Feb 20, 2015 |
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“Where do you want your paintings?” The bitch in me is usually quick to correct, but the artist in me liked the sound of that.
“Paintings.” I repeated, just to hear it again. Yes, I did like the sound of that.
They were 20×30 photographs, printed on canvas, and Nick was helping me set up the display in my event booth at a local pet parade.
To my delight, Nick was not the last person to make this mistake about my work. If people thought my pet portraits were like paintings, what would they think about my artsy work?
The progression to more painting-like photography is another motivation behind my decision to continue this series. I know it’s a cliché for any photographer to say that they paint with light, but now I’m painting with movement too.
Each bit of motion is another brush stroke. Each brush stroke is unique; even in attempts to repeat my movements, I never get the same result twice.
What do you think? Could this photo pass for a painting?
(There is also a wide photo very similar to this one in my shop here: Wide Daisy Tie Dye)
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Feb 13, 2015 |
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It’s 2:22 am. I need to wake up in less than four hours, but I can’t stop searching, scrolling, and reading. A new spark has lit a flame in me and there’s no blowing it out.
This isn’t a story that’s limited to one moment… this is a regular happening in my life. When I get an idea in my head, I need to read everything on the subject and do it. Now. Any obligation that gets in the way of my new obssession becomes extremely agitating: making dinner, doing dishes, the eight-hour interruption of a day job and, worst of all, sleep… ugh!
The firey petals in the background of these photos makes me think of my many passions; they might burn at different temperatures and dim down sometimes, but my life will always be filled with their fire. I’ll never be able to focus on only one, nor will I ever blow the others out.
Photography and writing have always burned inside of me in various forms. Sometimes, though, I go off on little – ok big – tangents. I have every supply you might need for scrapbooking, jewerly-making, beading, drawing, painting, and now nail art!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
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Want this hanging on your wall? Click the photo to buy now!
A girly get together to practice my new nail art skills for Valentine’s Day!
Feb 6, 2015
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In the early morning darkness I felt my way into the living room, piled pillows into our giant bean bag chair, plopped myself down, and crossed my legs. I popped a couple of ear buds into my head and waited for the soothing Australian man to guide me into a more aware state of mind.
This was my daily practice for nearly two years before I became involved in rescue. Unexpected, full face, doggie kisses made it harder to breathe deeply. My open arms became an invitation for my guests to partake in lap dog practice. One foster kitten who stayed with us never hesitated to jolt me with simultaneous gnawing and clawing on my feet.
It wasn’t long before meditation transformed into longer morning walks and sleepy snuggles stretched through the last minute I had to give. I didn’t mind the change, and it was probably just as good, if not better, for my mental health.
The more I dive into this series, though, the more I want to bring meditation back into my everyday life. Thanks to my teacher, Joy Baum, I know to embrace the chaos now; just let it flow all around me.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jan 30, 2015
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I laugh during the lyrics to the national anthem… especially when they get to the part about the “land of the free.”
I am a slave to money. I am a slave to time. Want to know what’s funny about that? Time and money are concepts. They are only as real as we make them and, here in the U.S., Time and Money are the King and Queen of everyone’s universe.
Unfortunately, the only way I see to fight them is to get more of them. The “American Dream” is to have so much money or time you can throw it down the drain.
I’m no different from everyone else from that angle, but I don’t want my drain to be a fancy car, or trendy clothes. I want my time to be mine to create, and I want my money to save lives.
That’s this American’s dream; if someone made time and money real, then making my dream happen should be cake.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jan 23, 2015
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It’s my 1-year blogiversary! Woo hoo for a year of constant creation during my Photo and 100 Words Project!!!
Nerdy Numbers for the Year
Raw images captured: 4,672
For every 90 photos captured, I finalized 1 photo on average. Yup… that’s about how OCD I am.
Words written: 7,172
Did you notice that my word limit changed from 100 words to 100 “and something” words? My average is 138 words per post.
Hours worked: 1028
That means I spent about 20 hours working on every photo. This includes shooting, processing, keywording, writing about them, and then doing promotions. I bet you didn’t think a digital photography business was so time intensive… surprise!!
Just for reference, a full time job consumes about 1,888 hours per year if you consider vacation, holidays, and sick time. And, as many of you know, I also work full time doing product photography.
Woah! That’s 2,916 hours of photography work this year; I’m officially a photograholic.
Plans for 2015
I’ve decided to continue with the “Life’s a Blur” series for the next 6 months to a year. The subject is limiting enough to keep me focused, yet broad enough to keep me inspired.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jan 16, 2015 |
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The car in front of me stopped short, and I jammed hard on the brakes. “Sorry,” I glanced over at Nick, trying to gauge his frustration.
“What?” He asked, grinning. “Should I react like you would?” He twisted suddenly, slammed his cheek and hands against the glass, and raised his knees up into his chest. His eyes and mouth opened wide in pretend shock.
“HA-ha-HA-ha,” I knew a good impression of me when I saw one.
No matter how much I make fun of Nick’s “unmanly” avoidance of driving, we both know it’s better for both of us this way. Although I’m not quite as bad as he made me out to be, I am a bit spastic as a passenger. It’s all about control, and among other things on my to-let-go-of list, control is what I cling to most.
This series has definitely been a practice in releasing some control. Often, the hardest challenges bring the best rewards. So when an unexpected gem shows up in the blur, it’s even better than if I’d put it there myself.
I couldn’t repeat this photo if I tried a million times; there’s something special about that.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jan 9, 2015
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The world seems so big, but it’s nothing but a pin prick in the solar system, a molecule in the milky way, an atom in the seemingly infinite universe. I’ve always been in awe of space. The beauty, the vastness, the mystery. As the world gets smaller in my perspective, I can’t help but feel insignificant. What’s smaller than an atom?
Many times it can take me a while to title my photos, but sometimes a photo will call out to me immediately. This one screamed “galaxy” before it ever left the camera.
Just like that I saw an entire star system in my sink and my perspective flipped. Suddenly I’d been promoted from tinier than an atom to goddess of the rose galaxy. It certainly is a bipolar world I live in.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jan 2, 2015
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With my sink full of flower petals and floating bling, I knew the random abstract backgrounds I could create were endless. At some point during this photoshoot, though, I got tired of all the swirling. I wanted some other kind of movement, but I had to think outside the sink.
The swirling was inspired by the way water drains, so I tried to imagine water in nature. I envisioned streams and rivers, and grew further frustrated. I had already attempted, and failed, to create a flowing waterfall in my sink. Then the ocean overpowered my imagination and I was inspired to make waves.
I thrust my spatula down into the sink, my bling bobbed up and down with a slight sway, and suddenly I had a new way to create.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Dec 26, 2014
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We’re all like little tornadoes, running along life’s unpredictable path. All you pass is swept up into your world, whether you want to absorb it or not, it’ll end up swirling around you. You might be able to push some things back out, but others will get trapped in your whirlwind; circling and circling your head.
You could pick up a branch like a new problem at work. Leaves might surround you like a soothing song overheard on the street. Gravel could strike like a hailstorm on your new car, or sand might strip away a bad relationship like an old layer of paint. We can’t control everything that comes in and out of our lives, we can only be aware of it.
I used to think that I had to fully control the chaotic storm that is my life. I turned to meditation to make myself happy. Eventually, I learned that meditation is not about force. It’s about finding the center of the storm, and being able to be at peace there while the world whips around you.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Dec 19, 2014
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My hand hovers over the blank page and my restless thumb works the pen tip in and out: click-click click-click, click-click click-click. As I stare at my latest batch of photos and wonder what to write, my eyes fix on this particular rose.
It’s pleading, drowning, and reaching for a savior. The more I look, the more the rose transforms into a figure… like a damsel in distress. Juliet? No. Rapunzel? No. Ariel?! Yes! Ariel, the red-headed mermaid, just before Ursula’s whirlpool drags her from the surface.
So am I a good witch or a bad witch? All the sparkly, shimmery magic that’s swirling around the vase glistens like Glenda from the Wizard of Oz. Of course I’m a good witch!
Then I picture the countertops that surrounded my magical set: piles of petals and bits of chopped stems were scattered across every surface. Am I a flower murderer? Was this a rose massacre? So maybe I’m a bad witch after all.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
