Posts Tagged ‘Photography’

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Bliss: The Highest Degree of Happiness


2010
06.12

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Posted in General, Photography | 1 Comment »


The Creative Every Day challenge for June is Bliss. (To learn more about this challenge click on the button on the sidebar.) Leah, who runs this blog, tells participants to completely ignore the theme, touch on the theme, adhere to the theme – lots of possibilities.  I frequently ignore the theme, but it’s a good mental exercise to think about these things once in a while.

I started thinking about bliss.  My first thought was it’s a scary word.  BLISS implies something big, something huge.  I think of Buddha, in the highest state of being, unruffled and untroubled, in a state of bliss.  The highest degree of happiness.  But in that happiness, you are so serene that you don’t need to define your state as bliss.  And it’s a constant state.  If you are always at that high, sustained level, the need to define the concept at all is irrelevant.  You are.

I know bliss as a small word, a lower-case word.  I don’t want to worry about achieving this elevated state of being; I just want to live with CSI – something I talked about in the post on courage.  And no, it’s not the crime show – for me, CSI is continuous self-improvement.  Maybe with enough of it, I’ll be in a state of BLISS, but now, my bliss is simpler,  composed of moments.

Being in a state of bliss may be akin to a state of grace.  I felt I was in a state of grace a few times, and I’m quite sure I can’t describe it.  I just knew it. It’s a sustained high level.  Maybe my bliss is just moments of happiness.

I pulled a few photos out of recent albums to illustrate what bliss is, at least for me.  Part of my bliss is being able to take photos.  Pictures tell the story.

Going outside today to take a look at the pond (I think I look for frogs as much as the cats do), I saw our first water lily.  It was incredibly exciting – a very small but very blissful moment.  You can dig deeper into it, however, extracting the pure bliss in seeing the wonders of nature – the complexity of flowers – shells – trees; the intrigue of the forest; the stillness of the desert.  Sometimes, when I’m in the mountains or at the beach and see something of extraordinary beauty, it’s too much to contain and I well up inside, shedding perhaps a tear or two.  Or more.  My dad understands this – it happens to him also.

My daughter sent this the other day.  Finally, in Colorado, it’s warm enough to bring out the wading pool.  Just seeing my beautiful, innocent, happy granddaughter is blissful.  The innocence hurts, but I know she’ll be ok when the day comes – that day that she discovers all is not well in the world.  But for now, what more can you ask for? Family, children, the blossoming of hope and love – it’s just doggone blissful.

This grainy cell-phone photo is on the top of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.  The bar revolves.  That’s me, two of my grandkids, and my dear friend Michael.  That’s bliss – being able to have friends like Michael, share experiences (we’d all been at the Black Eyed Peas concert).  Out of everyone I know, Michael is the closest to reaching the state of BLISS.  He truly is one with the universe, and I’ve learned much from him.  It’s also amazing and a little surreal that we can do things like stay at the Bonaventure, go to concerts, head out to Las Vegas for soccer tournaments, and order seven desserts for five people at a Japanese restaurant.  Food IS bliss.

The big sky days we’ve had in abundance this year in Bakersfield leave me in a state of pure, unadulterated bliss.  In fact, I’m thinking how to describe the feeling and I can’t – it approaches BlIsS.

This is a moment of bliss.  It’s my youngest daughter and her children with Jose, her ex-husband.  Lots of unpleasantness led up to their divorce, but it’s nothing less than blissful to me that they can come together as a family for Dax’s graduation, all smiles for the photo.

I gave a graduation party for Daxton.  The surprise guest was her eighth-grade language arts teacher, who had to stop teaching for medical reasons and couldn’t finish the year.  Pat and I have been friends forever.  Look at Dax – if that isn’t bliss, we’ll have to redefine the word.

This is my oldest daughter and her husband.  She earned her Master’s Degree last week.  But the smile isn’t just for that.  She and Matt are so in love that it’s almost painful.  He’s so tender with her and she with him, as they attend endless soccer games and raise great kids, that they are in a state of bliss – whether they know it or not  Which makes me feel overwhelmed with happiness.  Bliss.

Here’s some of the grandkids and friends in the casita, their little hide-out at our new house.  It astounds me that they all get along all the time and actually have fun together.  I think this makes me happiest of all – having the family love and like each other, through hardship and happiness.  It’s bliss.

More bliss – Jennifer’s graduation party.  How amazing is it to have a house like we do, be able to have abundant food, abundant laughter, fun, friends and family.  Bliss.

My parents at our house.  Mom’s 87, Dad’s 92.  Mom may repeat the same thing five times in a row, and laugh when she can’t remember the name of something (not realizing she can’t remember the name of almost anything), and Dad naps more than he’s awake.  But they are alive, healthy more or less, happy, and in love.  Married I think 68 years, they love each other more than ever.  This, to me, qualifies as bliss.

It’s total bliss to see something unexpected that takes your breath away – like this moon.  It’s blissful to not lose the sense of wonder.

That’s Jennifer, me and my friend Wendy. Wendy’s more than a friend, really – she and her husband and kids are family. We almost lost Wendy.  A couple of years ago she developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and our world collapsed.  Life without Wendy was inconceivable to all of us.  She calls her experience with lymphoma and a stem-cell transplant her journey to the 8th continent.  The bliss in this story overflows into gratitude, happiness, thankfulness – for Wendy, for medical care, for the sheer will to live.

This is bliss – four generations: three on the couch and the fourth behind the camera.

This, too is bliss.  Not just the visit from my wonderful friend William, but just being able to have a friend like William.  There’s 43 years difference in our ages.  But because of Michael, who taught me to be open to what crosses my path, and Ray Bradbury, who told me he didn’t consider it odd at all to have a friend so much younger, and because of my family who understand and don’t draw borders and boundaries to fence people in or out, I can have a friend like William.  All of the above are reasons for bliss.

Bliss.  Blissful and happy that we can afford vacations, bliss induced by the ocean, sand and sky, and bliss that we’ve been married 42 years.  We were laughing tonight, watching an ad for eHarmony.  I said we should register and see if we came up as matches for each other.  Mark said we probably wouldn’t, and he’s right.  But – we share the same values, and they are what keep us together.  Commitment, trust, respect, caring, and truthfulness.  That’s what love becomes, after all.  With both sets of parents as examples, I think we were destined to stay together as a couple, and it hasn’t been hard.  Hasn’t always been easy -we’ve had bumps and it hasn’t been pure bliss, but the concept is – the concept of a committed marriage.  With love.

I suppose my idea of bliss comes from family, friends, and nature.  If I can have this many moments in just the last four months or so, I may be closer to BLISS than I thought.  For now, I’ll take it in the lower case.

One last source of bliss – art.  Tonight I did a couple of still lifes – set them up and photographed them.  They came together quickly – by all appearances – but so much of the preparation is mental, running in the background, figuring it out, thinking, contemplating, that just the doing of the piece is almost incidental.  In fact, I was reading an article in the tub (I always read in the bath tub) about a retrospective of the artist Yves Klein.  Klein believed the idea behind the work was more important than the execution, according to TIME art critic Richard Lacayo.  Klein said, “My paintings are the ashes of my art.”

I had done the collage in the background but wasn’t entirely satisfied.  So today I put this rooster in front of it and photographed it.  This I like.  It’s called Rooster.  For now, anyway.

I jumped up to make this still life because of a beautiful purple turnip.  The turnip may not be evident in the finished product, but it was the catalyst.  You’ll all be glad to know that all the produce in this photo is organic and local.

So that’s it -moments of bliss that are compounded by the abundance of it all.  Little bites of bliss.  And now, I am in a state of blissful fatigue, and I’m going to bed.


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Looking for hair in all the wrong places… (and a couple of odds and ends)


2010
06.07

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Posted in Art, Photography | 2 Comments »

I wanna talk about me

Wanna talk about I

Wanna talk about number one

What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want , what I see

Wanna talk about hair.

(So Toby Keith doesn’t say the hair part.  Sorry, Toby.)

Let’s talk about ME first: the odds and ends, before I get into the distressing subject of hair.

Odds and Ends One: the Kaiser Show

Kaiser Permanente asked the Arts Council of Kern to hold a juried show, and from the works accepted, Kaiser would purchase some to hang in their new building in downtown, Bakersfield.  I almost didn’t enter, then thought photographs printed on canvas would be a winning combo.  And it was!  They purchased all three of my works- hip, hip, hooray!  Gosh it feels good to sell something, even if I barely recouped my costs.  I think this was fantastic of Kaiser to do for the community.

I did a triptych of poppies:


I cropped this poppy into a square and then flipped it.  So each end had a poppy leaning out of the triptych, and in the center there was a similar poppy but straight up.  They looked phenomenal printed on canvas.

Then I submitted two that were about 18×30:



Odds and Ends Two: Etsy

I don’t know about Etsy.  With so many wonderful hand-crafted articles out there, it seems awfully hard to carve out a market share.  I’ve sold a few photos, which is nutty because they look gorgeous printed on Velvet Fine Art paper, especially for the price.  So I’m trying something new – note cards.  I had some made for a trial run and they’re quite nice, so if they don’t sell, I’ll have some note cards.  If you want to take a look, there’s a link on the sidebar.  If you have any Etsy advice and are willing to share, please do!

And now, for the main event:  Wanna talk about HAIR

And I’m not talking about the musical.  I’m talking about us, in particular, women of a certain age. I’m talking gray. This is a vexing issue.  First, let’s just dispense with the dye question.  Without whatever color it is my stylist puts on my hair (it gets a lot of compliments), I’m quite sure I’d be gray.  I don’t think I’m ready to be gray yet, BUT…I’m starting to wonder what it would look like instead of rejecting the idea out of hand.  That must mean something.  I’d save so much money ($85 every four weeks), and I wouldn’t be putting chemicals on my head, close to my brain, so often.  Chemicals can’t be good.

Looking for hair in all the wrong places: Cue music (and apologies to Waylan Jennings)

I was looking for hair in all the wrong places
Looking for hair, on my head, not my face
Searching with my eyes, looking for traces
Of what…. I used to have on my head.
Hopin’ to find some growth and some color
God bless the day I discover
A thick head of hair…on my head. (end song)

Yes, the hair on our heads gets thinner as we age.  Can’t just pull it into a ponytail without artfully arranging it, or else bald spots will show.  Best to just wear it down.  BUT the ultimate insult is, while we are straining to fine enough hair on our head for some sort of style, it’s growing everywhere else! In all the wrong places.

This was demonstrated to me the last time I had my eyebrows waxed.  I mostly keep them up myself, but once in a while a wax is in order.  So I’m lying there, and the esthetician approaches me with scissors! While my head of hair is thinning, my brows are growing longer.  Great. I suppose men with bushy eyebrows are acceptable, but I can’t have them sticking up all over the place.

So now I have to trim my EYEBROWS.  And buy eyebrow wax to smooth them down.

Magnifying mirrors are a must.  Now and then, a stray hair will grow on my chin, under my chin, or at the side of what I suppose I need to call a moustache.  Sometimes it’s white, sometimes gray, always bristly.  Every morning I inspect my face for stray long hairs where they oughtn’t be.  Those suckers grow fast.

Finally, oh my, the esthetician waxed my moustache AND my NASAL hair.  It gets longer too.

This is some kind of perverse joke on us.  Hair growth goes haywire.  Hairs Gone Wild might be a popular video for the over 60 crowd.

There you have it.  Hair. In all the wrong places.




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Confessions of a Photo Junkie


2010
05.27

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You know who you are because your camera is your fifth appendage.

You have a running battle with yourself when you consider leaving the house without it. It’d be nice just to take a quick walk through the forest without the camera around my neck.  But what if I see a bear? I’ve never seen a bear, why should I see one now? Actually, my chances are probably better without the camera.  And I leave the house with your camera around your neck.  And walk through the forest, and I don’t see a bear.

But you DO see a red-breasted nuthatch!

You decide to drive down the hill to Kernville for lunch.  You’re tired of being cooped up in the cabin working on art, which is hard work.  It’s a scenic drive, so of course you take the camera even though you’re not in a picture-taking mood.  You stop once because it’s an incomparable view, but it never looks the same out of the car.  You even know the picture won’t be any good.

Of course, you completely forget your small ladder is in the back just so you can regain the height you lost stepping out of the car.

You have the realization, which you’ve had before but you’re having it again, that all your photos are taken from the perspective of someone 5’ 2”.  You decide to recruit people of all different heights ( i.e. family) to take the same picture at the same time and then compare perspectives.  You can’t stop thinking pictures.

You stop one more time on a wide pull-out  because, be honest, it’s hard to pass a pull-out and not stop because if you don’t you’re always fighting the battle with yourself.  Maybe I should have stopped.  Should I go back? What did I miss?

This time, though, you see a dead skunk.  Yes, you actually consider whether or not to take a picture of it.  But then the skunk moves.  It’s alive, and it’s dying.  You know now that taking a picture is completely out of the question.  You watch as the skunk tries to move, raising its head and trying to pull itself forward with front paws.  You realize that its back end is injured, by a car of course (and you fervently hope it wasn’t on purpose), and you watch as that little animal valiantly tries to live while life is slowly ebbing away.

All you can think about on the rest of the drive is that skunk.

Finally you get to Cheryl’s Diner for the cheeseburger you’ve been thinking about.  You leave the camera in the car.  How could you possibly need a photo of Cheryl’s Diner?  (Except that driving home, you wish you had a picture of Cheryl’s Diner for the blog.) After lunch you walk along the Kern River, and now it’s all over.  The photo junkie takes over.

And after that first picture, that first click of the shutter, you’re doomed.  Doomed to take photo after photo of the same thing just in case one is better than the other.  You think, how many river pictures do I need, anyway, as you click away furiously.  You say I absolutely will not take a picture of the sky and clouds because I’m becoming a cloud freak. You say, there might be sky in this picture but really, it’s a picture of the river.  I know people are starting to laugh at me.  My 15-year-old granddaughter texts me when it’s a good sky day.  It’s out of hand.

But, you tell yourself, clouds are like deer.  No matter how many you see, the next one excites you.

So of course you take a picture.

And of course you take more than one.  Because you probably don’t have a picture of the clouds just so.  The shade of the blue sky might be slightly different.  That’s a different pattern.  You’ve never taken that photo that causes everyone to gasp when they see it.  Plus, you haven’t been in National Geographic yet.

You pass some yellow flowers thinking, I don’t think I’ve seen those yet this year.  But I have zillions of flower photos. You stop.

When you get home, the first thing you do is upload your photos.  You can’t wait to see them, although you just finished seeing the real thing.  You scrutinize each one, deciding which ones to discard, and you keep them all.  You just never know…

Yes, you’re a photo junkie, and for the photo junkies out there – you know exactly what I mean.


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The Shutter Clique: Oh Snap


2010
05.19

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Posted in Art, Photography | 2 Comments »


I know I’ve been saying for some time now that Bakersfield, CA is no longer a cow town. I’ve been talking about the burgeoning art scene – new galleries, First Fridays, and now something new (for me, anyhow) – The Shutter Clique! I can’t tell you much more about this group yet because my friend Terry Telford just told me about it.  Terry, whom I think I met on Twitter, can tell you anything about what’s going on.  She may not know it, but she’s my guide. I have a link to BakoArtistConnect on the sidebar – that’s Terry’s site, and also to Bakersfield Express, an online publication that covers the arts well.

Anyway, The Shutter Clique meets once a month for photo shoots, and last night we met at the old Woolworth’s store in downtown Bakersfield.  The Pink Ladies, who I think raise money for charity, volunteered to dress up and spend an hour or so, and a few kind folks brought their period cars.

What a whirlwind it was!  Speaking of whirlwinds, a photographer named Patrick Ang made a video of the whole thing – you can watch it here – and I think you should.  So entertaining.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million.  The woman in green at the beginning of the video is Jennifer Williams and she seemed to be in charge.  Perhaps she started the group.

So here we go.

Once we got started photographers were zooming around, getting shots from every angle.  It was like paparazzi.  And I had a rude awakening:  the only angle I could photograph from was the 5’2″ perspective.  Or straddle my legs like a tent.  It seems the getting up and down isn’t what it once was.

Great setting – I felt like I was in the movie Grease.  But – Sandy wouldn’t have recognized these ladies.  No skin-tight body suits for the Pink Ladies (ok guys, you have all seen Grease – right?)  In our day, we’re talking tats and piercings.

Oh the horror of it all – those 50′s parents would be shocked.  Of course, I have a tattoo also and soon I’m getting number two; plus we’re all parents, and we’re not shocked.

You know, I don’t even own a pair of glamorous shoes.  How I’d love to walk around in heels – but I’d fall over.  Age does take its toll.  I bet my Twitter friend Katherine has plenty of glamorous shoes.

The cars were really something. We were so proud of those automobiles – the bigger the better.

Gorgeous ladies – so nice to volunteer their time for us photogs.

Someone brought a very well-behaved dog.  This is my favorite picture of the batch.

You know, it was kind of funny being there.  My style of photography is slower and more deliberate.  I didn’t go popping around snap snap snap.  That’s not to say I won’t do that.  I’m going to learn so much from this group – watching them and looking at their photos.  There are always new ways to see.

I love how on my Canon 7D I can switch from color to black and white easily.

Even though the colors are popping, the black and whites seem more real.  I always marvel at that.

Ladies, let’s have some attitude.

And simple elegance.  Look at the fins on that Cadillac.  They went on for days.


Christina Sweet, who is multi-talented and very sweet, wants you all to know the cigarette is just a prop.  Hear that, kids?  I doubt that Christina’s kids will be reading my blog.

Me and my patterns – I like how the dress is reflected in the car.

So that’s it, folks.  My first go at this type of activity and it was great.  I am thankful, I mean really, deeply thankful, that there are younger people full of energy to get these kinds of groups going.

Coming attractions

Still have a post to write about the artisan fair at Caffeine Supreme, the Walk for the Arts, and the recent health fair.

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Elsewhere: Cloudarado, the Final Chapter (for now)


2010
05.14

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Colorado

Never did finish up on my visit.  Took photos of a few neat places in Paonia.  One is the underside of an outside awning on an old building.

The weathered wood has such great colors and textures.  Then add the brick in the next photo.

This next property you can own for $113,000.  For Harry Potter fans out there, the first thing I thought of looking at this was The Burrow.

The Burrow of course would be taller, but still – it’s the first thing I thought of.

If you want a really fine meal or the best cinnamon roll around, go to the Flying Fork.

And what artist wouldn’t want this as a studio?  I would love to be elsewhere when I work.

Remember the start of this visit? Snow, hail, the 50 mph windstorm,  freezing fog? It ended with Steve and Jackie mowing the lawn.

And it ended with dinosaurs.  Karen knows where all the best clearance sales are and I got this at the Walmart in Delta.  It’s amazing and I asked her to buy me one.  She’ll bring it next time she visits Cali.

Jack arranged his smaller dinosaurs in preparation for carnage.

We had one last walk outdoors.  Annabelle and Jackson carried on the motto the Bakersfield Six coined last year – why walk when you can run – uphill?

Cooper, however, is very determined about something.

It wouldn’t be Cloudarado without one final display.

Amazing colors.  And now – for some amazing rays

And now, I am too tired to continue. So say goodbye to Colorado for now.  Tomorrow I’ll bring you the next installment in the Case of the Damaged Toe, the pond and the frog, and my new blog design.

Now, to sleep, hit the hay, slumber, snooze, get 40 winks (why do I only get 40), and all that other sleepy stuff.  Night all.

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Don’t wait until you’re 63 to have kids, plus art journal entries


2010
05.01

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Intuition

Creative Every Day, a blog I follow, has a monthly theme.  May’s theme is Intuition.  Intuition, da da dum; intuition, da da dum.  From Fiddler on the Roof - “Tradition.” Always a song.

Here’s what I have to say about that (intuition).  I’ve been taking care of three grandkids for a couple of days and two nights – ages 2, 4, and 6.  It doesn’t take intuition to realize you shouldn’t wait until you’re 63 to have kids.

I’m doing fine but I realize that much longer and I’ll collapse.  We have kept up quite a pace but it’s better to be busy with small kids than leave them with too much time.  Especially when you aren’t the mom and don’t have a regular schedule.  Don’t need intuition to know that either.

So last night, after I did my post, we had a quick but intense hailstorm.  We ran out to experience it but didn’t take the time for shoes.  Shiver me timbers; it was cold.

Jackson also enjoyed the hail.

Those poor little tulips, that withstood snow a few days ago, now had to withstand hail.

We came in and put on a movie, but  Cooper was so tired from no nap that I put her to bed.  She was just collapsing on the sofa.

Saturday

Dawn’s cold but clear on Saturday morn,

A walk is called for.

Flakes come out of nowhere, but so what?

We soldier on briskly, even the smallest one.

Still smiling, I’ve mastered the art of cell self-portraiture.

Returning home, bobbling bobble heads beckon,

The frenzy of flying paint is ferocious.

Do you think we used too much?

How do you control three little ones at once?

Gramser has to rest.

Gramser has batteries to recharge.

Gramser is glad she had kids early.

The precious innocence of little ones is heartbreaking.

Afternoon

Go out to play.  Cooper’s napping.

With the imagination of small ones,

Umbrellas start marching out of the closet

One by one.

Of course, an umbrella fort.

Will it be strong enough to withstand stalking beasts?

Jackson all of a sudden becomes Christopher Robin.

Except his umbrella’s pink, not yellow.

Didn’t Christopher Robin have a yellow umbrella?

Cooper’s up.  Time for another activity.

We decorate the first letters of our names.

Thank God, or someone, for Michael’s craft stores.

I forgot to buy an S for Susan.  That’s me.

No matter, I’ll make a journal page with feathers.

Hard to herd two bags of feathers.

I knew it would be hard.

Bought them anyway.

Somehow we got through dinner and baths.

Dessert and snacks.

Laundry and dishes.

Floors and toys.

I am done for the day.

New Journal Pages

Desperate to be creative,

I create journal pages from my finger painting.

I don’t even care what it means

Or if it means anything

Or if it’s good or bad.

I wanted to do something.

Today I used the rest of the finger painting.

Today I used feathers.

Hope is the thing with feathers.

So says Emily Dickinson.

I’ve journaled that before.


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The day in the middle and a two-martini night


2010
04.19

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Saturday we went to Oceanside for the opening of Painting World War II: The California Style Watercolor Artists.  Today, Monday, we came to Beverly Hills for my husband’s follow-up appointments at Cedars Sinai (for his carcinoid, a neuroendocrine cancer).  Sunday was the day in the middle.

We started by going to the Flower Fields in Carlsbad.

Armstrong Nurseries grows ranunculus here and when they are in full bloom they open the fields to the public – for a charge.  It’s like a pumpkin patch but with ranunculus instead of pumpkins.

In May I guess they let the flowers die down and they harvest the tubers.  It’s an interesting enough deal if artificial.  The flowers are beautiful.

After eating lunch at Norte in Carlsbad,

we headed to the San Diego Botanical Gardens.

These were really cool.  Since we are going to be redoing the yard in our new house, we were interested in looking at plants.  We have several goals, or requirements:

  • no lawn
  • easy to maintain
  • drought tolerant
  • plenty of patio
  • an orange tree
  • a variety of color and foliage types

We like cacti so were particularly interested in those gardens.  Here are some interesting plants.  Or photos.

Yes it’s me.  Not that I’m particularly interesting, but I’m sitting in a cork tree.  Thinking of Ferdinand the Bull, one of my favorites from childhood.  I love how Ferdinand didn’t want to fight, but just sit under the cork tree and smell the flowers.

This isnt’ a plant, true.  It’s a lizard.  But I like how he’s intently reading the sign.

This is a Dragon Tree.  Wow, do you think I can get one of these in my yard?  Love this.

Now we do want some Queen Palms but no date palms.  However, I loved the way these looked – Rapunzul, Rapunzul, let down your hair.

I didn’t take a picture of the sign on this plant because of course I was going to remember what it was.  Hmmm.

This is a bunch of bananas waiting to break out.  I promise it’s not Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors.  Feed me.

We were confused here because it looked like the sign said this plant was dormant.  It looks pretty alive to me.

Finally, the most beautiful bamboo I’ve ever seen.  We know better than to plant bamboo, however.

Fun day which we finished with a two martini night.  We drove to Del Mar and had a basil martini (Opalescence) at L’Auberge, then dinner at Pacifico where I had a wonderful ginger martini.  Mmmmm lucky I wasn’t driving.  Can’t take too many two-martini nights.  I’d like to, though!


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Wildflowers: A Story of Spring and Renewal


2010
03.17

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Yesterday I talked about Kern County oil and agriculture as the base of our economy.  Today, wildflowers will tell a story of Spring.  Spring, in turn, tells a story of renewal, rebirth, and hope.  We all feel it.  As Spring approaches, the days get nicer, the trees and bushes start to hint of new green, but the first day that feels like Spring is different.  The air is balmy, we want to go outside, life is relaxed all of a sudden, and of course it stays light longer.

We’ve had such abundant rainfall here in Kern County so it’s a good year for wildflowers, one of the most exciting signs of spring.  Yesterday I took some wildflower photos on Highway 223, but today I drove up to Rancheria Road, one of my favorites.  Yesterday I tempted you with poppies.  Here’s another.

It was perfect lighting.  The trouble with nature is it doesn’t do what we want when we want.  Today, for example, it was hazy – not perfect conditions for wildflower photography.  But yesterday…

California Poppies are exciting.  When entire hillsides are covered and the sun is out, the landscape is ablaze.  Intense and fiery.

I’m not sure what these little flowers are, but they are always alone.

Today I set out again, this time to Rancheria Road.  This road goes from Highway 178 up to Highway 155 and comes out right near our cabin in Alta Sierra.  It’s still closed on our end though due to snow, so I couldn’t go all the way through.  And although there were flowers everywhere, it was so hazy.  C’est la vie.

So, yup, it’s me, trying to take a self-portrait that also has flowers in it.  It’s kind of weird, but then again so am I at times.

This little guy was so delicate and pretty.  Names? I really don’t know too many of the wildflower names, and whereas at one time I would have looked them all up and tried to remember, now I just enjoy them.  I have enough other stuff to remember.

Here’s my trusty Ford Escape Hybrid.  I love this car – the Awy Team (away team).  It’s a Star Trek license plate.  Did you see the college decal in the photo in yesterday’s post?

Looking closely, all kinds of little flowers show up.  Spring is a story of diversity.

They all mix together.  Spring is not only a story of diversity, it’s a story of inclusion.  Think how much calmer we would all be in this life if we could just open our arms and embrace inclusion.

Bringing a tripod would have made it a lot easier to include myself in photos, but this was a story of adventure.  And a story of “How Fast can Susan Move?”  Fast enough, as you can see next.

Haha – I didn’t even know when the camera went off but I made it.  Isn’t the landscape gorgeous? The rolling hills?  That’s the road down there.

Beautiful.  New growth, new color, and the seeds for next year’s growth.  Spring is indeed a story of renewal.

One more for today.  Tomorrow I should pack, but I have a feeling I’ll be heading up Hwy 155 to see what’s blooming up there.  I should visit my parents first, then I already know I’ll head for the hills.  Why fool myself?  Spring is a story of rebirth, renewal, diversity, inclusion, and adventure.  I have to get my adventures as they present themselves.

Who knows where the road will take me?  As I always say, if you come to a fork in the road, take it.

By the way, on my web page in the Floral Gallery, there are lots of photos of last year’s wildflowers on Rancheria Road.  Take a look – they are stunning.


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Party! Gimme Some Sugar Bliss, Plus New Photos up on Web Site


2010
03.13

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Posted in General, Photography | 1 Comment »


We have a party

Saturday at 9:25 pm. I am one exhausted person. Today we gave a bridal party for a dear friend and it was so much fun. So much work, but that’s what it takes to produce a party where people have a good time. I have to say – people, Bakersfield peeps listen up – I ordered cupcakes from Gimme Some Sugar -the party was Italian-themed so I asked if they could make tiramisu cupcakes.  Yes, they could.  And they did.  And we were in heaven.  My God, I hope they make this a standard item in their bakery because I’ve never tasted anything like these.  I have some left and just writing this makes me want to run downstairs and eat another one.  Who cares how many calories they have?

I didn’t cook my own food for this party.  When I asked my friend Shari if I could have a party for her and Mike, I didn’t know we were going to run out and buy a house! So I ordered the food from Luigi’s Deli here in Bako.  Fantastic.  Frankly, I don’t see any reason to cook if you can get stuff as good or better as you can make at home!

The day started out cool which necessitated a rethinking of how to set up.  But it all worked.  We had music – do you know that an accordion player is the best background music there is?  Richard Noel is the best.

Besides Richard, take a look at the wall colors.  These are our happy colors and we need to paint the new house the same way.

First,  you can see more wall colors.  Then, my wonderful friend Pat on the left.  We’ve done theater together, we taught together, we even shared a classroom one year.  In the middle is her daughter Janna, and next to her is Jessica.  Janna and Jessica have been friends with my youngest, Kim, since they were knee high to a grasshopper.  Almost.  There were in an entertainment group and spent many happy times with us.  I love the way life comes around and fragments of the past turn up again in the present.  Some ties can’t be broken no matter how much time goes by without visits.

Everyone is concentrating hard as we correct the Shari and Mike quiz – a list of about 40 statements that were true about Shari, Mike, or both of them.  We had fabulous prizes – only the finest from Ross!  Seriously, they were very cool, if not valuable.

That’s Mike,  me and Shari – there was a lot of fun and laughter as we went over this quiz.  And it turned out to be not only a fantastic party, but the weather improved and we had another beautiful big sky day on the lake.

Who will buy…new photos on the web site

Who will buy
Who will buy
This wonderful feeling?
I’m so high
I swear I could fly.
Me, oh my!
I don’t want to lose it
So what am I to do
To keep the sky so blue?

Remember the song “Who Will Buy” from Oliver?  Sometimes I wonder if anyone will ever buy photos from my web site, but you know what? I keep putting them there anyhow.  Have some new ones up.

Eight are in the Miscellaneous gallery.  Three are in the Floral gallery.  In the Nature gallery you’ll find fifteen new ones, and in the ART gallery there are six.

So that does it for this girl tonight.  Time to read a little Harry Potter for the zillionth time, and then sleep.  Another open house tomorrow.  I can’t wait to start leaving my toothpaste on the counter again!


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#CED2010: Home is Where the Art Is


2010
02.07

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Posted in Art, Photography | 4 Comments »

Thinking about home.  Thinking about art.  Realizing that for so many of us, home is where the art is.  Yesterday I wrote about chasing the cobwebs out of my mind by getting the space around me in order.  I spent lots of time ordering the studio and I posted pix of that yesterday.  Whollyjeanne made an interesting observation about that post – she says she has a notion that physical space is often a reflection of inner space.  I’ve never thought in those terms exactly, but it makes sense of course  – because if we are lucky, we arrange our physical space to be that in which we are comfortable observing and existing.  It goes even farther than that however, because I think our physical space can be a reflection of what we would like our inner space to be – or perhaps how we would like our outer life to reflect our inner space.

Our house has always been full of art – my dad’s art (he’s actually a famous artist), my mom’s art (quilting), and then whatever we could afford.  Which wasn’t a whole heck of a lot.  But honestly, our walls have no blank space – art is everywhere.  Yet there was none of my art because I wasn’t making any.  I was generating an income however I could for years, then teaching seventh-grade, and when I was 60, I retired. (Thank goodness my husband is still working because becoming an artist is expensive.).

That’s when my inner space synced with my physical space.  The art was always in me I guess.  Photography always, for sure.  But all of a sudden my inner space started erupting with creativity and I started creating collages from my photos.  The whole art thing is so exciting that I ran off in all directions at once, but recently realized I have to pull in and create using my photos, which is where I am strongest and where my “artistic” roots are.

So, yes, home is where the art is.  Here are two of the latest things I’ve done.  When I was snowed in at the cabin I finished these, but with the sadness of the last week I haven’t had time to post them yet.  At least I’m pretty sure I haven’t since I came home to all that turmoil during which photoshop decided to quit, etc.  In fact, these are not the best scans of these canvases because I have been having scanner problems, photoshop problems, computer problems, phone problems (not that that has anything to do with art), missing tripod-part problems – in other words, it’s been a messy week.

I posted a small study I did in my art journal but I knew it wouldn’t be the final form, and indeed it wasn’t – this is.  Most people don’t like this.  I do.  I forgot to put a second coat on the background (acrylic) so I rubbed pastel all over it and then put omni-gel over it all.  I took the photo of the cans in a little country store, the Twin Oaks General Store, in Twin Oaks – a very small community on Caliente Creek Road in Kern County.  Had never seen Popeye spinach and it just captured my fancy.  The orange circle, the bowl of peas, and Plenti Grand are from vintage fruit and vegetable crate labels.

The background photo for this collage is a stop along Interstate I70 - and the giraffe I actually took eons ago at the Santa Barbara Zoo.  I found this photo during the infernal and still unfinished photo-organizing project.  So I thought I’d move the giraffe to an unfamiliar location – his inner space and physical space are no doubt suffering a  disconnect.  Perhaps he’s longing for the familiar.  Then I added some art paper embellishments but I don’t like the way the pink meets, or maybe I do, so I’ll either fix it or I won’t.  How’s that for decisiveness?

So that’s it for Home is Where the Art Is – and I made a completely ungrammatical decision to capitalize the last I!  This construct of Creative Every Day and monthly themes is proving most productive – nice to give a direction for thoughts to roam.

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