… I found a dead dragonfly. So perfect in form was he that I thought he was a toy. However everyone quickly confirmed that he was real. And so in a box I took him home and placed him in the sun where I then photographed him on different papers.
My favorite moment? His wings iridescent in the light and beneath on white paper their dark shadow. A beautiful study in contrasts.
More images available HERE.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged dragonfly, insects, nature, Photography, photos, pictures | 1 Comment »
Yesterday’s article highlighted how much the kitchen inspires the photographer in me like in the above image. Here I remember I just wanted to play around with the colors white and blue. The kitchen also inspires the writer in me, in part, because the sights and the scents bring back so many happy childhood memories of growing up in Virginia. For most of my childhood my parents and my brothers and I only went into the living room for a few hours at night to watch television and on Sunday afternoons to greet family and friends visiting after church. Otherwise, we were in the kitchen around the table eating or playing games. In talking with my oldest brother, I recently realized that when he shares family stories they most often center in the kitchen as well. The latest stories focused on our father’s wine making. More to follow about that! 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations | Tagged blue, colors, family, food, life, Photography, photos, pictures, rice, white | Leave a Comment »
Hi, all. I have a new article posted on the lovely website Creativity Portal.com. Check it out and let me know what you think. Meanwhile, wherever you are in your day, I hope all goes well! 😉
To Define or Not to Define: That is the Question
Posted in Contributing Writer, Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, Photography, Publication Updates | Tagged beauty, creative writing, creativity, food, Inspiration, nature, Photography, photos, pictures | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road | Tagged Brooks Estate, dragonfly, Medford, nature, Photography, photos, pictures, red | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged environment, fern, gray, green, nature, Photography, photos, pictures, stone | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Nature Notes, On the Road | Tagged Chelmsford, fungus, Lime Quarry, mushrooms, nature, Photography, photos, pictures | Leave a Comment »
One day at the church where I work part-time, a tourist handed me a wallet found on the front porch. I glanced inside at the driver’s license. I don’t remember the name on the card but I remember the owner’s image. Handsome with thick dark hair and bright blue eyes. I could see just enough of his shirt and tie to make me think he was a businessman of some sort. I closed the wallet and tucked it into a little cubby until I could take it to lost and found. Shortly thereafter, a man entered my area. I smelled him before I saw him. Not body odor, just stale alcohol. His clothes were wrinkled and too big for his scrawny frame. Thinning brown hair was slicked back. The blue eyes were the same, though, gently electric. In a slurred voice he thanked me and then left. I had the luxury of sitting inside for the rest of the afternoon wondering what had happened to transform that man. Was he homeless as I suspected? What was his story? Well, that story I may never know, and if I were to see him again I am not sure I would have the courage to ask. But I am glad there are people in this world not afraid to ask like Mark Horvath.
On the street I saw a small girl cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope of a decent meal. I became angry and said to God; “Why did you permit this? Why don’t you do something about it?” For a while God said nothing. That night he replied, quite suddenly:
“I certainly did something about it. I made you.”
That is the opening quote on the About page of Horvath’s InvisiblePeople.tv blog. The invisible people to which he refers are the homeless. And here are the links for the organization’s YouTube channel and his more personal blog, HardlyNormal. I hope you take time to watch some of the videos shot by Horvath as he interviews the homeless. Once homeless himself after making some bad decisions, he has a knack for drawing people out of their shells and encouraging them to tell their stories in their own words without fear of judgement. Please take a look and listen.
Posted in Inspiration | Tagged culture, homeless, InvisiblePeople.tv, life, social media, storytelling | 2 Comments »
Between meetings today, I was able to stroll through the Boston Public Gardens. As I rested in the shade of a willow tree by the pond, mallards waddled by on land while a majestic white swan glided by on the water. My hands were busy stuffing lemon ice down my throat (so hot here!). By the time my hands were free, all that was left in my vicinity were feathers.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes | Tagged Boston, Charles River, feathers, nature, Photography, photos, pictures, Public Garden | 1 Comment »
Recently Steve shared pictures from a trip abroad. Dreamy images of a Canadian landscape with narrow strips of land separating sky and water. Beautiful images to be sure, but what made them truly fascinating was Steve’s perspective as he shared them. He suggested in terms of their display the images should be rotated 90 degrees thus highlighting what he had been trying to capture — the reflection of the landscape in (often) still waters creating perfect symmetry, i.e. use the vertical line, not the horizontal, to heighten the viewer’s experience of the reflection. See what you think. 😉
I must admit, as I viewed some of these images at their new orientation, I began to “see” complex and rich structures that had nothing to do with their actual subject matter (trees, water, sky). I especially thought of the green man in the woods figure with this one.
What do you see?
Posted in Branches, Guest Contributor, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road | Tagged horizontal symmetry, landscape, nature, perception, Photography, photos, pictures, reflection, vertical symmetry, water | 2 Comments »
Blood. Fire. Sunsets and sunrises. Red is the color of energy. Whether “hot” or “warm” in tone (never cold), that color in all its variations expresses the complexity of life. I’m pleased to be part of a new art exhibit at the Inside-Out Gallery focused on that magnificent color. If you’re in the neighborhood during the month of July, drop by and take a look at all the artists’ expressions of red. Location: Inside-Out Gallery in the CVS Window in Davis Square, Somerville.
Posted in Inspiration, Photography Exhibits | Tagged colors, Davis Square, exhibit, Inside Out Gallery, Photography, photos, pictures, red, Somerville Arts Council | 1 Comment »
