Playing with other blooms.
Not a whole lot coming up in the backyard but the hostas transplanted to big pots last year – that’s ok, they’re green and happy and right now that’s all that counts.
Spring forward
Category: ART A – Z
Things visual
Sage advice
Because you already have an idea of the consequences
One of my mantras 😀 No matter what your preferred utensil, it’s probably good to have a plan, be willing to change course mid-stream and be open to the wisdom and experience of others. And keep moving forward…
DOT’S ALL
Just trying to blend in.
LONGING
When north, south, east and west conspire in the reminder that beauty in nature is timeless.PICKING PIXELS
Some days it’s just jumping through hoops and rearranging blocks.
FLOW
When all the world is free for the creating with the swipe of a finger.
EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE
It’s not always as simple as it seems.
LOOKING FOR JULY
The Farmer’s Almanac weather forecast for July in my region reads much like my biorhythm looks, all ups and downs, intense highs punctuated by icy lows, and long, lingering periods where much reaches some sort of tepid plateau. Here’s wishing for more temperate climes.
STEPPING UP
That teetering point between getting something concrete accomplished and actually moving forward.
AWOKEN BY THE SMELL OF RAIN
Being a heavy sleeper has its advantages when the Professor and our pup get up pre-dawn for their daily constitutional but lately it has been the sound of thunder and sudden torrential downpours rather than any absence of warm bodies in bed that have signalled to my unconsciousness that another day has begun. This unusually cool spell has meant we have been lucky enough to be able to open the windows at night and this morning’s reveille of raindrops was a sweetly clean yet heady fragrance reminiscent of simpler times.
Urban Autumn
I am ready
to say goodbye
to fall finery
and let the frost
of winter
kiss the dead and decaying
goodnight
SoMe Sky
I’ve run across alot of people recently who are just worn down, exhausted and overwhelmed by information and social media. Is disconnection and a realignment of hands-on priorities the solution or just a few days in a warm climate dipping our toes in the surf? A change is as good as a rest…
Road Trip
‘Tis the season to wax nostalgic – this one is dedicated to my maternal grandparents and their annual journey across the Painted Desert during a time when not many thought doing such things prudent.
Life imitates Art imitates Art imitates Life
I’m always fascinated by the elements that make up some of the larger murals splashed around Montreal. In this three-story high piece, there’s a very literate and informed conversation going on between artist and viewer but I’m not actually sure how many people are picking up the thread, how many passers-by are aware of the references (age, interest and culture probably being a deciding factor) and how such iconic images are woven together in a greater commentary.
Walk on by or stop and think about it for awhile.
Millefiori Cobalto
There is a part of my brain where all the blue is stored; I like to think that it makes itself useful once in a while…
Now and Always
Strive for Liberty, practice Equality, extend Fraternity.
Our prayers go out to all those who suffer – everywhere.
Blued
No man is an island
in his sea of desire
Nor rootless
for bending
whipped by wind
and water
uplifted
with little
but some semblance
of his former self
Carrying on a fine Tradition
On a recent arrival home from some time away, one of the first things I noticed was an arrangement of decorative seasonal gourds on the dining room table. Miss Z was following in my footsteps, discovering the joys of the local market and had brought home a colourful harvest for the family to share. Each one is unique and riotous in its markings, much like our tribe, and worthy of joining the painterly edits that I have been amassing over the last few years.
This particular edit brought to mind a post about the etiquette of food photography where the ongoing conversations in the comments had led to much reflection on how I wound up with so many shots of ordinary fruit and veg in my own archives.
Twenty odd years ago as my son and I were zooming up a street, I saw a kid outside of his garage selling large canvases of close-ups of the most magnificent mangoes and plums, odd veg and seafood in the most brilliant colours and rendered in an energetic impressionist style. It was just that flash of something extraordinary that made me pull up the car and go and have a look – I should have bought them right then and there, but could ill afford it and so I went to visit his other works in a few cafes and a gallery, later looked for his stuff online, googled them years after and always regretted not having deprived myself of something else to have been able to look upon that luscious fruit every day.
It marked me in much the same way that Wayne Thiebaud had an influence on how I see the ordinary. It is that driving need to tell the story of the very basic stuff of life, the things that go unnoticed, the colours and shapes we ignore in the busyness of it all – that is what keeps me taking food photos. Photography is all about the way we transform what we see so that we can give others a glimpse and get them thinking, remembering, wondering, engaging and even taking part in keeping the creative process dynamic.
So yes, I do take pictures of my food: I can revel in them at will, remember exactly what I was thinking or doing, ascribe circumstance or tradition, have them stand out as markers in that timeline of life. They are mine… and now they are yours.
Sunrise Sunset
Glorious is the creator that had the foresight to give us opposable thumbs and the desire to create for ourselves. It’s been awhile since I have posted a mandala, they only come when they want to.
Out of the Earth comes my Pleasure
An acquaintance has a keen eye for produce (among other things) and has been kind enough to encourage my painterly treatment of his photographs. What thrills me the most is that we seem to see the natural in much the same way. This bounty of turnips could not be any more glorious for their story of early mornings, simpler times, hands pulling the harvest from the dark fragrant soil to send to market. When the divine took a brush to this humble vegetable, it was for us to look upon such things with renewed wonder and breathe in with gratitude the overlooked beauty that surrounds us.
Waiting
Some people sit
and wait for death
with open arms
as if
that final embrace
would solve everything
I prefer
to take my chances
in this life.
Ladies in Red
The trees here have finally decided to give up their summer brights for a more suitable autumn wardrobe. Even Nature likes a make-over once in a while…
It’s Complicated
James Burke and his late 1970s series Connections must be to blame for why the Professor and I always feel compelled to link up random comments about small seemingly innocuous “things” with their place in the far larger scheme of things. All those little bits of our world that we have become accustomed to, that we attribute or ascribe, that we deny or decry, sometimes have far different origins and infinitely more complex backstories than we take the time to consider.
Bringing such thoughts to others’ attention inevitably gets us into trouble. There seems to be a really fine line between revelation and lecture where offering up an alternate explanation for why things are often comes off as just plain pedantic. In real life, physical or verbal indications give one a relatively good idea of which direction the conversation will be going but in the virtual world context is variable and tone is highly subjective. Sometimes we are left unsure of just how much more to say or even whether to pursue the thread.
Our interactions on social media can be problematic for no good reason and bring to mind that uncontrollable kid with no censorship filters at the luau running around arms flailing, screaming “Why? Look at that! NO!” and then crawling under the table howling “Impossible!” when you offer an answer. Entering into such “discussions” becomes a fire-walk of promethean proportions. Meanwhile, his parents are otherwise occupied or (un)concerned and the guests are casting sideways glances at each other. We are left with the impression that maybe it is better just to drop it and help ourselves to some of the better libations. But doesn’t someone have to say something?
What to do, what to do…
Rainy Days and Mondays
Autumn seems busy kissing cold toes and the streets are slick with rain washing away the dust of summer. No need to go out today…
Beauty in the Beast
Sometimes the digital age seems all too much, then there are energizing days when my brain feels like this…
Black and White and Grey all Over
Life is what you make of it.
“Be thine own palace, or the world’s thy jail” – John Donne, 1633
Autumn Mandala
Suede boots and soft, fuzzy sweaters are whispering my name despite the humidity of summer’s last hurrah.
Sometimes
It’s nice to be alone…
The future looks bright
The torpor of the season is wearing off with cooler nights and the smell of autumn in the air. Still summer in my brain though…
Musta been da punch
The summer is starting to look blurry – celebrate what’s left before autumn arrives.
ACROSS THE BORED 