Birds and Vines

This image is based on a photo I took recently at Whitful Nursery. In addition to a plant and flower nursery, they create some beautiful seasonal displays using antiques and shabby chic elements. I've added a page from an illuminated manuscript as texture.

Autumn Display

I stopped by Whitfil Nursery to see whether they had anything new for fall, and I wasn't disappointed, although the cottage was closed until October so that more autumn goodies could be installed. Even though the weather is still more reminiscent of summer here in Phoenix, I'm in the mood to think about seasonal colors.

Echoes of Time

More experimentation with layers, textures and masks. I started off with my photos of the column, a decorative accent at a local nursery. Then I added the woman's face, which was part of a freize I found hanging in a local antiques store. These seemed to lend themselves to a sort of classical Roman theme, so as a final touch, I added the Latin text.

Zen for Bees

This is just an experiment which started with a photo of a Buddha statue at a local nursery. Several textures and a mask were next combined using Blending Modes. One of the texture was the title page of an old German book about nature.

Sunflowers and Lace

A bucket of sunflowers amidst a sea of hydrangea, part of the floral display at Bellagio's Conservatory.

The Conservatory

The current display at the Conservatory at Bellagio in Las Vegas features kites, sunflowers, birds, real and constructed, and a large lighthouse.

Tuileries Color

Colorful flowers planted in the Tuileries park in Paris, France. Created by Catherine de Medicis, the gardens and park were opened to the public after the French Revolution.

Venus in the Garden

A statue of Venus surrounded by a variety of tropical plants at Whitfil Nursery in Phoenix, Arizona.

Cortona Garden

I passed this small, peaceful garden in the hilltown of Cortona in Tuscany during my walking tour.

Desert Greens

Desert Ridge celebrates the natural landscaping of the Sonoran Desert, as this image of the cactus gardens shows.

Taormina Hotel

This hotel, like many others in Taormina, is tucked away and secluded, with the feel of a secret garden at its entry.

View from the Garden

This is the view from the Garden of the Cavalier at Boboli Gardens, Florence. I've added an Italian wallpaper texture as background and Chaos mask from Shadowhouse Creations.

Summer Days Journal

This image began with a photo from my London trip. I added a fancy mask and then decided to place it on a book texture from szantoszabolcs on the Flickr texture site. I added a lock and key to make it look like a diary and then a wine label.

Cherry Blossoms

A spray of cherry blossoms with several different textured layers applied.

A Blessing

This image began with a photo of a variety of Saint Francis and other other garden statues taken at Whitfil Nursery. I added backgrounds Medieval music and old parchment paper.

Kew Collage

This image began with an original photo of the King Williams Temple at Kew Gardens, just outside London. A number of different textures and design elements were added for an antiqued look.

Hydrangeas

This image is based on another photo taken at Whitfil nursery. I've added several textures for a muted effect.

Three Little Buddhas

I spotted these three little Buddhas among the garden statuary at Whitfil Nursery. This was the first time I'd seen this particular take on the old "speak no evil, hear no evil and see no evil" admonition. I used a grunge texture to darken up the surroundings.

Frames and Flowers

Based on a photo I took this past week at a local nursery. I swapped out the photos in the frames for pictures of birds and added a butterfly and background textures.

Garden Steps

AHB... I started seeing these initials describing a lot of the digital art that I was drawn to. AHB apparently stands for "Art History Brush," one of the tools in PhotoShop that can cause a photograph to look like a painting. This is my first AHB experiment using one of my photos from Filoli Gardens near Woodside, California.