New Fabric For Sale

Here's a few new fabric designs of mine that went on sale this month on Spoonflower:

This one is called Winter Trees.  Click on the design to be taken to the page.  I drew this mainly for myself because I like the look of bare trees and the different colors of them seemed wintry to me.  I wanted to use this design as liner paper for my cabinets.

Beans!

I'm in love with Rancho Gordo beans.  They have a magnificent color, texture and taste and I always enjoy what I get from there.  It's a bonus that these delightful legumes also photograph extremely wel so that I can share them with you.

I took these a while ago in my kitchen as I eagerly prepared the beans for cooking.  Pictured are Orca beans (the black and white ones) and Rio Zape beans (the purplish ones).  While they are lovely to look at, they taste even better.  I should mention that I'm not affiliated with Rancho Gordo, just another fan of their offerings.

The Sun

During my time away, I had the chance to take a double-decker tour bus around the city of Montreal.  It was a fun experience.  I liked the perspective I got from being up top of the open air vehicle, learned about the city and went to many different parts of it, and got some decent pictures.

This photo is of the Museum of Fine Arts, but more specifically of a piece of art outside of it entitled "The Sun" by Dale Chihuly.  (The same piece is on the artist's homepage, but I think it's illuminated there.  It looks fantastic.)  If you're familiar with his glassworks, the style is immediately recognizable.  I snapped this photo as we made a brief stop in front of the famous museum.

It's a gorgeous piece.  I wish I'd been able to see more of it and the rest of the museum, but Montreal is still there.  I look forward to going back.

Reopened

Just a quick note to say that I'm back from my travels for the time being.  My etsy store has reopened and my stock gallery has been updated with some travel pictures for sale.

I was getting a little road weary at the end of my trip, but I am missing it now that I'm back in one place.  It always feels like there's never enough opportunity to do all the things I want, even if all the things is just relaxing and walking around - can always use more of that in my life!

Hitting the Road

This year has flown by, and suddenly we realized that hadn't been on vacation in far too long!  All work and no play leads to no inspiration to keep going.  So even though this trip has more obligations than just a chance to kick back, I'm headed elsewhere for a short while.  Only my etsy shop is closed while I'm gone, the other shops (society6, gumroad) are still open for business.

Of course, you can follow me on instagram for travel photos.

Slush Pile: Trees

Sometimes a hike in the woods under a clear sky is just what the doctor ordered.  The colors came out great in this picture, and really captured the spirit of the day.  But since neither the subject nor a focal point are clear in the photo, it's one for the scrapbook and not the storefront.

Have a good week!

Instant Downloads

I've set up a new section of my etsy shop for print at home instant downloads of photos.  These are for those times when you just can't wait for them to be delivered, or you have a frame that desperately needs filling.

Banish blank walls instantly!  I love the idea of this, being able to print it yourself and have that instant gratification.

These are different pieces than I offer regularly, and there will be more coming in the future.

Work In Progress - Nebula IX

I've been working on this piece for a while.  I can't remember what nebula it started out as a depiction of, since I started it about a year ago.

Lately, I've been thinking about what the surface of a moon or exoplanet might be like.  I really want to paint the topography of such a place.  An alien environment from our own solar system could be such a great challenge of imagination to create and paint.

Some time ago I bough Flora Bowley's book, and didn't make time to read it until recently.  It's so inspiring!  With yoga poses and passages on intuition and thoughtfulness, it's as much about spirit as it is about painting.  It's an enlightening way to look at the process of creating art.  My paints don't get much use, my watercolors for patterns are about all I do in traditional media these days.  In the past I've used both oils and acrylics, but never did traditional space art with either.  I'm thinking of applying some of her creative ideas and direction to a space art painting done in traditional mediums.  It will at least be fun to try!

Slush Pile: Lake George

Here's a photo I took during one of my trips to Lake George.  It's cropped to just one corner that didn't have obstruction, so it's not really printable.  But it's such a lovely scene, I wanted to share it.  This black and white was done with one of my Lightroom Presets, called Beloved.

Mars Stripes & Updates

I listed this pattern, Mars Stripes in my Society6 shop recently.  It's a fun, textured pattern, a play on big horizontal stripes that's a little faded and otherworldly.  It looks really great on the products.

Summer designs

I've been enjoying my relaxed schedule for production, but I have done a few paintings so far this summer.  Here they are as products on Society6 and fabric from Spoonflower.

Slush Pile: Marigolds

I took this picture about five or six years ago when I was growing some potted marigolds.  I've been working outside a lot recently and I thought of this photo.

New Natalie

This is a small watercolor that I just put up society6 called Natalie.  I want to get it on spoonflower as well, but I am not sure I like the way it repeats as a yard of fabric.  It looks great on the s6 products though!  Here it is as a tote bag.

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Published!

Not too long ago I noted on here that I was taking some time off to get some writing done.  I got a good deal of work done, not just with writing, but in a lot of things.  There's a whole new pergo floor and gleaming white walls in one room, and I was happy to get it done before the summer weather broke over us.

But there was more to my break than just home improvement.  I am happy to announce that that time away paid off, because my first story will be published in August 2014!  My fairy tale, The Four Skilled Sisters, is a re-telling of the Grimms tale of The Four Skillful Brothers.  It will be featured in a fairy tale anthology by Spellbound, a part of Eggplant Productions.

The table of contents for the anthology was just announced publicly, so I thought I would share the good news.

I am really proud to be part of this publication.  I can't wait to see it all in print in August.  The anthology will be published in hardback and ebook.  Spellbound is a fantasy magazine for middle-grade readers.  Back issues are available for download at Amazon.

Thanks for all of your support in this!

Watercolors

Recently, I've been doing a lot more painting with watercolors, which I'm really growing to love.  A while back I started by making a blue watercolor into a fabric called Adelaide - and now I've put it into my society6 store as well.  It looks lovely on all the products in there.

Meditation

It's hard to get that sense of calm that is so necessary to create sometimes.  Often, I feel like my to-do list is longer than I can accomplish in my set amount of time, and even when I do conquer it, I'm still woefully behind.

But meditation helps.  I like the Open Heart Project by Susan Piver.  Free videos come in my email a couple times a week, and they help me restore and maintain my senses.  Susan is easy to follow, gives clear instructions and something to think about as you meditate.  If you've never tried it before (as I hadn't) I highly recommend it.

I'm not affiliated with the Open Heart Project and Susan Piver doesn't know me at all, but I thought I'd pass it along to my blog friends and fellow creatives.  Now, before we hit the summer season, is a good time to take up a practice that gives us peace.

Today

I made this print a while back for this blog, but I've put it into my society6 shop here, with a small change (darkened the background).

Believe it, everyday!

Writers Write

You can guess from the title what's been taking up my time lately.  Luckily spring isn't in full blush here yet, and I have time to write before I can go out and take some shots of the seasonal change.

I've been submitting stories to anthologies and magazines in the meantime, but I don't know if any of them are going to be published yet.  It can take months for a response to come for a piece of work, so in that time I just keep writing and writing.

After thinking for so long that I needed to write a novel, short stories are a revelation to me.  I enjoy writing them a great deal, and I've found a lot of inspiration in them.  I used to fret that the word limits would be hard for me to describe all the details, but I think it's helped me become a better writer.  If I can describe a scene in plainer terms then it is easier to see all around, and I can go on to more important dialog or action.

But even though I'm deep in the process of writing, I still have a few new arty bits of news.  I'm still working on some fabric designs, though they are slow going.  I think a few new pieces on spoonflower might be printed soon, so there may be a few more new selections for sale there.  The printing process for samples is taking about 2-3 weeks now, so even if I order a sample well in advance, I don't get it for about a month.  So expect new fabrics every other month or so to go on sale.

This is one of the newer fabrics.  I developed this one with a friend and it's called Adelaide watercolors.  It was an exciting project to take on.  I made and designed the fabric based on some ideas my friend had about a character she likes to write called Adelaide.  We talked characterization and background, and I came up with a few different designs for her, but this was the first.  This is also one of the fabrics that should go on sale soon.

I also have a gumroad account now, so you can buy downloadable items like my Presets from there.  Gumroad is a direct download, so you can get all your files instantly.  It's quick and simple - I've gotten lots of resource and media files from there.  Visit my gumroad page.

That's all for now.  Have a good week friends.

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Ice Path - New Piece

I like the way this came out, especially with the lens flare.  Not sure if I'm going to put this one up for sale yet, but I definitely like it with the gentle color.  It would make a stunning black and white as well, with the lens flare the only bit of color.

Slush Pile: Little Details

It's a cold almost spring day here, but I thought we could use a little fall color.  I took this photo one day when I just couldn't sit in the house any longer and I took to my backyard for inspiration.

I always mean to take more pictures like this - ones that show the details up close and in wonderful detail.  I try whenever I go out to shoot to get some like that, because nature is beautiful when you can see the nuances and all the little facets.

See all my slush pile images.

Flying Time

Hi everyone!

This week really went by quickly.  There's a few things to share before we get to the gloriousness that is the weekend.

Some of my plaids are now on sale at Spoonflower, including this one.  This is dusky berry plaid, and I really love the way the colors play against each other.  It's a lovely design.  If I get around to sewing something I'd really like to see this in a skirt of shirtdress.

Dusky Berry Plaid - Click to go to Spoonflower

There's also a new piece on sale at Society6.  This is Donata Chevron as a phone case, though I think it looks really good as a tote bag and mug as well.  It makes a trippy looking clock.

Donata Chevron.  Click to go to S6

This pattern actually started out as a fabric design, but I could never quite get it right.  The lines never met correctly once I put the pattern into repeat, so instead of scrapping it, I brought it over to society6.  I thought it would look good on a range of accessories, and I think it does.  So at least the whole design didn't have to be scrapped.

I am going to list some of my digital space art illustrations for sale in my etsy shop.  I've acquired some premium matte photo paper and I like the results when I print my space art out on them.  I think they will make a great addition to my stores, and are already in my S6 shop.

Have a good weekend!

How Presets Work

Here's a short overview of Adobe Lightroom, and why I sell presets for it.

Lightroom is an editing software for photography, which I've taken a screenshot of below.  This is a mostly up to date version.  I have Adobe Creative Cloud for photographers, and I pay about $11 a month (including taxes) for both Lightroom and Photoshop.  You don't need to buy the Creative Cloud plan to have either software, older versions are still being sold.  I had an older version of Lightroom 4 before I upgraded to Creative Cloud.

Here is a screenshot of Adobe Lightroom with one of my still life photos pulled up.  Nothing has been done so far except that I've selected the photo from my library and gone on the to the develop stage - the point where presets are used.  There are two screens because I use two when I work, but it's not mandatory.  I just prefer using two.

On the far left there is a list of presets already installed, and a small preview box.  If you hover over the preset, it will show a preview in the box above the list.  In the center (the right side of the first screen) is the place where adjustments are made to the photo.  Nothing has been done so far, so everything is set pretty much in the middle.  The histogram with the photo information at the top of the center column will change (along with the settings underneath) once a preset is applied.  A histogram is the representation of the photo data, in this case, shadows, midtones and highlights.

Now here's the same photo after applying a preset.  The preset used is Queen of Hearts from my Presets II Collection.  See how the information in the middle of the screen has changed, the settings and tone curve are no longer in the middle.  The histogram at the top of the center column has changed greatly.  Where there was a great peak before, it has become smoother and longer - the color value information it represented has changed.  Presets can alter a photo with just the one click.  It's really very easy to install and use presets, especially if you work with photography a good deal.

When I first started out using Adobe Lightroom it was because I purchased a new camera body that shot in Canon raw format, and I wanted a good software to open and manage my photos.  I got the trial of Lightroom, and downloaded some preset freebies from other photographers.  The ease of it was astonishing to me.  After so long laboring in Photoshop, using Lightroom was so easy!  I still love and use photoshop a great deal, but I do all of my first level editing in Lightroom.

I started developing my own presets after taking a class about still life photography.  Not only did I learn more about composing shots, but I also watched videos of the instructor doing alterations in Lightroom and Photoshop, and encouraging us to make our own presets for our own needs.

Like many photographers, I find myself shooting often since I carry my camera with me most of the time.  Primarily I like to shoot landscape and nature, but I've done portraits and weddings as well.  I love each different type of photography, and I needed tools that could change with me.  My presets reflect this diversity of subjects - the collections have black and whites, sepia tones, color boosts and other tools that work well with portraits to landscape shots.

Some photographers don't have the time or inclination to make their own presets or other tools.  I enjoy this other part of the creative process and I offer my creations for sale.  I buy brushes, textures and presets from other artists and creators, and I hope that people will purchase and enjoy mine.

Slush Pile: Silence

Some days are just made for quiet.

Happy Friday

Friends, let me tell you something about me.  I am plagued by sinus infections every spring.  It slows me down, obviously because they are severe and painful and make any tooth that has had work done on it ache.  We aren't officially into spring yet, but that never really matters to my sinuses.

So there's a lot less productivity than I would like these days.  But the good news is that I'm getting better at identifying the symptoms earlier and starting care right away.

At any rate, I have a new fabric design to share this week.  This is Celebration Spirals.  Click on the fabric to see it on Spoonflower.

Celebration Spirals by rainsontheplain on Spoonflower

Lightroom Presets 2 For Sale

Hey friends!

This has been a long time coming for me, because I started work on this set back in the fall of last year.  I've finally finished and put my new set of Lightroom Presets up for sale in my etsy shop.  Here's some preview images!

I'm still working on putting together the previews for my black and white collection.  This set does come with a few black and white presets, 5 in total and 2 sepia tones.  All in all it's 37 preesets, six with light/dark variations.  I'm really proud of this one!

Retail: $40 - direct download from etsy.

Happy Friday

Hiya friends!

I've got a new instagram - follow me!

There's also a new fabric design on spoonflower this week.  I'm calling it tropical madras.

Behind the scenes here there's a lot going on.  I wish I could tell you more, but I hate talking about plans before they're finalized.  It feels like bad luck in a way, so you're going to have to wait.  But there's going to be a lot more good stuff happening around here, and I'm very excited.  2014 has been such a great year so far, I can't wait to see where it takes me.

Happy Weekend!

Rains on the Plain Featured

Hey everyone!

If you follow me on twitter you might have already seen this, but my etsy shop is on the Handmade Movement Blog today.  Click here to read it!

Being able to own and operate my shops is a continual source of happiness for me.  I get to talk with wonderful people, make art and put my experience in administration to use for myself.  This year has already been challenging, but ultimately I hope that it will be better than last.

Thanks for being there for Rains on the Plain!

Slush Pile: Fog Scene

A foggy day scene.  Not sure where I was going with the editing on this one, so I think I'll just leave it alone for a while and come back to it.

Update

Nerdy by EM Beck - that book stack represents all I've been able to do this week besides sleep.

Hey everyone!

My February fabric designs will soon be available for purchase on spoonflower, as will all the colorways of my Bayou fabric.  I'm actually really excited to start my March designs, I have such great ideas for them.  A friend of mine indulged me in asking a few questions for inspiration, and I've got some great new ideas.

That's about it for me this week.  I've been plenty sick recently and mostly taking care of that.  Like in the picture above (Nerdy) I've been trying to use the time in bed to work my way through a stack of novels, with limited success.  But hey, at least I'm up and about once again!  Provided that I stay on the mend over the weekend, I'm ready to get a lot done next week.

Happy Weekend!

Slush Pile: More Inner Workings

When I was taking photos of a motherboard for the photo inner workings, I wound up with a few shots I didn't use.  This is one of them, finished in Lightroom with my Preset Raconteur.

Etsy Store Discount

THIS PROMOTION HAS EXPIRED

Take 25% off any order over $10 USD in my etsy store from now until the end of the month with the code HEARTS2014.  All of the above images are in my shop and many more, including lightroom presets and textures.

Thank you for supporting Rains on the Plain and me!  I love my work and I hope that you find as much joy in my art as I do in making it.

Another BW Preview

It's a busy day here for me, but I wanted to share another preview of a Black and White Lightroom Preset I developed called Meditation.  I'll put it up with the previous post for Mauvais so you can see the difference in the two black and whites.   Although when dealing with a monochromatic color scheme the differences can seem subtle, a black and white has a personality, just as a coloration would.  I love the difference between them, and I hope to develop more black and white presets so I can keep indulging my love of dramatic contrasts in photos.

Plaid

This is Penny Plaid, a design I made yesterday and put on Spoonflower.  I've long had a love of plaid patterns and colors (I'm wearing plaid from LL Bean right now), and I really like this combination.  I picked the colors from Adobe Kuler, as I have been for my other plaids as well so I'm reasonably confident that they'll look alright together, but you never know with plaid.

It's fun to make, and I like being productive during my time inside the house.  Since I got home on Tuesday night, I've been taking it slowly, and working on whatever needs to be done.  There's a few more plaids up and some photos that I am getting to, but no huge rush of work right now.  It's a nice break.

I'm looking forward to spring for the first time in a long while.  I need to get my last wisdom tooth out, so there's that to contend with, but hopefully getting rid of it will cut down on my sinus infections.  The house is slowly coming round again, and I've been pinning new ideas for both the outside and inside, though the outside needs far more work.  (Follow me here)

Also one of the best things I can say about recent days is that I've been writing a lot, and reading a good deal.  I've recently become enamored of Aurthurian legend, far more than I have ever been interested in it previous.  It's so much fun to read the stories, but I love the thought of a happier ending for Guenevere and King Arthur than they get in the stories.  Of course, there are other problematic parts of the stories, but the BBC Merlin does a good job of rewriting it.  I've been toying with the idea of writing a short story of my own, but I think it would be about Gwaine and not Arthur.

Back to work, back to work.  Have a good weekend!

Beginning in the Middle

Alright, it's the middle of the week, but I'm just getting to my Monday work.  I've been working on new preset collections and I've finished two of them!  They will be available soon in my etsy store, as is my first collection of Lightroom Presets, Dramatis.  Here's a preview of the preset Mauvais from my Black and White Collection.

The Black and White Collection includes sepia tones and is fifteen presets for creating unique, artistic images.  I developed them using both landscape photos and portraiture, so it's a great package for any subject matter.

Paved Beauty

I just wanted to put this up to remind myself that winter can be beautiful too.  I think I really needed the reminder today.

This photo is called Paved Beauty.

Fat Quarter Bundles

I've been making all this fabric lately, so I've decided to start putting up Fat Quarter bundles in my etsy shop for sale.  I'll let you know when the first of them are available!

Until then, visit my spoonflower shop and get a look at the type of fabric I'll have bundled up for sale.

Piper the Pillow

If you've been keeping up with me on twitter, you probably noticed I added a few more things to my Society6 store.

Some of my spoonflower designs have made it there now and are being used on accessories.  Like my Piper print on a throw pillow and Clary as a tote bag.  There's also mugs and wall clocks with these patterns (and my photography) them, so if you'd like to stick to making your own pillows and bags with spoonflower fabric, feel free.  My S6 store has lots of accessories and prints to choose from.

I really like the way these new textured pieces have come out.  I'm not sure where the inspiration has come from this winter, but I like it.

As for my spoonflower shop, I've just ordered a new batch of test swatches, so I should have a good size group of new designs going on sale there soon.  I've already started work on more new designs for there to be added in as they're finished.

Happy Monday everyone!