Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road | Tagged colors, harbor, jellyfish, manchester, nature, nature photography, Photography, sealife, water | 7 Comments »
That thought crossed my mind this morning as I did everything except the one thing I needed to be doing — write, write, write. But, eventually, I remembered that part of my creative process, especially when I am feeling stuck on a writing project, is to get up from the computer and to walk toward … something. In this case it was toward a small table in Steve’s kitchen.
On the table is an eclectic mix of items: an antique silver pitcher against which leans a postcard of Hiroshige’s Plum Garden, a small pot of basil, two pots of red peppers separated by a pot of Cuban oregano, lavender that needs to be replanted and some lemon verbena.
Nestled amidst all of these herbs are bits of pottery filled with fruits of the season, glass votives, an empty wooden basket, and another postcard, Romare Bearden’s Autumn Lamp (Guitar Player).
Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy sits open upon the table, too. I think I have it for two more weeks from the library before I have to return it. It’s a good book that I think I am going to add to my Christmas list. I flipped through the book for a bit, letting my eyes dance over her words and images. And then guess what?
I closed the book (after marking what I intend to try for dinner tonight). I sat back down at the computer and began to put fingers to the keyboard, feeling just a little bit less stuck. 😉
Posted in Books I Love, Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations | Tagged colors, cooking, creativity, food, food photography, herbs, indoor gardening, Inspiration, Photography, writers, writing process | 3 Comments »
I like to exchange seeds with family and friends. Mostly sunflowers or herbs but for Lorraine, there was “cat grass.” And here was the lovely result …
I thought the “Cat Grass” needed water when it was mashed down but the next day I found out why. a tiny kitten fast asleep…
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As a child, I loved all literary critters from Stuart Little to Wilbur in Charlotte’s Web. I also loved the feisty young heroes in books like Little House on the Prairie, The Black Stallion, The Secret Garden, The Swiss Family Robinson and so many more. I wanted to be those young people and see the places described in those literary worlds. Those young people and those stories helped to shape my initial views of my country, the world, and of myself. I think I turned out okay. 😉 But I do recognize as writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie asserts in the following TED presentation how stories — or the communication of “a single story” — can have unexpected consequences at many levels. In her eloquence on a thought-provoking topic, she raises both my awareness as reader and writer. I hope you have a chance to view.
Posted in Inspiration | Tagged books, colors, geography, identity, imagination, Inspiration, language, literature, Photography, race, storytelling, writers | 4 Comments »
A friend’s gift from her garden — tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. Simple ingredients that produced a tasty salad once the items were sliced, layered, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with salt, pepper and other seasonings. The meal was accompanied by toasted bread rubbed with garlic. The bread was also provided by a friend, but I forgot to photograph the bread before I ate it. Next time … 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations | Tagged colors, cucumbers, food, food photography, friendship, garden tomatoes, Inspiration, Photography, salads, sharing, vegetables | 1 Comment »
The evening before attending my first bar mitvah (quite an honor!), I happened to photograph this setting sun. So, the following day at the big event, as I read along in the prayer book, the phrase “creating light and fashioning darkness” stood out to me and made me think of this image.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged bar mitzvah, beauty, colors, faith, Inspiration, light, nature, Photography, sun, sunset | 7 Comments »
… they did keep falling gently into the puddles. The puddles had been formed earlier in the morning when the heavy rains fell. As the rain eased I decided to see what would happen if I tried to photograph the ripples upon the waters. Afterwards as I played with brightness, contrast and color, the images reminded me of a watery universe. I’m not sure why my mind is in the stars of late, but … I am going to go with the flow and so I have created a temporary gallery pairing these water universe pics with my black sands universe series. Enjoy. 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged abstract, art, arts, colors, imagination, Inspiration, nature, Photography, rain, stars, textures, universe, water | 2 Comments »
Hot off the press, a new photo essay posted on the Creativity Portal … Finding Inspiration in the Dark. Enjoy!
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged colors, creativity, Creativity Portal, flowers, imagination, Inspiration, leaves, nature, photo essay, Photography | 3 Comments »
Salt, cinnamon, smoky paprika and a few peppercorns. The best part about adding these seasonings into my black sands universe is that every time I reshape things a wonderful aroma arises.
FYI, here’s another cool site for actual space images: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/archive/top100/
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations | Tagged abstract, art, arts, astronomy, colors, imagination, Inspiration, Photography, seasonings, space images | 1 Comment »
This morning I received several different examples in my inbox that referenced the use of creativity. First I received a Daily Reflection courtesy of Alive Now Magazine, a publication in which I’ve had photos appear. Today’s reflection was “Imagine you are giving a party inviting the poor, crippled, lame, and blind in today’s world. How would you need to engage your creativity to offer them your hospitality?” You can read the full reflection here. It was strange to see this reflection about using creativity to offer up hospitality, and then to read this NYTimes article and some other articles highlighting how people are engaging their creativity to devise new strategies for relocating the homeless, and not always in positive ways.
A Rodin Sculpture at Boston MFA
The articles made me mad but the reflection brought to mind my mother. One holiday season she invited to dinner a mentally challenged neighbor. He had no family coming to visit that year and we had plenty of food. But, you see, my mom was a very private person. For others, and maybe even this same man, in the past she had always made up a plate and sent my father or brothers down the street to knock on doors and share some food. I do not know why she invited this man to our house this time. I think she was creative in her approach so that she could do this “good deed” and maintain some sense of privacy that was important to her.
Gerber at the Kitchen Table
The man was invited to sit in what the family considered “Pop’s chair” in the living room. My mom served him the first plate, and my dad served him his refills. After eating, the man watched TV and even took a nap. My younger brother and I were small enough to ask out loud, and too loud, “When is he leaving?” She shushed us but I could tell my mom felt the same way. After he did leave, my mom swore she’d never do such a thing again. She never did the exact same thing again (that I can remember) but she did do other things of a similar nature — good deeds that sometimes exceeded her comfort zone. Deeds done creatively.
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations | Tagged comfort zone, community, creativity, family, good deeds, homelessness, hospitality, Inspiration, memoir, Photography, storytelling, tools | Leave a Comment »
Words + Images 