Donald Diddams
The Art of Digital Art
In the Garden
Posted on October 27, 2010
Three Chairs in the Garden - 2010
During a peaceful afternoon in a forest garden everyday scenes come alive. When the breeze blows, the dappled spots of sunlight and deep shadows swirl around the three chairs neatly arranged on the lawn under a large spreading tree, waiting for the guests to arrive.
And then there are the fallen leaves just under the surface of the water that has collected in the old copper across the yard. The bits of blue sky filtering down through the canopy of leaves above become shimmering flashes of light, like fireflies dancing across the surface.
Floating Leaves - 2010
Smooth Banana and a Barbed Wire Bath
Posted on September 28, 2010
A Smooth Banana - 2010
In the filtered light after a brief summer shower some things like these aging banana leaves take on a silken smoothness. Their texture, colors and folds give the illusion of fabric hanging from the stalk. However, most plants in the dry tropical bush are prickly and sharp, not smooth and silky. A little way along this same path there was an old bathtub draped with barbed wire — a still life of manmade objects emulating the thorny bush.
The illusion is of softness, while man made thorns block access to a symbol of the comfort and security of home.
Barbed Wire Bath - 2010
Bottled Sunlight Mixed with a Gentle Rain
Posted on September 7, 2009
Grapefruit - 2009
Every July the local botanical garden sponsors the “Mango Melee” — a county fair-like event featuring dozens of varieties of local mangoes and other locally grown tropical fruit. This little pile of grapefruit was accented with one pink and one yellow fruit cut open to display the richly colored and textured interiors. If you could bottle sunlight mixed with a gentle rain, it might look like this.
Just Color!
Posted on May 22, 2009
Wood Shutter and Wall - 2009
An old wood shutter, black iron hinge and peeling paint on the stucco wall provided the raw material. These peeling and crumbling tropical facades are the subject of thousands of photos by tourists and pros alike. Still, I can’t resist adding just one more to the pile.
Black Pineapple
Posted on May 4, 2009
Black pineapple - 2009
Narrow and tall with a dark green skin, the black pineapple is a Caribbean favorite. Topped with rust-tinged leaves, this one seems to glow with sweetness.
Left behind
Posted on April 27, 2009
Shard - 2009
This thick pale-blue piece of glass was laying on the broken green pavement of a long-abandoned and overgrown tennis court. While greens are not always my favorite color, this was like finding a jewel in the trash — a bit of beauty in what has been left behind.
A Ripe Tomato from the Caribbean
Posted on April 18, 2009
This started out as a ripe tomato from the local organic farm. So sweet and delicious, it’s just a distant relative to what can be bought in the store.
It’s one of those tomatoes that, even when perfectly ripe, is still a mix of brick-red and green. It had delicate rings of tan scar tissue — maybe tomato stretch marks? — and a cleavage from the stem down the back side. Only a tomato, but I think that’s where its magic lies.
Ripe tomato - 2009
The beautiful eggplant
Posted on April 15, 2009
These tasted as good as they look. No other comment necessary.
Eggplant - 2009
A Couple of Hot Peppers
Posted on April 2, 2009
A couple of hot peppers - 2009
We picked up a handful of these gorgeous little peppers at the local organic farm. Some were fresh and plump, some still with a tinge of green, while these two had begun to dry and shrivel a bit. I placed them on a hand-thrown plate with an interesting mottled green glaze for their portraits. And in case you are wondering, yes, they are very hot!
This is the first image I worked on. I expect there will be a few more until I either exhaust the possibilities, or — more likely — am distracted and pulled away by the next photo-op.
Carambola Ice
Posted on March 13, 2009
Carambola Ice - 2009
Here is a final image from the carambola still life series. It feels like ice to me.
It is interesting how such different interpretations can emerge from a series of quite similar photographs of the same subject. Work on the final images was started on different days and the result was determined in part by the strengths of each individual photograph — but also in part on the day’s mood and the path chosen for each at the beginning of my process.
St. Croix — Hotel Caravelle Artwork
Mocko Jumbies
Donald Diddams 