Wealie's World » photo manipulation

An unusual sweet name!

Ruth Weal — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 01:46:13 +0000

If you ever get offered a Manx Knob don’t worry, you’re not the subject of a sexually lewd comment, they’re just trying to offer you a boiled sweet much like a mint humbug (and very tasty too).

The name of these sweets caused me to have a bit of a chuckle when I spotted them in the duty free shop of the Douglas airport departures lounge. I found them especially giggle worth when I considered the fact that they were boiled sweets that you needed to suck on!

They certainly did the trick for me up in the air and I got through a fair few of them before landing (I hate the pressure changes you get in your ears when ascending and descending) in Gatwick when I took great delight in offering one to Ben.

Well, one always needs to look for something bright to laugh about!

Happy chuckles!!

Wealie x

Manx Knobs - Copyright R.Weal 2010

Dark thoughts run deep

Ruth Weal — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 21:56:27 +0000

I don’t see darkness in quite the same way as many people. For me it isn’t quite so simple as black and white, or good and evil. For me the darkness is an equally valid part of our beings, the yin to the yang, bottom to the top, without it we are at best unbalanced and unfulfilled, at worst lacking in an essential knowledge and control of our more impulsive shadows.

Those who have never explored their darker self, nor tread the beat of their darker thoughts are only half the person they could be and therefore cannot truly claim to know themselves. Sometimes those who have only lived in the light are ill prepared for when life slips them into darkness. They sink beneath the rough waves, born away on a current of strong emotions which they are unable to understand or control.

In all things there must be balance, day has the night, the light, the darkness, man stands beside woman, youth becomes age and life becomes death. The secret is how we exist between the extremes and the quest for the balance that we find within them the greatest pursuit of life.

The picture and poem “Dark thoughts run deep” explores aspects of my darker side, my ability to get caught up in abstract thought, which can if I’m not careful lead me to abstraction. I have an ambivalent relationship with my Dark sister, my shadow muse, she is the well source of my art and inspiration, but she also has the power to pull me down into sorrow and depression if I listen too intently to her insidious whispers.

Embrace the darkness, but remember always to keep a hold of the light.

Wealie x

Dark thoughts run deep - Copyright R.Weal 2008

DARK THOUGHTS RUN DEEP

Dark thoughts run deep
They can steal us from the very day itself
Absorbing us in their ceaseless quest for answers
Immersing us in the emotional depths of our core
Removing us from the opportunities of living
Making us less even as we explore ourselves more
Dark thoughts run deep it’s true
But we must remember that we are here and to live is what we do!

Ruth Weal
27 April 2008 7.07 pm
Copyright R.Weal 2008 ©

Ghost of Me

Ruth Weal — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:01:08 +0000

Well this isn’t really a Halloween post, but the title does have a Ghost in it

Ghost of Me is the self portrait below that I tripped out in Photoshop to get a very different feel. It was one of the first times that I played with selective re-colouring and I purposefully chose larger than life colours to convey a sense of unreality to the picture. It’s me, but it’s not me, almost only an echo, or ghost if you will, hence the title. I used the same base self portrait for another photo, “Fade Me Not“, which has an altogether more challenging attitude about it. It’s amazing what a little tinkering can do to change the mood of a picture, if only life were as simple!

The poem “As My Destiny Wends” started to take shape in my mind as I was editing the picture. For some time I’d been toying with the idea of having a poem that was just made up of a series of seemingly unanswerable and self referencing questions. The look in my eyes in Ghost of Me seemed to have an imploring, questing sense to them once I’d added the blue re-colour. The eyes invited that sort of poem to work with them and who was I to argue. So the questions just poured forth and a rather esoteric little introspection of the workings of the Wealie mind at that time was born!

Here’s hoping we all find our feet on the path where our destinies wend!

Wealie x

Ghost of Me - Copyright R.Weal 2007

AS MY DESTINY WENDS

How do we find truth when light obscures the door?
Where do we find answers when the questions are never more?
Who then will be my guide when the path is never set?
Why then should I trust the word of those I have not met?
Wherein lies the truth if the lie is at my feet?
How then will you recognise which face of mine to greet?
Who then can tell me how this calamity will end?
Will I ever know where my destiny will wend?

Ruth Weal
5.50 pm 20 March 2008
Copyright R.Weal 2008 ©

Dark Goddess

Ruth Weal — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 23:00:38 +0000

Lady Luna Faces - Copyright R.Weal 2007

I’ve been fascinated by mythology
since I was a young girl, lapping up
any stories of King Arthur, Robin Hood, Sinbad the Sailor and anything Egyptian, Norse and Arabian. I distinctly remember the first time I saw Ray Harryhausen’s depictions of Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans, which created a passion for any Roman and Greek mythology.

In the 1990s a series of 99p mythology books graced my bookshelves in pride of place, which opened me up to a whole new world of mythology that I had previously only touched upon lightly in my Religious Education classes back at school. Suddenly my mind was alive with Hinduism and the Maya.

All the places I dreamed of travelling to were rich with sources of mythology and colourful cultures that still celebrated them.

I remember watching documentaries on different cultures and histories with my Dad, dreaming of climbing Mayan temples, entering darkened Egyptian tombs and attending colourful Hindu festivities in India at the mouth of the Ganges.

However it is the concept of the “Goddess“, the idea of the sacred feminine and the triple goddess, the maiden, mother and crone that has always drawn me the most.

Triple Goddess Symbol waxing, full and waning

More specifically I’ve been drawn to those goddesses that are associated with independence, strength, fertility, sexuality, love, creation and the moon. The Egyptian mother goddesses Isis and Hathor, the Sumerian goddess of creation Innana and her Babylonian and Assyrian incarnation Ishtar, the Greek moon goddesses Hecate and Selene, who is also known as Luna and the Roman goddess of the moon and hunt - Diana. I’ve also been drawn to Kali, the Hindu goddess of eternal energy, a dark and terrifying force.

The moon itself has always had a strange and mystical pull for me, stripping away the bonds of social constraint and freeing me to find the darker realities within myself, which is where I reach out and find my creativity. My art comes from a dark place, it isn’t pretty and it isn’t always easy for me to birth it, but the process is cathartic, taking the darkness out of me and leaving me able to function in a society that I often feel disconnected and removed from.

The poem Dark Goddess is about that dark place within me, which almost seems to have it’s own feminine personality, which commands and demands me to create, whether it be poetry, paintings or photography like the picture above “Lady Luna Faces”, which is a combination of self portraits overlaid upon a full moon capture. Both the poem and the picture were created at the bidding of the Dark Goddess within me, my dark muse, my alter ego, sometimes she calls me to oblivion and depression, other times she lifts me to great heights of passion and creativity. She is a double edged sword a powerful force and perhaps at times scarily redolent of the goddess Kali incarnate within me.

May the dark goddess bless you this night and the force of all creation burst forth within you.

Wealie x

DARK GODDESS

Goddess I am yours, come channel your night within me
My darkness calls out to thee
I feel your silken breath upon my skin
I taste your power sublime within
Let me be your vessel this night
Le me show them how darkness can be bright
Enfold me in your dark embrace
Paint your visage across my face
Birth me from your darkened womb
Free me from my daylight tomb
Let the day be gone
Let me voice your siren song
Seduce them through my darkened eyes
Dispel from me all society’s lies
Dance away my every duress
Peace and solitude in my hands do press
Bless me with your righteous kiss
Dissolve me in the night’s true mist
Goddess I am yours to command
You have only to guide my hand
Dark Goddess your daughter calls to you
What would you have her do?

Ruth Weal
28 July 2005 12.40 am
Copyright R.Weal 2005 ©

Dusk’s Women

Ruth Weal — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 22:16:32 +0000

I may have mentioned before that I’m more likely to witness dusk than dawn. I feel a strange affinity with that time of the day, maybe it’s because I love the night so much and the dusk is always the herald of night’s arrival. However, I do feel there is a very mystical and visceral quality to the dusk that always draws me to capture it in images and try to convey some of the emotions it engenders in words.

Tonight I want to share with you two Photoshop creations using the same sunset shot in the background. The original sunset shot was heavily manipulated and then overlaid with stylised self portraits. The finished creations were called Lady Dusk and Dusk’s Daughter respectively and each had a short poem written to accompany the picture, to give a full artistic creation.

Of the two I think Lady Dusk is my favourite, it’s altogether darker in both the visual and poetic compositions, with the poetry exploring the mystical element of the dusk, the quickening between night and day. Dusk’s daughter is a much lighter, brighter and optimistic visual style, with a very short verse that is all about rebirth. Both the pictures and their verses are below, be sure to let me know which one’s your favourite!

Tread safely in the light and find me in the newborn night.

Wealie x

Lady Dusk - Copyright R.Weal 2008

LADY DUSK

Born of the twilight
Between the light & the dark
The bridge between the worlds
A sacred piece of ancient art
Daughter to one
Mother to the other
In the waxing & waning
A lady born wild and free
Everything you wish and wish not to be

DUSK’S DAUGHTER

As the sun fades my blood kindles
As the warmth wanes my soul awakens
As the dusk dawns I am reborn

Don’t cry before the rain

Ruth Weal — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 01:50:23 +0000

This picture inspired the poem of the same name. Whilst out on a photography trip in town it started to rain. Taking shelter under the bridge I saw the patterns of the rain on the river and the title of the poem and picture “Don’t cry before the rain” entered my head.

I combined an existing self portrait that I had taken in a moment of sadness with the picture of the rain splattered river and this was the result. As I uploaded the pic to flickr the rest of the poem was born.

I hope you like the picture and the poem.

DON’T CRY BEFORE THE RAIN

Don’t cry before the rain
Let it come and wash away the pain
Let the raindrops conceal your tears
Let the water balm your pain and wash away your fears
Let the storm remake you anew
Let the wind blow and return to you
Don’t cry before the rain
Let it come and absolve your sins and never be the same

They called her the gypsy

Ruth Weal — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:08:59 +0000

I took this picture when I got home after attending a fantastic Buena Vista Social Club Gig that I attended with my dancing friends back in 2008. We had an after show party and several of the band members joined us, which made for a very memorable end to a fantastic night.

When I got home I felt inspired to do a little photo shoot and this was one of the shots. I later found out that the band members refered to me as Bonita Gitano Bailarín, which translates as pretty gyspy dancer, hence the title of the photo - The Gypsy.

As you probably guessed the image has been manipulated, I played around in Photoshop with it and using layers converted to sepia and recoloured the shawl back to red to get the distinctive two tone feel. I spent quite a lot of time editing the pic, but I was definitely pleased with the end result.

When it came to uploading the photo to flickr I remembered a short poem I wrote “A Spell”, which just seemed to fit with the image.

A SPELL

Night & Day
Black & White
Powers of Earth, Water, Wind & Fire
Grant me Strength of Heart
Bless me Clarity of Vision
Let me be my Own Decision