Khalsa.

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Another Macro Monday and some more colorful images from a trip to NM last summer. Click for a larger view.

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Geranium

Junk Yard Patina

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Macro New Mexico was first posted on February 9, 2009 at 12:10 am.
©2011, Simrat Khalsa.

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Another Macro Monday brings this collection of photographs from my last visit to TDR. I love that they are nearly monocromatic. I briefly considered turning them into black and white images, but liked that there was a very slight shade of color to them, so they are staying as they are. Click for a larger view.

Visit other blogs participating in Macro Monday here.

Madrone

Bench outside the Cowboy Cabin

Not really a macro image, but I like it, so I'm including it.

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Naturally Monochromatic was first posted on February 2, 2009 at 12:08 am.
©2011, Simrat Khalsa.

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Hmmm...

And which one do you like best ...

... as a visual image?

These were taken at the same place as the photo in this post.

Post inspired by Macro Monday on Lisa’s Chaos.

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What is it? was first posted on January 26, 2009 at 12:36 am.
©2011, Simrat Khalsa.

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]]> http://www.akalranch.com/2009/01/what-is-it/feed/ 10 http://www.akalranch.com/2009/01/thankful-thursday/ http://www.akalranch.com/2009/01/thankful-thursday/#comments Thu, 15 Jan 2009 07:55:13 +0000 Simrat http://www.akalranch.com/?p=514 [...]]]>

Gratitude creates it’s own attitude. Taking a few minutes to sit back and consider what you can be thankful for can give you a new perspective. It is all about focus. Even if things seem bleak, here is always something! I am going to use this day as my opportunity to see those things.

Take a few minutes today to create your own Thankful Thursday.

How:

Post about gratitude on your blog, link back here and leave a comment. Listing three to five things is nice, but one will do. Feel free to tag other bloggers to give thanks in their lives.

If you don’t have your own blog, go ahead and write about what you are thankful for in the comments here instead.

I know that I risk sounding trite and ‘cutesy’ here, but that is not my intention. Even so, if it’s funny, go ahead and laugh! No harm in that. There’s more harm in taking ourselves too seriously! Now on to business…

Abstract #1 1999 Oil on canvas 15 1/8" x 20" © Simrat Khalsa

Today I am thankful for the wonderful friends that I have made recently and the existing friendships that have deepened. They have truly kept me inspired and moving forward to a world of unknown and imagined possibilities.

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I am going to tag a couple of those friends:

Amy Jo and Sally at Tired Dog Ranch.
Susan at The Pony Expression.

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I was inspired to do start Thankful Thursday by by this blog post.

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Thankful Thursday was first posted on January 15, 2009 at 12:55 am.
©2011, Simrat Khalsa.

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A few images for your viewing pleasure… inspired by Macro Monday on Lisa’s Chaos. Her images today are quite interesting, to say the least!

Soft

View

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Macro Monday was first posted on January 12, 2009 at 11:19 pm.
©2011, Simrat Khalsa.

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