Saturday, May 16, 2009

La Laments IV

Lament: to express or feel great sorrow or regret

I've found shadows to be an interesting subject matter for probably most of my life. I took a photography class when I was in college back in the (gasp!) '70's. It was for this class that I took this shot of a shadow of a yucca plant. I also took a photo around the same time of the sky that seemed to be quite mysterious and moody. I have both of them printed as 8 X 10 glossies.

Fast forward to 2003 and I am back in college taking art classes, working on my second degree. My area of concentration was printmaking and at that time I was enrolled in a Photo Intaglio class. I used these two images as the subject matter for two plates that I planned to print together which is what you see here.

As for the title of the piece: "La Laments IV". I'm trying to recall where my head was at when I gave it the title. The "IV" is probably because I had done four variables of this print, all of which are considered to be working proofs (giving the printmaker a visual reference of where they might want to go in further working the piece, or as a static reference for striking further prints which would make it a final proof). For me, the image is moody and enigmatic. It speaks of the regrets that we have throughout our lives. Regret about things we said. About things we didn't say. Regret about actions taken and not taken. Regret about relationships that didn't work or that ended up being hurtful or disappointing.

Whatever that list of regrets are though, we certainly can choose to drown ourselves in that endless chasm of regrets OR we can choose to look at the silver lining in the cloud where the light is breaking through and aim for that.

May you always keep your sights set on the silver lining that is there in every dark cloud!

Help us celebrate Shadow Shot Sunday's Birthday Bash (one year-woo hoo)! Thank you, Tracey for being such a fabulous host of a wonderful meme!

15 comments:

Sylvia K said...

Fabulous shadow shot! Beautiful colors! Have a great weekend!

Chubby Chieque said...

What an artisque shot you have. Really magnifique!

Great job as always.

Have a beautiful DAY.

just jody said...

great shot!

The Summer Kitchen Girls said...

Paula - this picture is wonderful! We are so impressed - we love this new medium that you are working with - really neat!

A Wild Thing said...

There is always a silver lining, you just have to keep looking up...my glass has always been half full.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hey Harriet said...

That's a lovely shadowy image! Yes, we all have that list of regrets you speak of, and the best we can do is not dwell on them and look to the positives. You are very right! I tend to dwell on things a little too much but I'm not as bad as I once was at least. Getting better at moving on! :D

Dianne said...

aim for the silver! I'm going to remember it that way

beautiful shot!!

Raven said...

Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing the story behind it.

Rosebud Collection said...

What a beautiful shot..Just wonderful..I never feel too bad about my regrets, as long as I have learned something from them.
Can't change what happened yesterday, but sure can change today..Now how do you like my logic? ha, ha.

Paula In Pinetop said...

The silver lining........yep.

Love the shadow.

whizkid said...

Amazing work of art!

studioJudith said...

You've just used two of my favorite words:
Quintessential and Lament.

Old fashioned words, they are.
And -- - generally difficult to work into a conversation without seeming pretentious.

Who cares?!!

Miss Pretense

d smith kaich jones said...

Oh, I saw your blog title and thought you meant IV, as in a thing stuck in your arm when you're sick! LOL! I rushed over, saw I was wrong & then had to quickly leave without comment, but I am back to tell you I am glad I was wrong, and to say that, even so, that shadow looks as sharp & scary as an IV (the hospital kind).

:) Debi

PJ said...

It's stunning and I love the history behind it. It reminds me of Christ's crown of thorns.

Gina said...

Very creative shadow shot..well done! :)

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