A Photo a Week Challenge: Something New

This is not really a “photo-as-art” post, bear with me.
Learned something new. Origami box made from six 3×3” papers.

Envisioning new usage for the reject day job pattern printouts.

The progression of the folding, starting from bottom.

Second box:

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Hat tip to @embellish_or_perish for finding origami octahedrons at a charity shop and making me curious!

And to Google for the How-To Tutorial.

Joining in with
Nancy Merrill Photography’s weekly challenge. Check out her post here.

Linking up with Catherine’s #iwillwearwhatilike

#AtoZchallenge 2020 Exit Ramp

I always enjoy making the Table of Contents for my A-Z Challenges, to see all the month’s trucks in one visual:
Screen Shot 2020-05-10 at 9.12.03 AM
This year, the stay-at-home mandate year, I lucked out that I’d found almost all the letters before my last commute on 3/19. K was the only letter I was lacking, and it’s a very common letter on truck back ends. My photo archive came through on that one, but I had to dig deep!

Next year, who knows if I will be able to do this particular A-Z subject matter. Who knows when I’ll be driving in to work again. If the office opened tomorrow, I wouldn’t be comfortable going in just yet. I sit on the other side of a “short” wall from a co-worker that coughs all day long (allergies) and I certainly don’t want to be on her receiving end.

Hope everyone is staying safe, and practicing safe habits during this crazy time.
Until A-Z 2021, I’m exiting the trucks for a rest stop. Now taking up a weekly photo challenge with Nancy Merrill Photography

Want to learn more about the Blogging from A to Z Challenge? Read about it here.
Want to read other A-Z bloggers? Here is the Master List!

A Photo a Week Challenge: Fleeting

I was going to write about the California Poppies, but I posted about them three weeks ago for this same Challenge series on another blog (so I wouldn’t interrupt the Truck Alphabet).
Spring itself is very elusive here in Southern California. One day it’s rainy and “cold” (50F), the next the sun is blazing and it’s 90F. Which is perhaps why locals go so crazy for the poppies — they are such an overt display.

Instead, here are this year’s Spring weeds in my back yard as they look now:lawn_5-8
How they looked a month ago:lawn_4-7
Every year a different weed reigns supreme (and gets mowed by the gardeners every two weeks). This was the year of that yellow flower, which I haven’t yet identified. (A member of the dandelion family? Edible?)
I came across a post about making a Pressed Floral Journal Quarantine Herbarium, which I’d like to do with my backyard weeds. (I’m calling them weeds because they’re not grass. I’m NOT complaining! Grass lawns are stupid for my climate). I may have missed my window of opportunity this year, though there are still a few growing in the shady spots.

Joining in with
Nancy Merrill Photography’s weekly challenge. Check out her post here.

Photo a Week Challenge: Summer Vacation 2020

I’m setting the intention that I WILL return to Seattle in August to take part in the Superfine Art Fair! I’m in the fair, I’m super ready for a fine road trip.
Will the fair happen? Will gatherings of “more than X” be allowed? Fingers crossed!
Photos from a Seattle road trip in 2017:
amb_iPhoning
3_mt-shasta
1_weedIMG_3257See more of the trip here.

This is my response to Nancy Merrill Photography’s weekly Photo a Week Challenge. This week’s theme Summer Vacation 2020

#AtoZchallenge 2020 Theme Reveal

Truck back ends!

AtoZtruck_5-19_blog
The most perfect A to Z truck. Captured 5/28/19.

Which I’m sure comes as no surprise to those familiar with this blog, being the fourth year I’ve made this collection from my #dailytruck series.
2019
2018
2017

To commence, as always, April 1st.
Curious? Read more about the A-Z Blogging Challenge here.

Note: In case you’re new to this series, here’s how I create these:
The A to Z truck images are created with an iPhone app called Waterlogue.
I take the photos during my morning commute,
either going really slowly on an onramp or stopped in traffic.
Don’t bother berating me about how I’m a road hazard.

Linking up with Michelle’s Creative Compulsions Linky Party

The Art of Art

It’s another weekly challenge from iScriblr, her theme this week is ART.

By now, if you’re a regular here, you know this site is all about the art — the art of trucks! (haha).
I have a lot of blogs, with different angles on my many interests (here are ALL my links). I started this blog to learn WordPress, in anticipation of changing my art website to a WordPress platform. Mission (more or less) accomplished.

My latest art (promotional) activity has been focused on art fairs, since I no longer am with a gallery.

I took the trucks to The Beverly Hills Art Show two weeks ago and didn’t sell any. Boo.

5_BHartShow_booth_amb
read more here

This week, I’ve been working on an application for the Luxembourg Art Prize and uploading my work to Saatchi Art. I’m concentrating on my 2014 On the Edge: US series and have been updating all the images in a new desktop version of Waterlogue [I was comped a copy for being a beta tester]. This new version has been great for my road trip photos, since I like need to edit them and I am able to do a much better job in Photoshop vs editing on my phone, which I currently do for the trucks.

Here is an example:

IMG_7961
US77 Texas — original unedited photo

Painted in Waterlogue
US77 Texas — original washed out Waterlogue. Early version of the app and before I knew what to do for better results.

US77_TX_1
US77 Texas — today’s iteration in Waterlogue

I guess I’ll be getting back on a virtual road trip.
I have scads of road photos to process!
And yes, I have a road trip blog!