Last flower…for now

I saw these late summer blooms and wanted to do something a little different For Creative Exchange this week. So to PhotoShop layers and masks I went.

After making a duplicate layer, I desaturated the copy and applied a mask. With the foreground black and background white, I began “painting” with the brush tool to reveal the full color layer underneath.

I like the way this turned out because I think, in our mind, we all want to hold on to those last summer flowers before Jack Frost claims them for the year. To remember those flowers, in all their fullness is what helps us through the dark days of winter when the world (at least here in Middle Missouri) looks like very little is alive and well.

I think all of us like to cling to warmer days that remind us of happy times when we are going through life’s “winter seasons.” And who can blame us? I’ve been reorganizing all our photo albums and keep coming across reminders of days and years where I don’t remember having as many worries or concerns about life as I do now. Sweet memories of summer seasons in life that bring smiles to my heart.

And if life is challenging right now, just like summer, remember that warmer, care-free days will return. And when they do, they’ll be met with the same anticipation and joy that we greet summer with after a long, hard winter.

Submitted for Creative Exchange.