Creating Art with Musk Thistle: Van Gogh Inspired Filters

Or rather, the same photo done in more ways than one…

Musk Thistle (Carduus nutans) is an invasive plant native to Europe, Central  Asia, and North Africa. In the photo above we see on the left a flower getting ready to bloom, and behind it a bloom already ggone to seed. The yellow in the background are either Coreopsis or Brown Eyed Susans, or both, out of the depth of field.

 

The second version was created using a “psychedelic” set of filters.

The third attempts to recreate Vincent Van Gogh’s general style – again, using software filters.

The third variation (and fourth version of the same photo), also uses a Van Gogh approach, this time using a filter that attempts to imitate his Starry Night painting.

And finally, a “normal” shot accentuating the height of the stem as seen from below. If these photos have pricked your interest about Carduus nutans, you can click on the preceding link to check out the Wikipedia page for more information.

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Some Kind Of Coreopsis

Coreopsis

Coreopsis

This could be either Coreopsis basalis  or Coreopsis tinctoria. They’re both called Coreopsis and Goldenwave as a common name, and from looking at the photos and the description at the Wildflower Center’s database, there doesn’t seem to be much to tell them apart visually, if anything. This specimen is from my front yard, next to the Indian Blanket and Autumn Sage around the birdbath. Since it apparently likes moist soil, it is not surprising that this is the first year I’ve seen it in the front yard. A couple of years ago I spread some wildflower mixture seeds out in the back yard, and some Plains Coreopsis did come up, so perhaps this is a relic of that, reseeded by birds. At any rate, it is surely a Coreopsis. Maybe next year we’ll get some more.