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I am trying to get back into the habit of blogging. I’ve not had much reason since I haven’t been able to travel. I decided to share some of my flower images.
Thanks for visiting! Prints and other fun items can be ordered on my Pixels site. You can also click on the image and it will take you straight to the site!
I first saw Rebecca’s work on Pixels.com, https://rebecca-wang.pixels.com/. I fell in love immediately with her fantasy artwork. When I started viewing her other work, I found it just as beautiful and intriguing. Her colorful pet portraits will draw you in. She has a great talent for capturing the personality and heart of the pet. Her detail work on the eyes are amazingly lifelike. I would like to share some of my favorite work by Rebecca. I hope you appreciate it as much as I do.
Located in Austin, TX, Rebecca has been painting professionally since 2007. She is known for her psychedelic and fantasy style imagery of animals of all kinds, including peacocks, birds, tigers, wolves, lizards, and more! The majority of her work is in acrylics. However, she does sometimes use pastel and colored pencils. Rebecca mostly paints animals, but does sometimes branch out with fantasy work and abstract art. Since 2017, Rebecca has created over 56 custom pet portraits across the United States. She often uses several photos put together to create the perfect, expressive portrait of the pet.
I mentioned how I fell in love with Rebecca’s Fantasy work first. How could I not? This beautiful Fenghuang, also known as a Chinese Phoenix bird, is absolutely stunning! This Phoenix is not really related to the creature of Western myth, but represents the “Yin” to the “Yang” of the dragon. Speaking of…
This is the Azure Dragon, also called “Qing Long” in Chinese. It is one of the four symbols of the Chinese constellations.
The Golden Phoenix represents the Yin, female, while the Silver Dragon represents the Yang, male. They fly together around a sun mandala. When shown together, they represent marital happiness and harmony.
Some of Rebecca’s more abstract pieces are her Mandalas. They are colorful and eye catching. They tend to represent creatures and stories in Chinese Mythology.
This Mandala in particular caught my eye with its darker colors and intricate detail. It loosely represents a Chinese tale of a Koi fish who becomes a dragon. I could stare at this piece for hours!
Psychedelic Rainbows are how I would describe these images. Imbued with color and detail, these images are energetic and vibrant!
Another beautiful piece with intricate detail. The butterfly dances against the colorful rainbow of colors in the background.
Rebecca does custom pet portraits, too! After admiring her work for several years, I decided to honor my special cat, Hyler, by having his portrait painted.
I admit that I am partial to this painting. Rebecca captured Hyler’s “I am King” gaze. Every time I look at this painting, hanging in my kitchen, btw, I stop and stare into those eyes. They are so lifelike. My husband and I both cried when this painting arrived.
This portrait caught my eye with his little colorful bowtie. I love the way Rebecca creates black using so many colors. It gives the portrait life.
She doesn’t just paint cats and dogs, though! I found this portrait of Koda, a Central Bearded Dragon on her Pixels site. He looks like a majestic fellow, doesn’t he?
Once Rebecca has painted your pet’s portrait, you receive a beautiful stretched canvas, expertly packaged, btw! And the image is available in her store on home decor (pillows, shower curtains, etc) and gift products (puzzles, masks, mugs).
I hope you enjoy Rebecca’s art as much as I do! Rebecca’s work is available as high quality prints, on home decor items, and on gift products. You can find her at the following links:
Blog – https://www.psychedeliczen.com Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/rebecca.wang.art/ Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/rebeccawangart Pixels – https://rebecca-wang.pixels.com/ Twitter – https://twitter.com/rebeccawangart
Every year, I do a year end summary of my year. I think 2020 turned out differently than expected for everybody. When I look at my goals for 2020 that I made in December of 2019, I laugh a little.
Those goals were:
The podcast is a travel podcast, so I have a great excuse for not following through there. The year started out okay with a trip to Bristol, VA/TN in early January. I am sure I was the only tourist in town that weekend. But it was still nice. Visit the podcast to hear about it or read about it here. I did not go anywhere again until September and that was a family trip to the lake. And in October, I was chomping at the bit and had to go somewhere, so I went to Charlotte, NC. You can listen to that here. I will admit that I was not ready to travel yet. Lesson learned.
As for the be more present, I am doing well at that. Especially with my family. I’ve had little choice in learning patience.
Since traveling was not on the table much, I took photos of items that I had around the house. See some of those here and here.
A lot of dreams died this year. Mine were just put to sleep and went into hibernation. Some sad things happened this year, we lost one our cats (a cat very special to me). But I feel we have been very lucky. We’ve both kept our jobs and most of our sanity.
So, my goals for 2021 are a little bit different. They are more personal.
I hope 2021 brings blessings to everyone.
Since I can’t travel, I’ve been exercising my creative muscles at home. When I recently did a teapot shoot, I decided I really liked the blue toned finish. I always loved cyanotypes and these are an extension of that.
Each image has a different blue because it creates a different mood. As always, feedback is welcome. Be sure to visit my gallery to see more of my work!
As a travel photographer, the last several months have left me lost. For awhile, my creativity took a nose dive. But lately, it’s been waking up and I needed to make some art! Looking around my kitchen, I found this tea pot and cream pitcher. Perfect! I took it outside and put it on my stairs, that are in need of painting and started to make some art.
I decided to give it an aged look, laying a texture over it, and adding a vignette. I opted for a blue tone to give it the look of a Cyanotype.
I thought maybe it needed a little something more. What is it that we like about good teapot? Some of it is memories, nostalgia. But for me, it’s the shape. That rounded shape with the spout reaching out and the handle balancing it. So, I added the words “The Shape of Tea.” I also noticed that my reflection is in the teapot and the creamer. I held up a cup, as though I had tea in my hand. It’s a little thing that you would only notice when looking closely. I love those types of details.
What’s a good teapot without a good tea cup? Turns out, I don’t really have a good tea cup. But I did find a coffee cup that goes with my “fancy” dishes. I admit that don’t like the way my fingers are holding the cup. Maybe I’ll reshoot.
After working this one, I thought it needed a poem. I have fond memories of having tea with my husband before bed. He loves ginger tea. I buy it in the packets. Don’t “at” me tea people, I’m into easy living. One time, he saw me making it. He was destroyed. He had thought that all this time, I was making him ginger tea from scratch! I had never led him to believe this, he just did for some reason. I think he stopped enjoying it as much after that. LOL!
I remember tea
I remember the scent
I remember the taste
The ginger
The mint
Chamomile in my mouth
I remember the feel
Safe and true
I remember tea with you
I am enjoying my new artistic endeavors. Stay tuned for more blue toned images and maybe even some tea related art. If you are interested in view more of my photos, you can click here
Wow! It’s been awhile since I posted here. Yikes! I’ve been concentrating on my podcast, Tourist in your Town. Be sure to check it out! A recent episode of the podcast was from Bristol, TN/VA. I thought I’d hop over here and share some of the photos that I took while there. It rained while I was there. But I got some great photos of the historic train station, the Paramount Theatre marquee, and lots of other cool places around town. Enjoy!
Bristol is a town that is split between two states, Tennessee and Virginia. The split is right down the middle of the street that runs through downtown. The Bristol Sign sits across the road with one side in Tennessee and the other in Bristol. This sign was placed in this location in 1915 and originally said “Push!…That’s Bristol“. In 1921, the town held a contest to select a new slogan. “A good place to live” was the winner.
The historic Bristol Train Station was built in 1902. Passenger service to the station ended in 1971. The station is currently an events venue.
The Paramount Theatre in Bristol was built in 1931. The first showing was “It Pays to Advertise” with Carole Lombard and Norman Foster. The theatre is now a concert venue.
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my images! Prints are available of all images, just click on the image. You can also visit my gallery for more of my travel art.
I think most people take time the end of year looking back and considering what the years end signifies for them. What did they do? What did they want to do but did not? Last year, I did a year end blog. As I read through it now, I realized I didn’t even put my goals for 2019 on it! But that’s okay. I don’t remember them now. But I will tell you what I did do and what I hope to do in 2020.
Early 2019 brought quite a bit of travel for me. I had several pieces in a juried show in NYC, so my husband and I took the train up for the opening reception. We stayed several days in a very cold and rainy New York. The train trip up was amazing and definitely something I would love to do again.
We also spent a couple of days in Pensacola Beach for a memorial service for a family member. We visited downtown Pensacola and spent some time walking on the beach.
I visited friends in Boston and Providence, learning a great deal about my country’s history, good and bad.
Around mid-summer, I came up with a new idea, a travel podcast. So, not being one to research or plan, I started one! It’s called Tourist in your Town. It started out to be just about what to see and do when you visit a place. But it quickly evolved into a combination of travel and history. Check it out!
I did talk about starting a commercial photography studio in that late 2018 blog. I sort of did that. I have the gear and the space. I even did some freelance work over the year. But I discovered that I had two options. One was to leave my full-time paying job and hope that I could get enough work to pay my bills. Or two, stop taking freelance work, keep that full-time gig, and pursue my true passions, travel and art photography in my spare time. I chose the second option. Probably because I’m not the kind of person to take big chances. I would, of course, take the right kind of freelance work if it landed in my lap. But I’m not pursuing it and I am saying no to things that just aren’t worth it. I value my time too much for that.
I did spend most of 2019 angry and sad about losing that dream that I didn’t know I had (lost job in 2018). But towards the end of the year, someone posted a meme on FB that said something like what would yourself from 10 years ago think of yourself now. And my brain popped. Myself from 10 years ago had no clue of any of the things I’m doing now. That person’s goals looked very different from my current goals and wins. Now, I all I can think is how excited I am for the next 10 years!
So, what are my goals for 2020?
Feel free to share your own goals in the comments or just post a link to your own blog!
I recently visited some friends in Massachusetts. While I spent most of my time in Boston, I did spend half a day in Salem. One thing I learned is that maybe a Saturday in October isn’t the best time for me to visit this historic Massachusetts town. I will definitely go back, though. If you’d like to know more, you can listen to the podcast episode on Touristinyourtownpodcast.com
There was rain. There were lots of people, although they were all at the other end of this street in this pic.
The John Ward House was built in 1684 and is considered First Period architecture. The historic Salem home is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The historic Old Town Hall in downtown Salem. The structure was built in 1816-1817.
The Pickman House was built in 1664. The home is owned by the Peabody Essex Museum and is not open to the public.
This clock is attached to the Legends restaurant. I could not find any info about it, so if you know anything, please share!
Fellow travel blogger, Tatiana, runs a Thursday Travel Photo Challenge. This week the challenge is Buildings with Character. If you’ve been following me, then you know I love architecture.
Big cities always have great architecture, but so do some small and medium sized towns.
Providence, RI has some very unique architecture and is just a beautiful town. This medium size college town is a must see!
This beautiful Art Deco building is the Asheville City Hall. The small southern town of Asheville, NC has a lot of great character, even in the buildings.
This unique building is the Old Courthouse in Bardstown, KY. The buildings itself resembles a church, but it was built as a courthouse. It is now the home to the local tourism board.
Prints are available of these unique buildings with character, just click on the photo!
