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Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category
Reflections in the Waters of the Arnold Arboretum
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged environment, Inspiration, nature, Photography, reflections, water on March 19, 2012| 2 Comments »
Recent Walks: Mount Auburn Cemetery
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged cemetery, Inspiration, landscape, nature, Photography, spirituality on March 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Finding One’s Instrument: The Art of Angie Pickman
Posted in Inspiration, tagged animals, art, beauty, birds, cut paper, design, Inspiration, interview, music, nature, song on March 16, 2012| 2 Comments »
It was the owls that first caught me, dark eyes so wise and brilliant with life.
Then I noticed the other little birds, dark bodies reminiscent of the sparrows of my Virginia youth. The artist, Angie Pickman, is based in the midwest of Kansas. I don’t make it out that way very often and so when I see glimpses of her work in my email box via her blog I am thankful for the internet for allowing me to see such creative beauty made out of black paper.
Without ever seeing her blog posts about music, one can sense the lyricism in Angie’s cut paper work. I’ve told her — and I am being sincere — that she has redefined my sense of black paper and negative space. Given that she does post on occasion about music and that her paper cuts titles sometimes refer to birdsong, I asked her how music influences her visual art. And to my pleasure she replied. Simply click on any of the images above to learn how music has shaped this artist’s work. Enjoy!
Late Night Play with Paper
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged art, Asian-inspired, beauty, collage, color, Inspiration, nature, paper crafts on March 15, 2012| 6 Comments »
A Man and a Woman Meet …
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged art, beauty, colors, fashion, Inspiration, Photography, relationships, storytelling on March 14, 2012| 1 Comment »
Once upon a time, before I ever thought of picking up a camera, I wrote short stories. They often involved a bohemian young woman, in good spirits mostly, searching for something rather intangible. Not an uncommon storyline I know.
Eventually, in a coffee shop, a tea house, or a meadow by the side of the road, she would meet a man. A complicated fellow of the “still waters run deep” sort, if you know what I mean.
The two would engage in all sorts of experiences. From playful to painful, all of the acts in one way or another focused on finding joy in one’s life …
… and discovering sometimes unexpected beauty if one were willing to see the world through the fresh eyes of another.
Regardless of how much beauty found, by story’s end, the man and woman had often physically parted, choosing to walk separate life paths.
Even so, by story’s end, it was usually clear that the characters would remain forever connected by their memories.
I have not written such stories in many years but they came to mind this week as I sorted through these pictures I took of two friends in their vintage garb. Knowing of my desire to build my portfolio, they offered me the opportunity to photograph them in various settings. Quite a treat with such photogenic folk. And quite unexpectedly inspiring. Not sure if I will ever put pen to paper for such stories again, but I do look forward to future fashion shoots.
Music as Muse: An Interview with Artist Zoe Langosy
Posted in Inspiration, Music, Nature Notes, tagged art, creative process, fashion, Inspiration, muse, music, nature, Photography on March 12, 2012| 1 Comment »
For Somerville Open Studios 2012 (May 5 + 6), I once again have the great pleasure of collaborating with illustrator and collage artist, Zoe Langosy. In this first of a series of interviews, she talks about her creative process, her muse, and how she decides which images to use for collage.
From creating garments out of shards of butterfly wings to using constellations to create cityscapes, I find Zoe’s vision to be quite unique and inspiring. Click on the above picture to see what you think. 😉
Layers
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged colors, Inspiration, layers, nature, Photography, white on March 11, 2012| 5 Comments »
I do love the camera but …
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged art, color, design, Inspiration, nature, paper, Photography on March 7, 2012| 4 Comments »
…then there were daffodils, so golden in the sunlight…
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, colors, daffodils, flowers, Inspiration, nature, Photography, spring, yellow on March 6, 2012| 6 Comments »
Rainbow Passages
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged art, culture, Inspiration, musings, Photography, rainbows, religion, science on February 29, 2012| 2 Comments »
The man with whom I am involved I tend to describe as a science guy who works with light. He says that’s not quite accurate but it works for me. Since the beginning of our relationship we have shared many an illuminated experience that we have described quite differently. There was the infamous halo around the moon. I will forever describe sunlight on water as “dancing” but now I also see the resulting light-filled ripples as “caustic.” Most recently we have talked of rainbows.
I see rainbows all around on earth. I am amazed at the places I find them like on the back of this silver tray left forgotten in a corner closet. Or the rainbows formed on the surface of CDs left out of their case on a table near a sunny window.
I see them less often in the sky mostly because I usually have my head ducked down in the rain. And that is the source of rainbows in the sky, my science guy reminded me at the dinner table recently, rainbows are formed by sunlight striking raindrops in the air. White light is divided into all its splendid colors. I listened attentively as he described how the water drops act as prisms, how light is refracted not reflected, and so on and so forth. It was like a cool Cliff Notes version of The Science of Rainbows 101.
As the lecture wrapped, I stood up, my mind swimming with the science of it all. Suddenly my guy added, “Of course, my dear, you do realize that there were no rainbows before Noah and his ark.” He smiled gently. “Or so that story goes.” With an exaggerated sigh, I sat back down. “Remind me of that story please.” You see, my science guy’s bookshelves are not only filled with the science writings of Feynman and Einstein, they are also filled with the religious writing of Chesterton, Crossan and even a little Thicht Nhact Hanh. It is amazing to walk in this world with this fellow (and with others) and to have my eyes and mind and even on occasion my heart opened to the different ways of experiencing the world, even something so seemingly simple as a rainbow.
Words + Images 