Happy Autumn Equinox!

Solar Eclipse Photos!

After a torrential downpour, the clouds cleared just long enough for me to get a few shots. Here in Western PA, we only had 80% and not full totality, but it was still an impressive sight to see! The next one is in 2024, and I will be closer to totality then.

This Solar Eclipse was in Leo... a powerful symbol of new and creative beginnings! May it be so!

Astro Globe Revisited

I went back to the Astrology Globe to get a few more angles. Enjoy!

Astro Globe

I found this astrology globe tucked away in a hidden corner of a local town, thanks to Pokemon Go. LOL

Apps Used: PhotoToaster, Mextures, Repix & Jazz

Merry Winter Solstice!

A Blessed Winter Solstice to all who celebrate or just observe...

Solar Eclipse: Art Journal & ATCs

Kala Noumenia! It's the New Moon in Scorpio, which is also a Solar Eclipse for those who were lucky enough to see it today.

Lyrics on the art journal spread are from Pink Floyd's "Eclipse" from Dark Side of the Moon. The quotes on the ATCs are from Rumi.

Art Journal: Wisdom from Plato & Rumi

I was going through my computer and printing out some collage sheets for an upcoming project, when I decided to collect some favorite quotes to print for my art journaling kit. I ended up putting too much paint on my palette, so I made an art journal spread and a matching ATC with a different quote.

The art journal spread is a quote from Plato: "Perhaps there is a pattern set up in the heavens for one who desires to see it, and having seen it, to find one in himself." As an astrologer, this quote has always spoken to me.

The quote for the ATC is from Rumi: "The universe and the light of the stars come through me."

As I play more with my art journal, I'm having fun creating little crops of the pages. The art I do in my journal is so different from the work I generally do... by the time I get around to finishing my major series, you may think a guest artist took over my blog. But the variety and playfulness of it is what's keeping me working and inspired. Enjoy!

Art Journal: Heart of the Universe

I made this art journal spread shortly after finding out a friend of mine was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer. A group of his friends were going to do a healing meditation for him and they asked if he had anything they would like him to chant. He - an astrologer - said "Stepping into the heart of the Universe." I also made him a collage to go along with this and mailed it off to him, but he changed rooms at the hospital shortly after. If it gets lost in the mail, I will direct him here so he can see it.

Art Journal: Find A Dream

Another New Moon spread, this time in the sign of Libra, which you can see the symbol for painted on the left-hand side. I wrote my New Moon wishes around the edges of the spread in Stardust Gelly-Roll pen.

 

Solstice: App Recipe

Happy Summer Solstice everyone!

I was inspired to do an App Recipe for the occasion... Check out the Recipe Book Project at http://www.clearerreflections.com/ for more great recipes!

I started with another dictionary page, this time for the word Sol. (That old dictionary was the best buck I ever spent!)

I took that into Image Blender (85/15 blend) with this NASA picture of the Sun.

And then took the resulting image into Image Blender with a diagram from an old book (5/95 blend) to get this...

After that, I put it into Photo Toaster > Supreme > Heirloom...

Next, I put it into Pic Grunger > Scratched (50%, Studio Style), Iris > Surface > Splatter and Photo Forge > Auto Balance: Exposure with Frame 08.

And here's the result!

Leo: App Recipe

I put this image together while watching the Season Finale of Game of Thrones. I'm not a fan of the Lannisters (except for Tyrion!), but I do love lions.

For this one, I took a star photo from Wikimedia Commons (public domain) and another dictionary shot, this time with the entry for the constellation Leo.

I took both photos into Image Blender, with an 80/20 blend...

And then I took the resulting image into Image Blender (40/60 Blend) with one of my lion statue pics, taken with Instagram's Earlybird filter, and then put through Magic Hour's Sepia setting. (I also used Photo Forge to give it a horizontal flip.)

From there, the resulting image was taken into Photo Toaster, given a Yellow Filter, Old Paper Texture and the Funky Frame.

And here is the result...

Full Moon Madness!

Here's some pictures I took of last weekend's Full Moon... They were calling it a "Super Moon," but this must not be the right part of the world/time of year to see it as huge as other places did. But it was still beautiful!

As EarthSky wrote, the term Super Moon actually comes from astrology, defined as "…a new or full moon which occurs with the moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit (perigee). In short, Earth, moon and sun are all in a line, with moon in its nearest approach to Earth."


For my astro-readers, this Full Moon was in Tropical Scorpio. :)