New – Lady’s Handbags

This is a detail of my newest subject matter and the post will be filed under “Lady’s Shoes” because, for now, I consider it in the same category. Perhaps I should call this a purse? A full version of this image is available on my website DougsArtGallery.com. The shapes and background texture are what pleases me the most. This has been a great way for me to pass the time while waiting for my wife. This time she said “those purses look great; where did you find them?”

Roman Shoe Store

This is the photo that started the the photographer-artist (or should I say artist-photographer) side of my work, at least for public display. My previous experiments did not give me the look I was comfortable with. When I finished this one after about two dozen versions I knew I had something I wanted to show others.

At first, people made fun of me because it was a picture of ladies shoes and the jokes were about me wearing them. That changed when I told the circumstances I took the picture in Rome, Italy on the fabulous Via Del Corso shopping district while waiting for my wife inside this store. The window displays for each store in the area were beautiful works of art in my opinion; so I took a single shot of this window with shoes seeming to float among the handbags. The original did not look good because I took it looking through the smoke colored glass window pane. I liked the shapes and composition but the color could not be corrected and that is when I went to work. First I wanted to just salvage the image, then I wanted to somehow change it. I spent scores of hours experimenting the possibilities. That is why I made so many versions. Once I got what I liked and shared it, the reactions have been great especially when folks were clear I was not interested in wearing the shoes! Frequently I find myself waiting for my wife in fancy shoes stores so I suspect there will be a whole line of lady’s shoe images posted here. Please stay tuned.