Jan 13, 2017
Show notes texts goes here:
- important point here
- another topic here
- maybe a link over here
- just to give you an idea of what this could look like
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Jan 11, 2017
Nick is my navigator, but sometimes he puts too much faith in me as the driver. Like when we’re going anywhere other than work, I’m rambling away, driving on auto-pilot, making turns leading to Yonkers… I haven’t gotten any better, but he has.
“You know you’re turning here,” he’ll say whenever the blinker’s not on. Most often, no, I didn’t know. Or I did know, subconsciously, but that doesn’t mean I’d have made the turn.
I still slam on my brakes to turn onto our road at the last possible second. Sometimes I still make turns onto other roads by mistake. We’ve been living here for over a year and, yes, I still have problems finding my way home.
After one of these ridiculous instances, Nick said, “If I ever wanted to get rid of you, I could just drop you off somewhere 5 miles away, and you’d never find your way home.”
It’s silly but true, I guess I’m lucky he doesn’t want to get rid of me.
P.S. Doesn’t this photo look like a map? I have a few of these mappy abstracts coming up, and a bunch of silly stories to go with ‘em. Let’s call it a series within a series.
Did you know?
Patrons got to see this 2 days before anyone else, and that’s only the start of Patron perks!
Artsy Reflections started out as the Photo and 100 Words project back in 2014 – find out why I started it and how it evolved.
Jan 4, 2017
Finish the sentence: I suck at ______. What’s the 1st thing that comes to your mind?
Do you wish you didn’t suck at that thing? Have you ever tried to not suck at it? Can you attribute your suckiness to something someone told you?
For me, the things I’m so quick to dismiss as things I can’t do are often the things I wish I could do most of all.
I suck at singing.
I was 5 years old, sitting on the toilet, swinging my legs, and singing like no one was listening.
“You’re not on Broadway, you’re in the bathroom, Becky!
To be honest, I don’t remember exactly what my mother said. All I know is that I was made painfully aware that my singing was heard and not appreciated.
Maybe it wasn’t even an attack on my voice. Maybe someone just had to use the bathroom and I was taking too long… but I thought I sucked at singing for years afterwards.
That’s why I limited my urges to those times when I knew no one could hear me, but I never stopped. I sang in the car, when I was home alone, and every once in awhile, when the music was loud enough, I’d sing among close friends.
A few years ago, I was singing in the car with my friend Dominique. She told me I had a pretty good voice and suddenly 20+ years of doubt melted away. I can’t explain why I needed validation to do something that brought me joy, whether I sucked or not, but I’m grateful my friend helped me see a little bit of my gold.
The gold found in this photo was reflected into a silver lined bottle and wrapped in wire very similar to a chain link fence. (See that vague outline of the wire in the foreground?) Sometimes you can’t cut down the barrier that blocks you from getting to your gold, but you can look through the gaps… and as you focus on the gold, you’ll find that your barriers start to fade away.
Dec 21, 2016
Six years ago I was a failed journalist, bartending and waitressing to pay off my student loan debt. I had a laptop, a camera, and a new dream. I thought hard, and daydreamed a lot, about my business name.
Back then, I wanted a label, I wanted to seem bigger than I was. Using the pronoun “we,” whether it was for my blog, a podcast, or a Facebook ad, always felt so wrong. Like I’m inventing an imaginary staff to make me feel more important.
Back then, I was still afraid to call myself a photographer; now, I have the audacity to call myself an artist.
I am not a corporate office with too many synchronized office chairs, time sheets, and meetings about meetings. I am a real person, and I let my feelings influence everything I do.
I present rebekahnemethy.com! Reflectivephotos.net is not totally gone, the url still works and redirects to the new one, and you will continue to see the old logo here and there. But the best part is, now I have a place to share everything I do, because everything I do will always be me. (Shout out to Deb Ozarko for logo design and tagline genius!!)
So what have I been doing?! I’ve always wanted to paint for charity, and it just so happens that HeARTs Speak’s annual fundraiser is going on right now. HeARTs Speak is the organization that feeds my soul, and they are the inspiration behind so much of what I do for animals.
So, for every donation of ANY AMOUNT, I’m giving away original art in the form of tiny paintings. Pictured are 10 that you can choose from, and if more than 10 of you donate, I’ll make more paintings. The 1st to give are the 1st to choose, so act now! https://www.crowdrise.com/works-of-heart/fundraiser/rebekahnemethy
Here are some quick facts about HeARTs Speak
- 400,000 shelter pets were given the chance to shine last year with professional portraits from HeARTs Speak members!
- HeARTs Speak’s Perfect Exposure Project donated photography equipment and training to 9 high-intake shelters across the U.S. in 2016. (I’m proud to say I helped with 3 of them!)
- There are over 600 HeARTs Speak members internationally who volunteer their time and expertise to shelter pets.
- HeARTs Speak members help out at 1/3 of the shelters in the U.S. and volunteer about 15,000 hours monthly.
Please help me help them! You can help us make an even bigger impact in 2017 by donating to my fundraising page. No amount is too small and every single person who chips in will receive an original painting gift from me, shipped to your door for free. It’s the least I can do to express my gratitude for your help.
Thank you <3
P.S. Happy 1st day of winter!!! We’re over the hump and the days are getting longer again. Woo hoo!
Nov 30, 2016 |
Stretched Gold
Thanksgiving was sooo last week… and that’s where many Americans left their gratitude. I’ve always thought it so interesting how a day of gratitude is followed by a day of chaotic consumerism. The start of a season that’s supposed to be about giving has been skewed into a salesy spending frenzy.
Wouldn’t it be funny if I gave you a coupon code right now? Nope, I’m not here to beg for your credit card… even though it is purple Wednesday…
I guess I just wanted to remind you, and myself, not to let gratitude get all fuzzy around the edges. Remind yourself what you’re grateful for every day.
I’m grateful for:
You, my virtual friends
My rock, and partner in life, Nick
My BFF, Lauren
My “boss” John Walsh – follow him on Instagram
My dog… duh!
A warm house with an overflowing drawer of fuzzy socks
What/who are you grateful for right now?
Nov 23, 2016
Neon Sunrise
For many of you, tomorrow will bring a flurry of activity that’ll swirl you through the next month. You’ll blink and suddenly it’ll be New Year’s Eve, and maybe you’ll rush into a resolution. Your excitement to lose 2,000 pounds will burn as bright as a firework, and will probably fizzle out just as quickly.
Why am I talking about New Year’s resolutions the day before Thanksgiving? Because I don’t want you to be a statistic.
Twisted Sunrise
For some strange reason we feel obligated to set unobtainable goals on the sacred first of January. It’s like there’s an invisible writer who strictly controls when one book closes and another one opens. Why not take control of your story now?
When you’re in a food coma 24 hours from now, and buzzed from a healthy mix of wine and gratefulness, you probably won’t be able to move… so what better time is there to put all that gratitude to good use and reflect on how you can make the world a better place?
Winter Sunrise
With all the bazillions of stars in the universe, I’d be willing to bet that there’s a sunrise somewhere every single second. So right now, and now, and now, it’s a new day somewhere. If the universe truly is infinite, new years might be just as plentiful!
I was always waiting for the perfect time to start painting, so I find it particularly fitting that my first palette knife painting is the source of color in these abstract sunrise photos. I found them in the bottom of a glass. Let’s toast to every sunrise!
Jamaican Sunrise
Happy Thanksgiving!
P.S. I’ve also been waiting for the perfect time to increase my word count… did you notice? I’ve improved my editing-down skills, and I’ve got more to say!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Nov 18, 2016 |
Nothing is so intimidating as a blank page, an empty wall, a new project… the idea of making something out of nothing can be paralyzing. I’ve struggled with this my entire life.
Teenager me would carry around piles of paper in a 3-ring binder, I was always prepared – just waiting for inspiration. The lightning bolts I imagined must strike other writers and artists never struck me, though, so the pages remained mostly blank, aside from some roughness around the edges from my devoted carrying.
Yet, when I was a little kid, I created an entire book out of index cards, without hesitation, and laminated it with strips of scotch tape!
I don’t know what taught me to overthink creativity, or wait around for lightning strikes… but eventually I realized that inspiration is hardly ever convenient. Staring at a blank page never invokes inspiration for me. Making mistakes on a blank page does, though. Taking chances does too. Just making anything, even if it’s horrible, is the best way to find the little lightning bolts that will spark you to keep going.
My point is that inspiration will never be looking for you, you have to go find it.
P.S. Nobody taught me that lesson more than Melissa Dinwiddie, and if you’ve ever struggled to create anything, she has a new book that could change your life the way her concepts have changed mine.
You can even download the first 50 pages for free to see if it resonates with you. AND if you buy her book before 11/21 you get all kinds of launch week bonuses, so don’t wait!
Nov 16, 2016 |
Ever walk around your entire house looking for your car keys, only to realize you’re holding them? Me too, and that’s how I felt the first time I photographed a reflection and discovered it was only an illusion.
I mean, duh, reflections aren’t real, but I always assumed they existed on the surface of whatever shiny object made them.
While testing my gear before a pet session one day, I took a snapshot of a reflection bouncing off my phone. The resulting photo resembled a puddle; the reflection was sharp, but the phone, and the table below it, were totally blurred. Even more intriguing, in one corner of the image, several feet away, Gracie’s food bowl was in focus.
The reflection was of our backyard, streaming through sliding glass doors, and Gracie’s bowl was up against those doors. Since focus is determined by distance, it seems reflections are at the same distance as whatever they’re mimicing, but on the other side of the reflective surface.
Crazy, right? I’ve been obsessed ever since.
You don’t need a camera to see this, find a reflection in your screen and these words will blur. The keys were in my hand all along.
This is the silly snapshot that inspired the reflection series!
P.S. Do you have any title ideas for this photo? I’m not totally in love with the one I chose.
Sep 14, 2016 |
Our creative space at the 2016 Create & Incubate Retreat – thanks for the photo Kimberly!!
It’s a shock that I got any sleep at all. My social anxiety and a fear of flying solo across the country had my stomach so twisted I almost forgot to eat breakfast… if you don’t know me, that’d be like a frog forgetting to how to hop, it just doesn’t happen.
Worries, real and imagined infected every thought that swam past the back of my eyeballs. Will a flock of geese bring down my plane? Would I even survive on a deserted island? Will my connecting flight connect? Or will I be held up at the anal probing section of airport security?
Should I trip that girl cutting the line? Better play it safe and just will her to trip herself… After several hours of inner banter and turmoil I arrived in San Jose only an hour late and with both my shuttle man, Zack, and my new friend, Pam, ready to whoosh me off to Los Gatos for five days of creative bliss.
Pam showing off some gorgeous art! She’s been exploring a series that features her client’s word of the year.
I might use creativity in my everyday life… photography and writing are like my arms, I love them and I know how to use them almost subconsciously, but there’s something about obligations and deadlines that lowers the fun factor drastically. Not all creations need to have a purpose, and I was soooooo ready to make things for no reason!
Zack whipped us around the narrow road that wound steeply up the mountain to the Presentation Center as he, Pam, and I BSed about weather, wildfires, and how we came across Melissa and her creative retreat.
We were early, but Randi, a mosaic artist who was a 4-time retreat returnee, was even earlier.
“What’s your creative thing?” Randi was returning my question, and I had the urge to justify my presence. I’d already seen Pam’s beautiful art via email, when we arranged to share a shuttle from the airport, and now I stood before another, no-doubt, uber-talented artist.
Fortunately, five years of reading Melissa’s blog had prepared me to catch myself in the act of self-doubt. I didn’t tell Randi that I wasn’t a real artist who doesn’t really know how to draw… but that’s what I thought.
Melissa showing some of the calligraphy she created for her Instagram feed as her posts went viral and her followers doubled!
Instead, I told her that I’m a photographer (my confident artist title) and that I left my camera at home and brought a limited amount of markers to play with. Now as I replay this memory, I guess what I actually said was just a sugarcoated version of “I’m a real artist, really, but my ‘real’ art isn’t here right now, so please don’t judge me… I just want to play with some art supplies I have no experience with.”
Huh… I still have to work on that I guess…
But even though I was still, apparently, defending myself, I can also tell you that was the moment I dropped my guard. I knew I was being ridiculous, I didn’t have to justify myself because I was with my people in a safe space.
Amy was hard at work on the nitty gritty details of producing her play! She took some time away from her laptop to play and these altered book covers were the beautiful result!
Melissa pulled into the parking lot several minutes later with Amy riding shotgun. Everyone was hugging and kissing hellos, and as soon as Melissa saw me she threw her hands up, “Rebekah!” she said as she pulled me into a hug. You’d never guess it was the first time she met me.
Next thing I knew Kimberly had arrived, and from the purple streak in her hair and her pioneer potty mouth, I solidified my earlier assumptions: these are my people.
Kimberly created several watercolor studies at our retreat! Here is the last one in progress, and I just love the Zentangle elements she started to add – Kimberly is a Zentangle Instructor too
We all worked together to set up the “Incubator,” our creative space for the retreat, and we were like a family reuniting.
I’m not sure if it’s me getting older or me getting more intuitive, but I immediately felt at home with these women. I was having a déjà vu party all week long, like I’d known them all forever.
It wasn’t until the next day that Josiah, Amy’s hubby, showed up. Just like Randi, Amy and Josiah were also longtime veterans of the Create and Incubate retreat. The family vibe I got was very real.
Josiah got busy creating the first pages of his graphic novel about a character who is discovering his way out of the 1st dimension! Great story and art!
That first morning I was pleasantly surprised by Melissa’s catalyzing sessions, they weren’t just motivating and energizing, they were hysterically fun too. We played all kinds of games that connected us first as individuals, and then, it often felt as if we became one entity.
This might seem like a weird analogy, especially coming from me, but it was a somewhat religious experience. Being raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, my first experience inside a Catholic church was quite jarring. I joined my best friend’s family at mass one Sunday after a sleepover, and the droning, monotonous tone that buzzed out of the pews truly alarmed me.
It was during one of our games that this memory came back to me. As we chanted, “hoo-ha, hoo-ha,” moving up and down to the beat, it was the very first time I understood how comforting a tribe-like chant could feel. I finally got it… twenty-something years later, I could finally relate to those churchy chanters.
Drawing and photo by Kimberly – it’s a representation of our bunny game!!!
Of course we were not worshipping the hoo-ha god at the retreat, that was just how one game started.
Just imagine eight people standing in a circle, one person saying, “bunny-bunny,” two people saying, “tookie-tookie,” and the remaining five chanting, “hoo-ha, hoo-ha,” all at the same time. Now imagine a different set of body movements for each of those roles, and the people playing those roles are constantly changing as the chanting gets faster and faster.
One of two things happens during these games, we get into a flow, or we eff it all up and find ourselves in a fit of hysterics. The bunny game was just one of many games we played, and whether we were in our zones of genius or cracking up at our mistakes, we were always having fun.
When we weren’t playing games, chatting at mealtimes, or sleeping, we were creating. With a never-ending list of creative projects it took me a long time to narrow down what I would do during the retreat. I wanted to experiment with something new, but by the time I’d decided on markers it was too late to order them online.
All the tools I used!
I rushed through the aisles of AC Moore to discover a very limited selection of Prismacolor markers. They also were waaaaaay more expensive sold as individuals than the package prices I saw online. I picked a pretty blue and purple, and the colorless blender I was dying to play with, but I was inexperienced with blending colors, so I grabbed all of the cool grays; they were the only ones I was sure would work together. I also knew that limiting myself would make me more creative AND limit any unnecessary decision-making.
When I started unpacking my supplies, I discovered that I’d accidentally bought one warm gray marker and internally rolled my eyes at myself. “Great, I wasted money on this one random warm marker, and now I’m probably missing a cool gray,” I mentally reprimanded myself.
Once I let go of my expectations, though, I started to play, and soon realized that this one mistake I’d made at the store had led to so much creative discovery. I started out blending the grays into gradients, then I played around with the colorless blender and fell in love with the way it created watermark-like strokes when used on top of the other colors. For shits and giggles I decided to try the warm gray on top of the various cool grays and I fell in love with those results too.
Here are the effects of the colorless blender on top of warm gray (top 2 cards) and a combo of the blender and warm gray on top of cool gray (bottom 2 cards).
I played with as little thought about the outcome as I could manage. No deadlines, no guidelines, no audience, no price tag, just making something for making something’s sake. With every index card made that I hated, I learned how to make something I could hate a little less. I even made a few things that I loved.
I hadn’t done a true show and tell since elementary school, the last time I showed my work it was in my 1st year of college, but that was more of a critique session than a show and tell. I was pretty intimidated seeing all the beautiful art everyone created on the 1st day, and I wasn’t really looking forward to showing everyone my dinky little index cards. I was floored when everyone ooohhhed and aaahhhed at my work. Whether they really liked it or they were just super nice doesn’t really matter to me… the kind of support that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, that’s what I’ll remember.
I “love” this one =) I experimented with layers and this happened.
There were so many other great memories made at the Create and Incubate retreat, it was such a great experience that I’m already signed up for next year… actually everyone who went this year is coming back! I can’t wait!!!
I’ve always known that breaks are so important, but knowing something never has the same effect as doing it. I’m more refreshed now than I’ve been in a long time, and I’ve decided that this retreat should be a gift I always give to myself… now if only I could skip the flight… anyone down for road trip next summer?
Randi inspired this one when she used an expression about how “the universe is winking at you” – I used Melissa’s typewriter for the words.
P.S. It seems so easy to analyze the things I’m doing and the reasons I’m doing them now, but the truth is, I probably wouldn’t even recognize half of the stupid things I do, or any of the things I should be doing, if it weren’t for Melissa’s guidance.
The creative struggle is real in a culture that trains all the fun out of you.
I know that many of you reading this are creatives too, and if you think you could use even a tad more fun and creativity in your life, you’ll definitely benefit from Melissa’s advice.
Check out Melissa’s blog and podcast and look out for her new book coming out soon!
Sep 7, 2016
Have you ever taken a break from something you never really wanted a break from? When we adopted Gracie Lou we went on a mandatory foster break… we just didn’t have the room. Now we’re renting a house from the best landlords in the world and we’ve got a dedicated foster room that’s currently crawling with kittens! So glad this break is finally over!
A skinny, super-friendly tabby was found wandering the parking lot at Mid Hudson Animal Aid, her five kittens were left on the side of the road nearby, all closed up in a plastic bin with some air holes cut out of the lid. The shelter staff estimated the kittens were only two days old, and that their mother was barely an adult cat herself at only one year old. All six of them were covered in fleas.
Momma cat was named Quinoa, and the kittens were dubbed Wheat, Spelt, Rye, Millet, and Barley. I’ve taken to calling them The Grainy Bunch.
Quinoa was treated with an oral medication that would safely rid her of the fleas without harming her babies. The kittens were all given baths in Dawn dish soap, which is the only safe option for such young kittens.
I got the email on a Friday morning. I’d been craving kittens for so long, but we weren’t planning on fostering until September. Nick and I had a trip planned for the last week in August and our crew of four is enough for my friend/pet sitter to handle. The shelter was already overflowing with cats because of an emergency situation that brought them 50 cats on top of their usual residents, so despite the inconvenience of our trip we’d still be buying them some time to find another foster parent. I was thrilled to go pick them up later that same day.
As the time for our vacation drew nearer I was getting sad about leaving them… I assumed the next foster parent would want to keep them through adoption. When I found out I was getting them back, I’d never been happier to be wrong!
The Grainy Bunch came back this past Sunday and kitten growth never ceases to amaze me; I swear they’ve doubled in size since last week!
All the photos here are at 3 weeks old, and it’s impossible to keep up. If you want to see their newborn photos, I posted them in the notes for one of my recent podcast episodes. If you’re into kittens you’ll probably like my podcast too, so check it out.
It’ll still be a few weeks before Quinoa and the rest of the grainy crew go up for adoption, but kittens go quick, so if you’re interested in adopting get your applications in at Mid Hudson Animal Aid ASAP. It takes time for applications to get processed and pre-approved adopters will get first pick.
P.S. Please feel free to share this post or any of the photos on your social media feeds. Thanks for any help you can give in finding these cutie patooties a home!
