Something strange this way comes -

"Secret of the Old Mill"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

"... there goes my summer vacation ..."
- Chet Morton

Brother against brother -

"The Tactician"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

"... a house divided against itself cannot stand ..."
- Abraham Lincoln

Low bridge, everybody down -

"The Old Erie Canal"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... Clinton's ditch ..."
- unknown

Fuzzy wuzzy -

"Town & Country"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- click image to view size -

"... no city should be too large
for a man to walk out of in a morning ..."
- Cyril Connolly

Illustration Friday: Savour -

"Savour of the Walk"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... the savour of the walk has not been lost ..."
- unknown

Thursday Challenge: Weather -

"Weather"
manipulated digital photograph by Mick Mather

- click image to view full size -

"... isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction listen to weather forecasts and economists ..." - Kevin Throop III

NEW from the Selfportrait Series -

"Selfportrait of the Artist Entering A Tin Shack"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... I met a gin soaked barroom queen in Memphis,
she tried to take me upstairs for a ride ..."
- The Rolling Stones

Multi-directional -

"Stairway Up & Stairway Down"
digital drawing & collage by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... never look backwards
or you'll fall down the stairs ..."
- Rudyard Kipling

You say you want a what?

"Revolution Two"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... we all want to change your head ..."
- The Beatles

Hovering, silently, in place -

"Visions in the High Desert"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... Yes! ..."
- Senator Barry Goldwater

Adjustable tools -

"Wrench"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... I am well acquainted with your manner
of wrenching the true cause the false way ..."
- William Shakespeare

Illustration Friday: Sneaky -

"Sneaky"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... people say that cats are
sneaky, evil and cruel;
true, and they may have
many other fine qualities as well..."
- unknown

Thursday Challenge: Time -

"Time"
photograph by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... time has come today,
young hearts can go their way ..."
- The Chambers Brothers

Road Trip!

"Engine in the Rear"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... I travel not to go anywhere, but to go,
I travel for travel's sake,
the great affair is to move ..."
- Robert Louis Stevenson

A warmth of color -

"An Autumn Walk"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... autumn is a second spring
when every leaf's a flower ..."
- Albert Camus

Ctrl + shift + F12 -

"Selfportrait of the Artist As A Computer Printout"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... never let a computer know you're in a hurry ..."
- unknown

Plug it in -

"Information Central"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... long distance information,
give me Memphis Tennessee ..."
- Chuck Berry

Cold winds blowing -

"Let it Snow"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... oh the weather outside is frightful ..."
- Sammy Cahn & Jule Styne

Illustration Friday: Burning -

"Selfportrait of the Artist As A Firefighter"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... when fire is cried and danger is neigh,
'God and the firemen' is the people's cry,
but when 'tis out and all things righted,
God is forgotten and the firemen slighted ..."
- unknown

Thursday Challenge: Autumn -

"Stubbled Fields"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

"... now if the harvest is over,
and the world cold,
give me the bonus of laughter,
as I lose hold..."
- John Betjeman

Shine, shine, shine -

"Night Light"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... the night walked down the sky
with the moon in her hand ..."
- Frederick L. Knowles

Plus or minus -

"Metering the Void"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... what terrible fear causes Man
to address the void as Thou ..."
- Edna St. Vincent Millay

Thanks, Bill -

"Sugar & Steps"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- original photographs by Bill Ives -
- click image to view full size -

It's been quite a while since I've worked with any of the wonderful photographs taken by my good friend, Bill Ives. A recent trip to Italy resulted in a wealth of images that turned my nostalgia for that beautiful country full on. The two images used in this post can be found in this set that Bill took in Bologna. Thanks for the memories, Sir!

Look! Up in the air!

"Fly By"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... fight on and fly on
to the last drop of blood
and the last drop of fuel,
to the last beat of the heart ..."
- Baron Manfred von Richthofen.

Thursday Challenge: Crafts -

"Tapestry"
digital photograph by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... nature uses only the longest threads to weave her patterns, so that each small piece of her fabric reveals the organization of the entire tapestry ..."
- Richard P. Feynman

Illustration Friday: Afterwards -

"Test Pattern"
digital drawing & collage by Mick Mather

"... the more original a discovery,
the more obvious it seems afterwards ..."
- Arthur Koestler

Counting sheep -

"By the Numbers"
digitally manipulated fractal flame & collage
- click image to view full size -

"... a few honest men are better than numbers ..."
- Oliver Cromwell

Bedtime story -

"Insomnia"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... I can't sleep ..."
- Johnny Kidd & the Pirates

Carbon credits? Are you serious?

"She, So Green"
digital collage by Mick Mather
- click image to view full size -

"... for in the true nature of things,
if we rightly consider,
every green tree is far more glorious
than if it were made of gold and silver ..."
- Martin Luther

Smoke 'em if you got 'em - -

"Keeper of the Gurdon Light"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... hovering and blazing with delusive light,
misleads the amazed night-wanderer from his way ..."
- John Milton