Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category
Signs of Spring Around Town
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes on March 23, 2009| 1 Comment »
Glass and Water Reflections
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes on March 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »
An Unexpected Find – Illustrator Katherine Milhous
Posted in Books I Love, Inspiration on March 22, 2009| Leave a Comment »
The book was rather unassuming yet lovely in its simplicity. A maroon red book cover emblazoned in gold with the figure of a young boy leaping, and beneath him the words, also in gold, “Patrick and the Golden Slippers.” I don’t remember how much it cost in the antique store. A couple of bucks, no more. A first edition 1951 book by Pennsylvania children’s book author and illustrator, Katherine Milhous.
Turns out that Ms. Milhouse created Pennsylvania posters for the Works Progress Administration during the 1940’s. 
Self-Portraits
Posted in Inspiration on March 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I admire Frida Kahlo for two things, her bold use of vibrant colors and her ability to make her physical self the center of so many of her paintings. She is quoted as saying: “I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best.” It’s one thing as a writer, photographer, painter, etc. to create a work based on one’s perception of the world. It’s different and harder, I think, to place one’s self at the center of the creative work. For me, when I try my hand at self-portraiture in writing or photography, I feel both empowered and very vulnerable. The vulnerability stems from “putting myself out there” and … (gasp!) what if people don’t like me and don’t like what I do? What if the image I present is different than the one currently held by friends and family? In short, the vulnerability stems from fear. The empowerment emerges from a more solid and powerful place.
For me, self-portraits are like a shout-out to the world that I exist and here I am at this given point in time. If I do a self-portrait tomorrow, then that will be me at that point in time. Maybe happy, maybe not. Maybe beautiful, maybe not. In pain. In love. Celebrating life.
The Color Kittens
Posted in Books I Love, Inspiration on March 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Red plus yellow equals orange. Yellow plus blue equals green. Red plus blue equals purple. And so on and so forth. I can’t remember when I first learned the various recipes for creating colors but I do remember the childlike joy I experienced last week when I cracked open “The Color Kittens,” a 1940’s Golden Books Classic. Most of the Golden Books I buy I share with the young children of close friends, but “The Color Kittens” I purchased and sent to my adult friends. Why? Because that book which is so well-written by Margaret Wise Brown and beautifully illustrated by Alice and Martin Provensen reminds the reader of what it means to be a child and to look upon the world with complete openness to discovery.
Culinary Inspiration
Posted in Inspiration on March 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Food has been an inspiration of late. More can be found in the Arts and Crafts/Food Gallery here: http://photosbycynthia.smugmug.com
Mondays
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes on February 16, 2009| Leave a Comment »
It is Monday. The sun is shining. The air is (relatively) warm. I sit at my desk committed to writing. Yes, committed. To write. Not draw. Not photograph. Not dream the day away. To write. To put pen to paper. Or finger to key. Yes. Write. It’s not easy. Because I could just take a short walk in the sun with my camera or even just a notebook and a pen and then come back to my desk and write something sustained with a beginning and an end. Really, I could. But I know myself. If I walk out the door right now, into the sun, hours will pass. A few words may get jotted down on paper. A picture or two or one hundred may get taken. But I will have reneged on my promise to myself to write a sustained piece with a beginning and an end. And so I sit. I am lucky that I have windows all around me. Through one window I see an oak tree with its branches bare. Perhaps a bird will visit soon to keep me company. As I write.
The Painter of Light: William Turner
Posted in Inspiration on February 14, 2009| 1 Comment »
Sunlight shining through a water droplet. A tealight candle flickering in a blue glass votive. Lamplight through a sheer a silk panel. Illumination in all its forms, and from all the various sources, reveals the world. That is what I think of when I see sunlight dancing on a wave or flashing in the bright eyes of a child. Similar thoughts run through my mind when I see a painting by Joseph Mallord William Turner. His works are considered pre-cursors to those of the Impressionists. Events and details are only suggested not made explicit through the fluid use of light and color.
Words + Images 