October 22, 2013 by Cynthia
I did not think the petunias would grow indoors. I thought they’d bloom for a short while and then fade away, but somehow they have lasted the summer and now bloom confidently into the fall.
They have outlasted the basil, thyme and mints.
They soak up the sun near the hardier herbs – the oregano, sage and rosemary. The plant’s white flowers shade the poinsettia that is still bright green and the stellar red garden mum, a hostess gift still hanging on.
I think I have tried to grow petunias indoors before with little luck. They are a complex flower for me, not my favorite and yet I can’t help but think of them as my mother’s plant.
She grew them in wooden boxes and converted tires that my father made and arranged in the yard for her. We shall see if this plant thrives into the winter months. Not to rush time, but I can’t wait to see the white blooms against the window with snow falling down.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes | Tagged beauty, colors, family, flowers, gardens, Inspiration, kitchens, memories, nature, petunias, Photography, white | 3 Comments »
October 21, 2013 by Cynthia
That is the oak tree in the background, its canopy thinning so that the morning light shines through the bedroom window in the most interesting of ways. Why photograph a spot of light on a window frame? I don’t know but I was drawn to do it, and thankful that I could.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged form, function, Inspiration, light, oak tree, Photography, thankful, window, window frame | 4 Comments »
October 20, 2013 by Cynthia
After smelling an open jar of wild mint (that’s all it was, I swear) I once had a waking dream of setting up camp in the desert, my feet sinking into the hot sands, the air filled with the sounds of horses snorting and the jingle of their bells. I was perhaps influenced by a conversation with a man from Morocco. Even before that dream I had been planning to visit the Sahara, as well as deserts within the U.S.
Some of my favorite movies have depicted vast dunes of sand in shades of sparkling white to dusky cream and even dark gold. Lawrence of Arabia. The English Patient. Dune. There’s that opening scene in the 1979 movie, The Black Stallion. And, of course, Star Wars. 😉 I love the depiction of man or beast making their way across the shifting landscape. I have been lucky to visit many different landscapes and to photograph them.
But no deserts yet. Not really. This morning, as I lay in bed, photographing the hills and valleys of the cotton sheets, I wondered anew if I ever will see such sandy sights firsthand.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road | Tagged deserts, imagination, Inspiration, movies, musings, Photography, random, sand, travel, walking | 5 Comments »
October 18, 2013 by Cynthia
How many legs does the frog have? That’s the question I wrote on the back of the Melissa’s Frog postcard that I mailed to my 3-year old nephew. I’ve felt firsthand the quality of the posters, whether simple poster prints or archival heavyweight paper. The mugs I’ve left out for display and watched as people remarked at the beautiful glazing. My passion, of course, are the notecards and stamps. They’ve sparked quite the conversation at my local post office. Please see if there is anything of interest for you, your family, friends and colleagues. Meanwhile, have a good weekend, folks.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged colors, correspondence, creativity, gifts, holidays, Inspiration, letter writing, nature, Photography, poster prints, shopping, stamps, stationery, USPS | Leave a Comment »
October 17, 2013 by Cynthia
Steve Hands for Vine Leaves Literary Journal Issue 8
The best part about having been given carte blanche to use his words and my images of him however I choose … well, it is just so much fun to say out of the blue, “Hey, Steve, guess what? There’s a picture of your hands appearing in a magazine next month.” He pauses, takes a deep breath and then says, “So, when did you take this picture?” And I get to make statements like, “Oh, don’t you remember that afternoon you were peeling shrimp and we were talking politics?” Anyway … 😉 His hands are paired with a vignette in the online and print publication, Vine Leaves Literary Journal, Issue 8. As explained on the journal’s website, a vignette is a word that originally meant “something that may be written on a vine-leaf.” A snapshot in words. Here’s a link to the freshly launched issue filled with great brief reads and a wonderful array of images.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Photography, Publication Updates | Tagged food photography, hands, humor, Inspiration, life, literary magazine, Photography, publication, relationships, Vine Leaves | 2 Comments »
October 17, 2013 by Cynthia
… but then the sun came out.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged beauty, colors, flowers, gray, Inspiration, light, nature, Photography, pink | 5 Comments »
October 16, 2013 by Cynthia
I was walking along the Charles River, years ago, when I saw this hawk taking flight. I just happened to bring my camera up in time. I don’t know what I expected to capture but memory is fickle and so I must have wanted something to help me remember the beauty of that moment, of the hawk’s motion.
There was no music by the river that day as there is in this short video of ballet dancer David Hallberg. And it is the combination of his motion with the music of Olafur Arnald that made me pause, mesmerized … and inspired to move. I will never move like Mr. Hallberg but it was interesting to be reminded of the physical self when it is too easy to get stuck to a chair behind a keyboard.
Director Eric K. Yue states that the video is “… less about the dance or context of a story, but rather a state of mind …” into a dancer’s preparations. I don’t see much ballet on stage but after watching this video I am tempted to seek some out. Enjoy the video when you can. 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged ballet, beauty, birds, dance, David Hallberg, Eric K. Yue, flight, hawks, Inspiration, motion, music, nature, Nowness, Olafur Arnald, Photography | 2 Comments »
October 16, 2013 by Cynthia
A friend passed this leaf and its mate on the sidewalk. Struck by their beauty, she paused, picked them up and asked herself, “What can I do with these? I know! I’ll give them to Cynthia to photograph.” How humbling is that? 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged autumn, colors, friendship, Inspiration, leaf, nature, patterns, Photography, rainbow | 9 Comments »
October 15, 2013 by Cynthia
Back in the summer, I wrote a piece about finding inspiration in the dark. As autumn progresses, I find myself still dabbling in the medium.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged beauty, colors, creativity, dark, experimentation, flowers, Inspiration, light, nature, Photography | 5 Comments »
October 14, 2013 by Cynthia
You know something spectacular is happening when you see drivers pulling to the side of the road so that they can take out their cameras and smart phones to snap a picture of the sky, or to simply stare in wonder.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road | Tagged colors, Inspiration, nature, orange, Photography, sky, Somerville, sunset | 9 Comments »
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