
… presenting new opportunities to photograph in black and white.

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, beauty, black and white, flowers, Inspiration, opportunity, Photography, roses, water on November 22, 2014| 1 Comment »
Posted in Inspiration, tagged abstract, beauty, colors, flowers, Inspiration, petals, Photography on November 20, 2014| 4 Comments »
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged art, colors, creativity, decoration, entertaining, Inspiration, merchandise, National Gallery of Art, paper plate, stationery, unique gifts, vintage images on November 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

My little friend, now 7-years old, visited recently. She went to her corner, picked up some blank paper and her basket of crayons. As she sat down to draw, she said, “I enjoy playing with paper.” I could only reply, “So do I.” This year I have been playing with paper in new ways.

Spending time perusing sites like the Library of Congress Prints and National Gallery of Art. Imagining how available imagery might appear on items from a stamp to a sticker to a paper plate. It is a new creative outlet, producing products that I hope people enjoy for themselves or as gifts for others of all ages.

My image selections are influenced by the people and events around me. In recent weeks I’ve found myself in conversation with cat lovers, musicians and folks who enjoy entertaining others.


The shop where these items can be found is called StationeryWorks because it began with my desire to dress up the letters that I was sending to friends and family. It will continue to evolve. I hope you have a chance to check it out. 😉
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, color, flowers, friendship, Inspiration, light, opportunity, Photography on November 18, 2014| 1 Comment »

What happened is this: a friend forgot her birthday flowers. They sit in a sky blue vase in Steve’s kitchen catching the morning light.

And so I have this unique opportunity, until their owner’s return, to photograph many pretty petals, in black and white and in color.

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, beauty, colors, flowers, Inspiration, nature, Photography, white on November 18, 2014| 7 Comments »
Posted in Inspiration, On the Road, tagged abstract, architecture, art, churches, colors, Galway Cathedral, Inspiration, interiors, ireland, light, Photography, stained glass, travel, walls on November 16, 2014| 3 Comments »

More images from Galway Cathedral. I was able to briefly visit the cathedral on two different days.

The first day was cloudy but on the second there was a period of bright sun.

As I tried to capture the colors of stained glass shimmering on the wall, I was reminded of light dancing on water and nature’s colors reflected and rippling on the surface.

A magical moment, indeed.
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged artwork, autumn, botanicals, colors, flowers, gold, Inspiration, marigolds, musings, prose on November 14, 2014| 6 Comments »

during my travels
of all the herbs and plants left behind
the marigold alone did not survive
except
there is a single blossom
autumnal orange with patches of gold
broken off I suppose as its green stem dried
that blossom it still thrives
without water or soil yet warmed by the sun
at rest where I found it upon returning home
on the tabletop next to the kitchen window
we’ll see how long it lasts
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged abstract, birds, books, colors, dublin, gratitutude, Inspiration, ireland, landscape, nature, nature photography, photobooks, Photography, travel, UCD Belfield, water on November 13, 2014| 2 Comments »

Last year, I created a “book of thanks” for folks who made me feel very welcome in my travels around Dublin. As simply the guest of one of the conference speakers, I was free to ramble about the city and especially St. Stephen’s Green. This year, I was lucky enough to attend again (and even visit Galway). I decided I should do another book, to thank folks, and to highlight just a tiny bit of the beauty I saw as I meandered, this time, about the UCD Belfield Campus and its wonderful system of walking paths. The images are sorted into three sections: Amidst the Trees and in the Fields, Among the Birds, and Reflected in the Many Waters. Below are a few excerpts and the entire book is available via this link.







Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged abstract, autumn, butterflies, colors, Inspiration, light, motion, nature, orange, perspective, Photography, shadows on November 13, 2014| 6 Comments »

Back home, I was racing up and down the stairs trying to photograph the morning sun as it struck the burnt orange leaves of the oak tree. As I turned around to walk back down the stairs, I noticed the silhouette on the wall. For a while, I photographed those shadows, the subtle shift of the shapes as the wind stirred the branches outside, and inside, how my motion stirred the butterflies on the mobile hanging from the ceiling.

As for the orange leaves that first drew my attention … to my eyes, they are like stained glass.




Posted in Inspiration, On the Road, tagged architecture, art, beauty, churches, colors, faith, Galway, George William Walsh, Gothic church, Inspiration, ireland, Photography, religion, St. Augustine, stained glass windows, storytelling, travel on November 12, 2014| 3 Comments »

As I’ve written about before, one of the great pleasures for me of stepping into a church is to see the wide variety of artistic expression through stained glass. Such is certainly the case with a quick visit to St. Augustine’s, a Gothic church in Galway completed in 1859.

Apparently during renovations in the 1970s, the original window over the main altar was replaced by a new window depicting the Resurrection. The artist is George W. Walsh.You can read a bit more about Mr. Walsh via this link. His father, with whom he apprenticed for several years, was a pupil of stained glass artist and illustrator Harry Clarke.

While no one seemed to mind me meandering about with my camera, I focused mostly on that window above the altar with its many lovely parts making an incredibly beautiful whole.

The other window that caught my attention happened to be a depiction of St. Augustine himself. Later I discovered that Mr. Walsh also composed and completed that window.

It was a bit rainy that day so I did not take many exterior shots, but via this link you can view the building. On this webpage, you can read just a bit more about the history of the Augustinians in Galway and more about the construction of this particular building.
