
and this is what I saw as I stood beneath one tree.




Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, Boston Back Bay, Branches, colors, Inspiration, leaves, life, nature, neighborhoods, Photography, trees, urban landscape on June 7, 2014| 8 Comments »
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, glass, green, Inspiration, nature, oak tree, Photography, sake bottle on June 2, 2014| 7 Comments »

For many weeks, I’ve admired its shape at the window, and how the morning and afternoon light fills its form. A beautiful green vessel, for sure, that empty sake bottle. I’m always shifting things about but that bottle I have not moved since placing it at that window. I began to wonder why.

I think it is the layering of the bottle’s illuminated form against the living, shifting greens of the oak tree outside. As the wind blows and the branches shift, bits of blue sky or gray sky are intermittently revealed. The background is constantly in flux. The scene of bottle against tree is a still life always in motion.

And yet even as I celebrate the serendipitous layering of light and color at the kitchen window, I also could not help but wonder what would the scene reveal with the absence of color.

Simply beauty expressed in a different way.
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged colors, fennel, food, food photography, green, herbs, Inspiration, Photography, shadows on May 27, 2014| 2 Comments »

I purchased the little pot of fennel as an experiment. Just to try growing something I’d never tried before. After an initial mishap involving watering (or lack thereof), the herb seems to be doing alright. Still haven’t really cooked with it yet, but I do love the shadows it casts.

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, fantasy, GIMP, glass, green, imagination, Inspiration, nature, Photography, spring, spring images, urban landscape on May 20, 2014| 3 Comments »

At the beginning of May, I did a post, spring images through the double rippled glass. Now that May nears its end, and the weather is almost consistently warm, one set of windows has been removed. And guess what? The remaining window is a bit pitted and rippled in places too!

The bright gold forsythia flowers visible in the previous post are gone, but as I recently tried to convince a young friend, even with no flowers, green plants and hanging vines are quite beautiful.

Through the single pane, the morning light seems to shine differently, and the spring winds seem to send the vegetation moving in a different dance. My imagination is still stirred at what’s captured just by pausing for a moment. The following image reminds me of Munch’s The Scream … though in a happier way.

And these images (only the last one altered in GIMP) remind me of those forest portals where reside dragons and other magical folk … though that thought must be influenced by recent viewings of Game of Thrones.


And, if I lift my camera above the spring green, and look up into the sky? This is what I see, through the rippled glass.

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, tagged Arnold Arboretum, Inspiration, monotype, motherhood, nature, Parks, Photography, reflections, trees, urban landscape, water on May 14, 2014| 1 Comment »

As I took these photos, with my camera focused at the surface of a shallow pool, a little girl watched me. I heard her mother’s encouraging words, “Go ask her what she’s doing. Go ahead.” She took a few steps toward me before deciding that the bird flying by was far more fascinating. Her mom studied the water’s surface for a few moments though, and then with an acknowledging smile, she trailed off after her little one.


Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Music, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, beauty, color, Inspiration, music, nature, oak tree, Photography, symphony, trees, urban landscape on May 12, 2014| 3 Comments »

This morning around the oak tree (that towers above the house) there was a symphony of color at play.

Spring light illuminated new growth, including golden pollen.

The wind brought sweeping movement.

It was a song celebrating life …

from the grand moments

to the tiny details.

A passionate composition of fierce expression in glorious color and texture.

At least that would be my music review. 😉
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged blossoms, Branches, Brooks Estate, colors, Inspiration, landscape, Medford, nature, Photography, spring on May 12, 2014| 6 Comments »
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged Arnold Arboretum, bees, Branches, Inspiration, monotype, nature, Photography, urban landscape, walking on May 11, 2014| 2 Comments »
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged Arnold Arboretum, Branches, Inspiration, Japanese maple, monotype, nature, Photography, silhouette, spring, trees, urban landscape, walking on May 11, 2014| 1 Comment »
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, Branches, colors, Inspiration, landscape, nature, oak, Photography, trees on May 5, 2014| 2 Comments »