Art
is in the eye of the beholder. Tricky if
you’re wearing an eye patch but nevertheless, what is one man’s Picasso is
another man’s Pollock and believe me when I say, there’s a load of old ‘Pollocks’
out there that is trying to pass for art.
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| Cubism - Pablo Picasso |
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| Abstract Expressionism - Jackson Pollock |
I’ve
spent the past few weeks battling a sinus infection and scouring the internet
for something suitably arty to hang above the bed but nothing I’ve seen so far
has captured my imagination. So what to
do if you can’t find the perfect picture?
Create your own!
Since
I dabble in photography, I’ve turned to my vast collection of photo ‘art’ for
inspiration. I want something semi
industrial with lots of interesting shapes and colours. Hmmm.
Not easy to find something of that ilk in a million cat or plant photos
but wait, what’s this? It’s a day out at
the Thames Barrier – perfect!
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| View of the Thames Barrier |
I
remember that cold, grey day in 2016 and how captivated I was by those fabulous
metal domes, symmetrically spanning the river Thames like a row of alien
sentinels. The light glinting off the
silver ‘scales’, moody grey clouds rolling across the blue sky, the bitingly
cold wind turning my cheeks into a bright pink sorbet. It was magical.
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| Low tide at the Thames Barrier |
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| An amazing architectural structure |
My
barrier photos taken with a ‘dramatic’ filter at the time aimed to capture a
sense of that magnificent architectural structure. All those wonderful domes, angles and
symmetry, with the kind of texture and shapes that Picasso might have fashioned
into some weirdly compelling cubist painting if he’d still been alive.
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| With dramatic filter applied |
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| With no filters applied |
With
a bit of imaginative cropping and a few adjustments to the contrast and
temperature of the image, I’ve changed the look of the original prints to give
them blue tones and vibrant colours.
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| Love all the shapes & symmetry |
How
to print off your masterpieces in a fairly large size? There are loads of photo printing companies
on the internet who can print off anything from a postage stamp to a wall sized
poster, so no worries on that front. I
got my 30 x 40 cm prints done by Pics2Posters and was more than impressed by the
quick order turnaround and quality of the prints (£9 each including image
enhancement).
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| Photos cropped & enlarged |
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| Colour contrasts adjusted to make vibrant |
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| Bringing out the blue tones |
Chunky
silver frames with mounts (keeping with the metallic element of the Barrier)
purchased from The Range provide a fitting setting for my bedroom art which
looks stunning hung above the bed.
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| Colours look stunning against the yellow backdrop |
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| Given the Kitty Cat Seal of Artistic Approval |
Homemade art – go on, give it a try, you might surprise yourself.
