Cody Goodin - The artistic and spiritual journey of Cody Goodin

Welcome dear readers and visitors to my humble blog.  I hope you are having a great weekend so far. Today's post is all about play.  Specifically playing around with some interesting creative techniques with some basic photographs that I had taken a few years back. I have discovered a few software components that enhance ones images in a variety of creative ways. The company called Alien Skin Software have created a few little processing modules to help we artists to make the most of our images.  One such module allows one to create the look of a more traditional artistic media such as oil paint or watercolors. In the images provided here I have utilized the oil paint filter to create the look of painterly images. The one above as were all three, taken at Yellow Springs Ohio. The first one is the arched entrance to a restaurant. I love how this becomes a nice oil painting with just a few clicks of the mouse. This is an image of a cafe and shop and it reminded me...

Hello my creative friends out there in cyberspace.  I hope you are finding your Saturday is a good one.  If not, I will wish you to have a good one. I have been snowed in a bit.  Fortunately I did not have to go to work today. Good things, I got to play in the studio with a few things.  I am working on Miss Henrietta and while waiting for this and that, I decided to play with some of my doll collection and my little camera. It is fun to create a dialogue using photography and a few simple things. Here is one such example.  I title this "Asking the right Questions". As you can see, I have used a few of my toys to tell a little story here. Another good thing is this new software I am trying out that gives me the look of old films and or movie stock.This one I used a preset collection called Wizard of Oz. I love the warmth and film look it gives the image. One interesting thing about this software is that it is made to help your images obtain that look of film...

It is a popular trend these days for artists who have web sites or blogs to post blasts from the past. In keeping with that trend as I am trendy you know, I am offering some of my favorites.  In many ways these serve as a new bit of inspiration to me.  We tend to forget places we have explored creatively.  These series of images represent some forms I think I would like to reexamine. Updating and thinking of how I might utilize the elements in new ways or just keep them as they are intact. I haven't really made many of this type of figure. These two were inspired by Cirque de Solei. They were polymer clay sculpted heads and hands.  The bodies were wire armature that was then wrapped with layers of cotton batting and strips of fabrics.  I then layered fibers over the subsequent layers.  Then the final touches of ribbons, beads and some shoes completed the pieces. They had a nice bit of movement to them. This last piece I called Shaman's song. ...

Miss Lepina Carriota Bartlett is the second of the grand lady series to be finished.  She does not sport as fancy of a dress as the Madame in the previous post.  But, she is grand nonetheless.  Her fame comes from her fabled gardening abilities.  She is known far and wide in Codyland for uncanny ability to grow anything in just about any place.  Not to be known only for her gardening Miss Lepina also owns and runs the Codyland Farmers market place which is the largest seller of food stuffs in the land.  Her philosophy for dressing up is she likes to be comfortable and also loves color.  Her current outfit was made for her by her dress maker friend Sassy Bootsky. Lepina's dress is made from recycled cotton and silk clothing and lace donated by a friend. She is a polymer clay head sculpt and wire armature body.  Her hands are premade purchased ones and her feet which are not visible her are also made from polymer clays. She stands about 16" ...

Success, I have managed to finish a new character doll for my photo series.  She is the first of the grand ladies I had been designing and planning.  Her name is Madame Willamina Tomko.  She is the resident fortune teller and psychic for Codyland.  I have included a shot of her earlier self at the end so you can see how she came into being.  The head is a polymer clay sculpt and when I saw the finished head she reminded me of an acquaintance of mine.  I am not sure he would be all that thrilled about the being inspired by thing.  But, more of that inspiration will come in the photo series when her story unfolds. Her body is a wire armature that has been made with strips of cotton batting to fill out and create the body shape.  Her hair is a wool fiber I purchased from a place called Black Sheep farm here in Ohio.  Her dress is designed by Frederico Goodin one of the resident fashion gurus here in Codyland.  Willamina's jewelry is bit...

There are days no matter how many good intentions you have, you just can't get started on anything.  When that happens, I just go with it and take time to just be and be with myself in my favorite place, the studio. Listening to my favorite music, looking around at all the things that make me happy and define who I am.  Sorting through potential photos of the day for Facebook, doing my taxes (Yuck!), having a cup a Joe.  You just can't beat those moments of sheer blissful oneness.  It isn't achieving some lofty spiritual form of consciousness but, purposefully being where I am at this particular moment and being fully aware of it.  Loving all of it no matter the condition, state of grace or disarray. Often times we ignore this simple practice and try and make ourselves feel guilty for not working on anything "important".  My inner voice will say, "Where's the fire?"  All I can do is relent and surrender to the moment.  Peace of mind and soul ...