Posts Tagged ‘Inspiration’
just sweet corn and oranges
Posted in Inspiration, Kitchen Inspirations, tagged colors, corn, food, food photography, Inspiration, oranges, Photography on August 24, 2016| 2 Comments »
webs
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged beauty, friendship, insects, Inspiration, landscape, light, nature, observation, Photography, spiders, webs on August 22, 2016| 2 Comments »
Now, I didn’t quite do a physical happy dance but I kind of sort of did mentally. When I was recently with my friend who needs to walk as part of her recuperation, we were slowly walking along a canal, and then I paused. She asked what I was looking at. I remember saying, “I saw just a shimmer … but the thing about spider webs is that you need the right light … wait a minute! Wait a minute! There! Can you see it? There’s the web!”
I kept inching forward despite the fact that swimming is not my greatest skill. The web was right at the water’s edge taut between trees and grape vines. I knew the light would shift soon, and it did. My friend had waited patiently for me as I got as many shots as I could. Eventually we continued on our loop. I became lost in my thoughts and then I heard, “Cynthia!” I looked around. “What?” “Don’t you see it?” She pointed out a spider’s web. And she pointed it out with expectation. With a grin, I pulled out my camera.
She continued to point out spider webs throughout the journey home.
Despite my love for E. B. White’s book Charlotte’s Web and the animated movie, I don’t go out of my way to seek out spiders. But I do have a growing appreciation for the webs. Their embodiment of complicated concepts of connections, nodes, fragility and at the same time great strength and resiliency. I can’t always see the webs around me but when I do I treasure the moment and I am grateful when others point out those webs to me.
in search of noontide blue
Posted in Inspiration, tagged blue, colors, Inspiration, Phillips Brooks, poetry, sonnets, truth on August 22, 2016| 3 Comments »
There was an American man named Phillips Brooks who traveled abroad to Europe, and as he traveled he wrote in his notebooks, and in one of those notebooks, as he traveled in Germany, he wrote the following sonnet. Since reading it, I have wanted to seek out what he refers to as noontide blue.
The heaven of Truth lies deep and broad and still
And while I gaze into it, lo, I see
Some human thought, instinct with human will,
Gather from out its deep serenity.
Awhile it hovers, changes, glows, and fades,
Then rolls away; and where it used to be
Naught but the heaven of Truth from which it rose
Looks down upon me deep and broad and free.
So have I seen, shaped in the noontide blue,
A floating cloud attain to gradual birth,
And then absorbed in that from which it grew
Leave only the great Sky which domes the earth.
What are men’s systems, thoughts, and high debates
But clouds which Truth creates and uncreates?
— Phillips Brooks, 1882
and speaking of note cards (and postcards and more)
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, Postcards, tagged beauty, Inspiration, landscape, nature, note cards, Photography, Postcards, posters, shopping, stationery on August 18, 2016| 3 Comments »
I’ve been updating my Zazzle Shop: http://www.zazzle.com/imagesbycynthia I’ll continue to do so on a more regular basis. Take a look and enjoy! And thank you for your support and encouragement. 😉
FYI, the gift shop at Trinity Church in the City of Boston has reopened. There you’ll find a selection of my postcards of the stained glass windows, and many other beautiful items. Located in Copley Square, Boston, directly across from the Boston Public Library.
and along the canal we found
Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged beauty, colors, flowers, Inspiration, landscape, nature, Photography, travel on August 17, 2016| 1 Comment »
through different windows
Posted in Inspiration, On the Road, tagged friendship, Inspiration, musings, windows on August 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The friend with whom I am visiting is recovering from surgery and so we stay close to her home. If you follow my blog you know that I love to peer at and through windows. Here, when I sit at her kitchen table, I peer out a window and see stacked containers of pots for plants and a sunflower growing from her compost pail. The cat referred to in yesterday’s post will sit at the window and commune with a chipmunk. A red bird flew by and there’s a resident hawk perhaps stalking the rabbits I’ve seen in the neighboring yards. From my bedroom window I could see last night’s moon. It was full and bright, so large, and its light shed on racing clouds painting them with cotton-candy hues. I tried to take a picture but then stopped and just enjoyed the light show. Walking is part of my friend’s recuperation and so soon we intend to walk along a canal. We’ll see what pictures are produced. Have a good day. 😉
eyes on kiki
Posted in Inspiration, tagged animals, beauty, cats, felines, Inspiration, Photography on August 16, 2016| 5 Comments »
I almost titled this post, the sleeping giant wakes. But Kiki isn’t a giant. She’s a little bit of a thing, small enough to roll up and fit into a handbag. As I visit with my friend, she’ll sneak into my room at night and I wake in the morning to find either her little rump snuggled against my neck or her sea green eyes studying my face. She’s Barnaby’s younger partner in crime in this household.
I’ve been trying to adequately photograph her for days. She like her partner moves to fast for me. So finally I decided to wait until she woke up. Okay, okay, okay, I admit it. I “encouraged” her to wake up once I was properly positioned.
I don’t think she was too pleased in the moment. But I think she’ll forgive me. 😉
upcoming exhibit …
Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, tagged art, creativity, exhibits, Inspiration, nature, Photography, urban landscape on August 15, 2016| 3 Comments »
Eyes On: Nature || the Urban Landscape
Stand still in a meadow. Look up as you pause at a street corner. What do you see? In either landscape there is beauty to be found, complexity of forms and the rich display of life. In Eyes On: Nature || the Urban Landscape, over a dozen emerging and professional photographers exhibit works exploring their experience of the natural world and the urban landscape. Two oftentimes contrasting themes are brought together in one remarkably diverse show.
From September 11 to October 9, 2016, photographs will be on view at the Riverside Gallery hosted at the Cambridge Community Center in Cambridge, MA. Featured artists include Colin Buckley, Beverly Fisher Crawford, Lois Fiore, Anton Grassl, Linda Haas, Cedric Harper, Michelle Hogan, Derrick Z. Jackson, Carol E. Moses, Andrew McPhee, Seacia Pavao, Ted Prato, and Cynthia Staples. Curators: Derrick Z. Jackson, Carol E. Moses, and Cynthia Staples.
Key dates …
- Opening Reception Sunday, September 11, 2016, 3:00 – 5:00 PM.
- Closing Party Sunday, October 9, 2016, 3:00 – 5:00 PM.
- Light snacks and beverages provided at reception and party.
More details in the coming weeks!
like a flash in the night
Posted in Inspiration, tagged animals, cats, Havana Brown, Inspiration, Photography on August 15, 2016| 4 Comments »
simply light and green
Posted in Nature Notes, tagged colors, flowers, Inspiration, light, nature, Photography on August 11, 2016| 3 Comments »
Words + Images 