2012.08.30 Always on his doorstep

The artist's world is limitless.

It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away.

It is always on his doorstep.

~ Paul Strand

Or, next to an abandoned car wash.

~ Me

Shared with Share the Joy and Bigger Picture Moment

2012.08.28 Illusion of reality

Photography, as we all know, is not real at all.

It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world.

~ Arnold Newman

Welcome to my world.

~ Me

Shared with Sweet Shot Tuesday and Tones on Tuesday

2012.08.26 The observation of nature

The observation of nature is part of an artist's life.

It enlarges his form [and] knowledge,

keeps him fresh and from working only by formula,

and feeds inspiration.

~ Henry Moore

. . . a reflection of a tree

whose roots have been exposed because of the drought.

It was captivating in person; it still captivates me as a photograph.

~ Me

Thanks to A Creative Harbor for the Henry Moore quote.

2012-08-23 Give thanks

Inspired by TexWisGirl at The Run*A*Round Ranch Report

who posted a "Photo Dump" last Sunday . . .

this post is a collection of recent, personal photos,

a what's-going-on-in-my-life kinda thing . . .

all things for which I am grateful.

 My county in Indiana is at about 60% of normal rainfall for the year.

Gratefully, we've had almost 4 inches in August.

Once, there was enough for an actual puddle near the mailbox . . .

Three generations at work,

my husband near the red truck prepping for the next week's work,

my son cleaning out his Cherokee,

and my grandson helping me spruce up the front garden . . .

Three projects from my pottery class, all completed.

There is a basket with a dark green and blue glaze,

a pot with zen-tangle-like decorations,

and a tree of life wall-hanging. . . in rainbow.

Thank you again, jan and Greg, for giving me this class.

I love learning . . .

At one of Vince's job sites . . .

Wyatt, Jeremiah, Vince, Barry, Alan,

and my Sweet Lee is somewhere over the roof edge installing something.

(See how much I know about construction?)

The above photo . . . from ground level . . .

And last, a self-portrait, taken at the county fair . . .

For all these things, and many more, I am grateful.

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed.

Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.

~ Denis Waitley

In everything, give thanks.

1 Thessalonians 5:18a

For those of you in a humorous frame of mind . . .

Let us rise up and be thankful;

for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little,

and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick,

and if we got sick, at least we didn't die;

so, let us all be thankful.

~ Buddha

Shared with:  Share the Joy and A Bigger Picture Moment

2012.08.20 You never know

The thing that's important to know is that you never know.

You're always sort of feeling your way.

~ Diane Arbus

Two other views without the texturing . . .

Each glass bottle has an upside down view of the other side.

Thanks, jan, for pointing out the bottles in the window :)

Shared with:  Sweet Shot Tuesday and Live, Love, Travel

2012.08.18 What you can't think of

If I knew what the picture was going to be like I wouldn’t make it.

It was almost like it was made already…

the challenge is more about trying to make what you can’t think of.

~ Cindy Sherman

Can't think of...yet...not until the light bulb during processing.

~ Me

Shared with The View from Right Here and A Rural Journal

2012.08.16 If you strive for simplicity

What's really important is to simplify.
The work of most photographers would be improved immensely
if they could do one thing: get rid of the extraneous.
If you strive for simplicity, you are more likely to reach the viewer.
~ William Albert Allard

Well...it was simple...then I started playing with textures.
~ Me

2012.08.15 Not close enough

Rain, glorious rain . . .

If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough.

~ Robert Capa

But whoever takes the water I give him will never be in need of drink again;
for the water I give him will become in him a fountain of eternal life.
~ John 4:14

Shared with:  Texture Tuesday and Tones on Tuesday
Share the Joy and Simple Moments - Bigger Picture

2012.08.14 When they have vanished

What's a small dog to do

when there's a 2-year-old on the loose

with a squirt bottle of water?

Hide!

Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing

and when they have vanished

there is no contrivance on earth which can make them come back again.

~ Henri Cartier-Bresson

I think Foxy would have vanished completely if it was in her power.

~ Me

Shared at:  Live, Love, Travel and Sweet Shot Tuesday

2012.08.12 Seldom looked into

A photograph is usually looked at — seldom looked into.

~ Ansel Adams

Except here, where you can look "into" the pottery [smile] . . .

and see the gorgeous colors.

~ Me

Note:  Pottery by Jolee Chartrand; taken at Monrovia Mudwords.

Linked to:  Mandarin Orange Monday

2012.08.11 A kind of rightness

I don't know what good composition is....

Sometimes for me composition has to do with a certain brightness

or a certain coming to restness

and other times it has to do with funny mistakes.

There's a kind of rightness and wrongness

and sometimes I like rightness and sometimes I like wrongness.

~ Diane Arbus

Linked to:  The View From Right Here and A Rural Journal

2012.08.10 Stealing Oreo cookies

When young children pick flowers . . .

Taking pictures

is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies.

~ Diane Arbus

Taking Processing pictures . . .

~ Me

Linked to:  Flower Art Friday and Photo Art Friday and Finding Serendipity 1440

2012.08.09 Love life

My granddaughter, Anya, delights in her newest game . . .

"pretending" to be asleep . . . 

A good photographer must love life more than he does photography.

~ Joel Strasser

Linked to:  Share the Joy

2012.08.08 That's all you have

In a still photograph you basically have two variables,

where you stand and when you press the shutter.

That’s all you have.

~ Henry Wessel

But, in processing . . . you have the world.

~ Me

Linked to:  Tones on Tuesday

2012.08.06 Who she is

It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like,

it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.

~ Paul Caponigro

My niece, Melanie . . . her portrait should show . . .

strong, loyal, funny, beautiful, stylish, talented.

Then, it would be who she is.

Linked to:  Sweet Shot Tuesday
Tuesday's Tips and Pics

2012.08.05 Make visible

[ rolls of fencing ]

Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.

~ Henri Cartier Bresson


Linked to:  Mandarin Orange Monday

2012.08.04 The gift of paying attention

The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.

~ Julia Margaret Cameron

Linked to:  A Rural Journal and The View from Right Here

2012.08.03 What we see is what we are

And what I am is unsettled.

I love my "take it with me everywhere" Canon point-and-shoot.

“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your

photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.”

~ Ernst Haas

A dilemma . . .

I love taking photos and processing them.

I love blogging what I've created.

These things relax me, I lose my sense of time while creating.

But, when there are many other things to be done,

whether work, church, volunteer, family, or fun

or all these seemingly at once . . .

what used to relax me

becomes a chore.

And I feel I'm letting myself down.

Luckily, I'm old enough to know that this dilemma will soon pass :)

And, so I wait . . . and work and volunteer and help others first.

Because, after all, that is the point . . .

to put others' needs before mine.

And to do it cheerfully.

[ smile ]