Here’s another one from yesterday’s studio session. I snagged my Mom’s old typewriter a couple of years ago for no other reason than to use as a photography prop. The Lensbaby Spark added some cool effects to the keys and I added a couple of textures for some much needed punch of color.
Today’s quote is from Erich Fromm:
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.
Well, I had my three hour zoom watercolor class this morning and by the time I could get outside it was too windy to do any serious photography. So I headed into the studio and just started playing with things I’ve been accumulating to photograph, including these type blocks, and the Lensbaby Spark which is not really at it’s best for closeup photography but I kind of liked this image. I then added a texture to give the background some color and a vignette to darken the edges. It still needed something so I took it into Topaz Studio for a grungy look.
Our quote today is from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty and in the same field it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before and which shall never be seen again.
Today I took the third tool from the OMNI system out to play. It is called the Crystal Seahorse because it is a crystal in the shape of a seahorse. It has the affect of creating a kind of ghost image reflection. Sometime in composing it is hard to tell what is real and what is reflection. I added a texture to this one for a little more richness and I’m pretty happy with the result.
Another quote from Nancy Rotenberg today:
Magic happens when you give yourself permission to de-emphasize intellectual thinking and to wander without plan or map.
It’s another busy day so I want to share another image I got with the stretch glass yesterday. I really love this one. I have some lavender growing in a pot on the patio so the concrete made a grey background and the stems of the lavender created some green streaks and made the flowers appear to be dancing in mist.
Today’s quote is from Albert Einstein:
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
For today’s moment of creativity I turned back to the Lensbaby OMNI system. This time choosing the stretch glass wand which creates streaks of color in a part of the image. I had never really understood how to use this tool until I found a video on youtube that explained it. Now I can’t be stopped.
Today’s quote is from Lao-Tzu:
Be really whole and all things will come to you.
Can’t seem to get away from Black and White. I had my eyes dilated at the eye doctor this morning so photography was not in the cards. I went looking back for something that wasn’t a flower and found this close up of some old farm equipment but it was covered in rust and yellow lichens so I thought black and white would be a better choice. Hoping to have more time tomorrow.
Today’s quote is from Georgia O’Keefe:
I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.
So this week I’ve decided to really enter into the spirit of creativity by playing with some of my Lensbaby toys. They make what they call the Omni System which is a device that allows you to place objects in front of the lens to get special effects. Today I was working with the rainbow effect tool. All I can say is it’s great when it works but it can be very hard to get the rainbow and then it doesn’t always land in the right place. While processing this image I thought it might be fun to do a black and white of the flowers and then bring the colors of the rainbow effect back in. It probably won’t win any prizes but did get my creative juices flowing.
This week I’m back to Nancy Rotenberg as my quote guru and today I’ve chosen one from the great lady herself:
If the Sacred Art Cows own your power, take it back. Grant yourself the passport to travel your own road with the map of your own devising. Create whatever it is you wish to create.
This is the last of the series of seven monochrome images from the Good Night Inn property. the sofa is still there as it was sitting next to and outbuilding which did not burn. I could not tell from peeking around the fence if the clothes and other debris were still there as well. Makes me wonder if someone grabbed an armload of clothes and household items during evacuation and ended up abandoning them.
Today’s quote is from John Ruskin. I visited his home in the Lake District on my last trip to England. He was a bit of an odd duck but very quotable.
The object in life is to find that undertaking, that occupation with which you have infinite patience.
The bedsprings are all gone now along with the rest of the debris. There is a small square of chain link fence in the middle of where the buildings stood. I wonder if they found a secret passage or an archeological treasure?
Today’s quote is from Thomas Mann:
A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
This is day four of the seven day series from the Good Night Inn where cleanup continues to plague me with the noise of heavy equipment loading dump trucks and beeping every time it changes direction. I found nails everywhere last Saturday. Rusty nails, bent nails, nails accompanied by screws, and I took a lot of pictures of the groupings of nails juxtaposed with striping in the parking lot, etc. But it was this one nail embedded in a burned piece of wood that seemed to best tell the story. I also love the texture of the cracks in the asphalt.
Today we have a quote from Thomas Crum:
What would it be like if you lived each day, each breath, as a work of art in progress? Imagine that you are a masterpiece unfolding every second of every day, a work of art taking form with every breath.