Artsy Autumn Beauty Sunflower Collage

For the past few days, I have been inspired by the beautiful Autumn Beauty sunflower blossoms emerging on the first sunflower plant of 2015. Thanks to Facebook this morning, not liking my artsy collages, I am taking time to blog about it.

On April 22, 2015, the first Autumn Beauties emerged along the side of my sunflower plant.

FIRST THREE AUTUMN BEAUTIES

There are the early emergers! The three beautiful Autumn Beauty sunflowers. The color is like rich merlot or perhaps a rich shiraz and remind me of a velvet-like fabric.

For the past couple of months, I have been watching that singular sunflower plant as it weathered our freezes. I'd cover it some nights to protect it from the cold. That plant just popped up, out of nowhere, this year ... so I opted to go with it. I was daily wondering, "what color will those blossoms be?"

ARTSY AUTUMN BEAUTY SUNFLOWER COLLAGE

This very morning, I was sharing those three sunflower photos on Facebook when one of my friends, Anna, suggested that I might want to do a collage. Hey, that was a great suggestion as I have done many artsy collages in the past. A collage is a good image to compile when you find it difficult picking just one or a couple photos.

 

So, I started to create my design in PhotoShop. Once I had the first sunflower collage prepared, I thought that I needed to change the background to create a colored mat. I went first with a white background, then black ... and then thought two more ... merlot to reflect the rich color of the blossoms ... and then green, to pick up the pretty colors of the leaves.

I then did a short post and added those photo collages to my post. However, just as soon as I went to submit that post with photos, Facebook told me my post was blocked. And, informed me that I could submit my reason they might have gotten that wrong. Good grief! OK, it was time to get back to my blogging.

Perhaps Facebook was being an art critic? What do you think??

Say, be sure to check out the beautiful line of designer throw pillows on Zazzle. These pillows showcase my authentic and original sunflower blossoms from my very own flower garden in Jacksonville, Florida. And, all those blossoms came from plants that emerged from the humble seed. This year, I am into my third such garden. Enjoy!

Oh, and by ENJOY, I didn't mean STEAL my copyrighted images!

One of My Inspirations

Those of you who know me and my writing and topics through the platform of Squidoo probably have seen two of my inspirations who are fellow lensmasters. I've written about Martin Stankewitz, aka editionh, as The Art of Zazzle. You might have seen The Wizard of Zazzle, ah Tickety-Boo that would be the Wizard Scott Morton.  Oh, there are other very special Squidoo lensmasters who are an inspiration to me, yes there are!

When I think of an inspiration outside of Squidoo and Zazzle, the very first person who comes to mind is someone that I know YOU would NOT expect.  An inspiration of mine, with whom I would love to have a six-month mentorship, or longer, is Michio Kaku.  Heard of him?  The Wikipedia reference for Michio Kaku gives you more detailed information than I could ever hope to give you here in my blog post; so I say, read that!

Michio Kaku, born January 24, 1947, is an American theoretical physicist specializing in string field theory, and a futurist. He is a popularizer of science, host of two radio programs and a best-selling author.

Michio Kaku, surprisingly reminds me personally a lot of my father who has been deceased for many years along with a hint of Guy Kawasaki!  Yes, good old Guy.  So, if I got that six-month mentorship, it would be quite a fulfilling experience, channeling my father, Guy and a whole lot of inspiration.  I think I need to make a point to attend one of Michio Kaku's talks.  If I had a bucket list, I'd add that!

P.S. I mentioned Guy Kawasaki. You know, I have written a bit about him. Maybe you have seen Best of Guy Kawasaki on Twitter, or The Art of the Start, or how about Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki?  You know, I would sincerely enjoy spending a mentorship with Guy, if he would have time what with all his twittering.  You know?