Autumn Sun

I'm a knitwhit

2012-01-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to know how to knit yet I never learned. I just never could pick it up from reading a book. This past Christmas my niece, who just turned 11, taught me and daughter how to knit. My brother and my fiance even sat in on the lesson, and learned as well. She was such a great teacher. So patience and encouraging even when we were sort of dense in picking up the steps. Once I finished my first scarf I was determined to improve, so I tried my hand at knitting in the round and completed my first hat. Now I can't seem to put it down. My brother however is out-doing us all He has completed 3 scarves and I think he is on his 5th hat - all since the end of December. He even turned his own knitting needles and made himself a crochet hook.
I'm a really slow knitter. I can't imagine how long it would take to make a sweater or something more complicated, but I really do enjoy the simple pieces. It's become an obsession and it sure makes me feel less guilty when watching a favorite tv show. I wonder how many of you knit?

God doeth all things well.

2012-01-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

On December 31, 2011 my mom was showing my brothers and me the diary of my grandmother - written on the same day in 1906. My mom has been transferring my grandmothers words, written in pencil, into digital form so as to preserve it. The original paper is becoming so fragile she shows us the original diary with delicate care. I'm so glad my mom (83 years old) has kept my grandmother's diary from the early 1900s - her written words are so interesting and inspiring. I didn't know my grandmother, the one I was named after, very well because she past away when I was just a little girl but to read the words from her diary written when she was just in her early 20s tells me of the fine woman she was - a lady of strong Christian faith.
In her entry on December 31, 1906 11:30pm she closes with these words:
And now at the close of another year I can write with more strength for I feel and know that God seeth and doeth all things well, and should I live to see the close of 1907 whatever shall have happened may I look up and say in sincerity and truth ”Thy Will be Done”. I could write a book with my sad thoughts, but I must look up and smile through my tears, for my fate is the common fate of many.
Apparently she had had a recent break up with a young man that she loved but in the next year she met my grandfather and wrote these words in her diary the very next New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1907:
And now as I have lived to see another year end, I find myself stronger and may even say content, for now I know and can say in truth “All things work together for good to those who serve the Lord”, and should I be spared to see the close of 1908, may it find me happier and better for having learned this lesson.

I would like to live my new year with the same faith in God - knowing that what ever may be in store for the coming year that "All things work together for good to those who serve the Lord. ”
I hope that this New Year brings you much happiness and in good health all the year through.

Gratitude Project - Day 10

2011-11-19T07:57:00.000-08:00

Grateful for being noticed - making new friends

One day I was eating at The Hearth and the waiter noticed a feather necklace I was wearing and asked where it got it. I told him that I had made it and he was excited, saying that he had a friend who had a gift store - that he knew she would just love it. I gave him my card and she contacted me the next day. When I walked in her shop I was so impressed with the charm of it. I was hoping this connection would work out. Thankfully she was interested. I went to work on creating several (about 7 ) new feather necklace - each one unique and different. I dropped the necklaces off yesterday and I'm anxious. Will they be well-received?

I can't tell you how excited I am to be represented in this beautiful shop. If you live in Atlanta and haven't discovered this gem of a shop you should definitely check it out. There is something for everyone on your shopping list - all handcrafted and selected with care by Gina Humphries. When you walk in and see the unique hand-crafted items and the way Gina has displayed them, you will want everything in the shop. The store is small, intimate and cozy and Gina is such a delightful person - her excitement and enthusiasm about each of her artists draws you in. I'm convinced you will not walk out empty-handed. Located in Peachtree Hills

Gina is foremost a very talented floral designer. I look forward to using her services for a special occasion.

Gratitude Project - Day 9

2011-11-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

I am grateful for quiet moments at home.

Gratitude Project - Day 8

2011-11-12T17:37:00.000-08:00

I am grateful for museums. This summer Taylor and I vacationed in Chicago and visited many museums of art and natural history. Aren't we so lucky that people have cared enough to preserve our history, to collect works of art representing the world's diverse artistic talent to inspire and educate us – for us to see and learn - many times free of charge and at the most for very little money. We visited The Art Institute of Chicago where Taylor was so excited to be able to see, in person, many of the pieces she has been studying about in her art history classes, excited that she recognized specific artist just by their style -grateful to put her knowledge to a real test.

Gratitude Project - Day 7

2011-11-12T16:25:00.000-08:00

I am grateful for the man who loves me for who I am, that he knows me well to have thought up this way to ask me to be his wife. eek. a scary but exciting thing.

Gratitude Project - Day 6

2011-11-08T20:54:00.000-08:00

I am grateful that God paints an every changing painting in the sky and that I am lucky enough to see an unobstructed view every day from the 18th floor of my work building. Even makes working late not so bad.

pardon the reflections in the window.

Gratitude Project - Day 5

2011-11-06T17:02:00.000-08:00

I am grateful for the season changes. I love each of the seasons for their unique beauty.

During the month of November many of my friends use this time leading up to Thanksgiving as a time to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for - a 30 day collection of photos and words to share. Over the weekend I was enjoying a beautiful autumn day and thought "I am so grateful for the season of Autumn - my favorite time of the year". But it isn't only the season of Autumn that I am grateful for - I am grateful that God created a change in seasons, each so unique and beautiful in their own way. I think it would be pretty boring if we lived in a world where temperatures remained constant and trees were always green.

WINTER for the wonder of snow and the subtle minimalist beauty in the stark delicate structure of the bare trees, a time when touches of color pop in an otherwise monochromatic landscape........

SPRING for blooming flowers and the green world returning after it's winter slumber , the song and activity of birds preparing for their nests, the vibrant and luscious spring green appearing on every branch, and the beauty of flowers all around..........

SUMMER for the warm caressing breeze, the ripe fruits on trees, the ever blooming hydrangeas, butterflies flittering about and daisies to brighten your day, for children's laughter and family vacations and adventures with my daughter.......

AUTUMN for it's warmth of the sun on cool crisp days with brilliant blue skies and leaves blazing in warm tones of autumn from clear yellow to deep red, for the scent of pine needles and dried grasses, of the musty ground covered in mushrooms and acorns and for wood smoke in the air, for hearts-a - burstin' in bloom, and crunchy leaves beneath my feet.........

Gratitude Project - Day 4

2011-11-06T06:08:00.000-08:00

I am grateful for creative outlets. I am grateful that I have family and friends that support and encourage it in me. I am thankful for others that are positively responsive to the work that I do - be it metalsmithing, photography, graphic design, painting, whatever. But beyond all that, I am grateful that God gave me a creative talent and the energy, time and place with which to express it - be it at work or at play, for profit or for fun.

Gratitude Project - Day 3

2011-11-05T05:54:00.000-07:00

I am grateful for the men in my life.

I am grateful for my Dad and two brothers - for the strength and protection that they provide for our family, for their eager willingness to do any project that needs to be done. They always find a solution for even the craziest of things we come up with. (how many people have a custom upholstered speaker cover for their car?). For their vast knowledge of medicine (Dad is a retired doctor, younger brother is a medical illustrator, and older brother is a medical research scientist) that helps to ease our minds and makes a visit to the doctor unnecessary in most cases. I am grateful for the close relationship they have with each other - staying in touch almost daily. I am grateful for the love that they give freely to every member of the family.
I am also grateful for the younger man in my life - my young nephew who's creativity and imagination inspire even the oldest of us. For his infectious laugh and good humor - he is a true delight to be around. For his great story telling ability and above all for his kind heart.

I love them all so much.

Gratitude Project - Day 2

2011-11-02T11:16:00.000-07:00

A daughter is a day brightener and a heart warmer. ~Author Unknown

I am so thankful for my beautiful daughter. She has brought more joy and laughter into my life than I could ever have imagined. I am proud of the young woman she has become - spreading her wings, ready for flight - she will soar.

Gratitude Project - Day 1

2011-11-02T11:13:00.000-07:00

Happy November! And the holiday season begins...
Beginning on this first day of November, I will be posting, along with many other blogger and flickr folks, a month long celebration of all I have to be grateful for. Seems fitting to start with HOME. Even more specifically, my physical HOUSE. I am so thankful to have a beautiful, albeit small, house that is structurally sound and protects and keeps me warm and safe from the environment. My dad helped build this house and it has many special touches that make it just perfect for my daughter and me - now just me. It is situated amongst evergreens and hardwoods in such a way that I feel I am the only one around. I love my house... it is home.

one wanders, one stays put

2011-10-20T08:44:00.001-07:00

one wanders, one stays put, a photo by autumnsun08 on Flickr.

my beautiful niece and handsome nephew.

AutumnSun Jewelry Studio

2011-09-23T18:46:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that fall is already here. It's my favorite time of the year. Even though I love each season for different reasons, it's fall that I feel most alive. ...And with fall comes festivals.
This year I participated in my first festival with my AutumnSun Jewelry. It was fun and it was stressful but in the end it all pulled together and I was happy with the results. I wanted to post a few photos of the process from working on building up inventory in the studio to brainstorming with my daughter on the booth set up, to selling on the day of the festival. It's a ton of work and I admire anyone who does it on a regular basis. As it was, it took me a few days to recover from it all. I can't imagine traveling and doing it from weekend to weekend.

This is where I do my metalsmithing.

The awesome work bench my dad made for me last Christmas, was the best addition to my space.

My soldering station. I'm lucky to have a daylight basement.

It's a pretty nice little area - everything is right at hand - my ipad over there is nice for looking up information or listening to my favorite playlist - Andrew Bird.

A few new pieces in different stages of completion.

Scavenger hunt 4

2011-03-06T19:57:00.001-08:00

Diptych - I came back from a 5 day vacation to a blooming Atlanta. The cherry trees are in full bloom at my office.

Book - A book came in the mail this weekend.

Fill in the Blank - "When I think about how cold it is in the house I just have to build a fire."

Taste of Italy - I couldn't come up with anything for this at the last minute so I took a photo of my wooden pasta spoon.

Reminders - During my vacation I collected brochures, maps, business cards, postcards and even rocks as little reminders of where I'd been.

For more great posts, or to link up, Head over the Link below!

Scavenger hunt 3

2011-03-06T13:14:00.000-08:00

I missed posting this scavenger hunt collection while i was away on vacation. I put together my mosaic of images from the trip after I got back. Here is what I found.

Capture the sky - It wasn't hard to capture a breathtaking sky while I was away on vacation in Arizona. Every night I was able to see a vibrant sunset over the desert and enjoy the brilliant blue sky while snowshoeing. And even though we were at the Grand Canyon for just a short while, and it was a little overcast, we were fortunate enough to see the sun break through and to be there when the sun set over the canyon.

Everyday - Everyday, while on vacation, before venturing out, I stopped by Mountain View coffee house and enjoyed a delicious cappuccino and a tasty treat and logged onto my FB account and checked my email and such - it was routine for that week.

Furry - Walking through a snowy trail while at the Grand Canyon we came upon a group of deer. It was so cool to be able to get close to them - they were not spooked by us at all. I was pleased with a few of the photos that I got - difficult as it was - they were busy eating and kept getting behind the brush.

Life - I chose this photo of the Robert Indiana's Love sculpture. It's a popular site and there were people all around. I waited and waited until no one was climbing on the sculpture or having their portrait with their loved one taken in front of it. And I finally got some without people around. See I initially thought I wanted the sculpture just on it's on. But it's this one - with the young couples in the background and the children resting after playing hide and seek that make it so much more interesting. It's life.

I also chose a shadow portrait of myself while out in the snowy woods - a place I feel most alive and invigorated.

Blurred - I took a lot of photos out of the window of our rented Jeep Wrangler. The landscape being so different than what I am used to here in Georgia. The vast mountain ranges, the cactus growing tall along the hillsides, driving from brown desert land to the white snowy woods that I love... so many photos out of the window as we drove. As a result there were many blurred images - some I liked.

For more great posts, or to link up, Head over the Link below!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 2

2011-02-06T17:49:00.000-08:00

It's funny the only one of these I had to purposely shoot for the scavenger hunt this week was the "page 25 of a magazine".

Page 25 - I had a magazine, really a catalog, open looking at it on Saturday morning and then remembered about the page number. Not a very interesting shot but it did happen to be a page that had several things I liked on it. The catalog is Ballard Design.

Water - The water droplet caught my eye yesterday as I was working in my studio. At first I thought it was a silver ball and then realized it was a bead of water.

Window - Kodi loves to sit in my window seat, especially when the sun is warming it in the afternoon. Today the sun shone nicely.

Quote - Because the fortune from a chinese lunch wasn't really a quote I did also purposely take a photo of a quote on my refrigerator as well.

Activity - Packaging up my rings on Sunday is a pretty common activity for me these days. I usually have one or two to mail off first thing Monday AM.

For more great posts, or to link up, Head over the Link below!

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

2011-01-30T08:56:00.000-08:00

I just found this fun blog challenge today. And I was so excited because without even knowing about the hunt i had taken photos of everything on the list just this week -really.

Here is what I found:
Texture, Fog, Buttons, Beverage, Seventies

Texture - i found a new iphone app on Tuesday that applies textures - played around with a photo that was on my iphone that i took of my daughter a few summers ago in a wedding dress we found at a Salvation Army store - i think the dress could have been from the seventies;

and texture on a tree i saw yesterday - looked like a heart to me;

Fog - a foggy winter morning one day this week;

Buttons - in a felted bowl - sure some are my mom's from the seventies;

Beverage - a new coffee from Starbucks - with notes of lemon and dark cocoa;

Seventies - a book i rediscovered just yesterday when straightening up my home - one of my favorite books from the seventies (it cost a mere $2.00 at the time) - I took it on every camping trip. even found some pressed flowers i collected from way back when.

For more great posts, or to link up, Head over the Link below!

November Gratitude part 2

2010-11-22T19:03:00.000-08:00

As Thanksgiving edges closer, and I think more about all that I have to be grateful for, the list just gets long and longer. There's really no way to express it – to include everything would be impossible.

My first gratitude list was more about family and a general statement of the beauty God has created.

I am thankful for BLUE SKIES with COTTON WHITE CLOUDS and LEAVES blowing in the WIND, for blazing SUNSETS and FERRIS WHEELS, and fanciful magic-colored CAMPFIRES. I am thankful for TRAVEL with my DAUGHTER, and purple FLOWERS growing wild on the roadside taking us there. I am thankful for exotic BIRDS and BOOKS that take me to foreign lands, for GOLDEN LIGHT on an autumn's morn, and CANDLELIGHT on a summer's eve.

I am thankful for God's love - visible to me every day.

November Gratitude - Part 1

2010-11-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin

November is one of my favorite months. Not only because it is the month I was born in – I am grateful for the life given me. And that it is in this month, in the south, when the world around me is brilliant with autumn color, blazing orange, vibrant reds and sunny yellows – I am grateful for God's creation. But it is in this month that we celebrate with family and friends, enjoy the warmth of home and good food and give thanks... Thanksgiving is a holiday to express thankfulness, gratitude, and appreciation to God, family and friends. And even though we should always be mindful of our blessings it's nice to set aside this time of year to clearly think about all we have to be thankful for... and there certainly is much to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my PARENTS. For the comfortable life they have provided, for the loving devotion they have for each other and for the relationship they have with God. I am thankful for my BROTHERS – one older and one younger – who believe in me and who taught me enough "boy skills" to keep me well-rounded. One who is funny and one who is wise. I am thankful for my DAUGHTER who has brought me more joy than I could ever have imagined. A daughter who is also my friend. I am thankful for RELATIVES always willing to help one another. Relatives that get along and make family reunions a priority. Family is so important. I am thankful for YOUNG CHILDREN - specifically my NIECE and NEPHEW who remind us to see the good in everything, to be playful, to be creative, to enjoy the simple things of life. Children's laughter heals the soul. I am thankful for a good JOB – one that allows me to use my creative talent. A place where I can work with nice people, in an office that is close to home (and has a awesome view). I am thankful for my PETS. A dog to take on walks and a kitty to snuggle with.

I am thankful for the beauty and wonder of all of the seasons God has created. WINTER for the wonder of snow and the subtle minimalist beauty in the stark delicate structure of the bare trees, a time when touches of color pop in an otherwise monochromatic landscape........

AUTUMN for it's warmth of the sun on cool crisp days with brilliant blue skies and leaves blazing in warm tones of autumn from clear yellow to deep red, for the scent of pine needles and dried grasses, of the musty ground covered in mushrooms and acorns and for wood smoke in the air, for hearts-a - burstin' in bloom, and crunchy leaves beneath my feet.........

SUMMER for the warm caressing breeze, the ripe fruits on trees, the ever blooming hydrangeas, butterflies flittering about and daisies to brighten your day, for children's laughter and family vacations and adventures with my daughter.......

SPRING for blooming flowers and the green world returning after it's winter slumber , the song and activity of birds preparing for their nests, the vibrant and luscious spring green appearing on every branch, and the delight of new life all around.

These are just a few of the things I am thankful for.

And now i am up-to-date on my 30 days of gratitude.

You look so pretty just sitting there

2010-09-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

This is in response to Debi's request to interpret these 6 words - 'just sit there and look pretty'. My entry isn't very original or creative but here it is.

When she was little i used to say to her "just sit there look and pretty so I can take your picture". And she would sit there, give me a sweet smile - however forced and too big - for a minute or two. Now i see her there and stop and say "can i take your picture... you look so pretty" - her smile being natural and lovely without asking, because she is a strong and confident young lady - not just a pretty girl sitting there.

August 31 - the last one

2010-08-31T19:53:00.000-07:00

Re-reading a classic.

August 30

2010-08-30T20:27:00.001-07:00

There was an autumn feel in the air tonight.

August 29

2010-08-29T16:55:00.000-07:00

Today I played with the contents of that package yesterday. I had fun. (clearly I need more practice with lining the letters up. And just to clarify - these are all in various stages of the process - making spinner rings. )

August 28

2010-08-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

I got a package in the mail today. yeah.

August 27

2010-08-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

I tried to be sly photographing this butterfly with my phone at lunch time - I didn't want the guys to think me as lame.

August 26

2010-08-26T20:05:00.000-07:00

blueberries at work.

August 25

2010-08-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

A new book to read.

August 24

2010-08-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

I picked up a piece of very hot silver in my metalsmithing class. Not a smart thing to do, but accidents can happen. Luckily my dad has a special ointment - he keeps it in his kitchen drawer. This jar has been around awhile - since his residency, but it still works.

August 23

2010-08-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

On the way to the mailbox, I took a photo. In the mailbox, it was the junk mail that took over.

August 22

2010-08-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

I had Rocky Road ice cream instead.

August 21

2010-08-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

After this, I finally got focused and did what I needed to do today.

August 20

2010-08-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

All was silent as before -
All silent save the dripping rain.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

August 19

2010-08-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

Because it's just me.

August 18

2010-08-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

On days like this I watch the clouds for animal shapes and other things.

August 17

2010-08-17T18:11:00.000-07:00

It rained today... for a little while... now it's like a sauna outside.

August 16

2010-08-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

Life's a bowl - or something like it - of cherries.

August 15

2010-08-15T18:47:00.001-07:00

The Georgia Aquarium is calling artists to join the Dolphin Parade and I'm submitting a design. There will be a public art exhibit of dolphin sculptures to celebrate the opening of the new dolphin exhibit. Hopefully one of them will be mine and one will be Taylor's - we are both entering the contest.

August 14

2010-08-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning market - tomato and cheese breakfast crepe

August 13

2010-08-15T18:40:00.001-07:00

summer storm - no power for hours

August 12

2010-08-12T19:40:00.000-07:00

One last cutting of the season.

August 11

2010-08-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

Keeping watch.

August 10

2010-08-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

new 27" imac - a treat

August 9

2010-08-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

This was a good reminder for me today.

August 8

2010-08-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

Mom's fig preserves is delicious but I like them right off the tree too (after rinsing of course)

August 7

2010-08-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

my mom brought over homemade fig preserves this morning

August 6

2010-08-06T21:00:00.000-07:00

i think kodi's going to miss bunny.

August 5

2010-08-06T20:52:00.000-07:00

sending her back with clean towels

August 4

2010-08-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

These 12, 13, sometimes 14, hour work days are getting in the way of my blog reading. : (

August 3

2010-08-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

"If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?"  - Steven Wright

August 1

2010-08-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

I was excited to learn about this group called The August Break. It will help me feel a little less guilty for not posting - for lack of words.

seemingly simple things

2009-11-16T06:23:00.000-08:00

it's the simple things that make me smile inside or brings a big smile across my face. simple things like:

a bunny in the clouds
a cats soft meow
sun on my face
a gentle breeze
floating leaves

a warm embrace
a full-moon night
firelight flicker
waking up in a tent
down comforters

the smell of Earl Grey tea
a visit from my daughter
thrift store finds
sand between my toes
wind chimes

a new sweatshirt on bare skin
my daughter's laugh
the smell of fresh-baked bread
a soft warm towel after a shower
hydrangeas

the giggles of my niece and nephew
the curl of a withering leaf
opening a new book
the pop of silly putty
creativity

the smell of fresh mowed grass
the crunch of autumn leaves
shadows dancing on the wall
my moms hug
redbud blossoms

the first frothy sip of a cappuccino
a walk in the woods
children's art
finding a feather
sunsets

a hammock nap
sidewalk chalk art
sound of chopping wood
chocolate lava cake
real lavender

Christmas pine
night air
clean sheets
old family photos
snow
...
oh and so much more

participating in Soul Aperture's The Simple Things. If you haven't visited her blog yet, please do so – you will not be disappointed.

a week at John C Campbell Folk School

2009-10-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

I've been home a week now and I've been romising to share my experience at "camp". I took a good many photos but sad to say I didn't get a lot of great ones. Believe it or not, almost every minute was spent either in the studio, eating, or sleeping. It wasn't really until the last day, after the week session was completed, that I went out just to take pictures. Which is fine I suppose – I was there to learn metalsmithing. I couldn't be happier with the way things went the entire week.

Instead of showing up a lot of photos, one after the other, I decided to consolidate and create mosaics out them. First to show you the school and then the work in my class and finally what other folks where learning that same week.
The school is located in Brasstown, NC and sits in a valley surrounded by mountains. The leaves had not changed just yet but I can imagine when they do it is magnificent to see. Even so it was breathtaking and peaceful.
My days started out with a early morning walk with a few that got up early and then what they call "morning song". A sweet little old lady tells stories, plays the dulcimer and sings – a wonderful way to start the day. The breakfast bell rings at 8:15 and all the students gather at the dining hall, entering together and finding a chair, no one sits until the hostess selects a song/praise/blessing from the song sheet and we bless the food and the day ahead. The tables seat 8 and we eat family style, passing food and chatting about this and that, but mostly about what everyone is learning and making. No one a stranger. I have to say I surprised myself. Being a shy person I was a little anxious about mealtime but it was easy and comfortable. So many friendly people all around, all with creative minds and sharing hearts. Once everyone finished their meal (no one ever left before the others where finished eating) one or two people would clear the table and bring back the dessert (well not at breakfast) and gradually people started to leave wishing the others a pleasant day.

My studio class had 7 other women from all parts of the U.S., most of them in their 50s (in fact I would say that mid 50s was the average age if not a little older). I didn't run across anyone else that was from Georgia, for some reason it seemed many where from Michigan and there abouts.
The instructor was very good and I learned a lot of things from her that I had not from my local class and a lot of things just differently. I think you can always learn something different from every teacher no matter how many classes you take. Every one does things slightly different - no one way necessarily better than the other.
Before you know it the lunch bell is ringing. There was a little time between lunch and getting back to class so I would usually go to a favorite spot I found in the herb garden and just sit, share some photos via iphone and talk to Taylor. It was very peaceful there even with the tractors readying the fields for the big festival that was coming up. The hay smelled so sweet as they cut and baled it.
Class again from 1:30 until about 5:30, then time for a little break before dinner. The meals were great and there was always fresh bread and yummy desserts. I heard talk from the folks in felting class that they were right next to the cooking class and the smell of fresh bread was intoxicating. Many days they got samples. I think I want to take that class next time. (not for the bread... I really would like to learn felting).
We worked even after dinner. From 7:30 until 9:30 or so and by that time you were pretty much ready to go to bed. But they had square dancing or singing or story telling.

"Show and Tell" was Friday at noon, so Thursday night the instructor stayed in the studio until 10:30 so that we could finish all of our projects. I was so happy to complete 2 rings, a pendant and a linked bracelet. "Show and tell" was interesting. There we displayed our weeks worth of work and could walk around and see what everyone else had completed in their classes while we stayed so busy in ours. It was amazing to see the amount of beautiful and talented work that came out of each class.
Every week at JCCFS has a different set of about 12 classes. The week I was there people learned felting, basketry, wildlife sculpture with clay, quilting, wood turning, blacksmithing, story writing, watercolor painting, wood sculpture, and how to play the dulcimer, plus jewlery metalsmithing. There is something for everyone – it's just a matter of the deciding. I would love to go back each year and learn something different.

Oh how I wish I had the words and story-telling ability to make it the beautiful story that it was. To make it so appealing that you would want to go yourself. It's a wonderful experience. So wonderful that most of the folks I met have been here several times if not once a year.

I may write more later but it's late.

a parade of animals

2009-07-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

It's time for Gayle's pet parade and I thought it might be fun to include some of the animals we made friends with while at Shaker Village. First we met the beautiful work horses, but it was the gentle donkey that Taylor became fast friends with. Tiny twin kids and huge oxen; lots of barn cats and funny goats; the wooly sheep and their lambs - all of them very friendly.

blogger portrait

2009-07-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

A while back I signed up to send 12 photos of myself to D, a figurative sculptor. She wants to combine what she does in the studio with her blogging and is doing a series of "Blogger" portraits – sculptures of 12 people who she has a connection with in the blogosphere. I am so excited to see what she does with this. I entered because I thought it might be a good way for me to become more comfortable with having my portrait taken and interested to see how someone else might "see" me.
So I had T take a series of 12 images that D asked for, starting at 12 o'clock and going around me taking a photo at each "hour". I had T do it several times because each time I browsed through the images I didn't like them one bit. One thing I discovered was that I got younger looking as she went around – it seemed I looked a good 10 years younger at 9 o'clock position than I did at the 3 o'clock position. I guess everyone has a good side. I never really knew which one was mine – never paid that much attention. Well I decided my left (9:00) profile is acceptable but I'm not so accepting of my right (3:00) profile. At first I thought it was mostly because of the lighting, but after 4 tries at different times and locations I decided I just don't like the view of my right side. I also discovered that my features are lopsided – I mean I know very few of us, if any, are completely symmetrical. I just never paid attention to what all those differences in me where . If you've never done this sort of examination of yourself, from all angles, it's quite revealing.

12 o'clock position (as if I'm looking at the computer screen reading someone's blog - only outdoors because I thought the light would be better - even lighting definitely helps)

3 o'clock position

9 o'clock position

I was very tempted to do some photo-retouching – I refrained so that it would be a true representation. (By the way have you ever played around with the red filter? it can be a beautiful thing on skin tone or it can be a very scary thing.)

Can't wait to see what D does with these (I gave her all 12 images - the good and the bad sides - to work from)

monday memories - 7

2009-06-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

I have his features – I wish I had his character.

Happy Father's Day Dad.

He was, and is, the best dad a girl could ever want. The reason I didn't post this earlier is because I always hesitate when trying to write something about my parents. There is just no good way I know of expressing how much I love and admire them both. So to say anything seems sort of trite plus if I tried to go into all the things that are wonderful about him this post would get too long. So I will just say, "Dad, even though I fail with words. I hope you know how much I love you. I feel so fortunate to have you so close in my life."

Ladybug

2009-05-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

taken by my daughter, Nikon D40x Sigma 30mm lens

Yeah we made the Shutter Sisters Daily Click yesterday. T took this photo the other day at our little photoshoot in the grasses. While taking some images of me she got distracted with this little lady bug and changed her focus. I rather like the fact that I'm out of focus. That grass is now gone - cut to the ground. It makes me sad because I wanted to go back and shoot some more. I wasn't completely pleased with the images we got, mainly of me. I tried to look sort of forlorn in many of the shots, but didn't pull it off. Instead I just look angry. I wasn't – quite the contrary. I was having a great time – loving that we had a sunny moment in the day. The ground wasn't soggy, the bugs weren't biting – it was just us, alone, with our cameras, talking and laughing, and I'm sure, looking somewhat silly if anyone was watching. But what was great is we didn't care – it felt like our own little world down there.

The problem is, I don't know how to pose at all. T does. She is a great in front of the camera – has the long lean body and beautiful red hair that catches the light just right. She is aware of her best side and knows just how to turn her body and what to do with her arms and legs, etc. I'm not sure where she learned this. But whatever she does works – she rarely takes a bad photo. Or maybe it's just a mother speaking. anyway. here are some that we got that day.

I call this one "tut tut, it looks like rain"

and of course we always try to get a photo of the jeep, props and situation we entered. As we were walking back up to the car, she was carrying her pink chair and said, "I love my car!" Look it's camouflaged, well sort of. I bought that jeep in 1996 and loved the color. People either love it or hate it, but I can't tell you how many times I had people roll down their windows and comment on it's uniqueness. Since that time I have seen maybe a total of 3 on the road, ever. You can't hide in it. When she pulled her car down there I said, "you know everyone will know it's you down there up to something?" She said, "yeah, there's that photography girl up to one of her crazy photoshoots."

all images are unedited excepted for a little cropping on a few. I'd like to see what T does with them.

Monday Memories - 6

2009-05-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

self portrait photo outtake from Alice series by Taylor

This is a continuation of my Monday Memories 5 .

This time last year T was graduating from high school and it seems like yesterday in some ways and in some it seems ages ago. Isn't time and memory strange? How sometimes we can remember so vividly and then other times we can't remember something such a short time ago - like what we even did two days ago.
T put so much into this project and everything was well thought out. I enjoyed seeing her excitement in what she was doing and of course I enjoyed the fact that she asked for my input and we brainstormed together all the way down to what book Alice would have in her lap when she fell asleep (she chose the book of Etiquette by Emily Post). She even took Kodi outside for the first time, putting her on a leash, so that she could recreate the beginning scene when Alice falls asleep reading.
Anyway, not that this was long ago, I love this memory – it confirms what a great team we are . So I keep reliving those last few weeks, right before graduation, that she was working on her Alice in Wonderland project. We have such great stories that go along with each of the photos she took. And they came out so well. In fact just a couple of days ago T and a friend went to visit her highschool photography teacher in class and her teacher told her that she still uses T's final project as a guide and example of good work. The students in the class said, "You're the one that did that? wow you are amazing." So if nothing else she is an inspiration some. I know she is an inspiration to me.

All of the photos she turned in were taken with a manual SLR and she developed the film and prints in the dark room. The black and white prints I show here were scanned in so there is extra dust and such that wasn't on her prints. As well as the manual she took photos with her D-SLR using the remote control. And I'll might like to share those later because the color is amazing and she got some fun outtakes that weren't used for her project. She thought about using some of them to create bookmarks and I think that's a good idea.
So I'm going to share some of the photos with you. I guess as much as loving the memory, I'm a proud mother wanting to show it off – as mother's we like to brag don't we??

First off she wanted to establish the characters. She said I would be a good mad hatter because I'm short and have crazy wild hair. We had a lot of fun putting together the outfits and collecting china and chairs and such for the 'tea party' - making it look haphazard and crazy. The hat came from a friend at work who makes costumes.

The Cheshire Cat was her friend Claire. This one was the hardest to pull off – the mask wasn't so great. But she felt like the striped t-shirt was good for a black and white photo and complimented the wide grin.

"We're all mad here"

Originally I posed as the rabbit with the clock (she chose a clock with big bold numbers that she found in a box of my old things). Here she used her friend Claire again. Personally I think I did a better job but that's ok. T picked out an old vest from my dad's closet and collared white shirt for her to wear.

" No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late!"

The queen photoshoot was a lot of fun. She made a crown for her by glueing playing cards to a child's tiara. She wanted a red dress so she found a child's dress that came from Goodwill that seemed just perfect with a little lace collar. Her friend Devon posed for these photos and did an awesome job. T starting outside for this one but ended up in our bathroom because of the rose wallpaper – it was perfect! One of my favorite shots is one of the color images of her against the rose wallpaper holding Kodi. The funny thing was she is so afraid of cats but she did it anyway. I was in the shower holding up a flood light and kodi was reaching towards me with a really intense look in her eyes and her claws out. I'll show you that one today and then maybe some of the funny outtakes later. Hope you don't get tired of this.

"Off with her head"

Here's the one I just love. Isn't Kodi intense? Too bad I wasn't standing just a bit more forward so her eyes were focused towards the camera. There's always things you see you could have done better. Maybe next time.

monday memories - 5

2009-05-03T20:38:00.001-07:00

Today I was unpacking T's belongings that she had up at college and came across the bunny mask she used for her senior photo focus last year. I remembered that it was this time of year, last year, that I had so much fun being a part of her project.

more on this later because...

photo taken by Taylor - May 2008

"I'm late , I'm late, For a very important date. No time to say "Hello." Goodbye. I'm late, I'm late, I'm late."

a parade of pets

2009-04-28T00:18:00.000-07:00

Look, the parade is coming!!

kodi
I see Timmy and Polly and sweet Sam. Who else will there be?

evee
yep, yep here it comes. i'm ready, i'm ready!!

daisy, amber and penny, mudpie and emily
Hey girls, we need to dress up for a parade but we have nothing to wear. What shall we do? Let's ride in a wagon pulled by Emerson. This will be fun.

emerson
Look Evee, let's join us in the pet parade hosted by Gayle and Elk

(The chicks and Emerson are my brothers pets joining in from B'ham )

Shutter Sisters Challenge – Before and After

2009-04-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

These are just a couple of the images T and I shot last year driving home from spring break. We pulled off the highway to drive the back roads for a while and found this incredible location to shoot some portraits. Right in the back seat of the car, T changed into the bridesmaid dress that we had bought for $5 at the Hilton Head salvation army (when we bought the wedding dress) and we took a bunch of photos.

Before – the sky was a little washed out in this photo and T was in shadow so I decided to play around with it. First I duplicated the image, masked the sky and went to adjustments/exposure/gamma correction to fix the sky on one layer and then the bottom layer I worked with the 'selective color' adjustment to fix the dark shadows in her dress and brighten her up a bit.

After - a little brighter image is the result. Better? I'd like to know what you think.

Before

After
If I play around with an image in photoshop, the first thing I usually do is go to 'selective color' to make adjustments. If it's an image of a person, I select red and I take down the percentage of black. This clears up skin nicely – T was a little sunburned and this process toned that down a little.

...and Beyond
Here I added a texture just for fun. I like the warm color but I'm not sure I like the texture – cracks on skin don't look very pretty. I needed to take the time to remove them from her skin.

I guess I was tired tonight and didn't do these to the best of my abilities. I do this sort of thing every day with my job. But it's strange, sometimes I don't take the time with my own work. I did these hurriedly, realizing I had to submit tonight and now I'm embarrassed at submitting them at all. I think I prefer the original SOOC shots.

6 little chicks

2009-04-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

I promised to tell you about the Easter chicks but I this week has been sort of unusual in that 2 nights this week I have had to work til almost midnight and on top of that we were without power for a day and a half because of a freak wind storm that had trees down on power lines all over the city. Today should be a lighter day but I am at work and really shouldn't be doing this here. However, I just had to post this photo that my brother sent me last night.

Here is Emerson (his dog) with Penny. My brother is the one who came from B'ham to Atlanta to get these chickens and apparently they are adapting real well to their new home. Little Penny looks like she's setting things straight with Emerson - "I'm here to lay eggs NOT to eat you hear? Give me time - by autumn I'll be laying some nice eggs for you and your master". I think they established a friendship that night.

Here's are a few from a little photo shoot we did that night.

The whole gang. The little black chicks still don't have names. Any ideas?

Mom probably would have been horrified had she seen us photographing these chicks on her dining room table.

This is the photogenic Daisy. Taylor named her first. She's light yellow right now but will grow into a pure white chicken.

continuation...
The event that had my brother egg-cited was the so-called Chicken Stimulus Package organized by a backyard poultry advocate who calls himself the Chicken Whisperer. 650 chicks were given away that day. The Chicken Whisperer was there to promote raising urban chickens as pets and for their eggs, and to raise awareness for a fella who was in hot water with the city of Roswell for having backyard chickens. I feel certain the city will have to re-write the laws to allow backyard poultry or they'll really have their hands full! :-) He's the man who had this bumper sticker on his truck.

I just went a long for the ride that morning. They were to begin giving chicks away at 8am on Saturday so we thought we had to get there real early to be sure we were in line to receive our allotted 2. We got there at 7 and no one was anywhere to be seen. Gradually people started showing up, but still not anything like the crowd we had anticipated.

It was interesting to me to see the different types of people there to get chicks. There were old and young couples, families with little children, country folk and city folk. They brought everything from fancy baskets, shoe boxes, to plastic strawberries cartons to carry their chicks home in.

I met a really nice photo journalist that morning. One of the highlights of my morning. She was a young girl who graduated from UGA (where my daughter attends) and has been working for the AJC for 4 years. She was very friendly and we had time to talk before they started bringing in the chicks. Of course then she had to do her job. I was surprised the next morning when I saw her photos in the paper and there was one so similar to a photo I took that my mom thought it was mine. I guess we both saw the story here - a young girl who was handing out the chicks with a I love "chickens" button on her hoodie and a heart ring on her hand.

It turned out that my brother got 4 chicks and my dad got 2. We took them home and put a heat lamp on them. The next morning there was a bad storm in Atlanta and my dad's house was one that lost power at 9am. His main concern all day and into the next day was how to keep the chicks warm. So he lit a coleman lantern and put foil over it to direct the heat to the chicks and then stayed up most of the night making sure they were ok. The power was out for over 30 hours but the chicks survived. I hope the others that got chicks that day, and were without power, were able to keep their little girls alive as well.

With these 6 chickens (my dad decided to give his 2 to him), my brother should be getting close to 2 dozen eggs per week. He'll have some very happy neighbors. There's no comparison between a store bought and farm fresh egg. One could compare this to a vine fresh tomato versus a hot house tomato from the store.

Monday Memories - 4

2009-04-05T20:21:00.001-07:00

Bunnies at Easter

I didn't take T to have her photo taken in a studio setting very often - maybe 3 or 4 times because I really don't like the studio shots, but at Easter there was always a special deal AND they had live bunnies, plus grandparents like those cheesy studio portraits. T loved animals of all kinds and bunnies were no different so she enjoyed these photo shoots and posed nicely for the man behind the camera.

With Easter just around the corner, this Monday Memories has me remembering the year I gave T a live bunny in her Easter basket. What a surprise it was for her on that 3rd Easter celebration. I put the little lop eared bunny right in her basket along with the stuffed chick. Aren't baby bunnies the cutest thing ever? She didn't realize it was real until it jumped - she squealed with delight. Aw so cute.

She named him Brambles and she loved that bunny. As he got older, and fatter, we put him in a cage outside. She would feed him carrots and let him jump around in the grass, attached to a leash.

Brambles lived for about a year and it was because of me that he died. As the temperatures dipped in the winter months we would cover the cage with a warm blanket to keep him warm, but one night it got extremely cold - in the teens I think - and I had not thought about the bunny or the fact that it was going to be much too cold for him to stay outside. Not until early in the morning that is - I jumped up and ran outside to check on him. I was relieved to find him breathing, but he was very lifeless. I picked him up to bring him in and as I was walking back inside he had some sort of seizure and I think he stopped breathing. I rushed inside frantically calling my dad (we were living at their house at the time) and he calmly gave that little bunny CPR and pumped his heart back to life. We put him on top of the clothes dryer with it running - Dad said the motion would stimulate his heart and the heat would help him thaw out. I thought Brambles was doing a little better but then he went into cardiac arrest again and Dad couldn't bring him back. I let T's bunny freeze to death while she was away. T had been at her dad's for the weekend and was coming home soon. I didn't know how I would tell her - she was only 4. We talked to her together and she cried and cried but she wanted to see him. We thought that it was a good idea for her to see him just looking like he was sleeping peacefully and had died in his sleep (not that I froze him to death). Sitting there on the floor in the laundry room, she held him, tears running down her little cheeks. We told her we had to put him to rest in the ground - this made her confused really, we tried to explain and finally she said, sobbing, "well, if you have to bury him, can you at least leave his head out so he can breathe?!!" aw poor thing. I felt so terrible and it broke my heart to see her so sad.
Next time I let her Dad be the one to get her a bunny. I think it lived longer.

Monday Memories - 3

2009-03-29T22:04:00.000-07:00

The other day on my other blog I mention last year's Prom and the fact that we didn't do it up like most, i.e., we didn't make a lot of fanfare about it. We did, however, have something a little different cooked up. But she had to get the "group" together first. Taylor knew it would be her 2 best friends (her art teacher called them napoleon ice cream because one is a blond, the other a brunette and taylor a redhead) - that part was easy, but getting the guys was a bit of a challenge. Taylor's boyfriend asked one of his friends to go with the blond and another one ofher guy friends agreed to go with the brunette (he actually had a girlfriend who didn't want to go to the prom but she agreed to let him be in the photos to even out the numbers). Ok so all was well - 3 boys, 3 girls.
Now we had to find our location - she didn't have the traditional azaleas, flowering trees and grassy lawns in mind - she wanted rubble. My photographer friend had shot some portraits in an abandoned location downtown so T and I drove to check it out.
When he had shot there it looked like this...

and now looked like this...

That wouldn't work in high heel shoes. So, what now? She had a brilliant idea! She would use her old suitcases that she had been collecting from goodwill stores and do the photoshoot at a railroad track. "Yeah this will be cool". They could be walking the tracks, sort of like they're on a journey - destination to the next phase in their lives. We searched and search and found the perfect location.

And as an additional idea she wanted to do couple portraits - taken looking through a picture frame something like this.

Ok so I guess we were making sort of big deal out of it but anyway here's what happened.

Found the perfect dress, Vera Wang (highly marked down) in her favorite color, purple; found the perfect location and had the perfect small group, all willing for an adventure but... now they had an extra girl that didn't fit in (the guy brought his girlfriend - she made the even number odd) and... it was raining.
We drove down to the train tracks (about 20 mins) anyway hoping the rain would let up. My photographer friend was meeting us there. The rain did let up a little bit so we shot the "framed" photos. There was a building across the tracks that had some nice vines growing on it and the warm ochre color was great with the frames and the girls dress colors. The girls were getting worried about their carefully straightened hair - the mist and rain was causing curl and frizz.

aw what a gentleman - he gave her his coat
each of the couples did a photo similar to this and they were so cute

While shooting those photos in front of an old building a security guy drove up and told us we couldn't shoot there. This was not good. But we were determined to get some cool photos even if we couldn't do the railroad track idea. So I drove up the street to see what I could find. There was some sort of loading dock that I thought would be a good place to at least get out of the rain while we thought a minute, and as I looked at it I realized it would make a perfect "train station".

I loved the dark red door - perfect with the suitcases and their dresses (I liked how none of the girls were the traditional long gown types and how their dresses naturally worked well with each other - except for the extra girl).

The guys acted bored "waiting on the train" while the girls chatted
(sorry, but doesn't that one girl look out of place?)

So that is what we did. The young people created a story that they were on a great journey together, off to new and exciting adventures, new experiences - a new world they were about to embark on - college. The photos shoot was a lot of fun - the girls relaxed about their hair (you can see Taylor's change from straight to curly); they played with colorful dollar store umbrellas; they laughed and acted silly but we got some serious photos out of it too.

$1 doesn't buy you a very good umbrella - it broke right away

the serious photo - "waiting on the train"

the sweet couple shot

I think my friend and I got many interesting photos (I wish I could show you more) and the experience was one I doubt any of them will ever forget.
We finished up a little early - too early for them to head to their dinner reservation at The Geisha House, so they went to a local coffee shop, Octane, to kill some time. Of course I went home at this point but I was thrilled to have been a part of the photo shoot. Later T told me that at the coffee shop they had been having a little garage sale of sorts and moved it indoors because of the rain. There happened to be a straightening iron for sale - $3. Taylor bought it and the girls went into the bathroom and straightened their hair...

Now isn't that more exciting, and memorable, than this?

boring (we did take a few of these for the traditional parents - they just weren't on my camera)

monday memories - 3

2009-03-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Gayle at PlanetM hosts Monday Memories - check out some more here
I'm reminiscing college days a lot lately. I suppose because of the facebook thing. I've recently found several of my old college friends through facebook and so I've been rummaging through old photos trying to find some photos that I could post and, just for fun, maybe a few to embarrass people with. I'm not coming up with any real good embarrassing ones but I have found great memories in these boxes of old photos.
I had a friend in college that was a photographer and he loved to take photos of me and for some reason I don't remember minding it - today I hate for people to take my picture. I guess I didn't mind it much because he made me look good. Pretty much the only photos I like of me, he took. I guess that proves that a professional photographer (which he is now) can make anyone look good - it's all in the lighting - and the setting.
Back in college, I wore Ralph Lauren clothes and my signature scent was Lauren cologne. I'd say I had a classic style back then (I'm wearing a pearl necklace with this otherwise very sporty look). My friend made me look sort of like a model in this moody shot taken in a little log cabin in the middle of a field where deer were grazing . I wish he could work that magic on me again.

I went to Berry College in Rome, GA. It's the largest land mass campus in the world. On a beautiful spring day like today - blue skies and 70º, and a Sunday - we would ride our bikes down a flat 3 mile stretch, past huge fields filled with deer, a lake, and the woods were you might see a wild turkey cross the road, to the older part of campus were we would hike to the reservior or the Old Mill, spread our blanket, intending to study, but just taking a nap in the sun instead.

The Old Mill - considered one of the largest overshot waterwheel in the world

That is when I could find my bike. I rode my bike everywhere... down the hill to breakfast, to classes, to work (I worked on the paint crew painting houses) and to my art studio at night. But if someone thought they needed it more - maybe they were late to class or something - they would just "borrow" a bike and leave it somewhere else. Mine was a very unique bike - a tiny Schwinn (like a junior bike - I'm only 5'2") painted to match my car (remember in the previous memory post - not the most common color for a car or a bike) and for some reason it got borrowed a lot. Of course I would eventually find it. Worse than that... more than once it was thrown into the reflection pool along with a few other bikes. Swimming wasn't allowed in the reflection pools but on days like that someone had to go fishing for bikes. That was a great old bike - it developed a lot of character through those those 4 years and I suppose I did too.

This is the reflection pool in front of the dorm I lived in

Those were great times. Don't we all sort of wish we could go back to those college days?

photos of Berry taken from the website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry_College

monday memories

2009-03-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

1979 - camping in Panama City

Monday Memories - Part 1
I can't believe I forgot about Monday Memories with Gayle at Planet M. Because when she mentioned it a week or so ago I was pretty excited to join in. Just days before I had dug up some old photo albums in search of some photos of my friend from college. So many people have been talking about reconnecting with old friends through Facebook – it just got me going down memory lane a little bit. Anyway I did find a bunch of photos that took me back. This one is from a camping trip my best friend and I took to Panama City. To be continued. (At the moment T is home and my mind is focused on her so I will add to this post a little later.)

So to continue this post from last week... I had this great old Volvo station wagon in college. It was a 1973 and perfect for hauling my paintings around (I was a fine art student) but it was also perfect for camping trips. This was a camping trip that I went on with my best friend, S, from college when I was 21 - wait is that right? '79? yeah I was 21. In a way it seems like I should have been younger because for some reason my mom went with us. But anyway, it was just the 3 of us. S brought her big tent because all I had was a little tent. Well, she thought she knew how to set it up and maybe she did but she was missing a pole which caused some problems. Our tent was the funniest looking thing - all lopsided - but it stayed up and it protected us. However I think it's a good thing it didn't rain because I feel sure we would have gotten wet. We had a great time soaking in the sun, eating seafood and buying airbrush t-shirts.

Monday Memories - part 2

I love camping. I love waking up to the sound of coffee percolating and the smell of bacon wafting in the air throughout the campground; I love how the sun warms the inside of the tent as day breaks; I love late afternoons reading in the hammock after a day of activity; I love sitting by the campfire drinking earl grey tea, talking or whittling on a piece of wood; I love the sound of metal clanking during a game of horseshoes, I love walking around the campground late at night with a flashlight seeing who has the tallest flame going in their campfire, children are playing hide and seek, and grown ups are talking and laughing - I love all the laughter and chatter you can hear through the campground as families have fun and people mingle, meeting new friends. I love crawling into the sleeping bag, listening to the crickets sing and going to sleep by the glow of the moon. I could go on and on about all I love about camping... I even love that it's ok to get dirty.

1963 - my dad cooking

1982 Lake Lanier - dad cooking a pot of stew

I have been camping literally since I was a tiny baby. All of our family vacations involved camping. We went from sleeping in the back of an old station wagon, to an Apache pop- up, to a more modern Starcraft camper that had pull out beds and a table that made in to a bed, even a sink and closet. We played Rook late into the night by kerosene lanterns. My dad would cook the most incredible meals over the fire, creating elaborate fire pits and cooking in the dutch oven. I have SO many stories to tell but I won't do that all here. After we children went our own way, my parents sold the camper. But that didn't stop us. We bought my parents a 4- man, 2 -room tent (and 2 cots for their older bodies) and gave it to them when they turned 75 - we all headed to Alabama's Oak Mountain, set up 3 tents and enjoyed one of the best camping trips ever.

Seems every trip had some crazy memorable experience... like the time we camped at Edisto Beach after I graduated from college. We had more people than allowed on the campsite (I have 2 brothers, plus one girl friend and my boyfriend in addition to my parents) so we sort of fibbed and told them we had one less than allowed. We continually had to "hide" one of my brothers (they sort of resemble each other) when the park ranger drove around. And he drove through a lot!!

1980 - Edisto Beach - me, my mom and my dad

So many stories I could share. Oh these "memory mondays" are dangerous for me.

All this because I found that first photo and it made me remember how much I love camping, and how much miss it now. Let's pack up the car and go.

secret 7 - consulting with guides

2009-02-28T16:49:00.000-08:00

"Picnic at Piedmont Park" by L in college, 1979*

The first challenge in this chapter asks us to think back on our families - were they supportive and encouraging - did you get a sense that you were naturally good at your art, did your home life build up your self-confidence, etc, etc? I think I talked a little bit about this in this post and have shared with you about my supportive family. But the chapter also asks us to think about the other creative influences we had growing up - such as teachers and friends or even other artists we never met but were influenced by. I was fortunate to have art teachers that were very encouraging from an early age, but in college I think it was my art professor that really made me believe I had talent worth something. I felt like of course my parents would encourage me, especially since my mom was an artist herself, but for someone else to have faith in me seemed even more real. He was the type of professor that would always praise something about the piece first and then give the constructive criticism. This method worked best for me and helped me grow as an artist.
I didn't really know what I was going to do with it all when I graduated, but a year after designing ads for the yellow pages, I got a job with a "real" advertising company. A family friend from church owned a advertising company and knew me well enough to know that I was "artistic" (I used to design posters and brochures for the church even in high school). He needed a graphic designer so he asked me out of the blue if I would be interested in applying. I had no formal training in graphic design at all and he knew that - he just asked me to bring some photos of my paintings and to create 2 ad layouts. wow what an opportunity. I was hired on April 1 1982 - april fools day! - is this a joke I thought - and have been in advertising ever since.
So... guides? yes I had good ones. My family encouraged me as a child which lead me to believe I could pursue an art degree, my professor believed in my abilities and gave me the confidence to continue and a friend recognized my talent which all lead me to the work I do today for a living.
Who influences or guides me now? I'm not sure I can say she influences me in the traditional sense but I would say my daughter, in different ways, motivates me the most. She has encouraged me to start creating for myself now that I have more time on my hands and it has turned out to be a wonderful way to ease the loneliness. I'm not really sure what I would be doing if I didn't have a creative outlet. And I feel like other influences are plentiful. I have numerous creative friends and of course all you talented women out there and my constant source of guidance is my mom.

*this is one of the paintings that helped me get a job. It hangs in my brothers home.

Complete (?)

2009-02-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

"Our Pets" (click on it to see a bit larger)

I've finished my painting today. This painting is 30" x 24" - quite a bit larger than the last one I showed you. Of course seeing it small here on screen, I see things that might need to be changed, just slightly. I should probably just stop looking at it for a while. I'm also the very bad at naming my paintings. Any ideas for this one?

i get distracted

2009-02-21T10:56:00.000-08:00

loves me

I should be working on my painting today... and I will, but as I was throwing out the dying flowers that I bought myself for Valentine's Day I decided to do a little scannography with a single daisy. An hour or so later here is one that I have. This is just how the petals fell and I'm not sure I like the pattern it created – it's almost right, but as I see it now it looks like I need to experiment some more.

Secret 5 - Committing to self-focus

2009-02-18T18:57:00.000-08:00

Reading this chapter I think I sort of felt guilty for NOT being more creative because I do have the freedom unlike many women I read about who are producing so much great work. I am at a place in my life right now where I can focus almost all of my attention on myself if I wanted to, is that sort of selfish? I really have no excuse what-so-ever not to be creative at any moment I feel like doing it - I can truly be my own person - I have no one who is immediately reliant on me day to day. I can get up and eat my Saturday breakfast at leisure and then begin painting and paint all day long if I feel like it. Maybe I shouldn't feel guitly about that.

My mom is a fine artist and always encouraged me to be creative too. As a young married woman she worked as an illustrator for the Baptist Sunday School Board to put my dad through medical school, but when she had my older brother she became a full-time mother and focused on being a full-time mother until we went off to college - then she picked up her paint brush again and began to focus on the artist she had put aside to rear children. She began taking studio classes, studied with well-known painters like Marc Chatov, and began painting commission portraits and landscapes and was so happy to be creating again. To this day she will paint all day long and will have at least one or two paintings in process and continues to take classes. She has always been my role model.

My daughter is now in college and I think she's taking pretty good care of herself, so now is my time to focus attention on myself, right? I'm enjoying having a paint brush in my hand again.

home is where the heart is

2009-02-14T11:18:00.000-08:00

I thought today, on this day that lots of hearts - the symbol for love - are floating about on cards and balloons, worn around necks, and expressed on paper and in words, it would be fun to see just how many hearts I could find in my home. These are the ones I found, just as is - evident there is love in this home.

cupcakes for the party

2009-02-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

Georgia and Jamie are having a blog warming party today. I decided to bring cupcakes AND some cool heart shades in pink, purple and blue.

SS Superhero photo challenge - abstract

2009-02-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

Over at Shutter Sisters, Andrea was reminiscing about Highlights magazine and the section at the back of the magazine where you had to guess what an object was based on a very close up photo of it. My dad was a doctor so he would bring home the magazine for us to read. I always loved that game and the hidden pictures page, too. ( remember Goofus and Gallant? ). Anyway, when I saw this challenge I browsed through some of my photos but this image that my daughter took I thought fit the challenge the best. Can you tell what it is?

#4 - Surrender to Creative Cycles

2009-02-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

"We've already experienced some hills and valleys."

I've definitely been in some valleys with my creative adventures. I work as a creative person every single day at my job (and have for 25 years) so I gave that as my excuse for not being creative when I got home. And the weekends were too busy with other things. But I'm not using that as an excuse any more. Since my daughter went away to college I started an etsy store and sold at a craft show with my daughter in the fall, then I started taking a metalsmithing class. I plan to continue with it even after this one ends (if you remember I have money to spend on a week long workshop at John Campbell Folk school - can't wait) on top of all this I started to paint once again. So I would say I'm on top of the hill right now in my creative adventures and it's exhilarating.
I would say painting is the main talent that I want to concentrate on right now. And I feel that I'm in an positive cycle right now with that - thanks, in part, to deadlines. First, I had the auction piece to complete and soon after I finished that piece I received an invitation to participate in a juried show. The deadline is very soon - Feb 10th. It's events with deadlines like these that encourage me - keep me focused on completing a piece. So I started a 30 x 24" canvas on Saturday. I wasted a good half of the day just trying to decide "what" to paint. In the end, I just went with my first instinct and that was to try something different for me. I'm painting my daughter's cat, Kodi. We adopted her one year ago as a gift for Taylor's 18th birthday. So I guess it's fitting.
What I'm excited about is the fact that I have the room now (no teenagers playing rock band in my living area) to paint upstairs in the wonderful light of my dining room AND I can keep it set up so that I can paint when I feel like it. To me that's half the battle - having the space to keep the easel and paints out at all times. Of course I can't have guests over for dinner but I rarely do that anyway. So the space is all mine. Nice.

painting in background - Self Portrait with Horse by Taylor age 12

#3 - Follow My Fascination

2009-01-25T11:55:00.000-08:00

I received two special pieces of mail on Thursday - my "12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women" book and a letter of appreciation for the painting I submitted. The letter made me feel good, and proud too, that I painted for a good cause. Now I'm eager to paint for myself. Also, I was excited to get my book so that I can get on board with the rest of the group. I have a lot of reading to do.

The book starts out with a quote that just really speaks to me:
"Your creativity is waiting for you like a dance partner." -Barbara Sher

painting in background "Oma" - by my daughter - age 10

This is my dance partner - from across the room it calls to me yet I stand back, hesitant to approach for fear I will mess up. I'm not a dancer, at all - I'm too embarrassed of what others will think of me and I have no rhythm whatsoever. But no one is looking so what am I afraid of? It doesn't matter if I look silly or make a wrong move - just go for it and don't hold back. As much as I wish that I could dance I wish that I could approach a canvas without trepidation - hesitant to make that first brush stroke. I want to paint freely with big, bold strokes of color just as if I was gliding across the dance floor listening only to the music in my head, letting my body relax and feel the beat. I want to see what's in front of me, put my brush in the color and quickly translate my vision to the canvas without thinking twice. I feel like I over think my painting - like the few times I have been on the dance floor - I try to think how I should be moving instead of just relaxing and feeling it.

The third chapter, "Secret 3 / Follow Your Fascinations", starts with a quote: "If you can put fear aside, you're unstoppable" - Janet Hagberg
So this next canvas, I will put that fear of making a wrong stroke and try not to over think it. I'll just squint my eye at what's in front of me and translate quickly and boldly. It will be fun. We'll just see how that turns out.

The 3rd chapter talks about risk taking. What kind of risk taker am I? The problem is I don't feel like I'm much of a risk taker at all. This holds me back. If I were to take a risk and follow my fascination I would sign up for a Plein Aire painting adventure in Provence right now, book a flight to France and experience the dream I've always dreamed of.
I've painted several paintings of lavender fields in Provence - compositions from made up from several photographs I pulled out of magazines.

But I want to paint these scenes standing in my floppy straw hat with the sun warming my back, easel in front of me, mixing the perfect shades of lavender with my oils, intoxicated by the scent of lavender surrounding me, and paint til the sun dips below the horizon.
So what is stopping me from doing this? What real risks are there? I don't know the language, I'm afraid to travel alone, I don't have the extra money right now, etc. Well... start saving now, take my daughter with me (she knows the language) and there you go - that takes care three things I thought were stopping me. My creative self is inviting me on this new adventure and I'm ready to follow.

birds will sing their sweet song

2009-01-22T19:57:00.000-08:00

It seems a lot of bloggers are eager for Spring to arrive - they've had enough of the cold and gray. In some ways it feels like it is just around the corner that the buds will begin to emerge and the birds will sing their sweet song - it really won't be long.
After I took the photo for my Spread Your Wings post, I looked around and realized - I have birds of all types in my home. Birds that are sculpted, painted, hooked, carved and cast and one that sings for me each hour. I guess I'm really draw to their charm. They make the home cheery despite the weather.
Did you know that “The bluebird is symbolic of happiness and fulfillment. When you see a bluebird around you it is a reminder that your world is filled with happiness and satisfaction, it shows us to take a closer look and to value and appreciate all of the joy that surrounds our lives.”

#2 Honouring My Inspirations

2009-01-17T16:52:00.000-08:00

Just to preface - I haven't received my book yet so I'm a little behind.

The #2 Secret to Highly Creative Women is "Honouring Your Inspirations" and we were asked to think on these things.
"What have you always loved? What inspires you? Catches your eye? Makes your heart sing?"

This is a quick visual representation of what makes me happy - things I love everyday - my home: the warmth, the light, the treasures, the art and craftsmanship in it and God's beauty surrounding it.
The creative talent that I am trying to follow and grow is my ability to paint. What inspires my painting? I pull from what surrounds me, usually right here in my home, when I begin a painting.

I delight and draw inspiration in the following:
God's beauty every single day, sunshine, clouds, sunlight, shadows, warmth, firelight, scents, snow, flowers, fall leaves
simplicity, quietness, organization
art, photography, clean design, colors, red things, the written word, book covers, music and CD covers
classic design, shaker furniture, vintage dishes, soft florals, warm woods
travel, new places
my daughter, family, friends, and everyday I am inspired by reading blogs, visiting etsy, and flickr
I could continue to add to this list all day but these were the first things that came to my mind.

I have been surrounded by creative inspiration all of my life, specifically in my own family. My mother is a still life, landscape and portrait painter, a carver, a quilt maker, a doll maker; my dad is a furniture maker, a toy maker, a blacksmith and iron metal craftsman, a baker; both of my brothers share the same talents; my younger brother is a medical illustrator. Of course they are much more than these things but in the artist realm they can do all things and do them well. So it wasn't any surprise that I would go in to an art field of some sort. By profession I am an art director but for pleasure I am a painter, potter, weaver, and jewelry maker. Of course it wasn't a shock when my daughter decided she wanted to go into the arts as well. She is very talented and I feel has a more creative mind than I do. She is just in her 2nd semester of college - her main focus going in was photography but she has found that she is very good at drawing as well. I am inspired by her and look forward to seeing where she will go with her talent.

Today I made space for just me. I stayed at home and really looked around me and through my photographs and pictures I have pulled off the internet - what am I drawn to and why? Then I figured my home must represent a lot of what makes me happy so I created the little collage of home. But of course I am inspired beyond home. I am inspired by all of you ladies out there who are doing wonderful things with painting, photography, the written word, baking, housekeeping, and parenting. You keep me focused and give me a sense of accountability to do my best and keep at it. Thank you.

secret #1

2009-01-14T14:56:00.000-08:00

This is the post I wrote a couple of days ago and then hesitated - decided not to post. Now I'm posting as part of the group. The first step - acknowledging my creative self

i'm a painter and i have a unique style of my own

A few months ago I was invited to participate in a community auction/fund raiser. I felt honored to be a part of this 20th Anniversary Gala event. When I was asked to paint a small painting (all artist had to paint on the provided 5" x 7" canvas) I thought, "well that won't take much time" so I put it off until the last minute. (I have a bad habit of procrastinating).
To me one of the hardest parts about the painting is coming up with the idea and setting up a still life that will make an interesting painting. A pretty photograph doesn't always make a great painting wouldn't you agree? I knew I had to keep this painting pretty simple so I decided I would just do paint a still life and use the lemons and cranberries that I had on hand. So I set up a still life and took pictures - I took lots of pictures and rearranged items to see what worked best.

I tried variations on this

and this

But I ended up with this (taken of the painting before completion).

I'm told my paintings have a sort of trademark style - odd perspective of sorts. When I first showed the painting to my brother he said, "yep, classic L style". Even my college professor told me I had a unique style - at the time I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. I guess I really do tend to paint at an odd perspective, many times from above, and that's ok. Here is the painting I submitted a couple of years ago for our community auction. See what I'm talking about?

In contrast this painting was very large - 40 x 30. I really want to make it goal of mine to do more of these large paintings and use a palette knife like I did on this one. It was a lot of fun. Now that I have the time and more freedom (daughter off at college) this is my goal - start immediately and do another one very similar to what I just painted at 7" x 5" and paint it 40" x 30".

acknowledging my creative self

2009-01-14T08:27:00.000-08:00

I just found out about this book blogging group and I am so excited to join it. However, I can't immediately post about Secret #1 - "Acknowledging Your Creative Self" because I'm at work. It's funny, just 2 days ago I almost posted about a painting I recently completed and then hesitated and decided not to post. Hopefully the support of fellow artists will help me feel free to share my creative self more often and be inspired to create daily.

I plan to post tonight when I get home but I wanted to go ahead and join in.

I look forward to joining you all on this journey.

Christmas memories

2008-12-23T16:43:00.000-08:00

circa 1969
Check out the style here - saddle shoes, walabees, crochet poncho, and wow that's some big collar on my shirt. pretty funny stuff. That's the blacksmith shop in the background where my dad made all sorts of iron tools and latches and hooks, etc.

We had many wonderful memories/ traditions at Christmas time when I was growing up. My dad likes to do every thing the colonial way. One of the things I especially enjoyed was making our own candles. He would build a fire outdoors and hang a big iron kettle over it filled with wax and we would dip our string in the wax, walk around the fire pit and then dip again, going round and round until we had a sizable candles. And sometimes to warm our hands we would stick our hands in the wax and then let it cool and see who could create the best finger mold. We burned a lot of candles in the house at Christmas time so we made quite a production of this. One year we were even featured in the paper because of all the traditional activities we did at Christmas time - baking gingerbread men in hand carved molds, even roasted a pig one year (that's quite a story - raising a pig in the middle of a prominent sub division). We lit candle bags made from brown paper sacks filled with sand and placed them all the way up the driveway lighting the way for our guests each year - we had a long driveway so it was very pretty; we used all fresh greenery up the banister and mantel - went out and shot mistletoe out of trees for decoration - to hang in the doorway. Back then my brothers would shoot it out of the trees with a BB gun and I would tie bows on bunches and we would sell it in the neighborhood . Every Christmas Eve we would eat clam chowder that dad had cooked over the fire place along with Smithfield ham and biscuits when we got back from church. And THEN after dinner we would open gifts from each other before going off to bed. So many nice memories. We do things much simpler now but I'm glad Dad, and Mom, taught us some of the traditional ways of the colonial days.

I love going home at Christmas. My parents home radiates with warmth and love. There are so many wonderful decorations - German Nutcrackers, and German Smokers; hand crocheted snowflakes in the windows, handmade dolls, and Santa dummy boards all made by Mom - every where you look - something interesting.

They don't make the candles anymore or put the candles bags up the driveway but we still have clam chowder and Smithfield ham and biscuits on Christmas Eve and they still hang my first stocking. When I was born (in Nov) they placed me inside the stocking and my brother, who was 3 at the time, was dressed as Santa Claus posed for a Christmas photo . I peepeed in the stocking and the stain still remains (luckily it was on the back, but it was a felt stocking that couldn't be washed). The story has been told to every boy friend I ever had.

Santa over the years

2008-12-22T21:30:00.000-08:00

1962 - me and my brothers with Santa

1992 - my daughter with Santa

2008 - my niece and nephew with Santa

The tree is complete

2008-12-17T22:19:00.000-08:00

oh so pretty. good kodi, just look and admire, don't touch.

no, no! I said NO touching.

This is just what I thought might happen, so the few fragile ones we hung went at the top

and the non-breakable ornaments went down low - like these paper ball ornaments we made together several years ago (made out of old Christmas cards)...

...and a lot of these croqueted snowflakes my mom made for each of us one year. I put these on last and to me it completes the tree.

Well next the last.

My forest angel goes on last. Taylor had to put her on for me - she's much taller than I am.
And now we have completed the decorating of our tree and can sit back and enjoy : )

special surprise

2008-12-15T18:56:00.000-08:00

I was one of the lucky recipients of Vanessa Ann's giveaway. I love getting mail and especially nice packages. Vanessa Ann made these cute little votive candle holders and it just so happens that the fabrics she chose to put on them goes in my bedroom. I wanted to show you how cute they are (i need white candles to put in them, but i only had green). You should check out the other clever items she has on her etsy site. Thank you Vanessa Ann!

Transforming the home

2008-12-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

I think I got a pretty good tree this year - still bare - waiting on Taylor to get home for the decorating.

I love this season - the decorating, the music, the Christmas cookies and hot wassail, the warmth of the fire and the glow of Christmas lights, the laughter and closeness of family gathered together.

This is very special piece my mom gave me when T was just a baby - it looked just like T with her curly red hair. And a family portrait that I have always loved - the capture before my younger brother got in the frame. If you look at it you will see every one is looking in a different direction - I love it.

A few corners of home have been transformed into their Christmas glory. The house seems warmer with all the red and "green"ery placed about. There is nothing I like better than to have the Christmas lights glowing and a fire burning and to just lie by the warmth of the fire and escape - just slow down - for a few minutes - reminiscence... reflect on all that is good.

Here stands a Santa that my mom carved and painted for me and a little clay dog I made when I was young, along with my collection of little Christmas books and a german snowman piece.

And a there is a special spot in the corner cabinet for the snowbabies that T gave me every year for my birthday until I had to tell her to stop because there was no more room on their playground.

Creative portrait

2008-12-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

If you've read my blog in the past you've probably seen some of Taylor's "Alice in Wonderland" series she did her senior year for her photo final. This was one of the photos I took of her in our backyard as she was trying out the positioning and props for her final photos - she later used a tripod in a wildflower field we found down by the river. At the last minute she rigged the flamingo to look as if he was pulling her sash which I think adds a lot of character to the photo. I love the movement and emotion in this photo as "Alice" gets frustrated with the flamingos during the croquet game.
I show it to you because I am very impressed with what she is doing with it now. She was given the assignment to do a "creative" self portrait in her drawing class and she chose this photo to work from. I'm impressed with her interpretation of it and her great sense of design and addition of bold flowers. It's clear she didn't just copy the photo. I love the way she treated her eyes, making them larger than life, exaggerating the expression of annoyance. Even the flamingo pulling her sash has a look of mischief in his eyes, and to me the other one has a look of arrogance. I think, all together, this piece is brilliant - vibrant colors and strong composition and design - but that's just a proud mom talking. I can't wait to see it in person.

And the winner is...

2008-11-25T21:38:00.001-08:00

Actually there are 3 winners. I decided to choose a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner.

1st place winner is : Bermudabluez She will receive the set of cards, a set of bookmarks and a Christmas notebook (which by the way I never posted a photo of - so sorry)

2nd place goes to Sew Fab Martha She will receive a set of bookmarks and a notebook

3rd place goes to Betsy and she will receive a Christmas notebook

I want to thank all of you for playing along for the little giveaway. I had many new visitors. For me it's hard to choose just one gift that means the most to me, but you all seemed to have no problem. I really enjoyed reading about all of the special gifts - so many thoughtful gifts given and received. And after I posted this last week I realized I never did tell you about one of my favorite gifts.

Initially I was going to tell you about this special wooden Elephant from Germany.
My older brother lived in Berlin for several years and one summer my mom and I went to visit him. While there we did some shopping, of course, and I fell in love with this rather large children's pull toy. But I didn't even have a child and it was much too expensive for me to buy, plus it was way too heavy to be carrying back on a plane. A couple of years later my brother came home and by this time I had a little baby girl. He had bought the elephant toy for her (well, me really) and hand carried it on the plane with him back home. As Taylor got older she named the elephant Eleance. (don't ask me why). I still treasure it to this day. I think it's a beautiful crafted toy to be handed down from generation to generation.

But I also have to tell you about my most recent (and wonderful) gift received. I received for my birthday this year, from my whole family, money to attend a week long art camp at the John Campbell Folk School. I have been wanting to do this for so long and now I can. The school has been around since 1925 and they offer everything from Basketry to Woodturning and so many in between. The hard part will be deciding what to take. I think I would like to try something I have never tried a hand at. One man wrote, " The week I spent there is about as close as it gets to my idea of paradise." I can't wait to go.

another self portrait challenge

2008-11-20T14:09:00.000-08:00

Shutter Sisters - self-portrait photo challenge - go outside, hold your camera down a bit and capture a shot of yourself with the sky as your backdrop. Then point your camera down and capture your feet on the ground. Put the images together to create a lovely diptych that reveals a small, telling moment in your day.
I'm a day late on this challenge but fortunately I had a vacation day to day and could use the daylight hours to participate in the challenge. And let me tell you - it WAS a challenge. I must have taken over 20 shots. Pointing down for the feet was easy but the pointing the camera upward at the face - not a flattering angle - was not so easy. For one thing you can't look through the viewfinder to see what you're getting but the main thing was that angle. I'm glad I'm short so no one has to look at me from that angle. However, trees are beautiful from that viewpoint and I finally got something acceptable.
I stood in the exact spot to look down and to look up. I knew when I read about that challenge of just where I wanted to try it. I love this beech tree in my backyard. It tends to hold on the the leaves longer than any other and turn a beautiful golden yellow. But in this photo you can only see the green leaves that remain on the lower half of the tree - the top leaves have turned a golden color.

I also took one later in today and here is how it turned out.

Happy Birthday Giveaway

2008-11-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be doing a giveaway. It's my birthday and I want to be the one giving the present. It's the first time I've done this so forgive me if I mess up in posting of the procedures.

It should be simple.

Just post a comment here and tell us "what was your favorite gift given or received?"

To earn an extra 5 entries, take a photo from here and post it on your blog with a link and let me know you have posted it.

The cut off is Nov.23th and I will announce the winner on Nov. 26th so that I can mail out the gift as soon as possible.

Oh, the gift... You will receive a set of 6 Christmas Cards (6 different designs), one Christmas notebook for keeping track of cards sent, gifts given or gifts received (whatever you want to do with it) and a set of bookmarks (4 bookmarks - each including the 3 months of a season (winter, spring, summer and fall) on one side and a seasonal collage on the other)

The card set has 6 different designs tied together with matching envelopes with a little twine and 2 tiny pine cones

The bookmarks are 2 x 6 and come in a set of 4 - each representing the season with the corresponding months on the back. Use one for 3 months, throw it away and begin using a new one when the season changes - bookmarks for a year of reading.

Sorry the color is a little off in these bookmarks. It's late and I don't want to redo it right now. I also forgot to post the little notebook. I'll do that tomorrow.

hope this will be fun.

fun with Evee

2008-11-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

want to play?

sit.

ready?

fetch!

good dogs

food in photos

2008-11-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

Shutter Sisters has a post today about food photography. Well, I am certainly not a food photographer but I do have a tendency to take photos of my Saturday morning breakfast. I think it's because I like my bowls - it's not so much about the food.
Anyway here are a few.

Kashi

Kashi with blueberries before the soy milk

and a boiled egg - i love the color in this one

You'd think I had a real healthful diet but I don't. I eat things like this.

and this

in fact I would prefer to skip right to the dessert many times.

happy love thursday

2008-11-06T22:43:00.000-08:00

The heart shaped redbud leaves and blue juniper berries inspired this card. In the language of trees, the juniper means "perfect loveliness"

Seems way too early to think about Valentines Day, but with a winter festival I think it's something I need to offer. Plus, you can say "I love you" any time right? These definitely aren't your typical Valentine cards anyway (this set include 5 different designs).

Photography creates a bond

2008-11-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

At 16, when my daughter wanted to try selling her work in festivals we worked together to make it happen. She went on to do 5 festivals and has had a solo show at a local Starbucks. Working together to make these happen as been a real bonding experience. As she began doing more conceptual photography there was no limit to her imagination and making it all happen became an exciting challenge - one we put our creative minds together on. Her ideas would spur an idea in my mind and back and forth working together we would make it fantastic - searching out props and locations to create what she had in her mind. These projects have created a unique bond (we work so well as a team) and brought us so close together - the adventures we have together while doing it are memories that will last a life time. Typically I am just the "camera boy" holding all of her equipment, handing her a lens to change, lugging the tripod and bags around. But that's fine with me it gives me great pleasure to be a part of this "photography" world of hers.

The above photoshoot was done at Hilton Head Island on her spring break. A dreary, gray day turned in to one of the most exciting adventures. We went to a local Salvation Army and she bought this wedding dress for $20 , went down to the beach, changed in to the dress (not caring about the onlookers), set up her tripod and starting shooting away. She took a ton of photos and got several very usual images for what she was invisioning based on the poem "Annabelle Lee"

here's mine

2008-11-03T05:56:00.000-08:00

Self-portrait that is . Not a well-executed one - more impulsive (in response to Kate at Shutter Sisters). This is the reflection in the gazing ball in my backyard. I sort of like it, plus it hides the facial wrinkles that I am becoming very aware of lately. I have been trying to get a self-portrait that I'm happy with but I just haven't gotten it yet.

I guess this one is acceptable enough to post. I really, really do not like photos of myself - I have a hard time acting completely natural. I tend to have a wide-eyed look and I'm stiff or something. Anyway, I'll keep working on it.
My daughter, on the other-hand, is a natural at taking self-portraits. She knows how to look into the camera and be expressive. She plays around with self-portraits all the time and gets some very good ones. Maybe it has something to do with age I don't know.

"Beauty......should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." ~1 Peter 3:3-5
thank you

warmth of home

2008-11-02T17:49:00.000-08:00

ShutterSisters asked us to share photos of home in order to be entered in a drawing. I love photos of home interiors. I enjoy seeing other blogger's living space - so many live in seemingly idyllic homes - all clean and neatly decorated. It's just so interesting - it's like you're invited in over the internet. I tend to pull out the camera when I see a beautiful pattern of sunlight coming across the room. These are just a few of them.

making headway

2008-10-31T19:08:00.001-07:00

This is just one of many scannography images I put together today for the festival. I started thinking Christmas - I can't believe I had left that out of the mix of images to offer - especially for cards. I got inspired when I found my box of stamps I had been collecting for years and years. I had a real collection of stamps when I was a child - you know the kind you send for from all over the world and put in a book? I don't know where that collection is now, but the ones I do have are the ones I've actually received on letters, some from other countries like Germany, France and England, and of course many Christmas stamps.

You can't imagine how excited I was to find these. You should see all the different "love" design stamps I have. Letters in the mail are rare these days much less with decorative stamps on them. Does anyone else save the stamps off of their letters?

Halloween's past

2008-10-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

Please sir posted about memorable Halloween costumes and also has some photos of some fastastical costumes you should check out. She told about her favorite when she was Pippi Longstockings. I always loved reading about Pippi's adventures when I was growing up so with a red head daughter how could I not dress her up as Pippi for Halloween. These are poor photos but they still hold the memories.

So I made her this costume when she was 8. I thought she was the perfect Pippi. (sorry Taylor, you're going to be pretty embarrassed about this post - because I found some great stuff hunting for this photo -haha)

She always loved playing the classic cat,

and as she got older, the classic witch.

Taylor loved to dress up, as every child does. You're lucky I don't have time - I'd find more. I think she still likes dressing up. In fact, I believe she's going to be Little Red Riding Hood this year (with a twist of course - wearing a red hoodie)

a natural vision

2008-10-27T19:51:00.000-07:00

Stephanie Roberts at ShutterSisters had a great post today about defining what our natural vision in photography is - how would we articulate it. Well I am not an eloquent a writer, as many of you are, but I did like pondering that question in my mind.
I think I would say my vision is to see the small picture instead of the large picture - to focus in on the sometimes ignored. I love reflections and shadows and the little details that tell the story of the whole. I see beauty in the very simple.

It's a good thing to think about and examine as we shoot - why exactly we find certain things interesting to photograph.

I know that this isn't fabulous photography but it is an indication of what captures my attention so it must speak to my "natural" vision - good or bad.

delicate pink

2008-10-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

Jessica, I would have a really hard time saying which one I like the best (see comment in previous post). But this little pink- stemmed flower is so delicate and I love the curve of it. The other items I really like are the dried pods of various types. The leaves are amazing - they look like they've been painted with water colors. I can't wait to scan those in. What did you have in your mind that I would like most?

bountiful

2008-10-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

The kindness that is shown here through this virtual world astounds me. I had posted a blog a week or so ago expressing my frustration in finding fall leaves for a project I am working on and Jessica was kind enough to offer to send some from her town of Boone, NC. Isn't that the most amazing offer of kindness? But the thing is she went beyond simply gathering some leaves from her yard, she went on a dedicated nature walked and looked for special things that she felt I would enjoy and be able to use.

I got a large box filled with all sorts of interesting wildflowers, dried pods, weeds and colorful leaves. I was so upset that I didn't take a picture before I pulled everything out because Jessica had wrapped separate little bundles in fall colored tissue paper - wish you could have seen it. I have no idea what they all are - but they are wonderful. I have been scanning away all day.

Jessica thank you so much for this bountiful package, it is appreciated more than you know.

field of goldenrod

2008-10-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of the images - it's not the best, but I'm too tired to go through them all now.
Goodnight all.