Very nice. I might do some more soft erasing on the left side of the foreground sand, but it's a well made and intriguing image. GL author.

Try to work a little bit more on the feet on the sand it's make not realistic ! otherwise good work !

good collection of sources put together well

CMYK and lolu: Thanks so much for your help. I have blended the left side foreground sand more...and also fixed the shoe in the sand to make it more realistic. Looks better! Thanks so much you two!

This image proves what i have always said, Men would also misplace their heads if they were not attached.

JUST LOVE< LOVE < LOVE, the choice of images, the mood and construct of your image. BIG THUMBS UP

very nice, makes me kinda think of rene margritte and salvador dali mixed up

Wonderful, amazing work.

On the scale of 10 I would rate 9 on your idea and 8 on execution. Actually you made this kind of image before and it inspired me to make one of my work. However, I have some critiques that might help you to improve that image if you're willing to (1) The perspective or the angle of the sand is different from the gray ground, so viewers can feel the inner image (inside the frame) is actually closer and higher than the outer image; (2) the pattern of the sand and the gray ground are very different, so even though you used a high feather radius, they are not blended well

@ All: Thanks all for your comments. @langstrum...thank you so much for your observations, they are much appreciated. You make some great pointers...unfortunately I can't commit any more time to this as of now. Glad I could inspire you to do a similar approach on an entry. Thanks again for commenting and offering ways to improve. I'm always looking for that kind of critique. I guess I must rely on the 'so strange' mantra to answer any inconsistent elements.

That's what I planned to mention, the "so strange" elements, but didn't have enough space for that. From that aspect, everything is fine lol. I understand that it's close to the voting period so normally we don't have enough time do make any change. Best of luck to you, author

So glad to see you....I really like this image, I can totally relate Best of Luck

Congrats Rob, wonderful work

very nice n peacefull image, very christmassy like

Simple elegance, what Ela said.

Wonderful sentiment, sweet peaceful image.

Really beautiful Driven! Congrats for 2nd place! Fav.

Ah, Slushy, this is beautiful. Congrats on 2nd.

this is beautiful.
Good job friend.

Congrats!!

So pretty, and I love the message you have written. It is so true.

very, very pretty tree. I love it what you could try to add is a tiny bit of shading below the birds.

very imaginative entry

This would make a pretty card, nice work.

This is fabulous!!!
Good luck author!!

I like this ,well done .gl

Absolutely wonderful work, especially the birds. Mighty talented you are, author!

Great stuff, author! I think I would have preferred the starlight at the top to have similar perspective as the tree. Really nicely done, author!

Congrats for the 1st place, dear!!! Amazing work! fav.

congrats

great entry

Congrats on 1st. This is such a gorgeous entry!

Congratulations Art girl

Congrats Lois beautiful work

Congrats Lois, lovely image!!

Thank you all so much. I would like to dedicate this entry to the memory of my dear sister, Bonnie, who passed away this week from cancer.

VERY NICE

Really nice feel to this. Good job.

I can see this lit tree getting bullied by all the other non lit trees immediately after Christmas.

Thanks for the kind words, guys and gals