Madame de Pompadour and the Blue Box - Architecture 3Muses Challenge

Mickey Smith: What's a horse doing on a spaceship?

The Doctor: Mickey, what's pre-Revolutionary France doing on a spaceship? Get a little perspective!

I thought this gorgeous gothic hallway was perfect for the Three Muses blog challenge.

Thinking about the 10th Doctor and his tendency to be ensnared by historical females, I wondered if popping in and out of time and space might have made his little romance with Madame de Pompadour a little complex if the timey-wimey aspects of time travel came into play....

Cello Charm - 3Muse Music challenge

Colour Me Happy! - 3Muses Challenge

I thought it would be ideal to combine one of  my New Year project goals (a series of Louisiana based Major Arcana Tarot cards) with the Colour Me Happy!  theme from the Three Muses!

So this is my brilliantly colored Fool with some uniquely inspired Louisiana details!

3Muse Challenge - Gotta Dance

My black, white, and red image ended up being a little off color.

Sigh.

Flamingo Moon - 3Muse Challenge

Jarred Octopi - 3Muse Jar Challenge

I don't know what these two sinister octopi are up to, but it can't be good.

Don't ask me how we arrived here as I am not quite certain myself.

I started off with an image of a Victorian girl in a yellow floral field with a wide blue sky.  My intention was to give her a nice balloon, maybe a poodle head or an elephant head.  Harmless, easy fun.

After I cleaned up the black and white image and then painted in some pretty colors, I realized she wasn't right for my balloon girl so I saved the psd file and found another Victorian girl to walk my surreal balloons.

Three Muses posted a jar challenge last week so I opened up my older saved image to play with.  Sometimes I think we have a goal in mind and other times the very vaguest of ideas.

To begin with, I put her into a jar, thinking maybe Alice in Wonderland?  Maybe I should add a rabbit?  Then I thought that she could be one of many jars on a shelf....  I decided that instead she would going somewhere so I added a cart.  Where to go next?

I wasn't sure so I saved again and left the project for another day.

While scrolling through the huge piles of images I have on my pc, I noticed a particular vintage image of an octopus. ( If you follow me at all, you might notice that I seem to have a weakness for octopi.  There is just something so intriguingly alien about them).  I noticed that this particular octopus would be perfect for the top of the jar.

Now, I had a little girl in a jar, on a cart, with an octopus on top in the middle of a yellow floral field.  Clearly, the cart wasn't going anywhere and looked out of place in a floral meadow.

I changed out the ground to a more vintage cobblestone.  I added some columns to give it a sense of an urban landscape and decided that it needed a wall.  Finally, I realized that the octopus needed a sea to escape too and that the cart needed to be pulled by something so....

Here we are.

I really think that they are friendly octopi.  Really!  They are probably just bringing a misplaced child home to her family....

Paris Stroll - 3Muse Umbrella Challenge

Maybe my Victorian Kitty Girl isn't actually in Paris.

Maybe she is actually sashaying down the street in a photo I took in New Orleans.

Certainly, it all seems to have a Parisian feel.

The challenge this week at Three Muses was a Rain / Umbrella challenge.

My Victorian Kitty Girl might actually be carrying a parasol to keep the sun from bronzing her perfect lily white complexion, but in New Orleans, an afternoon storm is just a few hours or minutes away!

The Big Bad meets the Three - 3Muses Challenge

I admit that I am a little torn here.

On the one hand, I would really hate for anything

to happen to such adorable little girls.

On the other hand, it is three versus one.

I think our Big Bad might be

a little over-matched on this one.

(Also, wolves are endangered!)

Mr Lumberjack and his axe are NOT ok!

The Three Muses challenge this week was all about the power of Three.

As soon as I saw these little Victorian girls, I knew I had found my three.

The wolf is courtesy of the US Parks and Wildlife and the pretty treescape is a public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

Music - 3Muses Challenge

Enjoy the stately leisure performance of 

our vintage child ballerina dancing to music only she can hear!

Steampunkopus - 3Muses Challenge

The challenge this week from the Three Muses was Steampunk.

When I think steampunk, my first thought is always octopus.  I realize that may 

just be me, but that is were my mind goes.

I started with a gorgeous vintage picture of a girl and her dog.  

I added color and did some damage control to the image.

Initially, I intended to add some goggles or some cogs but I really liked her as is.

I added a landscape from wikipedia commons and then went through my octopus and squid images.

What is it about about our underwater friends that sometimes has a purely alien look to them?

I had some tentacle fun and added some more water creature details into the sky.

To a purist, I may have missed the steampunk mark, but I liked 

my final result so here is my version of Steampunk Octopus.

Dandy - Script 3Muse challenge

And a fine looking man he is!

The Orphans Boys of Lafayette - Square and Circle 3Muses Challenge

The Three Muses Challenge this week was geometric - circles and squares.

I started with a photo I took in Lafayette Cemetery in the Garden District.

In New Orleans, the dead never really leave us.  We can go and visit.  

They like it when you bring them gifts.

Every time I have been to this particular tomb, someone has always left

 little presents for the orphan boys - usually some sort of plastic toys or stuffed animals.  

The day I took this image, someone had left this bright and cheerful balloon 

as well as the usual assortment of Mardi Gras beads and little toys.

I like to think that after everyone leaves for the day (the gates are locked promptly at 5 pm), 

the orphan boys come out and enjoy their new toys!

Boat Baby - 3Muses Nautical Theme

Some days are just too lovely to NOT

take a ride on a boat!

Just watch out for that school of flying fish!

Beetle Maid - 3Muses Insect Challenge

Admittedly, she doesn't look happy.  

Do you think she is just shy about having her picture taken

or do you think she is displeased to find herself

suddenly half-beetle?

Mirror Image - 3Muse Challenge

This weeks challenge from Three Muses is Mirror.

I started with a photo from the French Quarter and added a darling little Victorian girl.

Good versus evil?

Or is it just a case of multi universes?

Is she made of gummy bears in one?

But, in none of them, I assure you, is she dancing....

Play 42 again, Sam Kitty - 3Muses Challenge

On certain nights

when the moon is right

and the dog cowers under the bed,

Cellist kitty emerges from the dark

and seizes the musical spark

playing the 42 she had read.

The Three Muses challenge this week was "Numbers".

I haven't read the book or seen the movie 

but my daughter likes to quote the notion that

"42" is the answer to life, the universe and everything

so it seemed an appropriate thing for my Cellist Kitty to play

(if we willingly accept that musical notes sound like numbers).