Samara Blue - My Way Of Art
Digital art I Creative photography & documentation I Lost Place I Street art
Kerstin Ellinghoven aka samara blue- Just Me
My name is Kerstin Ellinghoven. On the Internet, I'm more likely to go by the nickname "Samara Blue". This is my stage name from the time when I was still dancing oriental dance and playing with fire with my group "Moonlight Dancer". It was a very beautiful, creative time, so I am happy to let this name continue to accompany me on my artistic journey.
How I got behind the camera
Through many years of show and stage presence in the dance and fire play area, I have become more than aware of the value of beautiful, expressive pictures as a reflection of creativity, joy and memories. So it was easy for me to switch sides. You could also say that I have found my place behind the camera. Since I'm not a fan of long texts, if you want to know more about me and my way of taking photos, you're welcome to here (...)Continue reading.
In any case, I developed a love for photography. Although I was a total beginner behind the camera, I quickly realized that my place was right there and not in front of the camera like in my dancing days. Fascinated by the possibilities of finally being able to take the photos of other people that I had always wanted while dancing, I gradually learned and continue to learn more and more about the possibilities of our various Nikons and photography in general.
Although I own a current system camera, the Nikon D3500, with a number of automatic programs, I prefer my old D700, which has no automatic functions at all. This way I feel closer to the object of my photographic desire and have a better feeling of what I actually want to photograph. With the accompanying telephoto lens, however, this camera has "mucki-building" qualities, as it has a solid weight, which makes some photo tours a sporting event,
I have always dedicated myself to this hobby with a lot of passion and intensity, but also with care and attention. I'm still learning, trying things out, sometimes letting my gut feeling guide me and I'm always open to new things. I always get support and new input from my husband. That's especially fun, because you're on the road together with the same goals. His calm and patient manner is always helpful :-).
So far, I haven't necessarily described myself as a photographer and/or artist, as I didn't learn photography as a profession and don't practice it professionally, but rather as a creative craftswoman.
I started out with the ever-popular bees and flowers, whereby the latter are quite pragmatic models, as they usually stand still and don't talk. In addition to animals, I also enjoyed having two-legged friends in front of the camera. I had the pleasure of photographing several weddings. Even though these days were very exhausting, I was able to experience and photograph some great, sensitive moments. The enthusiasm and gratitude of the bridal couples were a greater reward for me than the agreed fee. I had a similar experience with baby bump shoots, a subject that is still very close to my heart.
Lost Place
Since my husband dragged me to various lost places at the beginning of our time together, I took my first pictures here. Now I was also interested in the stories and backgrounds to the places, and so the first complete projects and the need for a storage medium emerged. Photo albums had been out of fashion for some time, so I launched my homepage and gave it the name "Samara Blue - Urbexart".
Even though my focus has now shifted to digital art, I have kept this name because it always reminds me of the origins.
Under the "premise of the Urbexer"...
Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints,
keep nothing but memories!
...my site was to be managed and more and more pictures and interesting information were to be collected.
A time-consuming undertaking, as it turned out. Not only finding the spots, but also editing the pictures and collecting background information took a lot of time. I wrote to owners, contemporary witnesses and other people involved to get more detailed information about the property. I am always happy to receive feedback. It shows me that my projects are also important to other people.
I've never been the photographer who rushes through the Urbex scene at the weekend to cover as many spots as possible in one day. I wanted to get involved with each location, take my time to photograph it in different ways, gain my own impressions and get a feel for what makes this place special. Sometimes I only found the right approach to the respective spot in post-processing on the PC and was able to give the place I visited its own face and add some information. So here we have the first focus of my site.
In common parlance, lost places are buildings from recent history that have not been historically recorded or are not specifically mentioned due to their lack of significance. Their original use has been forgotten and, unlike industrial monuments, for example, they are not made accessible to a wider public. Abandoned residential buildings etc. can also be of interest to the Urbexer.
Street Art
I came across the topic of street art by chance. There are these colorful graffiti in many places, sometimes really beautiful, but definitely colorful. While browsing through my 1001 pictures, I came across these graffiti and street art pictures from time to time, which seemed too good to just let them rot on my hard disk. So, what to do? As I'm always interested in the background, the artists and the intentions behind the artworks, I look for as much information about the individual works of art as I can find. I like to contact the artists themselves, because only they can tell me something between the lines of the Internet. Art in urban space that is intended to encourage the viewer to engage in dialog, says Wikipedia on the subject. So I take on this kind of art and photograph it according to my intentions.
My starting and still favorite theme is the "Kiefernstraße" in Düsseldorf. I have dedicated a separate chapter to it, which I will continue to work on bit by bit, even though some of the pictures have now been painted over again. I am particularly pleased about the support of the artists involved. For example, when well-known greats such as "Ben Mathis" from the Majo Brothers, the grand old man Klaus Klinger or the "Malkarsten" Karsten Breidenbroich answer my questions.
I also follow the "Urban Art Events in Krefeld", which take place every two years, and try to give every work of art and every artist a chance to have their say. A never-ending story, as I have discovered :-), but always fun in between.
Sometimes I'm asked to photograph "special places" like the "Schlaraffia" Crefeldensis in Et Klöske in Krefeld. A place where women are normally not allowed in. A special experience!
Digital art & Lyric
Digital art is my main focus at the moment. Again, it was my husband who gave me the "DAZ Studio", a medium to create 1001 scenes with characters, animals and/or environments. Perspectives and lighting are similar to those of real photography and even if a lot of "try and error", patience, practicing and learning go hand in hand with this kind of creativity, it is a great way for me to create pictures, sometimes to provide them with suitable words and sometimes to write my own little magical story. During the pandemic, it was the only way to actively engage with these topics, but my enthusiasm has outlasted this time.
The fact that some of my pictures are now printed by the art print publisher "PRINTLER" and sold in various sizes and designs makes me very happy and inspires me to keep trying out new themes, processing and presentation options. Some things turn out really well, others are a bit strange and many end up in the wastepaper basket. But everything fills me with joy and a little ambition and is a meaningful creative continuation of my dance career.
I'm following the big topic of "artificial intelligence" closely and keep testing a few ideas and also use one or two of the more than 5,000 images I now have parked on my tablet. However, I don't like a lot of them and many of the characters I look at seem to be like two peas in a pod. At the moment, I can't get much out of the fact that I can't really actively create and design the pictures the way I want, but "only" choose what I like after what feels like 1001 attempts. More or less elaborate reworking doesn't make the result any better for me. This may be due to my lack of practice or the fact that I don't really have an idea of what I can or want to do with the ki. But I'll keep at it and time will tell what the results will be for me. It will probably be impossible to imagine the creative world without Ki in the future. It probably won't be able to replace an original photo that can capture real moments. But it will be a new medium that, just as photography revolutionized the world of painting a long time ago, will now revolutionize the world of photography, among other things. Every artist working with these media will have to decide for themselves whether and to what extent they will incorporate Ki into their creative work.
The word "poetry" is perhaps a bit of a stretch for my writing ambitions and I describe myself more as a writer than a lyricist or similar. However, I really enjoy it. Not only is it a good way of sorting and verbalizing thoughts, but the self-imposed task of completing words, thoughts or facts with suitable texts also suits me very well. Often an image, of whatever kind, is only complete for me when it is accompanied by the appropriate text. The question of whether the text or the picture came first is a bit like the chicken and the egg. In most cases, the decision is quite intuitive. If it works for me, I'm happy. For the moment, it's as simple as that - for me :-).
HP - design
Ultimately, the "design of my homepage" is also part of this creative process. When I created a website for my dance activities years ago, I extensively tested writing versus building blocks and made a conscious decision to use a building block system (Jimdo at the time). I didn't and still don't want to spend most of my time "writing" the external structure of the site in a similar way. I certainly recognize this work, but I think that there are simply different needs and preferences.
With a WIX site, it is not enough to simply press a few buttons and put a few parts together to form a whole. Even if many elements are predefined here, they have to be put together to form a harmonious and functional whole. Changes on the part of the manufacturer always make corrections necessary and the necessary adaptations to the mobile devices must also be made. If you have adjusted to standard cell phones, tablets have different requirements.
I have now started to maintain the site in English as well. In the meantime, the translation is chargeable and the typeface often differs from the German language, so I now do the translations myself. Despite all the modular functionality, sometimes the elements don't really fit as they should and you still have to intervene in the source text, which I try to avoid as much as possible ;-). Actually, there is always something to correct, but perfectionism is overrated anyway ;-). This site is my hobby and not my livelihood and I was not born with the knowledge of IT functionalities.
Inspired by my work in quality management, I am roughly documenting my future changes to my site. This is not of interest to the usually rather fleeting visitor of this site, but it serves my own structuring.
If you are interested, you can find the data here (...) ;-)
So my homepage is a bit like my glossy picture album from my childhood and tinkering with it almost every day is simply part of it for me.
hobbies
Working with the 3D program DAZ Studio and the subsequent post-processing with currently mainly Paintshop in various versions is one of my most time-consuming hobbies. There is so much to discover, test and process that I will be "busy" for a long time to come.
Coming from photography, working with the camera is still one of my more intensive hobbies. Here, too, there are so many opportunities to develop, try out and experiment.
Not a day goes by without me delving into a book. Reading is essential for me and almost every book that falls into the hands of my husband and I is given a permanent home with us.
I always enjoy cooking and especially baking, sometimes experimentally, as it also benefits my husband ;-). We like to play "World of Warcraft" together, especially in the colder months. Unfortunately, this is another activity that involves sitting in front of the PC.
To get away from it at least once in a while, I take care of our organic garden. When it gets colder, my girlfriend and I feed birds, hedgehogs, squirrels and whatever else can be found in our biotope.
Following my sister's advice and somewhat as a replacement for dancing and the like, I'm currently taking up yoga. As I love meeting new people, I'm certainly on the right track with this, as there are lots of interesting women in my studio.
Last but not least, I would like to revive designing and tailoring cool clothes, as I finally have a sewing machine again, albeit a second-hand one. My fabrics and patterns have been lying unused in the corner for far too long.
Lots to do when I read through this ;-), so let's get on with it. After all, there are 24 hours in a day.
My creativity
What exactly is creativity? What does it mean specifically for me?
Sometimes it seems to me that some people carry their creativity in front of them like a flag to show how great, how admirable they are. Often in these moments, a strange, pulling feeling arose inside me, a feeling of insecurity and incompleteness.
This made me think about where I myself actually stand on this subject. Are the things I sew, make and cook enough for this world that is increasingly about being prettier, richer and cooler?
Since I was a child, I have made everything I could get my hands on. Later, I took creative courses, especially in the arts. At the beginning of a new subject there was always the fascination of the new and the new design possibilities that came with it. As my technical skills grew, new applications and combinations opened up to me and I was simply happy with my mostly colorful work.
At some point, oriental and fire games were added and the stage came into my life. A place where I could show my art, even celebrate it. A milestone, yes, perhaps the fulfillment of my dreams? A milestone for sure, but dream fulfillment was one of those things. I was suddenly so exposed on stage, at the mercy of criticism from other people, the audience. I often asked myself whether I was good enough, whether others would like what I was doing, whether I could keep up with my "fellow artists".
It was an ambivalent feeling, as I had always enjoyed my creative activities. I enjoyed my ever-growing skills, gave the finished workpieces an appropriate place and collected the beautiful performance pictures in albums. Looking back, I realize that the discomfort that crept in with the exposed performances was my personal stumbling block. Doubts and uncertainty as to whether everything was as true as I had made it out to be. Feelings that I hadn't really experienced before.
Sure, it was fun learning choreographies and later putting them together myself, designing and sewing elaborate costumes especially for me and later planning and performing complete shows together with my group. To be booked and paid for it. It was a great, creative time in its own way.
But it always felt a bit like work. Work that had to be done and that was judged. But I didn't think about quitting, because my heart was in dancing and playing with fire and so I carried on in search of that very special something, my own creative feeling.
Some time ago, no, it's actually been more than 8 years, I met my husband. He introduced me to photography with "real" digital cameras. Not just taking pictures with a cell phone, even if the little things can now achieve brilliant results. This change of direction with regard to the camera was a very positive and incisive experience for me.
Conquering the world with a camera in my hand, digitizing and editing the images was, on the one hand, a completely new, incredibly versatile medium for me. There was a lot to discover, learn and create. On the other hand, moving behind the merciless eye of a camera removed the feeling of value control and competition from outside. I was and am finally at home here. Seeing the world through the lens of a camera and then being able to develop the image the way I feel at that moment was something of an enlightenment for me.
A good 2 years ago, the 3D program DAZ Studio was added as another extremely creative medium. For me, it was a completely new kind of creativity that I first had to conquer, especially on the technical side. With increasing skills in the use of DAZ Studio, the associated posting of the results on social media and a broader view beyond "my" personal horizon, I have currently been dealing with the above-mentioned question of what creativity (for me) is all about.
*Creativity itself seems to be a very special little plant. It needs freedom and does not like to be locked up. It needs light, air and a clear view of all things and areas of life. Sometimes it wants to rest, hide away in warm mounds of leaves at the edge of the forest, then fly through the air with the wind and settle down in a completely different arrangement in a green meadow to form a completely new pattern.
*Creativity cannot be learned according to a syllabus, cannot be copied and cannot be broken over my knee. She has a highly allergic reaction to the sometimes popular "sledgehammer method" and likes to deny her full attention to those who are so vehemently searching, in this case me. Sentences like: "If I want something, then that's what I want!" are not conducive to (my) creativity. I then have the feeling that she's sticking her tongue out at me, or even giving me the middle finger, to let me know that I've been too overbearing or perhaps too arrogant.
*(My) Creativity loves the spontaneous, the unbound and unplanned. She loves to mix up the things I have seen, felt or heard like a kaleidoscope. Looking at them in ever new constellations and ultimately deciding on a particular pattern. It used to happen that a walk in the woods spontaneously inspired me to choose a particular color combination for an oriental costume. Today, a carelessly thrown silk scarf that lands over a softly glowing bedside lamp can prompt me to recreate a similar lighting situation in the DAZ Studio.
*Creativity is for me an indispensable interplay of mind, spirit and soul. When I give all the "parts/areas" in me the opportunity to deal with a theme, an image, then a homogeneous whole emerges for me. This image is often accompanied or supplemented by words that are important and appropriate for me at that moment for this work. Every completed development like this makes me happy, grounds me and confirms me in what I am doing. I then feel complete, able to perceive and accept myself. I am one with myself and "my" universe.
In a way, this process of coming together is also a sensitive process for me. If I were to focus my attention too much on what other artists are showing in various social networks, at exhibitions etc., or if I were to try to find out what is promising, (my) painting would not be able to develop freely. It always comes up against unnecessary limits that I set myself and part of its story, its value for myself, fizzles out. I certainly find inspiration in other artists. I am happy to pass this on to the artist, provided I still know what I saw and where. However, as it is just an idea, an inspiration, it will never be a copy of something else, because then it would have lost its value for me.
*Creativity doesn't obey any of my schedules. Just because I have the desire to portray a certain theme or create a certain character doesn't mean it will work. Sometimes I sneak around a feeling or intention like a cat around a pot of milk, writing down my ideas, rearranging them, looking for a beginning even though the end is already clear in my mind. Then patience is required. Patience, that so important and yet often so fleeting virtue that allows me and my ideas and visions to stay in the flow. Allowing the process of creation, even if it takes longer than desired, the time it needs to find itself and form a perfect whole for me, becomes part of my joy and satisfaction.
*Creativity is not really measurable for me. I'm not able to count, measure or weigh it, like an inventory. Basically, that's not important to me either. I'm happy when my pictures are noticed and liked. But that is not my creative driving force. I am also well aware that not everyone looks at and interprets a picture or a work of art with the same intention. Everyone has their own perception, their own feelings and values and encounters art in their own way. But sometimes when a message that I want to pass on with my works is perceived as exactly that, then I am very happy and I feel that for that moment a (creative) circle is closed and a picture is complete for me.
Writing comments on other artists' pictures, if you don't want them to sound too flat, also requires some creativity as well as time. I have to get involved with the picture, let it have an effect on me so that I can then say something constructive about it. Because a thoughtful comment is also a kind of recognition. Sometimes I succeed, but not always ;-), because it takes time. Time that often seems far too short for us humans. When I read almost identical comments under pictures that I didn't write, I have to smile.
*Creativity for me is not a process to be completed, for me it is a path. The path! The path that I feel is right for me, that suits me.
It can see things that are not yet visible. For me, it ultimately means the ability not to lose sight of the colorful, the life, the opportunities that present themselves to me, even in the daily grey routine. It makes my life easier, brings joy, is a gift and an enrichment. It gives me such a strong power that I don't want to keep it to myself, it has to be shared.
*Creativity is something that runs through all areas of my life. It enables me to think outside the box again and again, to act beyond traditional, rigid rules and to break out of the usual procedures from time to time. It gives me the imagination to explore unknown paths in order to visualize the things that are close to my heart. It opens up new techniques and ways of looking at things without forcing me to use them immediately.
I believe that creativity is a universal language that all of humanity could use to communicate if it felt compelled to listen to it and engage with it in an open-minded way.
Ultimately, my art is my hobby and not my livelihood. I can enjoy it, experience it and take pleasure in it without having to compete and/or assert myself. Just as these lines are my very own thoughts on this subject and everyone here deals with the subject of creativity differently.
Krefeld im Februar 2024
Samara Blue - Standing
A lot of things are sometimes written on the internet without thinking, a lot is said, thought about and given to the best. People who don't even know you like to form an image of other people in this way and think they know and can assess them based on their sayings, stories and statements. I deal with many topics, problems and thoughts. However, not everything that ends up on a picture of me reflects my personal opinion, my feelings or emotions. To satisfy the eternally curious web a little, here are some statements that I actually stand behind!
* Follow your dreams - Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do for the rest of my life.
* Quality over quantity - Chasing 1001 pictures online every day is not my thing.
* Don't huddle, there's strength in peace and quiet. I take my time with everything I do.
* Even when I'm older, the journey is still my goal.
* I don't chase after anything or anyone.
* I find peace within myself, because that is the place that is just right for me.
* I have no use for "fishing for compliments". If I like what I do, it's good for me.
* Don't talk to me about me.
* Status, possessions, intelligence tell me nothing about the value of a person.
* I like myself as I am, with what I can and cannot do. I can learn new things if I want to, but I don't have to be able to do and like everything just because other people do.
* I'm not perfect, I'm always open to new things in all areas and I'm just as happy to receive respectful criticism as I am honest praise. If none of this comes, I will continue on my path exactly as I like it.
* Anyone who likes can accompany me for a part of my path, but no one can pretend or dictate this path to me.
* Respect, honesty and loyalty, also among family and friends.
* Some things have to be allowed to develop. This also includes the use of various Ki tools, for which I still have very little use in my art, even though I work intensively with them time and again.
With this in mind, have fun browsing :-) and be patient if it takes a while for a page or a topic to be finished. It's my time :-).
Yours Samara Blue
Krefeld in November 2023
SamaraBlue - MyWayOfArt/lady-sahmra-photo@gmx.de