Molokai Shadows

I'll admit it. I'm obsessive and often find that I have to resist fixating on things. But, I'd like to think that I put it to good use via my photography. I call that "channeling your energy for good use"!

The previous post I did on shadows and the comments I received on it made me realize just how many images of shadows I have. And it also made me realize that I did not have a folder in my Photoshop Bridge dedicated to just images of shadows. I love the features in CS3 (Photoshop) Bridge as it allows me to organize files in ways I never thought possible! Sigh...I'm obsessing again, aren't I?

Back to the topic at hand. I'm drawn to things with patterns and textures. Hence, the attraction to shadows. Patterns beyond my imagination right there in everyday life!

These are shadows from Molokai. As is; no adjustments made.

This one is one of my all time favorites. It's the shadow cast by the back of a wrought iron chair. It is an abstraction unto itself!

So, there you go, more shadows. I won't even tell you about the stash of images I have of my own shadows! I put those in a folder that I call, "Self Portraits".

Only The Shadows Knows

How funny it is for me to sit here and say that I was too young for the radio drama and comic book series about "The Shadow". But, I was (yay!).

Shadows.

You know, it does trigger a cascade of thoughts for me.

An absence of light, yet it seems to be 'something'. Dark and mysterious which appears to be complex. And yet, so simple. Even more so, enigmatic.

Fleeting, changing. There and yet not there.

How can it be?

The lovely red leaves you see here are courtesy of the Virginia Creeper on my wall. The shadow, courtesy of our bamboo.

I'm sure by now, you've already been thinking about those nights as a youngster making shadow hand puppets on the wall!

So, when you head out the door tomorrow, think about your shadow and try not to step on it! ; )

Not Me

This post is in response to Debi Jone's post (Therefore, I Blog).,P. I am convinced that I fall in the category (if one must be categorized) in the lame and pitiful visual journalers. The ones I've done under 'adult supervision' with Juliana Coles were ok. But, left to my own devices, it just doesn't happen for me. Sketchbooks fall to the same fate. Pitiful, pitiful, pitiful.

But, hope springs eternal and I always try to do them. I have endless blank journals that have been started. None are finished; they pretty much can be described as 'just started'.

I think I can only produce them within the context of a class or workshop. It's as though I need to feed off of other people's energy in order to get into the 'zone'. But, to produce them on my own...too many things get in the way.

This was last year's statement on my effort. I received a blank journal (can you hear the hyperventilation coming from me?). Frida was cut out from the birthday card stash. I sloppily painted the book cover (it was intended as an underpainting) and glued Frida down. And made my proclamation.

Much as I would love to be in the company of so many that tout stacks of fabulous visual journals, I would have to say, no, not me.

Etch-A-Sketch Memory

It's no secret; I suffer from a malady that I call the "Etch-A-Sketch Memory"! You know, it was there one moment and the next, poof! Gone. Sometimes it will come back, whatever it is that I couldn't recall. Sometimes it is gone for good. The gone for good part is good when you can't remember why you were so darned mad at your teenage son. Not good if you forget why you were punishing him to begin with (and it was a good reason, whatever that was!).

Growing old gracefully. I think I"m growing old clumsily! Gads, I'll be 54 years old/young this week.

(photo credit: Kyle Zimmerman Studio)

How can you do that gracefully if you constantly encounter so many moments where the memory fails you? Running into someone you know and for the life of you, not being able to call them by name because trying to think of their name is like catching a greased pig. Really awkward moments when you're supposed to be doing introductions and no name comes to mind. Blank. Nada. Zippo.

Now, what was my point of this post?

Oh, yeh. The memory thing. Sigh...I have all these images I mean to post and then I forget that I have them! That's what this one is. This is the time of year that I harvest those Braeburn apples off of my tree. Did I talk about this before? I can't remember. I don't use pesticides, so perhaps I can call these organic. I let the birds get to some of them and the rest I hope they don't get to. I've tried to create ways to fend them off. I've tied cd's all over the tree which really appeals to the inner raven in me as they sparkle plenty all hours of the day. This year it was strips of plastic sheeting and then in an afterthought, the Halloween style fake spider webbing. I think the webbing worked pretty good.

I can only hope that I'll get better at remembering to post the images I've meant to post but forgot. I know I have a whole slew of them!

Dragonfly or Damselfly?

Don't you just love fall? There is something so magical about it. It's as though Mother Earth is giving you a big hug before she goes to sleep.

Last Monday, as I headed back into the house from running errands, this fabulous creature flies around me. I've never had a camera in hand when they are nearby. This one seemed to invite me to inspect his beauty. He landed on the holly bush right by the front gate entrance to the house, directly in my path. He just parked there. I stood there breathless and watched him. Wondering when he was going to fly off after teasing me like this. He didn't. It's as though he was looking at me inviting me to enjoy every little detail about him.

I soaked it all in and then headed into the house quickly to get my camera and came back out and slowly approached him shooting frame after frame. He didn't move. If you click on the image, you can see all the details in his wings. Fabulous, isn't it? And, look at his face. Is it my imagination or is that fella smiling at me?

I can only wonder.

I recently bought a book on "Dragonflies & Damselflies of the Southwest" by Robert Behrstock. In it, he explains (and I'm oversimplifying) that dragonflies perch with their wings apart and horizontal. Damselflies perch with their wings vertical and closed.

Did you know that?

To top it off, later on that evening in a parking lot (after dark) I watched an owl swoop silently onto a light pole.

It's simple things like this that brings me joy.

Flourish

Funny how what may seem like insignificant and unrelated events add up to spur some thought on a particular subject matter.

I have a makeshift kitchen in an home office space in our home (due to a kitchen remodel under way as you may know). So, a bottle of Chardonnay was finished off. I save the corks. The cork to be saved came with me into my bathroom as it was on the pathway from point "A" to point "B". I assume I stopped to brush my teeth and had set the cork down on the countertop. And then, I noticed the word on the cork.

"Flourish"

Wow. Now, that's a nice word, when you think about it.

"To be at the peak of development."

It speaks of what is and what can be. Given the right set of circumstances, all living creatures are able to flourish.

What is it that you need to flourish as an artist?

Hmmmmm...tough one, huh?

Rhetorical question, y'know! And, how will you know that you are at your peak of development? Another rhetorical question.

But, I welcome your dialogue! It would be interesting to explore from different perspectives.

For myself, I'm not even sure what it is I need to flourish.

I think freedom. Freedom from the incesant inner critic. Freedom from what sometimes feels like the shackles of responsibility. Freedom to do what I want without a care. Freedom from fear of outcome. Freedom from the worry of what am I going to do with this when I'm done?

So, perhaps with our giving ourselves more freedom, we can flourish...

Cigar Box Shrine

This is what I submitted for an art call of Cigar Box Shrines. The Shrines are going to be auctioned (it will be a web based auction: Rebecca Brooks is the mastermind and designer of this altruistic project).

Overhead view (obviously) of the shrine. I made the paste paper that covers the lid of the box. The rubber stamped image is Sandra Evertson's design (I just love that character).

You can click on any of these images to get a larger view.

This is front of the box. These are all handmade papers. Some I've made, some I've purchased.

We open the lid and here we have the treasure!

The fundraiser is a very good cause; the beneficiaries of the monies raised are young teenagers in Oaxaca. You see, when a child completes their elementary school education, they cannot continue on to high school unless they can pay $150.00.

Consider it like an 'application fee'; it's the key (and fee) that is needed to further their education. Many families cannot afford the $150.00, so of lot of young teenagers end up not getting an education beyond elementary (or primary) school.

This is the artist statement that I submitted with my piece:

$150.00 in our country doesn't sound like much at all. For most families, it is what a trip to the grocery store costs. For so many poeple in other parts of the world, day to day life consists of struggling to survive. Getting the basic needs of food and shelter takes precedence over anything else.

For anyone who purchases a shrine from this project, know that you are making a profound difference not only in one person's life, but their family too. A simply deed like this will foster such a positive change in ways beyond our imagination. The ripple effect will be long lasting and generational. How empowering is that?

Hence, "The Golden Egg"...because YOU have the ability to give someone else a golden opportunity of a lifetime.

So, keep checking back to the link for this Cigar Box Shrine Project. If you don't purchase a Shrine, at least post the link to your site so that the word can spread and all the Shrines submitted gets sold!