Hiboux: One of my four rescued friends
"If you talk to the animals they will talk with you and you will know each other.
If you do not talk to them you will not know them, and what you do not know you will fear.  What one fears one destroys."
--Chief Dan George (1899 - 1981)
The avatar I use is a photo of a kitten who adopted me last fall. She came to my door one night, hungry and cold and in need of shelter. I had already adopted a rescued dog and 2 fostered cats (I have a friend who works in animal rescue), but another friend told me that being chosen by a cat was a special thing, so, here she is in her new home. I called her Hiboux (French for owl for those who don't already know), since she reminded me of a snowy owl tapping on my door.
Sorry I need a new digital camera. The one used for this photo was one of the first ones ever made that utilizes a floppy disc. I am attached to it, but thought it was more important to show off my kitty here since this is merely my "home" page and not a display of my digital art. I'll update it as soon as I can.
I live in the US Midwest, have a degree in landscape design, compete nationally (only in the US so far) in dancesport, and choreographed contemporary dance for over a decade. I've been writing since childhood--mainly for my own amusement. A few of my poems have been published in obscure places and I used to write many interviews which were published online for years. None of my novels have met the public eye yet and that's OK because for me "the joy is in the journey." ÂÂ
I'm hooked on creating digital art. I stumbled upon it when I worked online for 11 years as a content editor and became intrigued watching the medium grow. 3D art feels like a good niche for me combining movement, landscape, my love of nature, history, art, technology, myth and storytelling . . .  I love to experiment with software and hope to continue to grow as an artist. I'm in awe of many of the beautiful works shared on this site. I've also begun a blog here called "A Novelist's Adventures in Digital Art" where I list useful sites and tools I find along the way:
My Blog
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I consider myself a beginner at digital art. We all have to start somewhere. I try to encourage other creatives on all skill levels as often as I have time. I learn a lot from the artists I favorite here and even from private emails with tips if you feel so inclined. I dont allow ratings in my gallery anymore, because I don't believe in "grading" art--it doesn't fit into my personal philosophy. That said, I do often admire many of the talented professional artists and am happy when they are showcased on the art charts here and feel the rating system--though it has flaws--is important to honor excellence.  I do appreciate any comments and appreciate constructive criticism and suggestions.
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"Every artist was first an amateur."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
 Thank you for visiting my gallery!
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Comments (24)
Half-Baked
Beautiful render and I lover the water and flora!
Miska7
Very nice scene. Great lighting, vegetation and colour! Really nice render.
adrie
Gorgeous render my friend, excellent work with the water and lighting...very well done..love it.
magnus073
Well I think she looks spectacular here Cathy, you really did a great job.
blankfrancine
Wonderful character and expression,Cathy.Nice framing with the plants.
psyoshida
I love Ophelia's expression and pose and the flow of the ferns is like an answer to her gesture. The lighting is very soft and lovely. It's a great scene.
NoelCan
Terrific framing and the expression is great...
Blush
Love this image Love the colors too Also how you got the vegetation all around her I too like how you have got the lighting around her The entire render is soft and lovely Def a fav with me Sorry for not answering any ebots My cancer has came back and I am so sick' Only answering a few ebots when I can But this is definitely a fav Hugs Susan~
mgtcs
Wonderful representation of a Shakespearean character, excellent lighting!
popeslattz
I'm not familiar with this story or Vue or Sketch Up, but this is a gorgeous image.
lucindawind
fabulous work !
e-brink
I think you have created a better focus with the lighting this time. The vignette helps that too. Her pose this time is more defiant and less haphazard (accident happening) - sort of "Do not go gently into that good night - rage, rage against the dying of the light". There is also a sense of inevitability about it. The water is a convincing horseman of death.
SIGMAWORLD
Very nice image!
GreenHawke
Very good work! Quite impressive... The vegetation is very well done and the image as a whole blends together very nicely. Kudos!
amota99517
This is great! I really like the foreground and how it frames your model.
faroutsider
I loved the first version, but this one blows me away! The lighting is sublime, and the composition is just so powerful and emotional. Great detail too - stunning Bryce work!
tulipe
This is a beautiful image! Your lighting is amazing, dark and well-lit at the same time.
groegnitram
i really enjoyed them both, and even that i enjoy this one over your previous version (it is the pose and light in there which i like a lot), i enjoy your idea to create images and scenes after literature (and i'm always surprised how different the visions are each reader has), this is beautifully done!
stevey3d
Beautiful Cathy! Excellent light and detail!
three_grrr
I did like the first one, but this one feels better posed, more natural. The water flows about her more natural also. I like the warmer colors here, the first had a colder feel, which maybe suits the story better but I like the warmer over all feel. Wonderfully done, Cathy!
anahata.c
I understand the WIP, Ophelia is a very complex character who you could return to many times & see her differently each time. I agree with Rita about the earlier one being cooler, this being warmer. Though (and I'm sure Rita would agree), Shakespeare's best characters can be both, and maybe you needed to explore both with Ophelia. I, too, think this is more powerful than the first, even though I liked the first a lot. (Isn't it great to return to the same subjects & treat them more deeply the 2d time?) This Ophelia is surrounded by an intimate, almost cradling death--which is powerful because she's downing, and the surrounding might normally be viewed as 'hostile'. But you really got the play, because she doesn't pass in a 'hostile environment': She becomes the environment, she becomes one with the water & flowers & trees that she sinks into. I mean, being betrayed by nearly all the men she knew--most of all hamlet, who she idolized and who devastated her (with his madness & his "get thee to a nunnery" speech)--and having lost her beloved father--slain by Hamlet (ghastly)--and surrounded by other men who either plot, plod or do precious little, she has watched her whole world collapse & is too young to know what to do with it. No one is there to help her...so she becomes the flowers, streams & wind, embracing the one thing that hasn't betrayed her: nature. It's overwhelming. You've portrayed her that way, abandoned & sinking into a nook of water, which holds her and is gentle to her. And she reaches to the leaves as if to grab on one last time, but also to say goodbye (like she's waving). And her face isn't anguished but more confounded & resigned: I mean there's almost peace in her face, maybe because she's going to the one place that hasn't hurt her. So to me, you got her very poignantly. Lord, in a play filled with parents who betray & are betrayed, implied incest & "accidental" murders, Ophelia may be the one pure person in it. You caught her purity & surrender with great poignance, a very fine job Cathy, for a very difficult character. (Remember Hamlet saying, on hearing of her death: "I loved Ophelia: Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum..." Well Hamlet, maybe if you'd thought about her a little more & your own madness a little less, she wouldn't have left you...Ophelia was caught in a terrible wrenching vortex...)
Zazou
Excellent !
ragouc
Very good POV and pose.
Carlazzo
Absolutely beautiful!