I have been busy lately with all the important, responsible tasks one must attend to in order to run a viable business. For several days my brain has felt like mush and I began to develop a severe case of the antsy’s. My iPhone sat patiently next to my laptop while my hind end became numb from the hours at my keyboard.
Yesterday I reached the point where something just had to give so I went on a nice long run. While on that run I spied a beautiful grove of live oaks in the middle of a freshly plowed field. After my run I returned to the grove and took a couple of shots with my iPhone.
“Ahhhhhhhh…” deep sigh of relief. But once I was home and scrolled through the few snapshots I took, it all seemed so empty… I knew it was way past time to shake out all the cobwebs and start “puttin’ on my quirky” once again.

©Tracy J. Thomas, 2012. All rights reserved. "Where Puppies Fly" - Apps used: vintage cam, artwings, lenslight, juxtaposer, modern grunge, jazz
I have no explanation for how or why the neurons in my brain decide to fire in the way they do, but when these odd synapses occur, I am compelled to honor them.
This past weekend I happened to capture a quiet photo of one of our dogs sitting in the yard. So, the photo of the grove of oaks was graced with the presence of my dog who suddenly sprouted a pair of butterfly wings and multiplied into a whole herd who to took flight beneath a full moon. And “Where Puppies Fly” was born.
All this thanks to several great little iPhone apps: Juxtaposer (for the montage); Lenslight (for the full moon); Art Wings (for, well, the wings); Modern Grunge (for that hip, scratchy, grungy look); and Jazz (for some popping highlights).
Then there was this morning…

©Tracy J. Thomas, 2012. All rights reserved. "Little Monsters in the Candy Store" - Apps used: 6x6, juxtaposer, blurfx, jazz
It started when I decided to shun all responsibility, grab my iPhone and do a walkabout through Old Sacramento this a.m. in search of some fun iPhoneography fodder.
There were hordes of elementary students touring the train museum and I just happened to walk by a candy store at the same time a whole classroom of 4th graders converged on the barrels of sugary sweetness.
For reasons beyond me, their teachers decided it was a good idea for this group of hyperactive, screaming and screeching urchins to buy a supply of cavity-inducing, attention deficit disorder petrol on their way back to the classroom. Hmmmm…
All judgment aside, I knew I just had to whip out my iPhone and snap this madness in progress. I wasn’t quite sure what I would do with it, but my gut told me to shoot away.
After leaving the candy store I made my way to “Evangeline’s,” a famous costume shop in the middle of Old Sac. I can wander through this store for hours taking shots of all the creepy goodness that is on display. When I made my way upstairs, to my delight I discovered a whole wall of rubber monster masks.
So I shot… and I had a quirky neural synapse… and I smiled.
When I got home I immediately set about merging the monster masks with the scene at the candy store. This was achieved with Juxtaposer, then I added a little blur effect with BlurFX and a bit of grunge with Jazz.
This piece became “Little Monsters in the Candy Store.” It’s not that I think children are inherently bad you see, but I believe we can all agree this white, granular American staple can at times turn our kids into unrecognizable little demons post sugar binge.

©Tracy J. Thomas, 2012. All rights reserved. "Danger! Diver Dan" - Apps used: vintage cam, juxtaposer, modern grunge
Who remembers the television show “Diver Dan?” Yes, I am dating myself by admitting this, but I used to watch this show all the time as a wee little pup. For those of you too young or perhaps too age afflicted to remember, Diver Dan used to swim around in the ocean with an old-fashioned diving suit and helmet talking to the passing fish. There was a beautiful Mermaid named Miss Minerva and well, just see for yourself:
And you wonder why I have such a bad case of the quirkies. Yes, my childhood was filled with talking fish, flying monkeys and lions seeking courage. I have an excuse…
Anyways, as luck would have it, Evangeline’s just happened to have a mechanical diver fighting off a giant squid hanging in one of their entryways. Diver Dan swam immediately back into my memory so I whipped out my iPhone and brought him home.
What’s a diver without water? I took a shot of our backyard fountain and proceeded to merge the two shots in Juxtaposer then added a bit of grunge in Modern Grunge and a new episode called “Danger! Diver Dan” emerged.
I have a feeling my creative energy will dwell in this quirky state for the next few days. I still have a whole lot of photos left to edit and a lot of memories squeezing their way to the surface.
April 4th, 2012 at 10:51 pm
Okay these are very weird but I like them. I love how you mix and match everything.
April 8th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
You are so creative Tracy! And this just made me want to write something quirky–poetry that slides off the page or something. I thought how fun is this? It inspired me.
April 10th, 2012 at 5:59 pm
Thanks Judy! So glad you feel inspired :-). Let your quirky roll!
April 16th, 2012 at 3:11 am
I like so much your work, I found you on IPA too!
April 16th, 2012 at 11:03 pm
Thank you so much! Your work is absolutely spectacular on IPA!